# Adventures with the Super baits.



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey everyone, Lately I been getting into the giant baits. Mostly the big baits are in the range of 10" and up. There are a whole set of dynamics involved with these monsters in am learning! LOL

The whole thing started when a fella from the Neatherlands started emailing me and since have become very good friends. They are super serious about their fishing over there. They mostly fish for land locked salmon/trout , perch , walleye, and Giant pike! 

One day he sent me this very interesting photo of some salmon that he had caught. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Huge Bite marks!!!!!!! He then told of the stories of Giant Nomadic Pike that rome the deep waters of their crystal clear lakes.











I guess these pike get much larger than the North American species. 50 to 60 lbs! Here is a pic of some nice pike that some friends of his caught this spring.











He asked if I could make him a lure that copied their native char. He was hoping to the fool on those giants on it some day. Well I took up the challenge off a picture that he sent me. They are beautiful fish!











Here is what I came up with. It was a really fun project to do for a friend. The bait was 11" long and 2-1/4" thick at the head. I put 7/0 hooks on it and use glass eyes that I painted myself.


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

The other thing about the fish over there is that their walleye species get up to 40 plus lbs. They fish for them similiar to musky/pike/walleye techniques. The one way to catch the super big walleyes is in the spring is to cast larger walleye imitations in the spawning areas. The giant male fish will chase out the smaller males. He also requested if I could come up with an immitation along that line. I will get a pic of their walleyes. They look similiar but a little different looking. 
Here is what I came up with. The body was 12" long and 2" thick at the head. It was a fun one also!











I used glass eyes that I got from a taxidermy supplier and painted gold leaf on the back of the then for a nice reflection.











The thing with giant baits that I am finding is that the serious trophy hunters like to have what is called "thru wire" construction. This when the line tie wire goes through the bait and is connected to all the hook tie points. Rowhunter........aka Doug showed me how to do this. Doug if you could post your photos of that that would be great! 

Basically the bait is split into 2 halves and channels are plowed on mirror sides were the wire will pass thru. The two halves of the bait are joined back together with dowel rods lining them up. Oh........I should mention that while trying to do this with epoxy is dripping all over the place and everything is falling on the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

This type of construction is such that there is no worry about the screw eyes being pulled out on a world record type of fish. Many of the monster chasers will not fish baits that have screw eyes in them. I personally believe it may be overkill but it is hard to convince the person that chases the world record type of fish hoping that one day he will get that chance. LOL

I have some other neat ones that I am almost done with. Hope to get some pics shortly ........ along with some construction phase pics also.


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## eyesman_01 (Jan 4, 2007)

WOW!!! 40+ lb. walleye!!! My largest King was just over 32#. I can't imagine.

You talking about the thru wire got me wondering... have you done any tests with a scale to find out just how many pounds of pressure it takes to pull a screw eye out once it's epoxied in. I was thinking about that when working on my first one, if those small threads would hold. Caught a 16 incher (walleye) last week with it and held up so far, but didn't know how it would do with a 10+ pounder. Just curious if any of you guys had done any testing to find out.


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

you should make those giant ones that they sell for decoration. The really big rapalla crankbaits


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

more beautiful work.especially the char
btw,those "walleyes" over there do get huge.they're real close cousin called a zander.


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## etch (Oct 13, 2007)

big john, said it once will say it again, your work is breath taking, awesome paint and plugs

Etch


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Well I have messing around with some others. My friend sent me a pic of European perch. They look very similiar but they also get alot larger in size. I think they may get to 5 to 6 lbs. Their side fins are more brilliant. I took up the challenge to try some of the perch imitations.

Here is a pic of a nice one










I did two versions: A lighter side pattern and a more defined. The light one is a bit thicker and has better action. I had the right out with Vc one day last month and had a pull back. He left some teeth marks but I sanded them out and recoated it! LOL










I love doing the eyes. You can take a gold or whatever paint pen and outline the black center around it. Then I take the back color paint and the side color paint and do two bands over the back of the glass eye in the same manner. It picks up the natural color of the fish.










It was another fun one to do. It is 11" long and has a thicker thru wire. It is a nickle alloy. I would like to try some thicker stainless wire to use. I put some 7/0 hooks on it.


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

This was another salmonoid one "King salmon" This thing is huge! LOL

It is 13" long and is almost 3" thick at the widest point. I used some aluminum foil on the cheeks and painted around it between coats. It gave the cheeks a neat reflective property. It may weigh a pound or more but who is keeping track! LOL  After seeing those pike bite marks I thought I would try one! LOL Holly cow on the amount of lead on this one to weight it right!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Eyesman. I havent tested them. I dip the screw eyes in epoxy before I put them in. Some people use gorilla glue also. I would be curious about the strength of the thru wire in lbs. I hung from the lure and rafters. I weigh 215It held!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Misfit, You are right on the Zander I think. I asked him to send a picture of one.

Thanks guys for the kind words. I love doing the naturals


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## rjbass (Aug 1, 2007)

Some really great baits John! Love the Salmon....

Rod


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## eyesman_01 (Jan 4, 2007)

Yours and Vince's work (along with others) never ceases to amaze me. Truly an inspiration.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

Excellent work, John.

The lower gill detail on that Salmon is just amazing work. Are those pearls in a sort of circular pattern beneath the eye of the perch bait?

I'd love to do some ice fishing for the perch those guys have, wouldn't you? When Savacs visited me from Romania, he was showing me baits he built for the Zander. Haven't heard from him lately. I think he's back in school trying to finish his degree.


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## Rowhunter (Jun 21, 2007)

Nicely done John,

Those are just fantastic!!! The gill paint is just sick!! I know what you mean as far as weight to get those large baits to perform correctly. Why did you make them so thick? We need to talk about large cranks and their specific properties.

Awsome,
Douglas


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Here is a picture of a Zander. This one was around 17 lbs. I believe at certain times they can catch them in the these canals that come off the main lake and go for miles. He caught this one of a dead bait rig.












Doug not sure why I made the salmon so thick. I think it was the piece of wood I had. I also get hung up on that realistic thing. LOL It has a nice wobble. I have learned alot by trial and error on the cranks. I can see now even more how much Vince knows about the lip angles and the lip sizes. The one factor that has suprised me the most is the bouyancy of the epoxy when hitting later finish coats. I am messing around with some night walleye baits right now. I may not be able to do the epoxy on them like the musky baits. I hope to have some water tested proto's this weekend. Doug you have to a pic of the split body thru wire that you have. Mine look I cut them with a chainsaw.

Oh man Vince could you see ice fishing and pulling those up! Luredaddy said the same thing but not on ice! LOL


My friend also sent me a neat pic of some painted dodgers they did 2 days ago. They painted over a silver bait and flasher. It gave them a unique metalic look. They have very interesting bait style over there in the Neatherland. It really opens your mind about some things.


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## MadMac (May 2, 2005)

Nice John. I could catch one hell of a muskie with one of those. lol


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