Home Made Lures?

[ffsnuffy]

[bobhappy] Does anyone out there know the best place to get balsa or bass wood to make your own top water lures? With the rising cost of manufactures lures, I feel it may be cheaper to make my own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. [fishon]
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[bytebull]

I made a few ... never worked out, lol.
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[bytebull]

some of the guys here have started their own companies making lures and they are doing well.

but making your own for personal use? I found it didn't work out and cost more than buying some good lures.

wavefishing.com is one of the guys here that has some of the best lures on the market and cheap price with quality lures.

You should check out wavefishing lures.

Making them on your own is expensive and you are the only person testing them. Takes lots of time and lots of money to make your own.

wavefishing.com is one of the members here that has done well doing th at.


I'm not trying to discourage you. You might have good ideas, but it cost alot to do what your talking about.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Making your own lures is not only a good way to save money but it is fun. It is especially gratifying to catch fish on lures you have made yourself. And the fish usually don't care how much the lures cost. If it looks roughly like something they might eat...and it is properly presented...they will usually give it a whack.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been tying flies, making jigs and carving out my own lures for several decades. In my younger years it was mostly to save money. But as my collection of materials, jigs, tools and output began to fill a whole room I realized that I was not really saving all that much. The main reason I continue to make my own stuff is to be able to get exactly the size, shape, color and action I want for specific fishing situations.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can find balsa, basswood and other popular lure-making woods at many hobby shops...especially if they cater to folks who are into making model planes, boats or things from wood. But you can also buy unfinished lure blanks from several online tackle suppliers like Janns Netcraft or Barlows. You can find the unpainted blanks for lipless cranks, minnow divers, poppers, etc. for under $2. These have the rings for attaching hooks and swivels. You can also get prepainted lure blanks that only need the hardware to be ready for the water. They run a bit more but your final cost for a professional looking lure is still usually under $3.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is also easy to make your own spinners and spinnerbaits...once you learn how to work with wire. But that is not what you were asking about.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Don't let anybody discourage you if you want to try making lures. Most of my first ones were simple in shape...carved from plain old wooden dowels. I am attaching a picture. I simply used a Dremel tool to form the body and added screw eyes, swivels, hooks, spinner blades or whatever else. Some radical ideas but I have NEVER made a lure that did not catch SOMETHING.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have long believed that a good fisherman can catch fish on just about any lure...but a bad fishermen often can't catch fish on even the HOT lure that everybody else is using to slay them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck.[/#0000ff]
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Ah - don't let ByteBull discourage ya. There's all kinds of ways to make your own lures and tackle. Depends on what kind you're after.

I'd look to say a hobby shop for some balsa. You might be able to find it cheaper if you look more to the industrial side of things than the craft world.

I'll try to find my stack - but there's lots of catalogs and shops out there selling "parts". If you're wanting to make crank baits - you'll need some hardware too.
Google lure crafting, or making fishing lures. I'm sure some of the sites'll come up.

You can pour plastics, your can pour lead, you can tie, you can hammer and bind. Then there's painting and decorating.

Here's a bottle cap spinner I made just to be quirky. I can show you some more variants of them I've played with. Beads, Blades, Hooks - simple, but they catch all kinds of fish.
[inline "Lil Largie on a CoyoteCapSpinner.jpg"]

[jeremypeace]

I made a lure earlier this year all from scrap. Apple wood is what I used for the body. I cliped the eyelets about an 1/8 of an inch down on hooks to use to hold on hooks and to tie onto. I just tapped them in with a hammer and put gorilla glue on them before I put them in.. Took a cd case and heated the plastic so I could cut it and used it as a bill. And just tied my hooks to.the lure with some mono.. Painted it with my wires fingernail polish and called it good.. Ive only casted it a couple times mostly to.see if.it.worked right and it did just what I wanted it to.. Now it just sits on the shelf.. Any one can make one if they want to..
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Ha funny- guess we were cross replying. Making lures - thought of you - it's like the State Farm commercials. But as you say - he was talking wood, not spinners and lead.
The catalogs I was mostly referring to came from this guy here! Full of ideas he is!

But it takes all kinds. Been thinking bout Wine-Cork poppers. : )

Here was my writeup on making the [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=729503"]CapSpinners[/url].

Tubedude here has all sorts of writeups on jigs, spinners, flies, jig-flies, Wobble jigs, what-cha-Ma-callit-Jigs.

[fsh4fun05]

I make some of my own lures but tubedude has plenty of experience so I just have him make them for me []. Blade baits, jigs, lead heads, etc. Gonna need some more 1/2 oz. Black jigs, ill give you a holler soon TD.
The red hot lead heads were hot for walleye this year and caught my biggest 'eye on one.
I can't help with the balsa wood but trust anything TD says, he has a man cave that looks like a tackle shop and its all stuff that he has made
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[ffsnuffy]

Hey everyone,
I appreciate the response. I am going to give it a try and see what happens. I will post pics, and possibly a video of finished project. When I am not fishing, I am usually sitting at the fire house. So this will give me something to do while there is down time. Again, thank you.
ffsnuffy
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Got a new supply of hooks for your bullet mold and ready to pour and paint when you give the word.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad the BHSH (big hook small head) walleye jigheads are working for you. I never leave home without them...especially in the low water this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You gotta try them poured on my wobble jig mold. The heads zigzag when jigged and flutter on the drop. They also seem to glide over the bottom better, with fewer snags. I am pouring them in 1/6 oz. and 1/8 oz....on 1/0, 2/0 and 3/0 hooks. Here's a pic of some of the colors...but you already use most of those.[/#0000ff]
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[inline "WALLEYE WOBBLE 2.jpg"]
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