Fishwhittler

Those are awesome! 8-) I really like how you did the dots.

Thanks guys. Dave, I made a tool that gives the round scale shape. I took a piece of 1/4" steel rod and cut off one end at a 45º angle, and then I filed a concave edge on the sharp end. I can post a pic if that would help. I wanted this pattern to be darker than the first one I did, so I sprayed on the black heavier and did several other things that made this paint job darker than the original. I'm still messing with different shades to get a bluegill pattern I really like. I'm satisfied with this one as a dark bluegill pattern, so now I'm going to work on a lighter pattern that has the same basic coloring.

Baby bass, and yet another variation of bluegill.

Thanks! The pinkish color you see is pearl satin gold under a light misting of pearl purple. The sides of the bait were gold, and when I sprayed pearl purple on the flanks as a highlight the overspray gave a pinkish tint to the gold.

Very nice work! I like all of them, but that first one is gorgeous. 8-)

Here's my second bluegill swimmer in this pattern. I did several things differently, including more realistic scales, additional head detailing, and a free-swinging tail instead of a fixed tail. I used twisted-wire hinges instead of the hinges I used in my other bluegill, and I think I'll stick with these. The action on this lure is much more fluid than my other bait even though it has one fewer joint, and it looks more life-like in the water. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this one. Ben

I caught a 13 1/2" crappie on one of Big M's baits.

Those look great! I like your Bluegill and Pumpkinseed patterns. 8-)

Very good looking baits. Your red craw looks especially slick. 8-)

Very, very nice work. I like the Poe's bait in the second pic and all the baits in the third pic. 8-)

Very nice! I like the bottom three. 8-)

Very, very nice work. Both of those patterns are gorgeous. 8-)

Very nice work Big M. Those first two are very sharp. 8-)

Here's a new swimbait I made out of PVC. 5 1/2" long, slow sinker and it has a snaky action. I'm working on another two-joint bait in this style. I used V-man's joint system in this lure and it works, but I prefer the old joint system I used. On the next one, I'm going to use a variation of the twisted-wire joints, and I'm going to only use two joints in order to have plenty of room for the hardware.

Very nice! That Spro Fat Crank is awesome. 8-)

Those all look good. I'm partial to the two jerkbaits in the first pic. 8-)

Good looking baits there. 8-)

Very, very nice work. I like the baits in pics 3 and 4. 8-)

Very nice baits there. I like the colors on the second one. 8-)

How large is your lipless bait? From the pics, it looks to me like your lure is about 2.5-3" long and the width is around 5/8-3/4". If that's the case, you probably won't need any more weight than 3/8 ounce. If your lure is smaller than that, you may not need any more than 1/4 ounce. Some of the lures final weight comes from the lure body, not just the ballast. On the lipless bait I just finished, I used 3/8 ounce of lead and the lure weighs 1/2 ounce now that it's done. It doesn't sink like a rock, but it sinks fast enough and it stays down well.

Here's my lipless crankbait from the other thread. Now I've got some more baits I'm building with similar techniques including another lipless bait like this one, a smaller version of the chartreuse shad crank, and a couple swimbaits.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words. 8-)

When you build lures, you have to wait for them to dry. And you have to wait for your latest component order to arrive. If you want to make your own lures, a good place to start is this forum. There's a boatload of info already posted, and there are a bunch of guys that can answer any questions you have.

The rattles aren't very loud, but that doesn't really matter because that's only their secondary purpose. I couldn't hear them when I was testing it, but then I wasn't listening for them. The rattle it does have isn't as sharp as on plastic lures; it's more of a knock than a click like on a Rattlin' Rapala. If I got some glass rattle pods and put them in, it would probably give a sharper click than the lead weights do. But at any rate, rattles in PVC or wooden lures are going to be somewhat muffled, at least when compared with plastic lures.

I got the lipless bait tested, and it works very well. It sinks pretty fast, although not as fast as a Rattlin' Rapala I have. It swims with a nice, tight wobble and it stays down well, rather than come up to the surface like the Rapala. I'm going to paint it this afternoon, and I hope to have it all the way done by tomorrow. Capt. O, you won't save any money by making your own lures. I thought it would be cheaper when I first started building lures, but I've spent more on lure making supplies than I would have spent buying lures. I'm not trying to discourage you from making lures, don't get me wrong. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely make my own lures. It's very fun, and you can build just about whatever you want.