Facepalmmaster

You must forgive me, i'm pretty new to fishing and tacklemaking, i'm not even close to understanding how to do it, it now seems more difficult. I'm not sure how the ballast would be put on/in the lure. If I decided to make a popper, would I need a ballast too? And were you saying that maple/oak would be good for lipless cranks, or balsa? I'm pretty much broke, so I can't buy the hooks, hook hangers, paints, and finish while also having to buy the wood, unless I can find a piece I need that's cheap. I also need to be able to find it. I looked online at ACMoore and could only find "basswood", which I'm not sure will work. Even If I dont need to buy the wood, i'm not even sure Ill be able to get the finish or hooks and stuff. I can't drive yet, so i'm not in control of where i go. Im confused, can you help me out?

I dont really get that a lot, I don't fish a lot outside of the one lake I go to (I work at that dock) because I cant, and that lake is harsh. We've gone through many lures, but none have caught us many fish, the only thing that really works is a live, smallish bluegill caught at the lake. And most of the fishing we do there is sight fishing (you'd understand why If you saw the lake) or sometimes we'll spot something getting hit and pitch the sunny over to that spot (that's how I caught a nice three pounder today), so it's only really a matter of the hook not getting in the fishes mouth, which I imagine is just as bad as missing a hit, like on friday when I had an 8 pounder right in front of me that swallowed the fish and fought with me, only to let go. I hate that

Arent there other lipless baits I can make from wood? I've heard of spooks and some of those football shapes ones, would those be as difficult, and also arent there poppers? And what is a ballast?

I've recently taken interest in trying to make my own lures. The only problem is that I have no money to spend on extra materials except for treble hooks and the little circles I would need for the hooks. I have wood and a knife, so I was wondering if there was anything I could make out of that. I can also get paint, although I'd have to see if I could get the finish. The wood I would be using would be maple (or oak), would that work? And other than that, the only question I would have is what kind of finish should I use?

None taken, even if you were saying I was doing something wrong, I wouldn't be offended, I'm sorta new to this. Anyway, I have tried many lures, some several ways. My Rapala Original Floater I've been trying a lot, I have done a quick, steady retrieve, a slow steady, and a pausing retrieve. I have tried my Hula Popper several times, sometimes letting it sit for longer or shorter times (can't have a lot of variation in those). I have tried my Yum Dingers, letting it sit a little in wacky, texas, and backwards rigging, giving it some twitches, everything. I've even used a rage tail toad, trying a slow steady retrieve, letting it sink a little, and a fast retrieve. And that's only what I'VE done, my friend has been fishing for many more years than me and has been fishing this lake at least two or three years more. He's tried EVERYTHING, and the only thing that seems to consistently catch us fish are the sunnies we catch. He has floaters, sinkers, soft plastics, all kinds of things. I'm not even sure if theres anything that will work, that lake is EXTREMELY weedy (has lots of weeds growing from the bottom, not like the weeds on the edges of lakes) which makes it almost impossible to fish sinking crankbaits or other lures that aren't weedless. I don't think there's another lake like it, my friend and I call it a freak lake. If you know some other way of presenting the lures we have that could actually catch some fish, please let me know, I want to get used to lures instead of live bait.

That's what I thought, thanks

I caught this sunny a couple of weeks ago while fishing bluegill and I caught this. My link I thought it was just a juvenile bluegill, but i thought it looked cool so I showed my friend (who has been fishing for much longer than me) and he said that he thought it was a bluegill crappie hybrid, which could be possible in that lake since we've caught crappie there before. I'm still not convinced, but I figured I should ask someone with a little bit more angling knowledge.

So I've asked this to many people but none of them know what to do since they have never looked at this part of the reel. I took apart the bail part of the reel, and when I did the bail spring and a little metal bar came out. Now i've gotten it so that I figured out were the spring goes but when I look at the diagram of my newest reel and when I look inside my other one, it doesnt help me. The reel works without the metal bar expect that it now spins both ways regardless of the switch on it. Where I think it's supposed to go, it doesn't fit. It's a VERY simple spinning reel (combo was about 30 dollars, made by rapala), but I would like to get it working again so that i can use both my freshwater rods together sometime. If someone could tell me how to do it or even take pictures of putting together a similar reel, i would be very grateful.

I have a Hula popper, and that hasnt worked yet, and Ive tried a rage tail frog weedless and nothing (though the rage tails are sinkers)

Thanks, and I know what wacky rigging is But anyway, ive tried yum dingers all of the three summers Ive worked there (wacky rigged) and ive only caught three fish on them, but ill try the spinner, the lake is very weedy though

Can you send the link again but differently, that link didnt work, or just tell me what they are

If grubs means just plain old worms, i have some 5 inchers, i have some YUM dingers in watermelon (my friend has the 4"), and ive only ever caught a couple of small bass on them. If thats not what you meant, could you please send me a link, ill check them out.

I think my friend has some of those, and weve tried them, no luck

Im a beginner, what does "a black" mean?

I work at a day camp with children, and my job is that I work as one of the people that runs the fishing dock. A lot of the time, i'm working putting little pieces of bread on some drop-in rods that we give the little kids, but for about 1-2 hours a day I can fish the lake. There are many largemouth bass in the lake, tons of sunnies, and some crappie, carp, and pickerel thrown in. I love to fish there, but the only problem is that the bass dont seem to like any of the lures my friends and I have. I have caught a nice crappie and one bass on my rapala original floater, and a few pretty small ones on some yum dingers, but nothing works as well as live sunnies that are easily caught there. I would like to get off of the habit of using live bait, although i never get to fish anywhere else. Is there anything you would suggest for this lake? Things to keep in mind: I have very little money to spend on lures, i only have access to the part of the lake with the fishing dock, and the lake is VERY weedy.