Daren

This is what I am sending WCCT when he gets me his address. I just made it yesterday. It is curly maple that I dyed. I could not get a decent picture of it, in person it looks really cool. That is just the way curly maple is, there is a whole world of grain that a picture cannot capture. The figured grain looks totally different from any angle, like 3D.

I am not a regular here, (I visit but don't post much) but I'm in too.

What he said , still that is a pretty finish job, real shiny.

Black walnut is still prized for rifle stocks, carving and turning. Not all the "yard trees" are good ones, but every once in awhile we get lucky. We have alot of walnut here in central Illinois, I get some beauties 36"+ across. The picture below is 1/2 of the free walnut logs delivered from a bridge job my buddy was doing. I was swimming in walnut that day for sure, 2 semi loads 8-) The picture of the raw chunk in my post is sugar (hard, rock) maple. Good question about how "curly" is formed... nobody knows why it is just a genetic anomoly (some say defect, that is in the eye of the beholder.) Some species are more prone to it, the curly figure. Maples for example may be 1 in 3,000,000 and that is the most common species to have figure. Any species CAN be curly, the odds just are less for most.

senko77 and Kayak_Fisher_Greg you guys asked how I made them. Here it is, a mini lathe. I also use a belt and drum sander to do some of the work. I have a dust collector hooked up to the set up too. I am a woodworker and my shop is too small, the lathe is srewed to the table top when I am not using it I just fold up the sawhorses and hang the lathe table on the wall to make room for other work. Some day I will have a bigger shop, for now almost everything is portable. The most important part of my setup is the swivel fishing seat bolted to a barstool base ;D. So when I am making lures on a nice day instead of fishing at least I still get part of the experience of setting in the boat.

This is what that chunk looked like inside after a little lathe work, sanding and 4 coats of marine varnish... beautiful if I do say so myself :

Well sorta like those, you need wood like this to start Anyone know what it is ?

I'll tell you how to make them, it's pretty easy to make top water prop baits and chuggers too. The easiest way is with a mini lathe ($100 on ebay gets a decent one with the tools) and just start playing around. I know that doesn't sound like the full explaination, but the first day you can make lures like this I bet. Pick up a couple of your favorite lures and with some scrap wood try to copy them, it's easier than you might think. The chuggers you just need a little drum sander to do the mouth.

My "hunting" really paid off earlier this week though. I got my hands on some quilted rock maple, AWESOME stuff, and it was split and stacked in a guys firewood pile. I have been working with wood long enough I can spot the good stuff from 20 paces . A picture can't do it justice.

I thought so too, man was I wrong :-[ , the one I put there went for $.99... I had $2 worth of hardware on it. I could have sold the piece of wood I made it out of to a "ink pen turner" for $1+ I used to sell my scraps to them before I thought of this idea. Oh well, live and learn. The guy who bought it at auction sent me a note freaking out, he couldn't believe how nice it was in person. My problem now is I spend more time "hunting", hunting for cool wood, than fishing. This stuff isn't broom handle wood 8-).

Before anyone asks, no I didn't catch that fish in the picture. Heck I am straining to hold it up, it would have pulled me in. I used to fish in Florida with my Grampa. The back of the picture says 1971, so I was 4-5 years old. The front says 9 1/4 lbs, he used to catch 10+ lbers pretty regular back then. We had a ball, look at the grin on my face. Man, there ain't anything more fun than taking a kid fishing. That was 35 years ago, I still remember days like that. Setting in the boat with Grampa, catching fish and eating bologna sandwiches and drinking Dr. Pepper.

KC, I have been around the boards that long myself. Not fishing boards, I fish in my free time, forestry/saanother sitelling and wood industry related boards are where I visit to learn what I need to know for my business/passion. And I know the kinda guy you are talking about (that's why I got so huffy), we blow them off/kick them out or call them a "troll", a guy who is trolling for business and using our freindly forum as a place to market himself. That is what raised my hackles, being called a troll. I am cool, I posted my reply to try and clear that little misunderstanding up. I quess if I was posting all over this board "Hey look at me, I make pretty lures!" I could see getting called on it. I have only posted in the "tacklemaking" section. Not a logical spot to try to sell lures...to guys who are making them themselves (kinda like trying the sell the Good Humor man an ice cream cone). I don't feel it was unusual to come right out and start asking questions about making/selling tackle...I got the impression that is what this section of the forum was for. I only have questions about tackle, I have been fishing my whole life and know what I think I need to about that, so the rest of the forum doesn't do much for me. Making and selling tackle is new to me and I joined here to learn. I would have not been suprised, and even invited it, if some guy posted a reply saying he has been making tackle for 20 years and I am doing it wrong. I was going to let your last post slide as an apology and move on, but I didn't feel we were on the same page "But I will say that it does appear rather dubious to come right out of the shoot on a forum with posts like this." so I wanted to clear that up too.

Honest and real is I have NEVER offered (or implied I was trying) to sell them on a this or any forum, I posted them and wanted comments positive or negative about the lures to help me make them more attractive if someone saw something about them they didn't like even. I brought them up and people offered to buy them (NOT my intention). My INTENTION is not to have to try to hit every fishing discussion forum and try to pimp these dang things one or 2 at a time for a weeks worth of posting, that is a BIG waste of my time. The truth is I am very proud of them and I like showing them off. When I talk about "Selling them in the future" I am not talking about selling to the guys who are buying them now through word of mouth. I mean REALLY selling them, big time-nation wide with thier own site and really trying to promote them, not just the last page on my saanother sitell/woodworking website. The ones I said I sold were on a site that had a CLASSIFIEDS section...that I was invited to post in by a member who had seen them and liked them. The rest I sold we as a result of that classified ad. An Admin. from another board saw my ad and guys I didn't even know were talking about me at his site and he sent me an e-mail saying "Send me a free lure, and you can sell them over at my site " I greased his palm and sold some there too with his help. That was an invitation to sell on a forum from the guy who runs the site. http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=80305&page=1&pp=10 , here is a link to that classified ad that started the little chain reaction I am talking about. If you want to take the time to read it, maybe it will give you a better idea of how I do business. I don't beat around the bush and talk abunch of crap, I'm straight up. I did not come to this forum to sell lures to you guys, anyone who has bought one from here please respond calling me on it (there ain't nobody...I got some notes from some, but I have not sold them any that's not what I am here to do.) I even waited a couple days before I posted after I registered, I was leary someone would take my idea who was already set up to sell large amounts and run with it. You said I only posted the first note a few days before the next one when I said I had sold some, that is a fact, that is the timeline. I only made my first "figured wood lure" less than 4 weeks ago. I joined this forum to get some advice on making and selling lures. I need to get up to speed, they are getting attention I had not planned on and I was not sure what the to do since this is a new thing for me. I am a custom woodworker and do custom saanother sitelling, I have never made something THEN tried to sell it. I only take orders for exactly what people want, then I do the work. I am not being hateful, but that really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe you got the impression I was a snake in the grass. I am posting this as a response to let you know I am not, and don't like being read that way, just in case anyone has the same impression.

Ronnie, I replied to the first note you sent, I thought you blew me off or went on vacation. Something goofy is going on with my e-mail, you are not the first guy who said they didn't get my e-mail. I did a quick jump around the links, looks cool to me. I don't know alot about rod building so I have to do some more research on what I could bring to the table as far as good wood. The links are a good start, they look great, I dig some of the reel seats and bet I could supply wood that would make them freak. I will holler back in a few days, like I said I have some readin' to do now. Thanks

boatnik, I for sure get what you are saying...like I said I do custom woodworking.(and I live in the middle of Amish country...I am not even close to Amish) THAT my brother is a tough racket. People come to me and want a table built that just to keep the lights on, not make any profit on, I would need $200 for and they could go right down the road and buy it at WalMart for $89.97. 99.9% do just that go to the big box and buy that imported, mass produced junk. The .1% is my market. It may seem like I have low expectations only wanting such a little piece of the market. I do know those people not only buy and buy again from me, but they are so proud of the piece/thier experience with me that they tell EVERYONE the know. I stay busy, I turn down as much work a I do. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree here, my lures ARE selling at my price. I am not looking for advice on how to make $1.99 plugs, I can sell the pieces of wood I make the lures from for more than that to "pen turners". As a matter of fact I did for years until I thought of this lure idea. I had not really planned on this being a big thing, just a way to use some of my great scraps and something to do when my knees/back/shoulder...whatever else the saanother sitell has tore up hurts to keep busy. The fact is I have had demand, and am on the verge of wholeselling just to get out from underneath the "customer service" involved. I don't mind talking for 1/2 hour on the phone or sending 3-4 e-mails for a $2000 custom table...that just don't cut it for a $15 lure.

I have several working models, did you check out this thread ? http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1155650216 They are all the "classic" style, that is by design. I didn't want to get too complicated so I knew they would work. I mean chuggers and top water prop baits are pretty fool proof. The diving crank baits have a metal lip that is well screwed into HARDWOOD so they can be tweeked to do whatever you want them to. I will admit at first I thought the antique lure collectors would eat them up, I found out they had marginal interest in them. They will pay $1500 for a rare old Heddon before they gave $15 for mine, go figure, but that is collecting I guess. I am just a woodnut and the pretty wood does do it for me. I am not disputing your advice, and thank you for it. The fishing forums I said they were selling at are all southern Texas and the guys are all saltwater fisherman, they are just buying them for decoration and novelty. None of them ever plan on using them anyway, even though they do work. I mean heck, you can go buy a $3 plug that catches fish...I am trying to catch fishermen. I kinda geared the page on my site that way, as a "gift for the fisherman who has everything", maybe I am taking the wrong approach, that is why I am asking for advice. No way I can compete with guys selling painted lures for less than $10 and make any money. I am not even trying. I am asking for advice on how to make selling what I am making easier, they sell themselves to the right people. I am just looking to streamline the process.

I joined this forum cause I saw it had a tackle making board. I figure some of you guys making it are selling it. I read the rules and am not going to get into anything that gets me deleted, I just want to talk in general I guess. I need to ask some questions about selling tackle, specifically handmade wood lures. I will start by giving a little background about myself. I have always been in the service business, I was a master plumber for 15+ years. Now I have a saanother sitell and do some custom saanother sitelling and woodworking. Retailing (or even wholeselling) a product is totally new to me. In the service world it was easy...charge by the hour and mark up the material. I don't have any problem selling my lumber I want to sell locally, and custom woodworking is not to tough to get (even though I usually underbid it and don't make much money, maybe that's why it is easy to get :-/) I am making some figured wood lures and am going to start selling them. Making something and THEN trying to sell it is totally new to me, since I only do custom woodworking. In custom they people tell you what they want, give you the money and you build it, pretty simple. I didn't know where to start so I posted on a fishing forum that a guy told me about that had a classified section, well I sold some. Then they guys who bought them brought me up at other sites and sold more...I even had an admin. from a big fishing board I had never heard of contact me and say they were talking about my lures over at his place and he wanted some. He even offered ad space on his site in trade for lures. This is new to me, I only got the idea for the figured wood lures a month ago and it was going to be a "fill-in" thing. It kinda looks like it could be a little bigger deal than I had first thought. What is killing me is servicing the sale, all the e-mails/phone calls and the time it takes to pack and ship one or 2. Some guys just say "They look great, pick out 6 and send them". But right now for a fill-in it is taking alot more time than I had planned, sorta getting into my other hours I could be doing my regular work. If I could figure out how to streamline the process instead of so much person to person sales that would help. What makes it hard I guess is no 2 lures are the same, every single one is different because the woods I use are unique. I really couldn't even duplicate many if I tried, the wood makes my decision on what I can make from it, I have to read the grain and go from there. I don't know, I just thought I would bring it up for discussion and if anyone has pointers I would sure listen. Thanks Daren

justtrying, that little pond is ate up with good fish. It is only 1 1/2 acres, but I have caught 17 lbs channel cats, 7+ lb bass and 16" crappie there. People always ask me "Are there any fish in your Gampa's pond"...I always say "No, we never did stock it, it's just a swimming pond"

I'm not ALWAYS holding the camera, some times I am holding the fish. This one went for my "chugger" thrown up by a little patch of cattail.

YUP, here is proof. This is my fishing buddy (my wife) with a decent bass for Illinois she caught on one of my prop torpedos. I ain't going to pull anyones leg and say "The fishing was tough and that was the only thing in the tackle box that would catchem'". That is not the case, this picture was taken at my Grampa's pond and we are the only ones who fish it and the bass are plum crazy. It is good fishng out there, a guy/gal can set out there and catch 20 of these or bigger in an afternoon. But my lures don't scare the fish away at least, it got this one.

Yea, like I said I have a saanother sitell. I try to use every last piece of the good stuff though, it's not easy to come by. I have a 40x40 shed full of regular lumber (walnut, cherry, cedar...) and only a 55 gallon drum of "lure scraps". I am always on the hunt for cool wood. I guess if I run out of wood I can saw up my desk : , it is one solid slab of curly maple 24" wide.

A little closer shot to show the grain. I may some day want to make these to sell, so I will be asking more questions about that here probably.

Hi, my name is Daren and I am new to this board. I registered awhile back just because I saw it had a tackle making section. I am an Illinois fisherman , I mostly fish ponds. I had an idea some time ago and I would like some comments (positive or negative, I am O.K. with either). I run a saanother sitell and do a little woodworking. I have for years been saving little pieces of "special" wood, cause I knew one day I would think of a way to use it. I make some simple plugs like the old style wooden lures, but with a twist. I didn't paint them, this is raw wood with just marine varnish. The colors and patterns are in the grain, it is rare stuff like curly maple, curly elm, curly walnut... all figured stock. I think they are cool (I am a real wood nut). Pictures don't do figured wood justice, they look different from any angle almost 3D. Kinda makes them look more organic and alive than paint I think since they have depth.