Baitmaker

Whoops! Sorry about that. I thought they made them down to 2mm.

Eyes can really make a difference in the overall appearance of a bait. I doubt that fish care one way or the other, but certain colors may add a bit of attraction. If you really want to make a bait look it's best, I recommend checking out Dead Meat Custom eyes. I've been using them for a while now and love the quality and selection they have. Here are a few samples of what they offer. Look them up on Facebook and I'm sure you will be impressed.

Looks great! Here is a video from Mikko, aka Solar Baits, that might help you with some painting basics and making stencils for your creations.

Watching Marlings videos should help you get a good head start. I really enjoy his channel and use many of the same methods (aside from sealing and installing hardware) He likes to use super glue mixed with baking soda to seal and put eye screws into his baits, where I prefer to use epoxy. You just might surprise yourself once you get your first one done. I would love to see it! And as stated by others, it's quite addicting and fun.

Thank you Crypt! Good to know they are being used and enjoyed! You're welcome! Building baits is time consuming and definately a labor of love. No one that carves baits one at a time is getting rich or saving much money in the process. To me, it's just very enjoyable and therapeutical. Here are a couple of new 3" walleye cranks I just finished.

Thank you! It is very time consuming to create a working bait from scratch, but the process gets faster after some practice. The cost of wood, lexan sheeting, eye screws and/or wire, hooks, split rings, and epoxy are minimal per individual bait made, but the startup cost for these bulk materials can be pricey. That's not considering an airbrush set up and lure drying wheel. Neither are a necessity to make a homemade bait however. I began using spray paint cans and top coats that didn't require turning. Thanks Derek! The line and hook ties on these are stainless eye screws. They are installed using Devcon 2 ton epoxy, which is amazingly strong stuff and never get pulled out or come loose. On my larger baits such as for musky, I will use stainless wire that runs through the entire bait. Thank you once again Deeare! I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of your catches on these new ones.

Hello everyone. Haven't posted anything for a while, but I'm still plugging away here in Ohio. Here are some of my recent wood carved squarebills. I hope you all are having a great fishing season!

Here's a new 7" jointed cedar bait that was inspired by a leopard shark, but with different colors.

Here is a 23" LM caught recently here in Ohio by a customer on the red craw squarebill. It's very cool and rewarding to see what people are catching on my baits. Nice smallie Dan! Thanks!!!

That's awesome Dan! Glad to hear they are working well for you up there. I'd love to see some pics.

And so it begins. ☺️ Great job on that bait!!! Thank you for sharing the pic. It's a cool feeling to catch fish on a hand made creation. The novelty never wore off for me and that was going on 15 years ago.

As old man Burns on The Simpsons would say, Eeeexcellent! ? Very nice work here. Keep the pics coming. Bdnoble84- Those jigs would murderize the walleye up here on Lake Erie.

Very nice Gill Heartland!

Thanks for lying for me Dan! ? And those look good! I may need to help you test those out this spring.

Some of my latest work. A little variety of different sizes and styles.

Thank you Bankbeater!

Very nice Ford! They look pro. Thanks for sharing and keep it up.

Ha! I do spend a lot of time on my baits but still get out and use them here and there.

Some new squarebills and a picture that shows where I place the lead belly weight in these.

Awesome! Looks like you have a knack for it. They turned out great! Thanks a lot Derek! Thank you Rip_lipz! Much appreciated. Repaint work is something I don't do much of anymore. To do them right takes more time than it's worth in most cases.

Another pic outside. Hard to get a good shot of the gold pearl shimmer.

Here are some cedar cranks that I'm currently working on. A gold sucker and a dozen new squarebills in progress. Keep the pics rolling guys. I love looking at everyone's work!

Awesome!!! The addiction is not to be taken lightly. Your first fish on a hand made bait is a great feeling and one you won't soon forget. That is a real nice looking lure regardless of how long you've been at it. Well done and please keep posting pics of your progress.

Marling's latest creation in progress is a wooden spinning reel that he is building from scratch. Entire wood frame, arbor, handle, and hand carved gears. Talk about meticulous! The guy has some serious talent. His videos are great.

Sorry, I missed your question quite a while back. The action of any given bait has to do with many different factors. Shape, size, material used, weight, lip angle, lip size, and line tie position all play into it. These larger ones are an oversized version of a much smaller profile that I've built and messed around with in the past. It takes time to experiment with different amounts and/or placement of ballast weight and lip angles etc. to achieve the desired action. Here are some 8" cedar baits that I've made recently. These weigh approx. 4 1/2 oz. Thru wire with aluminum lips.