BIG M

I see what you are asking about now. I really don't have any particular pattern to follow while painting. I just start shooting paint and if the bait looks good I clear coat it. If it looks like crap then I prime it and start over. I don't try to match the hatch, I want my baits to be different from the rest to stand out.

Carrothead, That's a good question and the basic answer is it's an example of the different styles of baits that I can build. The body styles are all different, flatside, semi-round, and round baits. The lip styles and the lip angles along with line tie positions are all just a little different. All of these factors affect the action and cause a different action in each bait. Each of those baits will have it's own personality in the water. Each bait will have it's own situation that right for fishing that particular bait. I hope that gave a little insight to your question.

Here are a few more off the drying wheel. A few different ones in this batch.

heyvern, yes those are brass cotter pins. I fold one end over and epoxy in place.

Here is a 3.5 inch 3/4oz swim bait. This bait is a slow sinker and has a very nice action at any speed.

David, pearl white body, chart over the shoulders/back, transp. rootbeer scales, burnt umber stripe, transp. orange throat. You know we don't have secrets. Thanks Eric.

For me I like the lip on flatsided baits to be as wide as the bait in the least. Most of the time the lip is just a bit wider than 1/2 inch. For my fat baits I'll use 3/4 inch stock or 1 inch stock. The 3/4 stock gives me a semi round body and I can create a round body from 1 inch.

I'm trying to make up for some lost time. Here are a few smaller 2-2.25 inch cranks.

I've been down and out the past 3 weeks due to Pneumonia but I'm back in action once again. Here are a few I painted this weekend.

1/16 is perfect for bass cranks. 1/32 g-10 if you go with the circut board material.

Don't use plexiglass for bills, it will break in cold water. Lexan or circut board material for you bills. Both can be purchased from Mcmaster-Carr, look up polycarbonate and g-10.

The lip slot is the first cut I make on blank while the wood is still square. I don't cut any lip slots at 90 deg. If you were looking at my wake bait, the lip slot is 78 deg. I still have to do a little filing on each bait. If you are using a scroll saw it's hard to make the perfect cut.

Check out some of the auto clears at a parts store. You can also use clear polyurathane but those won't last very long on a bait. You will need at least 4 coats to get any kind of durable coating.

John, you did a great job on the boat.

Here is a new bait I've been working on. I patterned it from the Minus 1.

Thanks kb and I'll let you know when it arrives.

Cheap knock offs but should run pretty true. Great to practice your painting on.

Thanks guys M and M, I use flex coat high build 2 coats. String, that's a new 3.25 inch flatside that will be the first flatsided bait to bust the 20ft mark. I just made those to run 4-6ft for a friend. It's the same body style as a bait you have, I just stretched out to give me more room for the balast weight.

Thanks fellas for the kind words. Purple Haze Tiger was not my idea just painting what I was told. I do like how the colors came together. Derek, the only template I use is to draw the pattern on a board and mark the lip slot and belly weight location. I make marks around the baits so I know how much wood to remove. I've been making most of these baits for several years so I know what it's suppose to look like. All the carving is done with a knife and the baits are hand sanded with 120 and 320 grit sandpaper.

Here are a few new fat boy cranks and little flatside that just wanted to get in the pic. Let me know what ya'll think about the Purple Haze Tiger in the middle.

Looks like it should work just fine.

Here is a little mixed bag. Couple of fat boy shallow runners, two flatsided deep runners, and two flatsided shallow runners. Finally some earth tone patterns to look at.

Now that's cool

I've been building baits now for a little over 6yrs and I've got 4 copy paper boxes full of carved bodies that are bad designs, poor carving, and other numerous foul ups. I have no idea how many I've thrown away on top of those. I got lucky on the first bait I built and it had a nice little hunting action. I caught 47 bass on that bait the first spring and it went very down hill from there for a while. I work on my deep diving baits for hrs on end getting the balance, action, and target depth I wanted. You have to be crazy to want to take this hobby on. It takes me approx 3-5 hrs to build a single bait depending on the body style. I will help anybody who wants to get started but be prepared to put in some long hrs with lots of failures.

I use a cheap 48.00 pancake compressor from Harbor Freight but I paint outside in the man cave. If you have a man cave get the biggest air tank as possible and the compressor doesn't have to run very much. I wish mine was an 8gal tank, may be time for an up grade. I vote for the Iwata gravity feed brush. The Revolution is a little cheaper Iwata but I think it would serve you just fine.