Carving a Swimbait - where to start

[smalljaws99]

I am a pretty decent carver - carving several wooden decoys - but I've never carved a fishing lure.

i know this is a pretty general request, but I want to carve a swimbait for largemouth and I am looking for info regarding where and how to start.

Can someone point a newbie lure carver in the right direction.  Where can I find pointers, guides or tips and techniques.

Thanks ever so much!

[BIG M]

first what type of wood do you want to use.  draw you body profile on cardboard and mark the lip slot and belly weight or weights.  transfer from your template to the wood and cut it out on a band saw or scroll saw, make sure to cut the lip slot first while everything is square.  mark the center for the balast weight and drill it out with a press, if you BPS finess weights it's a 1/4 bit for 1/4oz weights.  that should get you started.

How big of a bait are you thinking about?

[smalljaws99]

Thanks Big M - I was thinking of using basswood or cedar and the size and profile of a smlet or ciscoe.  All the swimbaits seem too big for smallmouth - and they tend to represent forage like bluegills and trout.  I am looking to make a much more subtle swimbait for smallies.

[BIG M]

Smalljaw, basswood is easier to carve but I like cedar for jerk baits.   I would think a 4 inch long bait would work for what you have in mind.  Take a look at a pic I posted in GMAN's thread, top right of the pic is a 4 inch wake bait.  Is that like the bait you want to build?

[smalljaws99]

Big M - yes, that is very similar to what I want to carve!!!!!!

[BIG M]

Smalljaws, that was cut out of 1/2 thick balsa wood and has 3/16oz for balast weight.  The lip angle is 80 degrees and it dives about 4 inches deep.   Just decrease the lip angle to 50 degrees to get deeper and you won't need that much weight with cedar.

If you like that body style, use it for your swim bait.

[5bass]

You may want to PM senko77 or Randall. Both of those guys have carved some pretty awesome swims recently. Actually if you do a search, I believe senko77 had a thread going with tips and progress pics.

[Guest whittler]

Swimbaits can be a real bear to get the action right, much more difficult than a crankbait, the lazy S swimming action is what your looking for. Weighting the baits, especially with wood, is even worse because in a large bait each one has to be weighted a little different for the action you want wether it is floating or suspending. I have been working with a material called Sintra that is a plastic which works very much like wood only it does not have the weight variances that wood does plus it does not absorb water. Pictured is a recent swimbait that I made, basswood. Just PM me and I'll be glad to help all I can.

[Randall]

I started with a pretty easy to carve basic shape and worried more about the action of the bait than the shape in the beginning. I wanted a lipless bait with a gliding action that did a 180 when I stopped the retrieve which depended more on the weight placement and where the line tie was. This is the hardest type to make but I got a shortcut since Whittler was nice enough to give me an idea of where the weight should be in the bait since he had made some musky glide baits. I still had to experiment and make around eight baits before I got one with the right action I was happy with. It was trail and error until I got the line tie, weights, and joints positioned right to get a swimming action out of my bait. It took alot of work spread out over a month or more. Not easy at all. I used basswood and screweyes to make the bait. Now that I can make it and know where to put everything on my bait it only takes a few dollars to make a bait and I save by not having to spend a lot of money on a swimbait. But if I had it to do all over again I would start by making a swimbait with a lip first since it would be easier to get a good swimming action out of it. I really would have a hard time telling you exactly how to make one but the basics though is to get a shape carved then add weight in the belly of the bait to act as a ballast so it sits upright. Then cut the bait where you want joints and add hardware for joints, paint and a lip to make it swim. Here is a photo of mine which don't look like much until you see it swim. I have a video of it swimming somewhere I will post. It has probably caught around 20 fish so far for me and all were good size fish. Here is the video. http://media.putfile.com/swimbait-1