Show Off Your Work!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Very cool thread, and the talent displayed is amazing.   The Crankbaits from scratch blow me away, some of the paint jobs belong on a show car.....I'm not sure I could create a piece of beautiful art like that, and then have a mean 5lb Bass absolutely destroy it lol.   

 

Last time I was peanuts deep in fishing, I was looking into trying to hand pour worms.  My favorite bait is a FX series Roboworm.    I'd love to make 4/6/8" lizards that have the same action as a Roboworm since they don't offer a lizard, not to mention their amazing multi colored options.   Couldn't recreate their really cool patented salt system though.    So many unique things about that worm.   

 

Anyways, great job folks, can only imagine how much better it feels to catch a Bass on a bait you made yourself.

[Munkin]

Here is my twist on chartreuse/white. Both colors of the skirt and the paint have iridescent blue highlight.  

 

Allen 

[Bdnoble84]

On 8/18/2022 at 10:08 PM, Munkin said:

I hate making chartreuse and white spinnerbaits but a buddy asked me to make this. It's a 1/2oz on a titanium frame with beveled willow blades. 

 

Allen 

Because they are boring and cleche? I get that. But d**n they work.

[Bdnoble84]

I’ve dabbled with swimbaits/glider over the last couple years. This one is my best action so far. Still alot to figure out as it doesnt have a tone of glide, but it sure kicks and can fish anywhere from a couple feet down to a wake. Going to have to tinker with shape and weight to see if i can get more of a glide. If anyone has any tips, i’m all ears.

for reference, bait is made out of two peices of aspen glued together. Wood was 1.5oz unweighted. Ballast called for roughly 2.75oz gross to become submerged. It does have a rattle chamber in the head section (.18oz). Beyond that used 3 .25oz lead split shot in front and 2 in the rear section, plus another .2oz piece of led in the tail as i had to remove some weight in the front of the back section for balance. Also remove some weight from the front section (balance). Falls fairly horizontal. All said and done with hardware, bait weights 3oz.

[Munkin]

Hopefully this winter I can experiment with some wood baits. I got an A in wood shop about 30 years ago so I have expert level experience in wood craft.

 

Allen 

[Bdnoble84]

we can swap notes. I think I only got a “B” but I think it was a fit and finish issue. Imagine that. My baits have peerrrrrrrffffffeeeccccccctttttttttt fit and finish. ?????

[Will Wetline]

 

- LurePartsOnline 1/4 oz. Guppy-Spin Head

- #3 and #4 Colorado blades

- American made B.B. spinnerbait swivel

- LurePartsOnline Bio-Silk skirt tabs

- Wapsi Krystal Flash fl. yellow

- UPC 210 denier thread sealed with Loctite Brush On super     glue

 

 

 

 

[Baitmaker]

Still making my wood crankbaits when time allows. Really like seeing everyone's work! Most of my recent ones are built for Muskie, although I know guys that throw the big baits for bass also. Here are some of my latest red cedar offerings to the fishing Gods. ? 

[Chris Catignani]

Man...those are amazing. Mad airbrushing skills.

[12poundbass]

All of those look absolutely perfect, especially the perch and muskey. Those are out of this world! Well done sir. 

[Baitmaker]

12 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

Man...those are amazing. Mad airbrushing skills.

Thank you Chris! Much appreciated.

12 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

All of those look absolutely perfect, especially the perch and muskey. Those are out of this world! Well done sir. 

Thank you! That tiger muskie bait ended up looking like a smallmouth hybrid. Mostly due to the profile I guess. Calling it a Smuskie. ? Here's a few more pics. 

[scaleface]

About thirty years ago I had an idea to make a crawfish crankbait out of cedar .The lip would be the tail . I dremeled it out , drilled a weight balancing hole , then forgot about it . Today I found it . What do you think . If hardware hooks and a paint job was added , think it would wiggle and catch bass ? Top , side and bottom .

[Baitmaker]

It looks interesting, and there's only one way to find out.? Either way, you're bound to learn from it. Just try to make sure that the weight is dead center, as well as the line tie and hook hangers. It's fun to tweak your own designs into a functional bait, but it can take time.

I'm always sketching and designing new stuff I haven't made before. Some of them never get off the launching pad, and others do well enough on the first attempt to keep playing with. Here is one of my sketches that I'm working on now. It's a 3 piece jointed Muskie with fins and tail. It will be interesting to see how the prototype swims and getting the weighting figured out. All I know is that the finished product looks really cool in my head which is a great way to start. 

[detroit1]

Dang John, those are beautiful. Those would be going on the wall, not in the boat.

[BASS302]

@scaleface

I think it will work if you put the weight in the right spot.  It reminds me of that Mann's Crawdad.

[Chris Catignani]

[Bdnoble84]

On 9/5/2022 at 2:13 AM, Baitmaker said:

It looks interesting, and there's only one way to find out.? Either way, you're bound to learn from it. Just try to make sure that the weight is dead center, as well as the line tie and hook hangers. It's fun to tweak your own designs into a functional bait, but it can take time.

I'm always sketching and designing new stuff I haven't made before. Some of them never get off the launching pad, and others do well enough on the first attempt to keep playing with. Here is one of my sketches that I'm working on now. It's a 3 piece jointed Muskie with fins and tail. It will be interesting to see how the prototype swims and getting the weighting figured out. All I know is that the finished product looks really cool in my head which is a great way to start. 

I think the weight forward is the right thibg here because you are going to want it to dig down. Are you going to add a lip? Or is the wood the lip, similar to a flatfish. If so i would scoop the bottom front more to a. Remove front buoyancy and b. encourage the bait to slice down through the water column by reducing front resistance. I think weighting the front, having a forward pitch, and the tail having more buoyancy should cause a push and pull effect that creates wobble. I would think you would want it borderline suspending to slowwww rise to keep it near bottom on the pause but off the rocks. I think playing with weight placement and amount is key finding the right wobbling action and dive characteristics.

[Chris Cavanaugh]

Just starting painting

[Chris Cavanaugh]

So made a 2 Inch minnow carved from bass wood with a small weight forward and a north/south rattle behind the body hook. In the northeast we have lake chub and cool water darters with similar coloring and they look like bass minnows as well. I am not sure what the action will be as it has not seen water but expect it to dance. 

Just now, Chris Cavanaugh said:

So made a 2 Inch minnow carved from bass wood with a small weight forward and a north/south rattle behind the body hook. In the northeast we have lake chub and cool water darters with similar coloring and they look like bass minnows as well. I am not sure what the action will be as it has not seen water but expect it to dance. 

 

[12poundbass]

Those look pretty nice. How long have you been doing it?

[MassBass]

Made a 7 ct. batch of 1/4 oz. White/gold flash

[Chris Cavanaugh]

On 9/22/2022 at 10:54 PM, 12poundbass said:

Those look pretty nice. How long have you been doing it?

About a month

[PourMyOwn]

Added a little red glitter to some green pumpkin remelt. 

[king fisher]

I lost two spinnerbaits a few weeks ago, and the Bait Monkey talked me in to making 9 to replace the two.  I fall for the same trick every time, I must be a slow learner.

[Chris Cavanaugh]

On 9/24/2022 at 9:59 PM, Chris Cavanaugh said:

About a month

This should have said about a year. Came off smug lol. I have a long way to go as most are paint jobs still on blanks.