Wooden Cranks

[hatrix]

Does any one here make there own wooden cranks? I guess that's kinda of a stupid question cause I am sure some of you do, but what I am really getting at is do you make them to sell or personal use only. I have been going to the flea market trying to score some old wood cranks and today i FINELY found some. The only prob is the guy wanted $13-15 a pop for them. To me that kinda defeated the purpose of a flea market since that seemed like paying retail on like a 30 year old plug. If any one makes and wants to sell a few at a reasonable price please contact and maybe we can work something out.

BTW I really prefer square bill or shallow running like maybe in the 6" range.

Thanks, Jack

[Fishwhittler]

What exactly do you mean by a reasonable price? I don't know if you'll find many lure builders that sell their lures for much less than $15.00; that's about as low as it goes.

If you're in the market for custom lures, you've got to remember that the builder has to make enough at it to make it worth his while (obviously, this doesn't apply to the guys that build lures only for their personal use and for their friends). It takes about 3-4 hours of work on average to produce one crankbait, so $15 for a lure translates to less than $5 an hour, which is not a bad price to pay by any stretch of the imagination. Plus you have to factor in cost for materials, which is generally somewhat less than 10% of the lures cost. That's another bite out of the lure cost, so the builder isn't making as much as you might think. A lure making business is like any other business: if it's not making money, it's not worth doing.

Something I just don't get is how some guys will pay $15 for a mass-produced Lucky Craft ® jerkbait without batting an eye, but they think a $20 handmade lure is overpriced.

My $0.02

Ben

[Big Bass Man]

Marty Burns makes some mighty fine balsa baits.

[BobP]

Jack, I make my own but also occasionally buy from custom builders. I don't hesitate to pay $20+ for a high quality custom wood bait and frankly, I'm a little leery these days if one costs less than $15 because I know the amount of work it takes to make a good one. If the price bothers you, consider buying mass produced wood baits like Rapalas. They are very consistent performers and much cheaper too. Do you get the tip top, on-the-edge, killer performance that you can sometimes get with custom wood baits? No, but paying $25 for a crankbait doesn't necessarily guarantee it will be a great one, either. And maybe you won't be shy about throwing that Rapala in gnarly cover, like you should if you want best results.

[tmier]

Who makes the best custom wooden cranks? I've seen custom painted rapalas but I don't know anyone who makes their own bodies with the killer performance.

[MALTESE FALCON]

Marty, and John Mills make some of the finest wooden crankbaits I've ever used. I have fooled MANY St. Clair largemouth, and smallmouth with them.

Jack, if you found some baits for $13-$15, you found a real bargain.

Falcon

[jwfflipper]

AMEN to that!!

What exactly do you mean by a reasonable price? I don't know if you'll find many lure builders that sell their lures for much less than $15.00; that's about as low as it goes.

If you're in the market for custom lures, you've got to remember that the builder has to make enough at it to make it worth his while (obviously, this doesn't apply to the guys that build lures only for their personal use and for their friends). It takes about 3-4 hours of work on average to produce one crankbait, so $15 for a lure translates to less than $5 an hour, which is not a bad price to pay by any stretch of the imagination. Plus you have to factor in cost for materials, which is generally somewhat less than 10% of the lures cost. That's another bite out of the lure cost, so the builder isn't making as much as you might think. A lure making business is like any other business: if it's not making money, it's not worth doing.

Something I just don't get is how some guys will pay $15 for a mass-produced Lucky Craft ® jerkbait without batting an eye, but they think a $20 handmade lure is overpriced.

My $0.02

Ben

[jwfflipper]

Does any one here make there own wooden cranks? I guess that's kinda of a stupid question cause I am sure some of you do, but what I am really getting at is do you make them to sell or personal use only. I have been going to the flea market trying to score some old wood cranks and today i FINELY found some. The only prob is the guy wanted $13-15 a pop for them. To me that kinda defeated the purpose of a flea market since that seemed like paying retail on like a 30 year old plug. If any one makes and wants to sell a few at a reasonable price please contact and maybe we can work something out.

BTW I really prefer square bill or shallow running like maybe in the 6" range.

Thanks, Jack

Where did you go, Rogers?

[Stringjam]

I briefly carved and painted some cranks a good while back, and if it taught me one thing, it's that I would never want to do it for a living (unless I had a $20,000 duplicator...and even then, painting, drilling, weighting, and making / mounting hardware is still time consuming.)

$20-$25 is totally reasonable and anything under that, IMO is a bargain for hand-made cranks.

There are some killer crankbait makers on this forum, and some of the most productive cranks I own were made by them. Marty Burns and John Mills immediately come to mind. Bob Padgett unfortunately doesn't make his baits for sale.....I say unfortunately because that guy knows how to make some totally sick cranks.

[IneedAnewScreenName-e8ew]

I briefly carved and painted some cranks a good while back, and if it taught me one thing, it's that I would never want to do it for a living (unless I had a $20,000 duplicator...and even then, painting, drilling, weighting, and making / mounting hardware is still time consuming.)

$20-$25 is totally reasonable and anything under that, IMO is a bargain for hand-made cranks.

Agreed hand making wood cranks at a rate that allows for reasonable distribution is a huge task, and forget making $$, its a labor of love... That said, whatever $$ a bait maker asks for his craftsmanship and art is up to him, why question it, just show your appreciation and purchase a few of the finer made ones, they can be fish magnets when other store shelf baits fail...

That said, when looking for a buy on decent wood baits check out the bass board classifieds and also auction sites, educate yourself to which makers baits are worth the price and hunt around, there are buys to be had...

Good Fishing!

Herman

[Munkin]

Like others have mentioned these things take a lot of skill to make. Actually I am suprised that they do not cost more than they do? I spoke to Brent Chapman when he gave a siminar at the Timonium show and he showed my the baits he uses. One of the baits was a custom Bagely square bill looking bait that he said cost $50. Not only did this bait cost $50 but he said the guy had a waiting list if you wanted to buy one.

Allen