soft cheap homemade crankbaits

Just curious. I come for the trout fishing fly tying realm.
But I like lure fishing too.
And it amazes me how expensive crankbaits are.

So I marshaled a few fly tying skills and figured out a
way to make cheap and relatively easy homemade crankbaits.
They're actually better lures because A) they're soft
(fish bite down and do not let go so quickly) and
B) it's easy to sew in or tie on tufts of feathers
and/or flashy plastic, which dramatically enhance and
exaggerate the side-to-side wobble of the crankbait.

Fly tying is a multi-million dollar market.
But homemade lure making is limited to twisting up
spinners, spinner-baits and putting factory molded
tubes and worms onto hooks.

If bass fishermen found out they could make their own
crankbaits, for maybe $0.75 each, instead of six
bucks a crack.....and if they also thought they ended
up with a superior crank bait, what's the chance
homemade lure making would someday be like fly tying,
with tens of thousands of active participants?

I haven't got photos yet. But I will.
To make a crank bait of any kind you need to
balance opposing forces: buoyancy on the top
side of lure with weight below, so the lure doesn't
flop over upside down....so it maintains a steady
side to side wobble instead. So you use fabric cement
(Tear Mender) to glue closed cell foam on top to
open cell foam below. Slice into the foam and glue in
a diving bill made from a clear plastic tomatoe container
from the grocery store (sand the bill were the glue goes).
Thread a wire through the foam body, so you can twist on
a spit ring at the front end, with loop at front.
Glue the bill in with CA cement. Slit the open cell foam
body and use fabric cement to glue in enough lead to make
it castable. Trim the bill at with toenail clippers (and bend
the wire body) as needed to tune the lure, so it tracks in
a straight line. Sew in Crystal Flash, Marabou, etc,
to give it a wafting tail and side fins.

Costs less than a buck. You can make shallow wide wobblers
or deep diving vibrators. Would you want to make these?

Should I pursue blabbering about this?
Just curious. Seems to me like I'm doing something nobody
else is.

"davidoznot" wrote in message
...
Just curious. I come for the trout fishing fly tying realm.
But I like lure fishing too.
And it amazes me how expensive crankbaits are.

So I marshaled a few fly tying skills and figured out a
way to make cheap and relatively easy homemade crankbaits.
They're actually better lures because A) they're soft
(fish bite down and do not let go so quickly) and
B) it's easy to sew in or tie on tufts of feathers
and/or flashy plastic, which dramatically enhance and
exaggerate the side-to-side wobble of the crankbait.

Fly tying is a multi-million dollar market.
But homemade lure making is limited to twisting up
spinners, spinner-baits and putting factory molded
tubes and worms onto hooks.

If bass fishermen found out they could make their own
crankbaits, for maybe $0.75 each, instead of six
bucks a crack.....and if they also thought they ended
up with a superior crank bait, what's the chance
homemade lure making would someday be like fly tying,
with tens of thousands of active participants?

I haven't got photos yet. But I will.
To make a crank bait of any kind you need to
balance opposing forces: buoyancy on the top
side of lure with weight below, so the lure doesn't
flop over upside down....so it maintains a steady
side to side wobble instead. So you use fabric cement
(Tear Mender) to glue closed cell foam on top to
open cell foam below. Slice into the foam and glue in
a diving bill made from a clear plastic tomatoe container
from the grocery store (sand the bill were the glue goes).
Thread a wire through the foam body, so you can twist on
a spit ring at the front end, with loop at front.
Glue the bill in with CA cement. Slit the open cell foam
body and use fabric cement to glue in enough lead to make
it castable. Trim the bill at with toenail clippers (and bend
the wire body) as needed to tune the lure, so it tracks in
a straight line. Sew in Crystal Flash, Marabou, etc,
to give it a wafting tail and side fins.

Costs less than a buck. You can make shallow wide wobblers
or deep diving vibrators. Would you want to make these?

Should I pursue blabbering about this?
Just curious. Seems to me like I'm doing something nobody
else is.

I sounds interesting. I would love to see one of your creations.

I do not know how many bass anglers would make their own crankbaits. Some
do now. Check out Tackle Underground to see what some are doing.

There is a guy who reads my forums who makes his own large hard swimbaits
out of bass wood.

Personally, spending 5-8 dollars for a crankbait might sound like a lot, but
spending an hour or two making one is not a profitable use of my time. I
can make enough money in an hour troubleshooting as a communications
contractor to buy a couple. I do make some things and play with some things
for the fun of it, but not to save money.

I hate to make any predictions because I have been wrong so many times, but
don't think the mainstream bass angler is going to start making his own
crankbaits routinely. That doesn't mean that some won't or even that a fair
number might not give it a try.

davidoznot wrote:
Just curious. I come for the trout fishing fly tying realm.
But I like lure fishing too.
And it amazes me how expensive crankbaits are.

So I marshaled a few fly tying skills and figured out a
way to make cheap and relatively easy homemade crankbaits.
They're actually better lures because A) they're soft
(fish bite down and do not let go so quickly) and
B) it's easy to sew in or tie on tufts of feathers
and/or flashy plastic, which dramatically enhance and
exaggerate the side-to-side wobble of the crankbait.

Fly tying is a multi-million dollar market.
But homemade lure making is limited to twisting up
spinners, spinner-baits and putting factory molded
tubes and worms onto hooks.

If bass fishermen found out they could make their own
crankbaits, for maybe $0.75 each, instead of six
bucks a crack.....and if they also thought they ended
up with a superior crank bait, what's the chance
homemade lure making would someday be like fly tying,
with tens of thousands of active participants? ...

There are a lot of reasons to tie your own flies, and I
tie most of my own flies, but saving money is not one of
those reasons. Anybody who thinks they can save money by
rolling their own is either delusional or discounting the
cost of their own labor.

Fly tying is a relatively big business because a lot of
folks just like to tie flies and catch fish on their own
creations. If there were enough folks like yourself who
liked creating and fishing their own lures that too would
be a relatively big business but I don't believe anyone
would take up lure building just to save money.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Bob La Londe wrote:


I sounds interesting. I would love to see one of your creations.

I do not know how many bass anglers would make their own crankbaits.
Some do now. Check out Tackle Underground to see what some are doing.

There is a guy who reads my forums who makes his own large hard
swimbaits out of bass wood.

Personally, spending 5-8 dollars for a crankbait might sound like a lot,
but spending an hour or two making one is not a profitable use of my
time. I can make enough money in an hour troubleshooting as a
communications contractor to buy a couple. I do make some things and
play with some things for the fun of it, but not to save money.

I hate to make any predictions because I have been wrong so many times,
but don't think the mainstream bass angler is going to start making his
own crankbaits routinely. That doesn't mean that some won't or even
that a fair number might not give it a try.

Fair enough. The cost issue comes up in fly tying groups all the time.
The answer is always: " I do it because I like to. "
I did mention cost, it's true. But I think it's beside the point.

I make my own it because I enjoy it.
I do it because I end with a *better lure*.
And I can make 3-4 per hour. This is pretty fast and easy.
Making crankbaits from basswood takes several hour per lure.
What I'm doing is an order of magnitude faster.

I'll post some photos at some point.
Finally, I write software. So I make plenty of money too.
Making something creative, better and new is the real point.

Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Fly tying is a relatively big business because a lot of
folks just like to tie flies and catch fish on their own
creations. If there were enough folks like yourself who
liked creating and fishing their own lures that too would
be a relatively big business but I don't believe anyone
would take up lure building just to save money.


Points well taken. I posted this same thing about a year
ago and got only one taker, who was Ken then.
I do like lure fishing. I don't like buying lures.
I do think I make *better* lures than I can buy.

I'm getting real good at making fast, soft, diving,
wobbling lures these days. Even better than I was a year
ago. And ain't nobody doing what I'm doing.
Not if you judge by what's on the net anyway.
Yes, there are lots of lure makers out there.

But they're all spending hours to days on each lure.
And they end up with hard-as-a-rock carved or molded
lures. Soft, fast, easily made wobblers is where it's at.

"davidoznot" wrote in message
. ..


But they're all spending hours to days on each lure.
And they end up with hard-as-a-rock carved or molded
lures. Soft, fast, easily made wobblers is where it's at.

Actually I write a bit of G-Code. Drill a couple index marks on my rock
hard block of wood, and then throw it on the CNC Mini Mill. A half hour
later I come back and flip it over. Still takes more time than its worth,
but once I find a shape that works I reproduce it over and over or even
clone it on a piece of stock to make multiples at a time.

Right now I am working on a bit of G-Code to make molds for soft plastic
baits. I'm vacillating between buying an injection rig or making one. I
have some good ideas for going either way.

Can I just go down to Sportsmen's Hide-A-Way and buy all the bits I could
ever need. You betcha, but I want to combine some of the best attributes of
several different baits.

My biggy right now is choosing my base material for my molds. If I go with
a resin block like Bondo I can machine it in two passes. A rough pass and a
finish pass. I'm just concerned about its longevity. If I go with aluminum
I have to make a whole bunch of passes, and most aluminum alloys just don't
machine very well. They take forever to cut, and often you have to deal
with smear, and tearing, and cutter wear due to machine hardening of the
removed particles, but the finished aluminum mold last for a very long time.

So anyway... I think we are on the same page as far as economy. There isn't
any. I also think most bass anglers will go down to Sportsmen's and buy
what they want or need instead of making it from scratch.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com

Tournament Director
www.YumaProAm.com

Bob La Londe wrote:
I also think most bass anglers will go down to Sportsmen's
and buy what they want or need instead of making it from scratch.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com

Tournament Director
www.YumaProAm.com



Interesting. Perhaps there are significant cultural differences.
I dunno. I doubt it somehow.

There are tens of thousands of fly tyers.
And not a one of them saves anything.
I spend 3-4 times more on materials each year than it would
cost me to buy the flies I actually lose each year.

Fly tiers do (what they do when they do) it, because they try it once
and get addicted. Thanks for posting your website link.
I'll check it out.

I'll post mine when the photos are ready to go.

http://www.makelure.com/index.cfm

I was researching something else entirely when I ran across this pretty cool
bait. His finish up is pure showmanship.

Some good ideas on how to make your own baits
thank you
mike


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
http://www.makelure.com/index.cfm

I was researching something else entirely when I ran across this pretty
cool bait. His finish up is pure showmanship.

"Stratos201" wrote in message
...
Some good ideas on how to make your own baits
thank you
mike

The micro balloons was the key for me. I've cast stuff before, but solid
resin sinks like a rock.



"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
http://www.makelure.com/index.cfm

I was researching something else entirely when I ran across this pretty
cool bait. His finish up is pure showmanship.