lure making diaries: skinny smelt

Mikko (aka Solarfall Baits) is at it again carving up a storm and pouring a new slim shad lure while cracking a few jokes, all good stuff.

Making a soft plastic lure from start to fish

Well it has been a while and I have been off in search of myself and found a tall fat guy wearing a beard so decided to come back for bit. This is my latest video

Solarbaits making a gizzard shad glide bait

As the summer ends in the northern hemisphere and the nights get a little longer and days a little wetter (if you live in Britain) it is time to settle down to a good movie and they don't come much better than this if your a bit of bait freak like me.

vlog 6, Swimbait Diaries Joints and Ireland

I finally managed to find some fish with a little help from my friends.

Vlog 3 and 4

There they are blood, sweat and dust, but it is moving forward at a snail's pace

Tank Tuesday BRKT a swimbait that will bite you

I remember the first time I saw this lure, you know when something is so good you have to pause for a little while and just say dam, and then pause some more and say dam again, and then a few more times until your tea gets cold. This is from BRKT baits of France it is a couple of years old but very fresh, dam it is good (I have said it again). Check out his blog for more dam fine originals http://bait-et-mechant.over-blog.com/ , Vive la France !

That Japanese Amish Swimbait

Some baits just do the business, they work because of craftsmanship, attention to detail, technical ability and some baits are a pile of shit but work anyway.

Tank Test Tuesday Pesca Hecha en Casa

This a little of both, construction of a soft plastic swim bait and in the test tank later, from Mexico. He also runs a great blog http://pescahechaencasa.blogspot.mx/ with lots more videos, templates and other fishing information.

Test Tank Tuesday Gaudo's Trout Swimbait

It is not often I get stopped in my tracks by something; the last time was a tranquilizer dart and a case of mistaken identity, although as a species we are closely related to the gorillas, someone believed I was a little more closely related than most.

So to Gaudo a lure maker from Lithuania. It is not often I use the acronym WTF as I am probably too old, but I defy you to watch this video and not find yourself using it as well. Sometimes words are just a little superfluous, so go check out his Facebook page and pack some more WTF’s you will need them. Link to Gaudo's Facebook

Drinks Can Vibe Lure

I often start a lure project with a big idea and then try to bolt ahead to the finish without paying too much attention to the details. This is great for quick prototypes but almost useless if I want them to last longer than a few chucks into pond. So this vibe lure is about the details for me, the real lure or big idea I want to make is a swimbait with a polycarbonate core but my main experience with polycarbonate comes from making minnow lips rather than anything structural.  Using polycarbonate as the lure body has put me on a really steep learning curve. It is an unbelievably strong material with a high impact resistance but a bit of a pain in the arse to drill and needs a bit of work to bring the edges up to a shine.

 Using the drinks can was something I thought about for a while; normally aluminium cans are coated internally with varnish which makes for a better surface for the glue to bond to than aluminium. Having pre-coloured and protected finishes also saves a bit of time.  So this was a bit of fun which really worked on the canal perch even if I didn’t catch anything bigger than a handful I mean a finger full. 

link to template

Birth of a swimbait

Image Above: Mackerel swim bait drawings 

I seem to be in the mist of at least half a dozen new (new to me) lure building projects at the moment and wondering which one to make a video out of or if I will every go fishing again to catch fish rather than to test prototypes. So far, ahead of the pack is a swim bait I am working on which is a first for me and I am quickly learning it is all about the joints so rather than try and construct something from wire I am experimenting with a polycarbon chassis and hinges with a balsa body or maybe foam. The trouble with experimenting is it often leads to other places and the original lure gets lost so I am trying to concentrate and also simplify some of the my more ridiculous ideas.  Eventually I hope to make a lure that looks like a mackerel and I can finally use if I ever get to do any sea bass fishing.  

Image Below: First attempt to make a polycarbon lure chassis, (a little rough)  

Making Jointed Sand Eel Lures

Making Jointed Sand Eel Lures, The Movie.

This is what I get up to when honest folk are in bed.