whittler

Always admire your work, incredible craftsmanship.

Blurry picture or not, thats a darn nice looking swimbait.

Can't imagine a warrior/fisherman that would not love that rod. Fantastic workmanship, clean crisp work of an artist.

Man those look great Marty, you are one busy dude.

Very nice work Ben. It is going to be interesting to see your refinements on the craw, looking forward to it.

The only thing I can add to what has already been said is spend your time around the people can help you. Tournament fishing results are great but your words and actions are just as important before and after the fishing event. to any potential sponsor.

Those all look great Marty, but that trap style really stands out, nice work.

Crestliner, great question. This is the kind of thing that requires an opinion and since we all have at least a couple, then we might all learn something. Is there even a dinfinitive answer or where do we find it?

Got me there. I put the lipless baits, trap style, in the vibration bait class. 2" - 12", if it requires a lip to me its a crankbait. I think of it this way, if you remove the lip its just a pretty stick in the water.

My personal take on it is if it requires a lip to impart action, it a crankbait. By that I mean a lipped bait uses the lip to shake the head which imparts action to the rear section of the bait. A swim bait, hard jointed or paddle, swims more like a fish with very little head movment and the action coming from the tail. A more natural, fish like action. Right or wrong, I'm not sure but they all have their time and place.

Gotta tell ya Ben those are some nice looking cranks. Your work is improving with every batch of baits you make. The bass pattern and the holo are exceptional, my personal favorites.

Let's see a pic with a big bass hanging on one of them. Looking good Ben.

Check your PM's Chris. Send me your e-mail adress, interested to see what you have, got some pictures I think you will like too. John

Sure have to agree with the three posters above me, when the carp are spawning the bass are right there. In one of the rivers I fish the smallies are right in the middle of the carp spawn cleaning up anything they stir up.

Carrothead, its all a matter of personal style. All those baits are different types, minnow, flat-side or fat body but they all reflect Maty's personal touch. When you have looked at a few thousand handmade cranks you will be able to identify its maker by those same personal touches. Its the mark of an artist.

Wow, those all look like killers, beautiful as always.

Patrick, do some homework right here. Search for crankbait articles by chris, stringjam, natural and CJ these guys are crankbait fishermen who can help with your selection and are not selling a product. There are a lot of quality cranks that do not cost a fortune.

That puppy just says bass, beautiful swimmer Marty.

Spiral wrapped rods are not new and they do look at little strange at first glance. Casting you will not notice much if any difference but when you hookup a fish the first time you will not want to go back to conventional rods. You will like it.

Lexan can be cut with a pair of kitchen shears or tin snips very easily. After cutting to rough shape then use a file or sanding block to trim to your final shape. A disc sander and bandsaw can really speed up the process but if you only need a few lips simple handtools will get the job done.

Nice stuff there Marty, anything green or brown has got to be killer.

Got some talent there Ben, nice work.

Beautiful work there Marty. Glad to see your back up and running again.

The Paasche VL was my first airbrush and they are decent airbrushes plus parts and extra needles and nozzles are inexpensive. Good brush until I got my first gravity feed, ( Iwata HP-C ) jumps your painting to an all new level. A gravity feed brush is much easier to use, requires a lot less paint plus easier cleanup. As far as wearing out an airbrush I have no idea how many baits it would take, I'm into the thousands and my first Iwata is still going. Be patient and shop around, bought another Iwata HP-CS a year ago at Hobby Lobby for under $60, there are some good deals out there, you just have to look.

It is all a matter of personal choice. Most painters on this board use waterbased paints like Createx, Wildlife Colors or just craft paints. Waterbased does not require a sealed(explosion proof) exhaust system like you would need with lacquer or automotive paints and clear coats, which are solvent based paints.