Fishwhittler

Finished some more cranks The only problem with holo eyes is that they are nearly impossible to photograph Thanks for looking Ben

Cracked paint, anyone? What do you think? Ben

Very nice! 8-)

Thanks! I got the idea from Big M. He posted on TU awhile back saying that he uses vinyl tape to make eyes and kill spots. Ben

Thanks guys. I'm still working on the pics. These are much better than my last ones but there's still room for improvement. ToledoEF, I use a 1/4" dot of electrical tape for the kill spots. Ben

Here's mine... 1. Black basecoat 2. Yellow scales on sides 3. Gold belly 4. Spray back black 5. Black dot on side Eyes are 1/4" dot foil tape stuck on 1/2" circle of yellow prism tape which is then cut in half.

This is the rest of my last batch, plus better pics of the ones that I already posted.

Thanks guys. iHasPistons, I use scale mesh to spray the scales. You can find it at jannsnetcraft.com or barlowstackle.com. For the eyes, I use a 1/4" hole punch on some black tape to make the pupils. Then I stick the pupil on a 1/2" circle of tape, cut it in half, trim, and stick it on the lure. You can use colored tape to make the "eyeballs", or you can spray paint white tape any color you like. Most of my painting is done with rattle cans. I used to brush paint all my lures, but I couldn't get the effects I wanted that way so I switched to rattle cans. Ben

My latest. Sorry for the lousy picture quality (I really need to work on that). Thanks for looking. Ben

Stringjam, all of your baits are flat-out amazing. You just started painting baits and you are already light-years ahead of me.

Welcome to the addiction! There are several articles on lure building in the articles section of this website. Try these for starters http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbait_making.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbait_making_2.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/lure_making.html C.Boyd Pfeiffer's "Complete book of Tacklemaking" covers the basics of lure building (and any other kind of fishing tackle you can think of). Also, try tackleunderground.com. There's a load of info over there. Hope this helps. Ben

X3

I thought about shooting it but that would have been a bit much. Seriously, I think I'll try nailing its head to a tree next time. I would just cut off its head, but that would leave me without a handhold for skinning it. That was only the second one I've cleaned and it was 20" long, not real big but big enough to have an impossibly thick skull and a tiny brain. Hopefully the next one I do will be a little easier. Thanks Ben

I got the idea for this one from the Daiwa Dead or Alive swimbait. It will swim on it's side like the DOA, but it doesn't have a bill or a buzz blade and can swim on either side. Eye shot I put a hook hanger on the back so no matter which side it lands on, one hook will be facing a bass if it strikes. It still needs to have its hardware epoxied in place but I may not have a chance to do that for a while so I posted it as it is. What do you think? Ben

I caught one yesterday and I took it home to clean it and I had a heck of a time killing it. Anyone got any suggestions on how to kill one?

That is one awesome bait. 8-)

Lucky. The only thing I ever catch other than fish is weeds. ;D I catch lots of them though... : Ben

Thanks guys. I was going to put a hook on the tail section but the fin would have been in the way. Also, I wasn't sure if it would deaden the action any. If I build any more I'll probably put a second hook on the tail behind the belly fin but I'll use a size smaller than the front hook. Or I may just put on a larger hook. I might have on this one, but the only hooks that I had that were larger than the hook I did use were 5/0, and I used a size 2. Ben

Here's a swimbait I just finished up for a customer. It's 5 3/4" long and it weighs 1oz. Let me know what you think. Ben

Thanks guys. I got the idea for the eyes from some of Crazy Joe's lures over on Tackleunderground.com. I'll try to post pics of any fish I get on them. Ben

Here's what I've been working on lately. I call this color "fluorescent crocodile" I dropped the top one and the epoxy chipped right under the tail hook hanger. I'll have to dab a little epoxy on the chip. Tried a new color on these Here's a better pic of the eyes. I used holographic scale tape to make these. Let me know what you think. Ben

I wish mine looked as good as those! I really like the top and bottom ones in the first two pics.

For all dremel users out there, here's a cheap alternative to sanding drums. What you'll need is: A cut-off wheel mandrel, aluminum flashing, scissors (you can use metal shears to cut the flashing but the scissors should work just fine) a piece of thin closed-cell foam, and 50-100 grit sandpaper. Any finer grit paper than that will crease. First, trace a 1 1/4" circle on the flashing and cut it out. I like to use an empty spool of thread for this, as I can poke a pencil through the hole in the middle to mark where to drill the hole. Do the same with the foam and sandpaper, but the foam disc should be about 1/4" smaller than the flashing. Here's what the parts will look like when finished: Note:if the discs are off-center, you will get extra vibration, which can be VERY uncomfortable. Here it is put together BE CAREFUL! The aluminum (and paper) is capable of cutting you if you aren't. I haven't been cut by it yet, but all it takes is a moment of carelessness. Thanks for reading. Ben

Is this contest over? There haven't been any updates on contest status for awhile and it seems to have dropped from the public eye. :-? Here's a bump.

Those are all amazing, I especially like the top one. 8-)