BobP

Warranties - I broke the first Rogue I made in a screen door a week after I wrapped it. I asked about warranty via the retailer, told them how it happened, and they contacted Rogue. Rogue warrants defects in materials or workmanship, not user stupidity or abuse. But they sent me a new blank at cost and said they did so because it was refreshing to get an inquiry from someone telling the truth about how their rod got damaged. So, no, the Rogue warranty does not apply to "all and any risk" like Loomis. On the other hand, neither does Rogue charge an arm and a leg for their blanks like Loomis did to offset the cost of a "you break it, we replace it" warranty. Guys, there ain't no such animal as "free lunch". I think the Rogue warranty is reasonable given the prices they charge for their blanks, and their customer service is excellent.

Fishermun's Lurecoat is a moisture cured polyurethane that Dick Nite sells to hobbyists and uses on his company's trolling spoons. Good stuff - very durable, high gloss, thin like a factory finish (hey, it IS a factory finish!) The problem with epoxy on metal baits is that it will draw away from sharp edges while it cures. The edge looks OK but the epoxy there is very very thin and will come off pretty quickly. If you're interested in DN, check out its application and storage requirements on tackleunderground.com (use the search feature in the Hardbaits Forum). Dick Nite advertises on TU and offers a good discount to TU members via his banner ad.

If you want a GPS with map display, the best depends on the availability of lake maps for the water you fish. Most GPS mapping units come stock with outlines of lakes, no depth info, so an regional map card is needed. Lowrance, Eagle and Humminbird use Navionics Hot Maps Premium lake maps that cost $150 per region. Garmin uses proprietary map cards that cost $100. You can check out the lakes mapped and the depth contour interval at the Navionics or the Garmin site to compare what they offer for specific lakes. I use a Humminbird GPS/sonar unit that uses Hot Maps Premium cards and like it. If you just want to record waypoints of your fishing spots so you can get back to them, mapping isn't needed. A $100 GPS with no map will do that as accurately as any GPS. But without the map, you won't be able to do 'map prospecting' for new spots very easily, nor plot the track/drift of your boat in a general fishing area. Consider future needs and upgrades. If you plan on moving up to a console size GPS/sonar at some point (I bet you will!), buy a GPS now that uses the same cards as your future Sonar/GPS brand. Same thing goes if you want to network a console and bow GPS unit together in the future. If those are issues for you, I'd consult with a pro shop like Three Rivers Marine in Pennsylvania.

Those look nice Marty. Kitchen foil? Better you than me! I use Venture BriteBak adhesive foil to delay going bonkers.

Devcon 2 Ton is 30 minute epoxy glue. That just means it forms a glue bond in 30 min. When used as a topcoat, it takes about 5 hrs to cure hard enough to handle and it reaches full cure in about 24 hrs at room temperatures. When you brush it on as a topcoat, you have 3-4 mins before it begins to harden, so don't waste time. If you measure accurately and mix it really well, it is the most foolproof epoxy to use. For topcoating, you can mix in a few drops (and I mean only 3-4) of solvent like denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner to make it a little thinner and extend the brushing time a couple of minutes. For undercoating, you can mix it up to 50/50 with solvent so it penetrates and protects the raw wood. Devcon is a great epoxy for first time users because it's simple to use, levels out well over surface defects, and yields an attractive, durable topcoat with one coat. Using a lure turner after application is best but it's thick enough and cures quickly enough that you can manually rotate the bait for 40 minutes and get good results. I have put hangers on the nose and tail, then switched it up/down every few mins for half an hour and gotten good results. Quite a few custom builders use it on all their baits, so saying it's "good for newbies" doesn't imply it isn't great stuff. One 30 ML double syringe is enough Devcon to undercoat, glue in hardware, and topcoat several bass baits. There are other products, of course, but they all require more equipment, application knowledge, expense, and storage care than Devcon.

Devcon 2 Ton - the Swiss Army knife of crankbait building! I use it for everything - undercoating, gluing in hardware, topcoating. Thoreau: "Simplify, simplify, simplify". Me: if you want simple, just say it once, OK? But D2T gets the spirit of it.

I built and use several each of the Rogue MB664's and MB705's. Sometimes the St. Croixs, Seekers, Shimanos, or other brands don't make it into the boat but the Rogues ALWAYS do. I like their soft but fast tips and light weight.

The prevalent size for bass crankbaits is #2. #1 for baits 1/4 oz or less. Round stainless steel rings from Janns Netcraft, Stamina or BassPro have worked just fine for me. Don't see a reason to get too fancy about it.

Ok, now ya dun it. I had to order some tungsten shot to keep up with the Martys and Jons : No cost analysis, but it seems fairly cheap lead substitute and I want the ballast in some baits somewhere other than at the belly hanger.

I think this is the same stuff I buy as paulownia. One of my favorite woods for making lightweight crankbaits - it's a great, more durable, substitute for balsa.

Not something you can describe in a few words! The best advice I can offer is go to tackleunderground.com, a whole site dedicated to building lures. There are 2 areas of interest on TU - the first is the Member Submitted Tutorials, which contains several step by step tutorials on making crankbaits. The second is the Hardbaits forum, which discusses all aspects of crankbait building in intricate detail. You can use the search feature on Hardbaits to get specific info on any topic.

Body by Jon. Nice! A nice thing about Sintra is that is has no grain to fool your eye while shaping/sanding. I'll probably always be a wood whacker but there are some advantages to man made materials. Next thing you know, you'll be molding baits from 16 lb foam.

Who makes'em? A contractor in the Far East. Are they "just like a Lucky Craft"? Dream on! That said, Netcraft blanks are some of the better ones I've fished. But you have to pick and choose among the offerings of any online retailer. I have used the Netcraft 1/4 oz FG Shallow Diver and it is a great little bait. I can't recommend others because I haven't tried them. Some brands/models LOOK like expensive Japanese crankbaits (on purpose!) but are made with inferior plastic, with poorly aligned halves, stuck rattles, or other quality problems. Even if it looks exactly like a $30 Megabait crankbait, it isn't the same on the inside, where it really counts. Different ballast chambers and almost always the ballast is free floating BB's, not the elaborate ballast and rattle designs you see in Lucky Craft, etc.

I've cut .040" Lexan with tin snips. I don't use thicker than 1/16" Lexan nowadays, and the snips cut that easily. Cut about 1/32" outside the lip line and take it down to exact dimension with a fine grit 1/2" Dremel sanding cylinder. A felt Dremel polishing cylinder does a nice job of dressing up the edges.

I use a Dremel cut off wheel to cut the reel seat lengthwise and then forcefully peel it off the blank. A sharp fish filet knife will cut cork. After the big pieces are off, a single edged razor blade will shave off the remaining epoxy. It will go faster if you heat the handle with a heat gun as you work. Needless to say, you need to be very careful not to cut into the blank anywhere!

Createx used to make an actual chartreuse - yuck! - I think neon yellow is much nicer.

First, it's a good idea to cut your lip slot with your saw when you cut out the initial bait shape, while you still have a square surface on which to base the cut. Too late for that? I use a Dremel with a fiber reinforced cutoff disk. It takes a steady hand and easier if you mark the lip slot on the bait before you begin the cut.

Looks great, like it WANTS to swim! I'll be interested when you get it out on the lake and give the bass a chance to voice their opinion. Nice work Jon.

Darn it! Another guy servicing his reels instead of selling them on Ebay. You are depriving me of my main source of cheap "almost new" baitcasters!

idlov, I agree 100% about recording how you build crankbaits. Believe it, after a few crankbaits you will never remember exactly how you built #2, what kind of wood you used, how much ballast and where, how you undercoated it, or how much it weighed when finished. Even what color pattern it was, if you give it away to someone. And if you are developing a design, that info is gold - it will save you untold hours. Buying a $20 digital scale was one of the first, and certainly the biggest improvement I made in building crankbaits as a hobby.

A friend who molds baits from Alumite/microballoons temporarily mounts lips with a dab of hot melt glue for testing. Guess you could do the same with the ballast. The finish will not add much weight to the finished crankbait, maybe .05 oz. I haven't tried hot melt on wood baits though, don't know if it would come back off as easily.

I use Loctite as well other brands. As far as glue strength for installing hardware, any epoxy glue will work just fine. The only reservation I have with quick cure epoxies (Loctite or Devcon 5 Minute) is they will turn brown over time. So you don't want any on the outside of the finished lure where it will show - like around the lip slot, for instance. That's why I use Devcon Two Ton to install lips. But for gluing in ballast weights, hook hangers, or joining bait halves on cranks with thru-wire construction, quick cure epoxy works fine.

Sintra is a type of board used for sign making. Mostly you have to get it at sign making shops. You might luck into some scrap pieces for free. Jon - I know where Marty is coming from - I thought the line tie looked a little close to the nose, too. But the closer you can get it without the bait becoming uncontrollable, the better for action, so it's worth a try! I have a couple of P-20's and the line tie seems slightly further out on the lip. The P-20 lip also has a down angle of about 10 degrees, plus a lead plug. And of course, the P-20 is a balsa bait. Can't really compare them to other baits but I do like that lip shape.

Jon, you're experienced fishing crankbaits so I'm sure you'll be able to float test yours and get it "perfect". Knowing what you want is the most important step. An advantage of Sintra is you know its density and that won't change no matter how many baits you build from it. Basswood is nominally 23 lbs/cu ft, paulownia 18 lbs/cu ft (same as hardest grade balsa), and every batch will vary. Just one of the "charms" of wood crankbaits.

I tried it once on an all metal reel with rattle cans of Duplicolor auto paint and clearcoat. Looked great! For about a month, then it began to get scratches and chips. I don't think anything replaces a factory finish. Were I to do it again, I'd go with a catalyzed 2 part auto clearcoat to get some durability. I sanded to clean metal, used an auto primer, 2 light coats of paint, 2 light coats of clear.