DBatey

I don't have time to carve the bodies anymore, so i buy them. They do not have the lip slots cut or any weighting, which is where the "magic" lies in a good wooden bait anyway so I don't mind. I know what you mean about the non painted wooden baits, I took one a few years ago to test out and it was the best producer of the day, I caught 20-30 fish on that thing, unfortunately I also lost it near the end of the day lol.

These little guys are ready to paint, I only made 2 the first time i made these. Its not the prettiest of baits, so I kept one and gave one to a friend. I have been doing extremely well on mine, and last week my buddy asked for more the so I decided to make another batch. They will all get paint in the next few days and i'll post them completed.

Thats begging to be fished with a hollow bodied frog!

Larger baits can only do so much for you, its more about getting the bait in front of the right size fish.

#1 is a fluke for me, for more than 1 fish chasing at a time that is. If its single fish chasing then I tend to have better luck throwing a vibration bait at them.

with the water being so muddy (8-12 inches of visibility) i would say try some of the basics for muddy water... a saftey pin style spinnerbait with a medium to large single colorado blade ..... a shallow running rattling crankbait, such as a Mann's baby 1- (very good from shore as it only goes 1 foot or less) ............ and a large jig with a plastic craw trailer around any objects/cover you can find (maybe black and blue, or anything dark) With the water being so muddy the fish are probably not going to be very deep so you need to be very stealthy as you go along the bank, and also make most of your casts parallel to the bank instead of casting to the middle all of the time. with 8-12 inches of visibility the fish will be feeding primarily by sound and their lateral lines. They will be able to find larger, louder items easier. Most of the time in muddy water a steady retrieve is best because the fish can home in on the sound/pressure waves of the lure. If you are pausing your crankbait a lot, every time you do the fish loses contact with it (a great thing to do though if the water is clearer and they are feeding visually) If you have cover to fish, let the jig fall to the bottom, and dead stick it for a little while maybe moving it slightly, but give the fish time to find it before making another cast. Repeated casts to the same piece of cover are often also necessary in muddy water to trigger a strike as well, with any lure your using. Good luck!

its a nice frog to show the fish something different from time to time. I've caught some really nice fish on mine, I was worried about the single hook when I got it, but the hookup ratio is fine.

In higher wind situations it can more productive to just fish a subsurface lure such as a spinnerbait, shallow crankbait or jerkbait. If they will still hit your topwater and they are not missing it with high frequency, as can happen in high wind as well, by all means stay on top. As mentioned above larger baits, walking baits, and baits that follow a straight steady line can be best as they give an easier target to the fish who have the added up and down movement to contend with in the waves. Like anything else, experiment, let the fish tell you what they are willing to do.

love the bottom one!

killer!

love the eye on the top one

Now I just have to wait on the clear to cure so I can test them out

both the subwart and the baby 1- are both excellent baits for the range of less than one foot. Some of the baits mentioned above run 4 feet deep, you can make them stay below a foot but your sacrificing speed and sometimes you need speed for a reaction strike.

looks like something from reaction strike or akita, I would say its made in China based on the way its made.

I generally, start with no pauses if the water is very warm, and long pauses if its very cold. Like you said let the fish tell you what to do on any given day, but it seems water temperature is a good way to get an idea where to start.

Jerry, If i made more of them I would make a jig to hold the baits the same each time, but since I only get to make balsas every so often I just hold them freehand to saw the slot. If i get a bad one I just toss it. I just painted them all tonight, i'll clear coat them tomorrow and get pictures up when they dry.

Thanks, I use a scroll saw for the lip slot

I buy the bodies already formed, but cut the lip slot and drill for the weighting myself. I do not use through wire these days because of time constraints, but I epoxy all of my hardware in place so the balsa will give before anything comes out. I normally use twisted SS wire instead of screw eyes, but I didn't have any on hand for this batch. Tonight I applied a coat of Devcon to them tomorrow they will be ready for a paint job. I will update with pictures when they are painted.

A few balsa baits, they are ready for sealing so i can paint them.

you acknowledged that the DD22 doesnt go to 22 feet, the same goes for the DD14, I throw them when I want a big bodied bait for the 8 to 10 foot range.

It was so bad that they redesigned it, but they were so worried the name "vanish" would haunt the new product that Berkley 100% fluorocarbon was born. The 100% flouro is amazingly good, but I wouldn't fly my worst kite on Vanish and still wonder why they have not stopped making it. Vanish gets a -10 rating from me, while the Berkley 100% flouro gets a 10.

I love their shallow clone of the RC 1.5. The only thing missing is a model that does not rattle. I use the H20 any time i want the rattle and a real RC when I don't. I had a 4 fish limit over 18 lbs two years ago on one of them in a local tournament, and I have been convinced of its worth since then.

I have seen some really good work before with spray paint, a lot of the secret to that is using stencils, and learning to control the spray. You can still use Devcon 2 ton epoxy for the topcoat (must have a drying wheel, or at least mimic one by hand)

Shallow favorite : Lucky Craft RC 1.5 Mid favorite: Rapala DT 6 Deep favorite: Norman DD22 (if I keep catching fish on the Spro Lil John DD it might overtake it soon)

haha i like the catfish