BIG M

yes sir, there is a Sexy Shad or my version of it.

Bassin, all the baits are made from balsa wood. Allen, get a piece of water pipe to practice on, it will help you with the fading from back to shoulders and layering the paint. Your baits are mostly done, I've the craw details and clear coat on 1 bait left to finish.

go to the fabric dept at wal-mart and ask for netting. Get some of those cheap wood hoops in the same dept and you are set.

The basic principals for making a crank bait are the same for a bait with a lip or a bait with no lip. If the lure is balanced the bait will swim, now you may have to make some small tweaks to get the action just right, but I have to do that to every new bait I make.

great looking bait, I've not tried multiple joints yet (kind of scares me).

Thanks for all the nice words. I paint on the fly and off the cuff most of the time. I can usually match a color that some wants if I have a bait to look at.

Rapala uses Cellulose Propinate pellets disolved in acetone for the clear coat. 5-7 dips in that stuff is a very tuff clear coat. Older balsa wood lures used polyurathane for a clear coat.

4th a new wake bait and I'm sorry for the crappy pics. better pics will be my new year's goal

3rd a set of thin flat sides

2nd little jointed cranker

I've been busy with x-mas baits but here are few I've finsihed. 1st pic is a group of ul baits

Are you asking can that be built out of wood? Yes it can and by the looks of the pic, not that difficult of a lure to copy. Single joint baits are pretty easy once you've figured out how to make the joint.

try windex

Find some old bomber long A's and shave the lip a little and you have a wake bait. That will be as cheap as you can get.

I wish there was a pool in my backyard, I could really test some crazy ideas I have for crankbaits.

fourbizzle and Randall, hit the paint with hairdryer for a few minutes and you can skip the waiting period for the paint to dry.

Devcon will also add weight to plastic cranks and kill the action or cause the bait to sink. Dick Nite's lure coat is a 1 part moisture cure urathane that a bunch of guys are now using for the clear coat. I've not tried that product so no details from me. TU will have a lot of info on that product.

Allen, the baits look great. This will be something new, I've never tried to paint a spinner bait head before.

I think you need to scuff the clear coat before adding another layer. Sounds like you not getting a good bond from 1 layer of coat to the next. Why are you thinning your top coats? You could just brush on two coats of epoxy and have the about the same amount of build up. If you recoat in about six hrs you won't need to scuff the finish to get a good bond.

Allen, I would love to check out both baits if you don't mind. Single gold willow leafs on the spinner baits please. I've got two of you baits ready for paint and the other bait we talked about is just now getting carved. I hope to get them painted next week and in the mail asap. thanks again for letting me barrow you baits for a little testing.

First, you want to make baits better than Big M. I started this hobby about 5 yrs ago and I've only been selling baits for about 2 yrs. I did not feel my baits were worth selling before now. I started with a coping saw, exacto wood carving knife, and sandpaper. I caught fish on those old baits but they are ugly, and I was painting with a brush and water colors. Now I have a drill press, belt sander, scroll saw, air compressor and several airbrushes. Approx 500 dollars in equipment, another 150-200 in paint. This is not the cheapest hobby to get into, but I sure do enjoy it. Now as far as making money, I'm now just starting to make some profit. All of my equipment and supplies are now paid for. But there is a drawback to some success, I've been fishing 2x in 3 months. It takes a minimum of 5 hrs per bait and that adds up real quick. There is some good info on TU like Hookem Down stated, but if you have any questions just send me a PM and I'll answer just about anything for you. I do have a secret or two that I won't give away

Sorry, yes I got the wood and that stuff looks great. It will be at least a month before I can start playing with the cedar. I've got a ton of x-mas baits to get built. Thanks again and I'll post some pics when I get some new cedar baits finished.

I still use mine to shoot my pearl white base coat when I have several lures ready to paint.

I can't remember which brush has the bigger cup, but that's the brush I use all the time. You will love how easy it is to clean and the fact you can shoot 1 drop of paint. I had a problem with my HP-BCS 1 time and the o-ring that seats the needle has a small adjustment screw and I just had to tweak that a little. I've never had that problem again, you have to mod. a small screw driver to get it to fit the screw.

What brand of brush are you using?