wickyman

Is it just me, or are the lips on those baits thick?! Either way, you painted them up very nicely, and I would throw them, to catch a hog!

As always marty, amazing work! Those bluegill are growing on me every second... The burnt orange one in the top is my favorite, this batch!

I just fell in love with both of those baits... Amazing work! I wish I had your skills... I really like the top one... It's amazing!

Take two tubes of PVC, and cut part off of the bottom of one, and part off the top, and cut the one you plan on making the bottom, only as long as the longest butt on your rod, so that you can slip the combos into it?

Wow, that is some... Wow, interesting art... I want to assume that since you don't want to say how old you are, that you are probably 11. Here is a tip. Use the circle, squiggle tool, and the straight lines to your advantage in paint. I have made some incredible 3D art in it, and I can tell you that they come out way better if you take your time to shape it up!

You do some incredible work, I am jealous of the way you paint...

Mustad is a little cheaper, if I am not mistaken. That is all the incentive that would get me to buy them... Gamakatu is expensive, when there are alternatives out there, at a fraction of the cost... Why spend more?! It just means you get to fish less...

Oh yeah, this site kicks ***! I just found a cool thing called, "crank bait insurance"! I know how funny that sounds, but it seems to worth it!

I feel, that if you are confident in a bait, you are going to stick a lot of fish. If your confidence is low about the bait, chances are you are going to fish it wrong, and end up with squat. I fish my strong points, cranks with lips, drop shot, and jigs, and last, a good old stick bait... I only fish what I know works, and when I know it works... Regardless of color, or shape. If I feel confident that I am going to catch a bunch of fish on one bait, I go for it, gung ho! I have had summers where a stick bait produced 100 or more a day. I have fished cranks, where the fish were either small or big, and only about 5 a day. Drop shot has yielded over 4+ lbs for me! And then jigs have given me a run for my money a few times, where I just broke them off due to excitement... So it's all about confidence in the bait. Gimics are out there, whether or not you choose to jump on it, is your choice. ;D

No, never! I get inspiration from all the guys on here, especially you! You guys are great on here!

are you implying something? :-? Just saying that you know what you are talking about, and that I use the same way... It works best... I worded it wrong, now that I look at it... lol "them's fightin' werds!" lol Nah, wasn't implying nothing, just to clarify with you... I admire your work...

Wow, I hope that is meant to catch the bass, not eat them! I don't personally like it, but everyone has their own taste...

Dave would know, he is a knowledgeable lure maker on these forums. His way is best, but you could always do it the other way...

I believe that the tooth color is related to the fact, that as soon as the water becomes colder, the bass grow their teeth out, so that they can eat the crayfish off the bottom. I remember someone telling me last year, that, that is how the bass is able to survive winter easier. Do you ever notice how sharp the teeth are in the winter, in comparison to spring?!

Best piece of equipment you can buy!

Sexy shad is a color, made famous by Mr. Van Dam. It was something that helped him win some tournaments, and it's now popular because he is one of the greatest fishermen in the world, so if he can catch them on sexy shad, so can you! I personally think that color has nothing to do with it, but action, and consistency of that action, produces more fish. Take for example... I threw a red craw in a medium diving, rapala. I caught 3 fish around 2 lbs each. I then followed up with a blue craw, same rapala medium diving plug, and caught just as many... I then threw another rapala medium diving, in white. You know what? Same deal, except this time, I stuck with it, thinking the color didn't matter. It really doesn't. Think of the bass as being color blind, they only see shades of color, not hues. They look at everything as being dark, or light, and they are going to strike at it, if it's right in front of their face. They are aggressive fish, with a nasty habit of having a temper! We only get drawn into all the colors because someone else had some kind of success on it... Try throwing forage colors, and you will produce just as many fish, as someone throwing a popular color... It's all about technique...

I like to use Robo worms, in the 4.5" length, in either shad, or margarita mutilator. Just make sure you cast it around structure, and jiggle the line, don't just reel it in. And sometimes reeling it in slowly is a good way to entice the fish to strike, and covers more water.

I seen that. I want to make some hooks with the spinner blade tail.

I haven't tried DN's, but I have tried flex coat, and e-tex. I personally like flex the best, it's simpler to use, and it gives the best results.

I don't seem to understand?! Is it a question, or a statement?

It's an old scroll saw, with a flex shaft, that can be inserted into the side, or you can use it as a grinding wheel, sanding disk, etc.

Move slowly with both the dremel, and scroll saw. If you go too fast, on either material, you will melt it.

My dremel moto shop, cuts through balsa like butter! I don't know, pine cuts pretty smooth for me also, as long as I hold the wood close to the plate, it works quick!

That's true, but I spend a lot of time in the R&D department of my hobby. I can calculate for hours before even marking up a piece of wood... I am an artist at heart, so it's a little different than most... I can spend upwards of 25 hours on a specific lure... And most of that is just R&D... I like my lures to hit the water, running true, before I even paint it up... Otherwise it goes to the box of unaltered scrap wood...

Aluminum molds are much more expensive, but last a lot longer than PVC silicone molds! You can find all the stuff you need at lure craft.