wickyman

You test these before you paint them, right? Nothing like painting a lure without testing, to find out that the thing doesn't work! haha Beautiful work though!

Balsa and cedar are both softer woods, and it doesn't take long to cut through them. Even pine, it's quick and to the point! I just need to find a cheap place to get my balsa wood!

Dude, toss it to the stumps! Strip line out, and let it fall, the fish will take it on the fall!

I feel that the scroll saw is the best alternative to cutting tools... I don't know, a band saw seems too much most of the time.

Try this. When you toss your jig out, strip out line as it sinks, this gives it a vertical drop, which is usually going to keep it closer to an object, or structure, where the bass are sitting. If you don't do this, and you reset your thumb bar, it will cause it to pendulum, away from the fish. Next tip, get good at laying that jig in the water, with minimal splash. The quieter you can hit the water, the better, especially in shallow water! I find, that pitching sometimes helps me with this, versus flipping. It's not always true, sometimes we get in a hurry to catch fish, especially in a tournament. Something else, is to match the hatch. Look at the baitfish around the area, are the bluegill, shad, crawfish, or something else? Try catching one of the fish, and look at the colors. Then match the jig you are throwing, that that fish, assuming it is your main forage. If you can match them as closely as possible, the bass will look at it as an easy meal falling. Trimming skirts to make the jig look less full, or adding strands to make it thicker are also going to help to make the bait more tantalizing to the bass. If it's cooler water, I tend to add more strands, giving it a slower fall rate, and give it more bulk, making it more likely for the bass to nab it, in it's lethargic state. Also, adding different larger trailers, help in the fall rate, and adding bulk. Removing strands when the water is warmer, causes the bait to drop quicker, giving the bass less time to react, this causes the typical slam, or reaction strike. Smaller trailers will also make the jig look more like a craw fish. If all that fails, or the water is cold, try dragging a 3/4 oz. jig, with a chigger craw, or your favorite trailer. Look for the colors of the craw fish, only if you can see them. Try finding out what color they might be, from books, or the internet. This will greatly improve your odds of hooking the fish. I usually throw a PB&J jig, all year long, depending on the depth of the water. The deeper the water, the less likely the craw fish have changed, due to the thermalcline. Water deeper down will stay cooler, than the water on top. The only way to tell is to drop a thermometer down, and check. Stay close to the color of forage, unless the fish won't strike. If they won't hit anything, throw them something they might not have seen. Neons, oranges, yellows, brighter greens. Usually it will get the attention of the fish, and they will want to go check it out. Hope this info helps. I don't know everything, and this is all I have learned from the teachings of Gary Cline, and books. See if you can find any videos of Gary Cline, about throwing jigs. He is the master of that technique!

My brother in law has worked on some older blanks in the past, by removing all the guides, and such, and refinishing the rods. He usually replaces all the guides with alconite guides. It's just better, and easier to deal with in the future. Everyone has a personal opinion about it, though. I would definitely figure out where you want your guides, and how many you want, and go from there, as to what size guides to get. Though, it sounds like the micro guides sound best... I prefer more guides per rod, it relieves the stress from the blank to have the line ride on the guides? I think I read that somewhere, but I could be wrong too...

Those are amazing! I love the colors! I am a top water fan myself, so these strike the heart.

Yeah. I was going to be trimming up the excess of the blank I just carved by hand. I wasn't really planning on making anything huge on the scroll saw, but I was going to try swim baits at least. I guess time will only tell.

I was just curious what kind of tool everyone uses to cut out there blanks? I just got an older dremel multi-tool scroll saw. I think this thing is going to be the trick for my swim baits, and crank baits. I was Using a skill saw before, and it was too much work, for what it was worth. Anyone else use a scroll saw?!

Try dragging them, when the wind blows. Drift with the wind, and drag it on the bottom, near points, and drop offs. This causes the fish to frenzy, out here in California.

I would probably get some of those stick on weights, from like a hobby shop, and gauge what amount of weight you need, and then drill it out in the front, to get it to sink at the rate you want. I am making a swimbait out of cedar right now, just started last night, all carved by hand, with a dual blade buck knife. It's coming out very well, the desired shape it about there, but carving it has been extremely tiring, since the wood is so dense. I think that if you get darker oaks, or even walnut in its younger stages, that you can get the sinking rate you want. I would use black oak, or even an english walnut to carve it out. It's going to take a bit more to get those to carve, as they are both some of the harder woods in the same genre. Anything is possible, if you just believe!

I think you did a great job. For a first attempt, they are above and beyond what some people can do. I haven't tried making any myself, as I have thrown a jig maybe 100 times in the last few years... I am not partial to it, especially since our lake has so few lay downs to throw them on... I like all the colors. Especially the orange! They seem pretty full. You could also always go to the ones you don't like, and trim them up a bit, and add a trailer to it.

They look better than the factory look! I really like the dives to series and have caught a ton on the 10ft. shad color DT. I wish I could replace the one I lost, but I can't justify paying 10 bucks to replace it. Though, these would be well worth that, and more!

The prism color is actually a color that sebile offers on their swimbaits. If I am not mistaken, it's a sebile? If you wanted, you could get prism tape, and somehow make it work... I have seen it done with a heat gun and form it to the bait, then clear over it?

This is an interesting lure combination! Thanks for the idea! It looks like it might work pretty well.

Amazing work! Very nice. I would fish those proudly!

I have seen a couple of Marty's baits in person, and they are spectacular! They fish awesome also. The guy that I fish with bought some... They are incredible!

Man, both of those rods look sweet! I really like them! I want to do this on my shakespeare intrepid IM7. I already made custom split grips for it, and its super sensitive, but I want to get some marbleizing on there! That is inspiration, that not all cheap rods, have to live a cheap life!

Resize your images man! haha But there was a company at some point selling these style worms, but not with a spinning outfit. That is interesting. Do you think the blade is going to interfere with the action of the worm?

They all look like great colors. I wouldn't change anything...

For someone who paints with nothing but spray cans, you do a great job... I would say about 10-14, depending on how much time you put into them, and what size they are. Look at baits around the same size, and shape of your design, and try to beat that price by at least 50 cents.

Hey Marty, don't sell yourself short. Could be a new run of baits for you!

I would totally throw that! It's a great looking bait, again! Marty, you are the man!

You can also get creative, and make a jig for bending wires. It's not really that big of a challenge, depending on your level of ingenuity. And you can probably get everything you need, from a hardware store to make it. Being a welder, and wire bending hobbyist, I have made my share of jigs to do such.

Wow, you are a friggin' prodigy! I love that color, you want to sell it?! haha It's nice, I would use that in a heartbeat... Or hang it on the christmas tree, whichever...