My latest lure creation

[4weightfanatic]

I've been doing a bit of lure carving lately and today got the bug and came up with this creation. I was aiming for a shallow diver somewhere around 3 feet and around the 50-60 mm length so using some 25 mm square balsa wood I got carving and sanding. Once the desired shape was met I twisted up three eyelets using 1mm stainless steel game wire. The wire twists ended around 20 mm in length. I know 5 min epoxy isn't the most desirable epoxy but was all I had so I epoxied the eyes in making sure they were aligned right. After giving it a good half hour I started the paint job using some high quality acrylic paint. A white base coat/sealer was used first then the top colours followed. About three quarters of an hour later I mixed up some 5 min epoxy with silver and pearl glitter mixed in and gave it a thick coat. This was left for a couple of hours having my evening meal and then after dinner I stuck on some 7 mm holographic fly eyes coating them with epoxy. I pretty happy the lure was finished from go to woh in one day. The only defects were a couple of air bubbles rising after coating with epoxy probably 'cause I didn't give the lure alot of time between coats. I don't think the bass will mind as the plan is for them to eat it not look at it. . Cheers Pat

[4weightfanatic]

Here's one I made a while ago (years) and only got the chance to first use it on the bass this season. First cast it was taken by a Spangled Perch so then I turned on the video camera and after about 5 mins of casting to some distant lily pads it was smashed by a bass around 25 cm. I can't believe how much water a small bass can displace pulling drag suggesting a much bigger fish. The lure has a very short bib mainly to give the lure a side to side action rather than diving but it will dive to about 6 inches having a nice wiggle when worked like a top walker lure. I've dubbed the lure Shallow Hal after the hilarious movie with Jack Black. Cheers Pat.

[4weightfanatic]

Got my first fish on the new lure yesterday a bass around 40 cm and a nice cod that pulled the yak around a bit. Not what I was targetting but a nice bycatch which was quickly photographed and released to swim back to his snag. This was a real test of the lures strength especially the eyelets being epoxied in soft balsa. I was a little pleased with myself and hardly tried to fish with any real determination for the rest of the session sure it couldn't get any better. Cheers Pat.

[Bracey]

Great stuff Pat, very rewarding catching fish from your own creatioins.

[Fitzy]

Awesome effort mate. 

I can't remember the last fish I caught on a lure I made. Never enough time for fishing these days let alone any carving time....

That one should go straight to the pool room.

[4weightfanatic]

Cheers Dave and Fitzy I was so relieved that the treble didn't get the cod in the eye as that would have broke my heart. I carved up another one last night a little shorter with only one treble but are taking a bit more time between coats of paint. This one will be a deeper diver than the first with a little weight in the tail to assist casting. Cheers Pat.