Attempt at Fishing Lures

[Midnight Carver]

These are my first attempts at making fishing lures. My brother asked for some for Christmas, so I made a set for him, my dad and myself. They are basically spray painted, but the eyes and stripes on the green one were hand painted with acrylics. Then they were clear coated with waterproof epoxy.
Since my brother asked for them, I thought he deserved something a little "special" so the figure is a rough charicature of him (I made sure to emphasise the things I know will get under his skin). I'm calling that one the "Jerkbait" We get along great so he'll find the humor in it.
They float, but I guess I just have to wait until spring to see it how they swim. Thanks for looking

Eric

[Tom Ellis]

Those are fantastic Wayne, Your brother ought to really get a kick out of ol Jerkbait. Tooo funny. It is going to be a shame to see teeth marks all over them.

Tom

[fly fisher]

Those are really cool Eric. How did you connect all the fittings together?

[TexasSteve]

Great job on those lures. Love the "jerk bait" too. Excellent paint job as well. I bought a carving fishing lure boo and plan to try it over the winter for spring fishing.

[toycarver]

Those are pretty cool! The one you made your of/for your brother is going to be a hit. I am amazed at how shiney the waterproof epoxy makes them.

[Midnight Carver]

Tom - if they work well enough that teeth marks get to be a problem, I will happily make them again ;-) From what I've read, one of the reasons the epoxy is popular is how tough it hardend to resist scratching compaired to some other methods of clear coating and it can be sanded and recoated if needed.

Fly - They are all about 3/4 inch long screws/screw eyes. I pre drilled them, screwed them most of the way in, took them back out, squeezed super glue down the hole (needed a pin to push id down), then I addeglue to the screw and screwed it all the way in. I've read that supergluing the threads is strong enough for most fish. Hope to find out this spring.

Steve - there is a wealth of information out there if you have questions, I found some great forums just about lure making - though not as great as this forum!

Kris - The epoxy was definately the hardest part for me. Hopefully it pays off

Eric

[Robson Valley]

I need "jerk-baits" so very badly for my brother. What a definition of a pest.
The carvings? Excellent. What an inspired thing to do.

[Bob K.]

They look awesome...I'm sure they will catch fish! Cool idea with the jerk bait...who know that one might work too!

[Claude]

Nice looking lures, Eric!

What kind of epoxy and how did you apply it?

Claude

[Midnight Carver]

Claude - I used Devcon 2 ton 30 minute epoxy. I just used a disposable acid/glue brush and brushed it on. BUT, I had several problems including:
1. You have to make a lure spinner. It holds the lures horizontally and spins them at 5-6 RPM for 30 minutes, I used a rotissery motor. This keeps the epoxy from setteling in one spot and gives a nice even coat.
2. I used 2 different packages of it. The first package went on easy, but I had a hard time with it not hardening - I might not have been stirring it good enough. The second package had a much more potent smell and instead of a 30 minute working time, would start getting stiff within minutes, so I didn't get nearly as smooth a finish.
What I've read is the older the epoxy gets, the harder it is to get good results and unfortunately I don't know which package was older. I suggest that if you're going to try it you should definately practice on some scrap pieces first and give them time to harden properly before you try on a lure.
These are pictures of the spinner. It is a total frankenstein but I just used stuff I had laying around and only had to buy the hooks. The rubber bands worked well to give it enough tension without having to change the spacing for each size lure.
Feel free to ask any other questions

Eric