Big game Fishing Lure?

[PerpetuallyNewCarver]

I have a deal worked out with a relative who is not landlocked. He does big game fishing in a remote area with all sorts of pretty woods I do not have access too and has offered to snap pics of local wood crafts and send me various pieces of wood from the area that local carvers use. To be nice I want to see if I can make some fishing lures for him. Does anyone know anything about the subject? What kind of wood should I use, what kind of shapes. I googled and found a bazillion different lures for big game fishing but a lot of them look like acrylics, plastics, polymers and have all sorts of wierd shiny colors and patterns. Ok since i rambled this long.

1. What kind of woods work best for the lures?
2. What kinds of shapes or designs are they tpyically?

[Eddy-Smiles]

I've been carving my own fishing lures for 15-20 years. I've experimented with a variety of woods and usually end up using Basswood but I have used balsa, cedar and birch... density being the critical factor.

Part of the fun of lure making is experimenting with different shapes. Make a lure as a prototype, then take it out to a lake or stream to see how it runs.

I buy all my hardware at Jann's Netcraft out of Maumee, OH. They have just about anything that you will ever need or want. Rod Building, Lure Making Supplies, Fishing Hooks, Fly Tying Supplies

I paint my lures with acrylics and then coat them with 4-5 coats of exterior oil based urethane. In additon to the paint I also add shimmer, scales and glitter.

If you do get in to making your own lures and have any specific questions you're welcome to PM me and I'll do my best to answer them.

Here is a link to a previous thread with pictures of some of my lures Here..fishy, fishy, fishy!

[Mark Dellinger]

I was going to suggest you look up Eddy, but he already found you. My son carvers lures and Eddy was very helpful.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[Big Barn]

You sort-of asked a loaded question. For the type of wood best suited for a lure, that's easy - it depends. As Eddy stated it depends on the wood's density. For top runners & Poppers, I usually use basswood & I also like birch. For salt water lures, I tend to go with a bit harder wood (no real reason). The key is to be sure you seal the lure completely. I too use acrylic paints but I use a top coat of marine 2-part clear epoxy. As for shapes, there are all kinds from realistic look-a-likes to something that resembles a foot long 1"x2" with the edges rounded off & painted black (a muskey lure). It also depends on what you are fishing for. Some fish are smart (or so I'm told) & your lure needs to mimick their food, i.e., bugs, worms, little fish, frogs, flies, crayfish... Others will say all you need is movement or something shiney. Then there's my favorite lure that is basically made to catch fishermen (not necessarily fish). There are tons of how-to books available. I'd recommend you look thru this site (see the left hand column).

[Claude]

As Big Barn mentions, top water lures should be good floaters, and bottom lures should not. Here's a link for you about wood density: Wood Densities

Water is 1.0; anything less than 1.0 will float, and anything greater than 1.0 will sink. Practically speaking, because of the weight of the hooks, screw eyes, etc., you could probably use anything with a density of 0.8 or larger for the sinking lure. You might have to experiment a bit and add hooks and screw eyes to something between 0.8 and 1.0, throw it in a bowl of water and see what happens.

Claude

[Dileon]

Big game fishing.....like a great white shark? We asked, "Anyone who was willing to cut themselves and then go hang on to the tow line....when they saw the shark, pull on the line." Funny no one ever volunteered. Lure a full size seal.

[AL...]

That would be a tough one to cast I would think Di LOL

Cheers
AL

[Dan S]

Have a look at Amazon. There are a number of books on the topic.

Dan

[Robson Valley]

I carved some floating lures years ago, forgotten all about that. Meant to look sort of like baby ducks, half the size of your fist. Used 3/4" pine. The tricky part was to weight it so it would roll over, head side up, when it hit the water. Just outside a weed bed. . . . . twitch, twitch. . . . . watch for the big, smooth V-shaped wake of a Northern Pike approach. I do believe that big lures, even a foot long, do get the attention of big fish.

[Spalted Carver]

Since you seem to be interested in saltwater plugs I'd recommend going to a site called stripersonline.com.

They have a bunch of forums & one of them is Lure Building.
The guys on there have a wealth of info. / experience.

Usually the saltwater plugs are turned wood, "thru wired" with stainless steel wire for strength (No screw eyes here), wood plugs are sealed to prevent water absorption, coated with epoxy, heavy duty split rings for hook attachment, VMC hooks, etc.

Many builders use Alaskan Yellow Cedar, but there are other choices based on the type of lure you are turning.

Check out this forum, I think you will find it VERY helpful.

Warm up your lathe & have fun. :-)

PS You might like to look at bigwaterlures.com he makes some larger sized plugs which would serve as pretty good examples of styles.