Carving Fishing lures:

[flyfisherman_53]

Has anyone ever carved fishing luers? I just purchased book from Chapel Hill. (Making Wooden Fishing Lures Carving and Painting) just wondering were I can purchase some Balsa wood? or would bass wood work also?

[AlArchie]

You can find balsa at all kinds of hobby and craft shops. Model plane or boat shops also stock it in all kinds of sized sheets and blocks.

I used to carve flyrod poppers when I was a kid growing up with virtually NO cash to buy lures. They worked pretty well, too.

Al

[Blake Lunsford]

My friend Frank Fields carves the best looking fishing lures that I have ever seen. I think it would be a great article for WCI or for his own book. I sure wish I knew how he gets the finish to look so good on the lures.

Blake

[RUssL.]

This is from another forum I belong to:

Another Illusion - SurfTalk

Not exactly "carved", but if you look over some of these postings (as a "flyfisherman" who is interested in lures <g>) you are bound to be stunned.
Some of them are truly astonishing...and done by amateurs for the most part.

I believe that Alaska White Pine aka AWP is the wood of choice for carving these lures...

[flyfisherman_53]

Thanks for the input, going to HobbyLobby and Michael's check them out see what can find. Far as AWP doubt I can find that around here in michigan, unless you know of some place I can order some on line?

[Eddy-Smiles]

Flyfisherman... You can use any kind of wood you want for carving fishing lures. The only thing that you need to keep in mind is the density and weight of the wood and the type of lure that you're trying to carve. For instance, a balsa wood lure is extremely light and will tend to stay on the surface. A basswood lure with standard hardware may or may not sink depending on how much hardware you attach. A lure carved out of birch once hardware is applied will in most cases will sink. So depending whether you want the lure to be a surface plug, a diver, or a bottom runner will depend on which wood and how much hardware you attach. That's half the fun of carving lures, playing with the shapes, sizes, weights, and hardware. Other kinds of wood readily available that you can use are fir, pine, and cedar.

[flyfisherman_53]

Thanks for the suggestions Eddy will take that into consideration, didnt realize the actual weight of some of the woods made that much difference, figured once carved down to its size that majority of the wood, would float not go deep unless it had lips on it to send it deeper.

[Claude]

Hi, Flyfisherman.

Here's a list of wood densities that might help you. Anything with a density of 1.0 or higher will sink (steel for example is 7.8). Depending on the amount of the hardware you put on the lure, even woods with a density of .7-1.0 will likely sink.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wo...sity-d_40.html

Claude

[Eddy-Smiles]

Flyfisherman... Don't be discouraged. Like I said, half the fun of carving lures is playing around with them. When I come up with a new idea for a lure I'll actually carve it in a number of different kinds of wood just to see how each one performs on the end of a line. And then once I've figured out what are the most preferred woods for a particular style lure I'll start playing around different hardward combinations, multiple hooks, spinners...etc. It's a great way to kill an afternoon! Almost as much fun as fishing itself!

[flyfisherman_53]

I hear that Eddy, I could spend all day wetting them in the lake and river. But yes I will experiment with different types of wood to see what works best. then the hardware to finish it off with. Do have one question Eddy, Do you ad plastic lips to get it to dive deeper or carve alip right with the body itself ?