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Easiest Lures to Make?

6K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  Rickski 
#1 ·
Hey im a DIY person and i have yet to delve into the world of lure making. What are the simplest lures to make for a beginner?

i was thinking maybe some tube n worm rigs or something, any other ideas?
 
#2 ·
If you're talking wood then needles are the easiest by far.

If you're talking non wood then converting stainless steel butter knives and spoons to bluefish lures is about as easy as it comes I still have one around somewhere that I made as a kid.

(Tube n worm is so easy it doesn't even count as lure making :) )
 
#12 ·
If you're talking wood then needles are the easiest by far.

If you're talking non wood then converting stainless steel butter knives and spoons to bluefish lures is about as easy as it comes I still have one around somewhere that I made as a kid.

(Tube n worm is so easy it doesn't even count as lure making :) )
did you just dill holes and put in split rings or actuals like make lures wit the knives?....
either way tht is such a cool idea:bluegrin:
 
#6 ·
unfortunately, i dont know much about my boats specific history. What I do know, is that it is a 1974 or 1975 model that was used for law enforcement on some river in maine. My brother aqcuired the boat and was going to use it for commercial marine purposes, but decided against it and sold the boat to me for a grand. I had to strip the boat down to a bare glass hull and then rebiuld it from there; stringers had been cracked, the deck was spongy as hell, and the transom was getting pretty frail. Unfortunately, there was no serial # on the boat when i bought it, hence the shady past.
That was all 10 years ago, so far the boat has been powered by a 90hp mercury, and its current powerplant, a 70hp suzuki four stroke. At the end of this season i plan to strip the hull down to bare glass and refinish the whole thing, as well as rebuilding the deck- agian.
Anyway, its a great boat, stable as hell, and it gets car like efficiency at 1500-2000 RPM.
 
#7 ·
I had know idea General Marine has been in buisness that long. I thought Stacy started the company something like 25 years ago. Since he's probably no more than 45 years old, he couldn't have been involved in your boats production.

Currently, the smallest boat he makes is a 20'. But, it's also his newest design....the current mold is only 4-5 years old at most. His 22 I believe is his oldest hull and is a Calvin Beal design. His 26' is the one I'm interested in; Semi-displacement, full keeled, and hard-chimed....she's one sweet boat. At over 7,000 lbs., without power, and a displacement hull, she's no speed demon. But you won't find too many other 26 footers that exude the confidence in high seas that boat does.

His shop is in Biddeford Maine, the next town over from where we have a house. You can try calling him to see if he can provide some history regarding your boat.

Good luck with your restore.
 
#8 ·
ya, for a plain looking dumpy white skiff, it gets a lot of attention. in the 19 you can really sea the similarities it shares with the 26,particularly in the sheer line.

Id have to agree with you about the 26's, they are very nice boats. Ive been out tuna fishing on one a few times and those things feel downright solid in blue water. My personal favorite attribute is there awesome stability at rest, they really dont roll much. And yes, they arent exactly go-fasts, but they get decent speed and very efficient mpg numbers.
 
#9 ·
The GM 26' hull will take up to 400 HP and that would make it pretty fast but it wouldn't be efficient. I think he quotes cruising at 24 kts and full speed at 29 kts with the Volvo 6. IMO, that's an overstatement on Stacey's part, maybe on an empty tank with a following sea.

I think the biggest reason why that boat is so stable at rest, as compared to others besides its downeast semi-displacement design, is because it's hard-chimed.

I'll be retiring next year and our plan is to upgrade our boat the year after to a cruiser/fisher. I would really like a diesel for longevity and better milage, but where we boat/slip, I'd have a 20 mile trip to the nearest pump or, I'd have to hand carry it in, not something I'm inclined to do, especially as I get older. So I've been waffling back and forth between a smaller boat with outboard(s) or a bigger boat with a diesel.

I checked out GM's web site and saw they are now offering a 36'. When I was there last winter, he had just picked up that mold, Northern Bay's. If you want to check out a sweet Northern Bay 36 foot cruiser, go to Yatch World....I could live with that boat thumbsup.gif, but not its $250,000 price tag.

Getting this thread back on track, I use to make my own plugs/poppers for Large mouth fishing out of a lightweight epoxy years ago. Recently, I made up a formulation that I will be trial-making some Striper plugs, needlefish and other pencil popper types. I also have this idea for a jointed swimming eel that I will try.

This stuff is a two part with dry, putty-like consistancy that can be hand-molded (with gloves) into just about any shape. These would obviously all be one-of-a-kinds, since you can't always hand mold the exact same shape repeatedly. But it does allow you to try some crazy design stuff that would be virtually impossible using wood unless you want to hand carve. Once I get something I am happy with, I can use it to make a mold, alter the formulation so it could more easily be cast, then cast it in two halves, insert the weights (rattles - whatever), and bond the two halves together; At least that's the plan going forward. I've only got limitted experience in making these plugs and only for LMB, so I know I've got a big learning curve in front of me. But, it sounds like a good retirement project to me.

I never did the wire-through technique for the large-mouth bass application as I didn't need to and at least at first, I'm not planning to do it here. I may have to play a little with the formulation to get the right combo of strength and lightweight properties for stripers though.

The other advantage is that when cured, it's already water proof so you can skip the sealing step typically used on wood. All that's needed is some weighting to get it to sit and swim right, light sanding, the paint, an epoxy topcoat or two, and your good to go.

Since I don't think you're to far from me, we could meet and I can hand off a small amount if you want to play with it this winter.

Let me know.
 
#11 ·
Yeah, I noticed I made the same typo twice but figured you'd know what I meant. They shouldn't put the "M" next to the "N" on the keyboard because sometimes my 54 year old eyes have difficulty distinguishing the two with a quick-scan proof. Sorry if I confused you with the typo. You know the difference between hard and soft chined and understand why I commented that IMO "it's" the main reason (together with a keel) for your perceived "awesome stability" of GM's 26' on the hook or drift?

Not an expert on boats by any means. Learned quite a bit of what little I know about boat design and biulding techniques from a Maine boat builder friend of mine who showed/helped me build a 13 foot wooden carvel planked sailboat, including the mast and sails, about 4 years ago. I've owned many small boats over the years. But most of what I've learned regarding larger boats and specifically, downeast styled boats, has come from doing quite a bit of research..... talking with, and visiting quite a few boat builders over the past 2-3 years.......in anticipation of my next purchase.

As far as the technique I mentioned for plug building out of a light-weight epoxy, it's not something most people can do because I don't think there's any over-the-counter products designed for the do-it-yourselfer of that caliber. But since I've been formulating polymers for over 30 years, I've got the background and raw materials to do it. I just thought that if you wanted to determine whether building plugs was something you might be interested in and you didn't want to go through either hand-carving or gearing up with a lathe, then you could work with the stuff I designed for painting, rigging, and experimenting.
 
#14 ·
new to lure making...
going to try some homeade wood poppers first..

how do you make the bluefish lures out of butterknife and spoons?and the tube worm thingy?
Just to let you know i typed this whole thing go booted from teh page and lost it so it will be shorter

1.achive your designer either by hand carving some wood or turning then using a lathe

2. I assume a hole on each side one side trebel hook the other snap swivel. (never tried it.)

3.sugical tube (red) with a thru wire (forgot the gauge). hook crimped on one end and weighted or blocker on the other end.
 
#16 ·
Heres the build for ya.:redbiggrin:
Here's what you'll need:

1. 6' to 20' of 1/4 inside-, 7/outside-diameter red or black surgical tubing. Total length depends on the number of tubes you want to build.
2. #4 (60-80 lb.) crimp sleeves
3. a 40-60 lb. barrel swivel
4. a 7/0 mustad hook
5. a roll of 60-lb stainless coated wire
6. 6-8 plastic beads
7. a bullet weight if you prefer weighted tubes instead of leadcore line
8. a crimper
9. a scissors or knife

How to Build....

1. Cut a section of tubing 18" to 28" long. Cut a deep slit in one end for the hook-end, or business end of the tube.

2. Cut a length of wire equal to the length of your planned tube plus 3 1/2" for crimping on hook, beads and barrel swivel.

3. With a #4 sleeve and a small loop, crimp a 7/0 mustad to the wire. Apply to the crimp enough pressure to ensure that this crucial link between you and your fish won't slip open.

4. Soap the wire, to lubricate it, then thread the bitter end of the wire up through slit-end of the tube. You'll probably have to wiggle the wire or blow into the tube to help the wire find its way out through the top of the tube..

5. Once the bitter end of the wire emerges from the top of the tube, pull the shank of the hook into the slit.

6. Thread 6-8 beads or a bullet weight onto the bitter end of the wire poking out from the top of the tube. Crimp on a barrel swivel.

7. Push the beads or bullet weight tight into the top of the tube. Their pressure will put a kink in the wire that will make the trolled tube wobble and twirl.
 
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