Thread: Some lures from molds/ others modified

I enjoy watching what you come up with.

Thanks Bob.
After I've caught fish on a lure - especially one that few anglers have seen, I wonder what was it about the lure that provoked a fish to attack it? Each lure shown has its own story, meaning, it does something that describes it.

Example 1: the lure at the top was a copy of an Uncle Josh Pork Frog trailer that was one of the most bought skirted, bass-jig trailers long before plastic trailers became popular. Different reasons given for the pork skin trailer's success were:
1. being that it was salty from the perservative in the glass jar it was kept in, salt supposedly made bass hold on longer;
2. the skirted jig + trailer simulated crawfish
Here's a picture of the original pork frog:

Not exactly a crawfish in shape or color, but I used it faithfully for years.

Truth based on shape and action:
1. the silicone or living rubber skirt on the jighead flair & pulsate when jigged;
2. the two thin, flat triangular tails flap slightly when the jig is moved
3. the flat wide body gives fish an easy target to zero in on

Then I asked myself: would the trailer work by itself without being on a skirted jig? It did, the first time I cast it on a light jighead! It caught everything. Why? IMO, reasons 1-3 are the only logical ones I can think of with after discounting reasons 1 & 2 given per fishing media sources.

Example 2: The wacky rigged Senko has caught millions of bass since it was first introduced decades ago. Why?
The Senko is a soft, weighted tapered stick shape. The angler casts it and the lure has its own action: wobbling legs on either side of the hook rigged in the center. So, I asked myself: why not make small soft lures that are either similar in shape (stick) or that have thin legs on either side of a body. The plastic isn't weighted so a jighead is necessary. Great action on the drop and fish jumped all over it thanks to the Senko's action concept.

There are many more action/shape stories, but you get the idea.

Very cool baits and results on the water. Thanks for sharing

I love it! Never know what they fish will want and giving them something new is always a nice surprise when that slab hits it.
Clear worms is something I should try here. Bright colors and dark ones don't seem to work in a lot of circumstances in my colder water.

Never know what they fish will want and giving them something new is always a nice surprise when that slab hits it.
Clear worms is something I should try here. Bright colors and dark ones don't seem to work in a lot of circumstances in my colder water.

Maybe just my opinion, but fish are more finicky when it comes to live bait than most good lures that have proven themselves. Live bait just sits there moving very little if at all. Bob's and my designs are in constant motion that pull the strike trigger on super sensitive fish. Repetitive motion is key. Of the shapes posted, most will catch fish more often than most lures sold and far more fish than live baits that sit in one spot vs covering water.

example of a good action-profile: Mr. Twister curly tail grubs have caught millions of fish after their introduction 51 years ago and that particular action-profile has caught almost every freshwater species. Why? - Repetitive motion.

Note: One thing I've found is that not all fish are prone to attacking lures in the same water on the same day. Some areas - deeper fish in particular - seem harder to catch, whereas shallower water fish near structure, seem more apt to strike.

When it comes to color, too much emphasis is given to hue which is why I posted examples of clear lures. In fact, my first clear hard-plastic lure to catch bass over 40 years ago was a clear plastic Zara Spook, surface lure. After that I caught bass on clear plastic crankbaits.


Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but, IMHO color may enhance a lure's action-profile. A lure's action can be subtle or wild, same as a color can be clear or super bright. On any day, either may catch just as many fish - but only so long as you are casting one of many good action-profile lures.

Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

Maybe just my opinion, but fish are more finicky when it comes to live bait than most good lures that have proven themselves. Live bait just sits there moving very little if at all. Bob's and my designs are in constant motion that pull the strike trigger on super sensitive fish. Repetitive motion is key. Of the shapes posted, most will catch fish more often than most lures sold and far more fish than live baits that sit in one spot vs covering water.

example of a good action-profile: Mr. Twister curly tail grubs have caught millions of fish after their introduction 51 years ago and that particular action-profile has caught almost every freshwater species. Why? - Repetitive motion.

Note: One thing I've found is that not all fish are prone to attacking lures in the same water on the same day. Some areas - deeper fish in particular - seem harder to catch, whereas shallower water fish near structure, seem more apt to strike.

When it comes to color, too much emphasis is given to hue which is why I posted examples of clear lures. In fact, my first clear hard-plastic lure to catch bass over 40 years ago was a clear plastic Zara Spook, surface lure. After that I caught bass on clear plastic crankbaits.


Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but, IMHO color may enhance a lure's action-profile. A lure's action can be subtle or wild, same as a color can be clear or super bright. On any day, either may catch just as many fish - but only so long as you are casting one of many good action-profile lures.

Brightly colored plastics for panfish art to catch fisherman I always said it is the action in the baits that catch fish. I have made some really ugly looking colors in the past proven it doesn’t matter to those fish, but they always seem to be after the action, the more action or less action sometimes is a ticket to catching fish.