Thread: Lure Making

I recently acquired a Fat Guys Fishing Big Eye Minnow mold.





If you ever get interested in obtaining a CNC mold for making jigs, I highly recommend Fat Guys. I have molds from three other makers and they are nothing in comparison. The way the mold is designed, how it pours, how it releases, the clean heads that come out of it. Just no comparison and the price is about the same. If you have questions about the other guy’s molds and want to know why they don’t compare, just ask me.

Anyways here is a head that came out and had it’s sprue broken away.





This eye socket is about 5mm in diameter. I have been applying 2D and 3D eyes. Each works fine. I also used some 6mm 3D eyes and that leaves this huge looking eyeball, which is cool.







I am experimenting with clear coat finishes. They make the UV type, but generally they dull the eyes and reduce the pop they have coming off the sheet. The picture above is a 6mm Super Pearl. The Super Pearl is a color shifting eye. Very sharp edges and the look is perfect. My favorite.


They sell Diamond Finish from KBS. This is a humidity cured clear plastic of some kind. Used on cars mostly. I dipped and hung some jigs but didn’t care for my results. The finish was clear enough, but it left a small bump on the jig.

The jig above had it’s eyes epoxied on with BSI Epoxy, prior to the Diamond Finish dipping. No way they will come off, but the process seemed silly at best.

I read where folks use just the BSI epoxy as an over coat, and that lure makers like the clear finish it presents. Gonna try that. They also sell other epoxies that are for crafts, and I might select one of them to test out.

I went to Amazingon and ordered some supplies for applying various clear coats. Some small 3 ounce plastic cups ( think mouthwash). I also got some stirring sticks as most epoxies will benefit from extra effort in this regard. I also got some small craft paint brushes so I can simply discard everything when done. I think painting the clear coat on is going to be better than dipping.

I want my jigs to look like Dr. Nip’s jigs.


It has been so hot out in that old garage that even with the fan humming away it just isn’t worth it to fiddle up some lures. The mareaboo feathers fly around like chickens caught up in a tornado. If I turn the vise just so, it kind of helps keep the feathers more manageable as I go.

I have been making my own lures for about two years now and have moved much closer to producing something nice. Haven’t sold not the first thing. Everything has been gifted. I suppose fifteen pounds of them or so by now. Saw a club member and he asked for some more. Said he had been giving away some of them, too. Asked if that was OK, and I said of course. One hot day a few years back I saw a man fishing on the bank. He looked like he was desperate for dinner. I gave him my limit of crappie and two cards worth of my homemade lures. Then I took his picture and sent him on his way, escaping the heat and the prospect of not coming home with fish.

So lures are things I make and get all excited about. Then when I make some more the previous batches lose their beauty and I am done with them. Of course I do cherry pick some of my best examples for my tackle box. Them fish see my lures and they are frightened away. They seem to know that I am way to crazy to fool with.





The Beetle Spin was fashioned from wire forms from Barlows. I cut away portions and then use a special loop making tool. One loop this way, the other offset at 90 degrees for the jig to swing on. Insert blade/swivel thingie, insert jig, squeeze the loops close and done. In this manner I can vary the lengths of each arm to see which swims better. Really short and as long as I can, then test.

I like to test swim all my lures. I troll and swimming them right next to the boat only provides a false sense of how they behave. I have learned to swim them behind the boat and stand on the back and observe. Some lures change quite drastically when behind the boat for some odd reason. Anyways I like to see how each swims and make decisions based on what I observe.

The very best fishermen you will ever meet have two things they do very well.

1) They OBSERVE
2) They ADAPT


So my lures are adapting based on what I observe. I could just fashion up the same old same old and do simple designs and remain amongst the normals, but I find it so much more stimulating to browse along the edges and see what has drifted there. Never know I might make a discovery. I think being innovative makes my fishing experiences so much fuller.

A cooler cannot contain the wonder of a beautiful day. I don’t chase limits anymore. I don’t stare at video screens. I don’t place expectations on myself when I go out. I observe. I like to see the things that are going on around me. Trolling allows for that. Standing and casting requires focus on the rod and the line and such like that. Trolling allows for my BlueTooth speaker to play music, sometimes a comedy routine. I spot alligators, and birds, and needle nose gar just under the surface.

Making lures just kind of adds to the overall process of learning how to fool a fickle fish. Stupid fish.