Lure testing

[Little_Flatty]

Hi Raiders,

Not much to report from a fishing standpoint of late. Been busy with work as always, and on top of that I've been dealing with sick children and getting sick myself!

The lure making has continued, with my foam lure crafting giving way to carving with balsa. It has been trickier than I expected, as I lack a lot of the skills many of you have, like being able to measure/cut accurately and also being able to make adjustments without measuring the daylights out of things.

The other issue is that when you mix epoxy to harden wood etc, it has a limited life, so you tend to batch stuff up rather than having a constant pipeline of field-ready lures. So currently I have about eight lures awaiting various stages of gluing/hardening/sealing. Happy to take any tips from any of you handier bunch to streamline the process. Not many photos of the process, I will document them as I'm further down my lure making journey.

As you will see, I'm not painting the lures yet. Just trying to get profile and action right first. One thing I have thought of is getting some glow-in-the-dark paint that I could charge with a UV torch. Not so much to attract fish, but more so that I can see it in the water in the pre-morning darkness. Time will tell if it makes any difference to the fish.

On Wednesday I managed to nail my first fish on a DIY balsa stickbait. A little tailor from Five Dock Bay:

Undersized tailor don't really count for me, but it was still good to get an eat. Had one hit from a bream, but that was it.

Friday morning I went out to Tarban Ck for a very quick session. I had two hits, one of which moved a bucketload of water three times, before hooking up and going for a smoking run, then turned and went straight for the oysters. This was NO bream, or at least the bream of a lifetime. Anyhow, in my infinite inexperience dealing with bigger/faster running fish, the hooks fell out after a couple of minutes. It might have been a rat king, a salmon or a big tailor. First time I've hooked one in this spot, but I have been seeing pelagics busting up there all summer.

Anyhow, I was pleased that the lure's homemade twist eyes and gluing (Araldite super strength) held up nicely in the balsa. Surprised at how strong these connections can be. I would've thought a through wire was necessary for balsa lures. It turns out for the line classes I fish, it's not really necessary.

Have been too sick the past few days to get up early, but on the mend now and was able to get out briefly this morning for a donut in the rain .

There will be more to come, including my first diving minnows and sinking bibless lures.

Edited May 1 by Little_Flatty

[Jo5hC]

Unlucky on the lost fish, but at least you know for sure that your lure shape works!

[Robbo from Sydney]

Seriously impressive DIY efforts going on!! I think what you are doing is brilliant

[Little_Flatty]

54 minutes ago, Jo5hC said:

Unlucky on the lost fish, but at least you know for sure that your lure shape works!

That’s fishing, as you know! But yes it is good to see the lure getting eaten and holding up to a savage strike and a good stretching out.

33 minutes ago, Robbo from Sydney said:

Seriously impressive DIY efforts going on!! I think what you are doing is brilliant

Thanks Robbo. My skills are basic compared to the skills of many here, but I’m having fun😎

[lhan]

Amazing work! It's bad to lose the fish but it's a great compliment to the DIY work!

[zmk1962]

19 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

One thing I have thought of is getting some glow-in-the-dark paint that I could charge with a UV torch. Not so much to attract fish, but more so that I can see it in the water in the pre-morning darkness. Time will tell if it makes any difference to the fish.

Great work Mike and congrats on blooding your artwork.  I can see you now ... workshop full of tools, beavering away like a little elf - lathe, belt sander, carving knives .... hehehe. 

I've sprayed some of my deep drop jigs with this stuff ... from the big hardware joint that sells sausages on the side.... I've found the glow paint stays on quite well. Look forward to the next report.

Cheers Zoran

[Little_Flatty]

14 hours ago, lhan said:

Amazing work! It's bad to lose the fish but it's a great compliment to the DIY work!

Thanks mate, yeah it was a bummer to lose the fish, but good to get the eat!

10 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Great work Mike and congrats on blooding your artwork.  I can see you now ... workshop full of tools, beavering away like a little elf - lathe, belt sander, carving knives .... hehehe. 

I've sprayed some of my deep drop jigs with this stuff ... from the big hardware joint that sells sausages on the side.... I've found the glow paint stays on quite well. Look forward to the next report.

Cheers Zoran

Cheers for the recommendation Zoran, I will try it. The ‘workshop’ is building slowly but surely  

[big Neil]

Very rewarding being able to make something yourself and putting it to good use. Keep up the projects and informing us all of the results. Cheers, bn

[XD351]

Nice work Mike ! 
I carved a few when I was a kid - mostly based on nilsmasters.

I found the hardest part with running a through wire set up was getting the slot cut dead centre . 

I used to tank test them in the pool to check the action and make sure they tracked straight, you might be able to make use of the canals at meadowbank for this ( at high tide ) as the bridge over these canals will get you nice and high above the water making it easier to see the lure as you retrieve it and you can use the sides of the canal as a guide for checking how the lure tracks . 

[Little_Flatty]

8 hours ago, big Neil said:

Very rewarding being able to make something yourself and putting it to good use. Keep up the projects and informing us all of the results. Cheers, bn

Cheers Neil, will do!

7 hours ago, XD351 said:

Nice work Mike ! 
I carved a few when I was a kid - mostly based on nilsmasters.

I found the hardest part with running a through wire set up was getting the slot cut dead centre . 

I used to tank test them in the pool to check the action and make sure they tracked straight, you might be able to make use of the canals at meadowbank for this ( at high tide ) as the bridge over these canals will get you nice and high above the water making it easier to see the lure as you retrieve it and you can use the sides of the canal as a guide for checking how the lure tracks . 

The old nilsmasters! I’m sure they were out of most kids’ pocket money budget those days, so many imitations were carved.

So far all of my ‘lure tuning’ sessions turn into just fishing, but nevertheless they are still worthwhile. Been experimenting with using tungsten putty to make weighting adjustments on the water to refine my designs for next time.

[kantong]

nice work Mike, great to see your home made inventions come to fruition. I empathise with the work, sick family situation. Always looking forward to the next available timeslot for a quick flick!