Quick and dirty lures for just getting started

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

I had orginally let a topic on the Daiwa reel section get way off track, so I am going to be reposting some posts from that thread into this one to hopefully help anglers just getting started, or getting back into the sport (like me).  I have a shoestring budget for gear, so I've been doing alot of trial and error with materials that I have on hand.  Here goes:

Thorhammer, I appreciate your support, both moral and with whatever spare lure parts that you can spare.  I was afraid that I was going to be laughed off the forum for my first rough attempts.  

I'm in Niceville, but work and fish in Destin, FL.  I stalk redfish, pompano, permit (when available), smallish sharks, Jack Crevalle, and basically whatever is cruising the sandbars here.  I don't like using fish finder rigs with live bait because I catch way too many catfish and stingrays. Plus, bait is expensive.

The beaches are super flat and sandy, so topwater action catches alot of attention.  The waves are rarely over 3 feet, so there's some minor surf slush, but nothing like on the east coast.  I grew up in West Palm, so I've fished offshore and inshore, both Atlantic, Intercoastal, and Gulf.  Down in South Florida I stalk Snook.  It's an addiction.  But up here the game is so varied that I have to keep a variety of approaches on hand.  Making my own rigs is the only cost effective way for me to get back into the fishing addiction.  I left it for about ten years, and only kept my grandfather's reels.  So, I'm basically starting over.  I used to be strictly artificials, all day.  For me, it's more sporting, and it keeps it challenging.  My arsenal used to include something like 30 different lures, kept in a binder, that I'd tote out with my rod and some repair tackle.  I will be back there in a couple of months.

I omitted my old photos and posts because I believe the method outlined below would be far easier to implement for someone with next to nothing to work with

I call these lures Q.U.A.D. lures because they are Quick, Ugly, And Dirty.  Hopefully they will catch fish.  I have faith in them.

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

Ok, here it is.  A workable method that anyone can do.  I mean you could probably do this with a sharpened rock, some glue, some wire, some kind of weight, and a hook.

Take your wood of choice.  Pine or Cedar are what I have, and a gentleman named MidwayTommy recommended that I switch from pine to cedar because it finishes better and the grain structure when aligned correctly is very strong.  Cedar does have a clearer grain and won't gum up your sanding sheets as easily.  Cedar is not expensive.  You can buy a 3/4 inch by 4 inch by 8 foot board for $5 and change at Home Depot.  I found a bunch of beat up old cedar siding, so that's what I'm using.

Once you have your wood of choice, cut a piece out of your board. I made mine seven inches long, by the width of the board.  Now, the grain runs straight along the board so you want to cut your piece in half lengthwise, giving you two pieces about 2 inches by 7 inches.  None of this has to be exact.  Now if you're like me, your cut won't be even remotely straight.  Lay your pieces butt to butt and take your hand saw (hopefully you have one, if not then your sharp rock...) and make a guide cut the full length of the two pieces.  You're going to use this guide cut to keep a fairly straight channel so that your wire will pass through.  

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

Now that you have an inlet guide, you need to take some kind of sanding medium (if no sandpaper or rasp, then use the concrete sidewalk) and make the inside face of the lure (where you just cut the inlet guide) fairly smooth.  Yes, I'm serious.  I've sharpened machetes that way in a pinch, too.

Once that's fairly smooth to where the pieces butt up against each other pretty well, take your wood chisel (a sharpened screwdriver works too) and gouge out the channel for the wire to run through after it's all glued together.  Use the concrete to make the screwdriver sharp if you have to.  Once you have that channel gouged, then gouge out the channel for your second hook to go through, making a total of two channels.  It helps if you lay the pieces side by side with the channels up so that when you fold them up like a soft taco they would align.  Now, once you have that imagery fixed in your head, gouge out the channel straight across both pieces of wood.  That way they'll line up pretty nicely.  Once you've done that, check your fit to make sure that you can see lightly clearly all the way through the lined up lure pieces.

[Decker]

I like your no-nonsense approach!  Thanks for sharing.  How about some evidence of a predator hooked on one of your quads?

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

If you build it, they will bite. Hopefully.  I'm doing this in real time, so I'm going to post a fishing report this weekend with these lures, and with the Ocean Star No. 36 reel that I deep cleaned, and started this whole mess with.  I'm actually still covered in the cedar chips from this, and will keep posting.  I hope to have a lure painted and rigged by tonight.

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

Next comes the part where you have to spend alittle money.  Gorilla glue works the best for this, at least for me. You can also make gorilla glue quick cure in less than an hour if you are rushing, like me. If not in a rush, save alittle money and let cure overnight.  If not quick curing, then ignore all the photos except for the glue application and the clamping/weighting of the lure.

Take your container of gorilla glue and put alittle bit on a disposable plastic tray.  I literally took this from my recyling bin with alittle old mac and cheese stuck on the bottom. Try not to get the mac and cheese in your glue.  Ok, gather up some baking soda and some vinegar.  Any kind of vinegar would work.  What you're going to do is mix the baking soda into the gorilla glue, and after it's mixed well, add the vinegar.  It will foam almost instantly.  You only have a minute of workability at this point, so get that glue on the lure body, like so.  After you've got it applied, check again to make sure that you can see light all the way through the lure body, then weight it down with something fairly heavy, clamp it, stand on it for 20 minutes if you have to.

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

It's as if the Universe said.....you want to make a barebones tutorial?  Here, now your last bandsaw blade is broken.......enjoy hand sawing until you can get another one.  Which will be a minute.  However, that just makes me slow down and get back to super basics.

Here is the blade just to prove that I'm not joking.

In this post I had originally made a minnow style plug that I then tried to glue a weight to.  Don't do that.  It's unprofessional, makes you look stupid, and doesn't work well.  Refer to the next post to find out how not to look like a moron, like I did.

Next, I slipped a swivel into my channel and then threaded the wire all the way through.  I terminated the wire at both ends with a bimini twist.  Don't know what a bimini twist is?  Google does.  I thought it was a drink, at first.  

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

I had tried to glue on a weight.  Don't do this.  

It makes a horrible job at the end.  I'm going to build a lure back up to this point and inlet it out for a weight.  Will report back.

I did this one with the exact process of the one above.  Except that i added a pocket for the weight inside the lure body and then glued them together.  I'm certain it will make a much cleaner finished lure.  I apologize for the slight reboot.  I'm doing this in real time.

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

After the glue in the lure blank had hardened I saw cut out the blank to save on sanding time, then I sanded the lure into it's final shape. You can use a rasp to do this, but I'm not going to lie to you, I used a belt sander to make this quicker.  You could whittle it out and then sand it smooth.  There are lots of ways to craft these lures. 

I rigged a separate wire to hold the swivel because I fought it for ten minutes trying to get the wire to grab the swivel end.  Just bimini twist the wire for that swivel onto the through wire.

I finished the ends of the through wire and I opted to tie a skirt on the end of this one because.........I like it.  This is the whole point of lure making for me, to make something that I like.  Fish will strike at twist off bottle tops with hooks hanging off the back, heck, I've had fish hit tin foil streamers on bare hooks.  As you fish a lure with a nylon string skirt, that skirt will fray into a thousand little strands, giving it that puffy jig type look.

I wrote this tutorial hoping to help someone who's interested in getting started in making their own fishing equipment.  It's why I showed up here on this forum, learning how to fix up a couple of old reels that I had.  Then it got me thinking....hey, can I build my own tackle?  Yes, yes you can.

Later on tomorrow I'll paint a red head on this lure and paint a couple of eyes on there.  They won't look professional, but it just might fool a fish.

[Bill B]

FFRS liking the tutorial......now time for a money shot with some fish....keep it coming.....Bill

[swill88]

Process is great! Keep it up.

[Shark Hunter]

Great Job Flip Flop.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Looking forward to seeing these in action

[thorhammer]

That's a good looking plug shape.

Btw soaking corroded reel parts in white vinegar is best way to get it off.

[FlipFlopRepairShoppe]

Thank you for the compliments, gentleman!   I'll be throwing the rest of the paint on here in a little bit and redoing the rigging.  That lure will get set aside and I will strictly fish it on Sunday until it gets bitten.  Then I found some cool stuff in the clearance section of the craft store, and am going to build some lures around them.

Thorhammer, that makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the tip, brother.