Beautiful work! Thanks for the video, I make GT Poppers, and Stickbaits are a completely different animal!! One of the problems I get is a "roll out" when you sweep the rod. Any advice?
Hey mate, thanks for the kind words and sorry for my late reply. In part one of "How to Balance Stickbaits" I tell a little bit about the to key points of balance in a stickbait. Your balance has to be between stability and instability. If you have a stickbait that rolls out or spins, you should do either of the following to improve balance. -Add/Increase weight towards the bottom side of the lure - reduce the amount of wood in/on the belly (so that the balance weight sits closer to the belly of the lure) - Use heavier hooks on the belly -Re-position the internal weight more towards the bottom of the thickest part of the stickbait. Be careful to not overdo it because otherwise you end up with a stickbait that doesn't move as it becomes too stable. I hope this helps, let me know how you go.
Your lures look good man, I make lures in a very similar way to you, using the two pieces of wood instead of one piece. One concern I have is the lure body splitting under pressure from a decent sized fish, what is your opinion on this? Have you hooked into a fish in excess of 25kgs with one of your lures?
Hi Oscar, thanks for the kind words. I used to have the same concern until I tried to open up one of the lure bodies that I had messed up. I was not able to get the two parts to split, instead the wood actually broke (after hitting it repeatedly with a sledge hammer). I found that is was easier to split the wood if you use epoxy because epoxy does not penetrate the wood, where super glue does. On top of that, all top of the line handmade lures (read stickbaits) are two pieces of wood superglued together (Moutoukenmaru, Ginnei Lures etc.). Just make sure you soak the two connecting parts in superglue. Hope this helps!
The Angling Globetrotters , thank you for the reply. I use super glue yea, not a big fan of epoxy as it is expensive, becomes tacky/ hard to work with to fast and takes a long time to dry proper. I mostly make smaller topwater/ sub surface lures (120-140mm) to target some fish around here but have made one or two bigger lures, currently busy with a 240mm monster. I just need your crazy carving skills now
Super helpful - thank you for your time
Thanks Bill! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Beautiful work! Thanks for the video, I make GT Poppers, and Stickbaits are a completely different animal!! One of the problems I get is a "roll out" when you sweep the rod. Any advice?
Hey mate, thanks for the kind words and sorry for my late reply. In part one of "How to Balance Stickbaits" I tell a little bit about the to key points of balance in a stickbait. Your balance has to be between stability and instability. If you have a stickbait that rolls out or spins, you should do either of the following to improve balance.
-Add/Increase weight towards the bottom side of the lure
- reduce the amount of wood in/on the belly (so that the balance weight sits closer to the belly of the lure)
- Use heavier hooks on the belly
-Re-position the internal weight more towards the bottom of the thickest part of the stickbait.
Be careful to not overdo it because otherwise you end up with a stickbait that doesn't move as it becomes too stable.
I hope this helps, let me know how you go.
Your lures look good man, I make lures in a very similar way to you, using the two pieces of wood instead of one piece. One concern I have is the lure body splitting under pressure from a decent sized fish, what is your opinion on this? Have you hooked into a fish in excess of 25kgs with one of your lures?
Hi Oscar, thanks for the kind words. I used to have the same concern until I tried to open up one of the lure bodies that I had messed up. I was not able to get the two parts to split, instead the wood actually broke (after hitting it repeatedly with a sledge hammer). I found that is was easier to split the wood if you use epoxy because epoxy does not penetrate the wood, where super glue does. On top of that, all top of the line handmade lures (read stickbaits) are two pieces of wood superglued together (Moutoukenmaru, Ginnei Lures etc.). Just make sure you soak the two connecting parts in superglue. Hope this helps!
The Angling Globetrotters , thank you for the reply. I use super glue yea, not a big fan of epoxy as it is expensive, becomes tacky/ hard to work with to fast and takes a long time to dry proper. I mostly make smaller topwater/ sub surface lures (120-140mm) to target some fish around here but have made one or two bigger lures, currently busy with a 240mm monster. I just need your crazy carving skills now
Hi ya it's me again Haha do you prefer belly slot or drill thru the middle I am working with cedar which can be a tricky wood to work with thanks
for weight balancing purposes?
Hello could you please tell me where you buy your stainless wire from?