hi guys…
1stly, sorry for the late post. been busy fishing all these while! temptation temptation! well, let’s get to the point right now!
to start things off, i will be attemting to make a simple lipped, floating hardbait ala Original Floating Rapala.
wood selection:
for beginners and myself, i prefer to use a lightweight wood such as balsa or jelutong. it is easy to carve, and this property will sure make luremaking a hell lot easier and enjoyable. i usually buy my balsa from the photoframe shop; the dimensions are:
10 feet long, 24mm wide and 12mm thick. i then have them sectioned into 20 pieces of 6 inch-blocks. why 6 inch? well, that is about as big as i make em, any smaller and i will manually shave off the extra and/or cut them into smaller portions with the help of a small handsaw such as shown, and a handy snapblade.
now that it’s settled, we proceed to the lure design.
unless u already have an idea in ur head or on paper, the best way to begin is to imitate an existing lure. life imitates art, and art imitates life. u can pick up various shapes later on as u proceed. here i have chosen a common minnow shaped body to begin with
chopping it up
now cut out the lure design to be made as a template. trace the pattern onto both sides of the wood. try to keep them as symmetrical as possible. there are many ways to do that, but i just simply use my eyes to reconfirm the symmetry. now that its done, proceed to shave off the extra wood using whatever tools u are comfortable with. a mini saw will help to shave off the bulkier portions, while the snapblade is swifter and leaves a more clean-cut margin. it all comes down to preference. as for me, the snapblade will just do the trick most of the time. sand it with 400 grit sandpaper and now u are left with this:
(notice the mini handsaw in the background)
try to make sure that all sides are level, check by running the snapblade throughout the entire length of the lure, on all 4 sides.
Tapering
next on, tapering the lure head and tail. before u begin this step, it is wise to mark the centre of the lure. u can use a vernier caliper to accurately measure and mark the centre. while i don’t have the luxury of owning one, i simply measure with a ruler and mark the centre down with pencil dots. remember to do it on both upper and bottom sides. locating the centre of the lure is very important.
back to tapering. generally, i prefer a shorter taper of the head and longer taper of the tail. using a pencil, mark the intended taper on the dorsal(upper) side of the lure.
now lay the lure flat on one side, and place the snapblade/penknife parallel to the flatside of the body. cut along the same plane and shave off the wood to form the taper. repeat on opposite side. again, check for symmetry as with each step. u may begin on the head taper, and then proceed to the tail, or vice versa.
and then it will look something like this:
again, use the sandpaper and smoothen it down, until u get a progressive, continuous slope at the head n tail taper.
rounding off the sharp edges
with my trusty snapblade, i shave off the corners. as a result, what initially was 4 angles is now 8. this step is to be done with caution. always keep ur eye on the lure, locking ur vision as centrally as possible to maintain symmetry.
finally, use a 400grit sandpaper and smoothen the edges. u might want to use the snapblade again to ‘flatten’ the edges before sanding, to make the sanding easier. after the rough sanding, proceed to use 600grit sandpaper to brush it till it’s baby-butt smooth! remember to always check for symmetry, and develop the habit of locking ur vision on the centre of the lure!
and there u have it, the basic body of a lure! i hope that’s comprehensive enough for u folks, pls feel free to pop in any questions. if i am not able to answer them, the grandmasters will be more than helpful!
Part 2: will be up later, i thank u for ur patience.
until then happy carving!
FiR3 TiG3R®
- U4 2006 - team member of BBOBs (Bersia Band of Brothers) + undercover(probation) Team Longkang Gang
- U5 2007 - Team Longkang Gang
Looooong Live LongKang Gang!
tight lines, bent rods, spitting lures & singing reels…
![http://www.pbase.com/sebarau/image/37737976/original.jpg[/img=left]](http://www.pbase.com/sebarau/image/37737976/original.jpg%5B/img=left%5D){kind=link}
![http://www.pbase.com/image/57247880/original.jpg[/img=right]](http://www.pbase.com/image/57247880/original.jpg%5B/img=right%5D){kind=link}