Couple New Masters

After what seems like an eternity I finally managed to get a couple new masters finished ready for the mould. Took a couple iterations of face details till I was happy but in the end settled on something nice and simple.

Larger lure is made from wood, smaller from PU. These are the third edition. To start they will all be suspenders, the longer one will be more twich-bait style and the smaller will be more traditional retrieve with some ability to twitch as desired.

The Latest

Couple Jerkbaits made for another Aussie lure maker. This shape is starting to come together, still got issues with density of the PU but working through those. These ones are destined for northern Australia fish, not what they were designed for but a good test none the less. 

Some nice and simple colours. They are 75mm long, thru wired, slow sinkers, handmade eye's and urethane body. These have the eyes which were in the previous post.

While I was at it I put together a couple lures from the two piece mould I am working on. Similarly simple colours as above, 55mm, urethane body, thru wired and handmade eyes.

Shed Update

Been doing a bit of experimenting with various eye styles, the airbrushed ones look good but wanted a bit more flash from my eyes. Came across some metallic paper at a local craft shop while waiting for the missus so gave it a try. Pretty happy with how they came out. These three are silver, red and pearly white. The pearl has flickers of green if you hold it right in the light.

Excuse the boofhead who took the pics, I really got to get myself a photo booth.

Have also been working on my two piece mould. Has taken four moulds to get something which I am happy with, nothing like trial and error to learn things!! Thankfully the silicon is not that expensive. These should give me the strength of PU and decent amount of buoyancy. 

Jerkbaits

Finished a couple Jerkbaits recently, these unfortunately didn't swim as hoped, they sunk instead of suspend. Got the ratio slightly wrong in the resin, amazing how a couple grams will change the dynamics of the lure.

Anyway, happy with the overall result, shame they are destined for the trash but such is life. Went for some simple patterns to try and highlight the new eyes that I made. 

Nothing a few more microballoons cant fix!!!!

Bring on the surface bite

Getting some poppers ready for when things heat up a bit and the surface strike kicks in. These ones a trio of frogs, a set in standard clear and another in matt clear. First time I tried the matt finish, very impressed with how it looks.

The completed set, three different frog patterns. Eyes are d.i.y black

Hopefully they go down well

Some little HB's ready for season opener

Time in the shed is at a real premium at the minute due to work commitments, however I managed to sneak out a couple little hard bodies ready for the start of the bass season. Nothing too special about these, just some stock standard colours which have proved themselves.

Bit of a mixture with slightly different colored eyes and bib shapes. Each about 55mm long and should dive to about 1.5 - 2m. All floaters.

Just need the season to start now and away we go. Should go down well.

Long Time, no post

Been a mad couple months with work and sickness so luring and blog times have taken a hammering. Still managed to keep a few things ticking over so thought would just quickly pop back in for an update,

Picked up one of these babies to help in moulded lure adventures. Given it a couple runs and makes a significant difference. Anyone who moulds lures should definitely give it a go. This just a 10L painting pressure pot from the local hardware mob, seal it up and can cast up to 300mm moulds @ 60psi. See ya later bubbles.

One of my latest moulds, this is a two piece for the 75mm jerkbait I am working on. Keen to see how hard two piece moulds are. Certainly challenging. Got a couple things right with this but stuffed a couple others. Will be good to get it sorted so I can churn out some clear lures.

Nothing terribly exciting about these ones, just some carved lures ready for undercoat. These are going to a mate on a local fishing forum.

Finally, as well as some two piece bodies for the jerkbait have also churned out some single piece ones to compare. Can get the weights close using a heap of micro-balloons but worried the final lure might not be as strong. Time will tell.

Anyway, till next time...

Some Winter Bassin

Managed to sneak out this morning for some R & R. Being winter and after some recent rainfall I was not sure what awaited. Thankfully things went to plan, bass were caught, the water was spectacular and the company tops. Just a great little morning session.


Nearly completely glassed out and crystal clear,

The bass started early and kept coming through the day, great size on light tackle, 

Some of the darkest bass I have ever caught, photo's don't do their darkness any justice at all. A great morning.

Testers Finished

Took longer than planned but finally managed to get the testers painted and ready for fish. Came out ok, had a little eye issue and ended up having to pilfer some eye's from the used lure bin but other than that there ready to go. Shame as it takes away from the final product, luckily these are just testers.

Each one has been swim tested prior to paint and coated with a new topcoat I am trying. Looking the goods thus far, will be interesting to see how it holds up in the real world. Threw in a plastic jerkbait body aswell that I had lying around to try a new paint scheme.

Plastic, suspender, speculator colour scheme,

Hand carved, 75mm, suspender, pearl white with black highlights,

Hand carved, 75mm, suspender, gold,

Hand carved, 55mm, floater, not sure what to call the color.

Assuming all goes well will be moulding all three hand carved lures. Should be interesting to see how it turns out.

A few testers ready for hooks

Been busy of late getting a few test lures ready. All three shapes new to me so will be interesting to see how they go. Lures are shaped and sealed only, ready for hooks and weight / action testing. No fancy business yet,

First lure is an up-size of another lure I make. Was asked by a fellow lure maker on an Aussie forum to do a "swap" and jumped at the chance. This one is 55mm long, floater and will swim to about 2m when finished.

Second and third lures are going to be suspending jerk baits, 75mm in length. Aiming for up to 1m from these ones. Have been wanting to try these for a while now. Shape is a bit funky from my normal style but will see where it goes.

Anyway, time for some hooks and off to the river to test.

A quick flick to break the daily drain

Managed to sneak out for a quick flick couple weeks back. Really like this spot, beautiful little dam. Plenty of lilies make for interesting times and the water has a beautiful tannin color to it. Not the biggest bass known to man but that doesn't really matter in a place like this.

Took the GoPro along this time, still getting used to it and the video editing so excuse any quality issues. Took forever to get it sorted.

Anyway some pics,

 

 

and some video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ier6zz4dtqQ&feature=g-upl

Great little session. Shame things have cooled significantly now, looking forward to summer to get back there.

Couple more Barra Lures

Knocked out a couple lures for a swap on an Aussie lure forum. These are both 125mm, wood and slow floating with a tight wobble. Not much more to say, should go down well,

 

 

 

 

Another Aussie Lure

Was fortunate to receive another lure from a fellow Aussie builder, Rayna Lures. Lovely lures these, I have a couple and they are top shelf. Beautiful action, individual design, precise paint jobs, handmade eyes and beautiful topcoats. Hopefully the pic's do it justice, even has the bib stamped, a nice touch,

A Weekend of Camping and Fishing

Thought I would share a little trip I managed to sneak away for, nothing better than camping and fishing with the mates. Unfortunately for us on this trip, the weather didn't look after us. We managed to make it a couple hours without rain but after that, wet, wet, wet and more wet. Was a shame as this river is something special.

Anyway, the morning started off great, just love this spot,

We managed a couple hours without rain but the fish didn't play the game. After about 3 hours of constant rain and not a single touch we came across a purple patch and finally boated a couple fish. Was great to finally get some to the boat.

By the end of the day everything was pretty much saturated and fogged out. This was the last shot of the day and pretty much summed things up. Great to be out and about though...