Making Wooden Fishing Lures E-Book

Rich Rousseau

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 143

Beschreibung

For the Fishing, Carving and Collecting Enthusiast Whether it is the thrill of catching a fish with a handmade lure or finding a perfect one to add to your collection, this book of 11 step-by-step projects with a collector's gallery will grab you hook, line and sinker.

Leseprobe

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to Raymond “Boots” Smith. He was a good man to his family and his friends, and he was also my fishing partner. When Boots wasn’t watching over his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, we spent many enjoyable hours in the fishing boat. I know he will save me a seat in his new boat; until then, I will miss him very much.

About the Author

Rich Rousseau has been carving wood for 49 years, and for 26 of those has been concentrating on fishing lures and decoys. He has been a dedicated fisherman since the age of 4 (nearly 60 years). He won the World Champion Fish Carving contest two years running, and has won numerous awards from Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited for the amount of funds raised by the auction of his carvings for the organizations. The designs in this book are original—Rich says they “were thrown in the water, bitten, used, abused, and refined until they were perfected.” He resides in northern Michigan, which is known for its lure making and fishing heritage.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the editorial staff and art department of Fox Chapel Publishing. Their help, tutoring, and patience made completing this book very easy, not to mention enjoyable.

Foreword

One day last year, while on the water, I had one of those days. It was almost dark and I had not seen a fish all evening. As I started to make my last retrieve before heading in, I could see my newly made bait zigging and zagging through the water. I had only moved the bait a few feet when I saw a huge musky begin to approach. His head was as big as a pumpkin. His tail was as wide as a dinner plate. As I worked the bait closer to the boat, the fish got inches behind the bait. When the lure was just about to the boat, the water erupted as the musky thrashed, crushing the lure at boat side, and the battle was on.

I have always had a passion for fishing and for working with wood. Making my own wooden lures has enabled me to combine my interests. However, when finished, my lures looked square and bulky. Frankly, they sometimes acted more like a stick in the water than a baitfish. Other people on the water would watch me work my lures and ask if I had made it myself. I would respond by proudly acknowledging my skill with a bandsaw and a can of spray paint.

Rich helped me understand how some types of wood are too heavy to make good lures and how other types are too light. He helped me realize that without the right kind of wood, all of my time and work would be for nothing. He helped me find a pattern that would move more realistically through the water and that would effectively attract larger fish. Rich helped me understand how to place the weights correctly so the lure would literally swim through the water, acting exactly as a baitfish. Once I began incorporating Rich’s suggestions into my carving and painting, my lures began to look sleek and professional. Every time I use them, someone is sure to approach and beg to know where I purchased them. Using the tips and patterns in this book will also help you make effective wooden lures. And I have to tell you, having people confuse your lure with something made professionally is way more gratifying than having people immediately know you made it yourself.

Have fun and enjoy.

Paul Haarstad

Paul Haarstad has been fishing for 30 years. He works for Stamina Quality Components, one of the foremost lure parts supply businesses. The biggest musky caught on one of his handmade lures was 50 inches (1.3 meters) long and weighed 38 pounds (17 kilograms).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Lure Gallery

Chapter 1:Getting Started

Chapter 2:Lure Step-by-Step Projects

Lure 1: Surface Prop Bait

Scrap wood and a hand-painted finish make this an approachable first project

Lure 2: Surface Popper

This lure, using a purchased lure rough-out with a spray-paint finish, will teach you some alternative methods

Lure 3: Perch Crawler

You’ll learn airbrushing technique on this dowel-rod lure

Lure 4: Saltwater Flatfish

Get out some scrap wood and your airbrush for this saltwater beauty

Lure 5: Floating-Diving Minnow

Practice shading with your airbrush on this 1 by 2 scrap wood lure

Lure 6: Pan Fish

This scrap wood lure will give you some experience with dressed hooks and making spots with your airbrush

Lure 7: Minnow Chaser

Learn how to make a chaser on this airbrushed scrap wood minnow

Lure 8: Floating-Diving Frog

You’ll use a purchased rough-out and an airbrush to create this spotted lure

Lure 9: Sinking Wiggler

Create a scrap wood lure with an airbrushed fire tiger paint scheme

Lure 10: Mallard Duckling

This scrap wood duckling demonstrates the versatility of a hand-brushed acrylic paint job

Lure 11: Weasel

Gather a purchased rough-out, your airbrush, and some sawdust to make this furry lure

Chapter 3:Options

Jointed Lures

Wire-Through Lures

Natural-Colored Dressed Treble Hooks

Colorful Dressed Treble Hooks

Alternate Ways to Utilize Hardware

Appendix: Bonus Patterns

Resources

Index

Introduction

Northern Michigan, where I’m from, has always been a hot bed of fishing lures. From Oscar Peterson to the Moonlight Bait Company, fishing is a long and honored tradition in this part of the country. I have always been fascinated with utilitarian objects that were also considered an art form. What is it, exactly, that made some of these objects classics? The one thing in common with all of the classic lures is their simplicity. The most desirable ones all seem to have been reduced to their bare essentials, and executed well.

That’s where this book comes in. Chapter 1 covers the basics: everything you need to know about wood, types of lures, and more is located there. Chapter 3 explains some extra options you have when creating your very own lures—you can make a jointed lure, a super-strong wired lure, or even dress your own hooks. The appendix houses 15 bonus lure patterns to help develop your skills even further. The gallery of antique and modern lures in the front of the book is there to serve as inspiration. Fishy facts—fun and interesting fishing tips—are spread throughout the book on the page bottoms. Keep your eyes open for other entertaining stories and tidbits featured in boxes here and there! However, the bulk of the book consists of the 11 step-by-step lure projects in Chapter 2. Each project includes a detailed pattern and pages of step-by-step photos to guide your construction.

Lure-making basics—It’s easy, cheap, and fun!

Making a lure is easy, affordable, and fun. The four steps you see below are the basics needed to make any lure. Plenty of detail is shown in the step-by-step projects, but as long as you hit these four steps, you’ll have a lure that works.

Shape the lure body. You’ll start with a purchased lure rough-out, a dowel rod, or some scrap wood.

Drill the pilot holes. Every lure has hardware (a.k.a. hooks, eye screws, counter weights, etc.), and hardware requires pilot holes to keep the lure from splitting in half.

Paint the lure. There are three ways demonstrated in this book to paint your lure—acrylic and brushes, spray paint, and airbrush.

Apply finishing touches. Put in the eyes, sign your name, put on the clear coat, and attach that hardware! That’s all it takes.

Lure Gallery

Lure collecting is a hobby that will keep you thinking fishing all year long, no matter what the weather is.

One area of interest is homemade or handcrafted: call them what you want, but they are usually one-of-a-kind lures. They are the creation of someone who was dreaming of a lure that would entice the “Big One” and then made it. The color schemes, sizes, and shapes are as different as the people who make them. Some have great action in the water and are actually made with using them in mind.

When searching for lures, the homemade style is always on my mind. When I find one, I ask what it is—at times I hear, “Oh, it’s just an old homemade lure.” My next question is, “What will you take for it?” I appreciate the time and effort it took to make that lure, and I’m now sharing the fishing dream of its maker. Like I said before, call them what you want, I call them folk art and I love them. So you keep on making them and people like me will keep on seeking them to hang on our den walls to share your dream.

Happy carving and collecting!

Butch Bartz

Heddon. Pumpkinseed. circa 1940.

Heddon. Dowagiac #100 minnow. Early 1900s.

Over the past 26 years, Butch Bartz has amassed more than 5,000 lures in his collection. A few of the better-known makers he has collected include: commercial makers Creek-Chub, Paw Paw, Heddons, Winneys’, and Shakespeare; and individual carvers Ron and Don Hosney of Livonia, Mich., Bud Stewart of Alpena, Mich., Oscar Peterson of Kalkaska, Mich., Burt and Art Winney of Traverse City, Mich., and Carl Christiansen of Mich.

Unless otherwise noted, the lures shown in this gallery are all from Butch’s collection.

Heddon. 210 Surface. 1940s.

Paw Paw. Pikie. circa 1940s.

Creek Chub. Pikie. 1940 to 1950.

Retrieve poppers in a series of starts and stops.

Paw Paw. Weedless Wow. 1940s.

Shakespeare. Slim Jim (6541 YP). 1924 to 1950.

Paw Paw. Wotta-Frog. 1941 to 1960.

Ron Hosney, Kalkaska, Mich. Brown Mouse 8, fly-rod lure. Post-1980.

Unknown Michigan maker, Alger Area, Mich., circa post-1980.

Elman “Bud” Stewart, Alpena, Mich., area, now deceased. Post-1980.

Unknown maker, Presque Isle, Mich., area. Torpedo-style lure. Post-1980.

Fish for pike at the mouths of streams or rivers.

Gerald Finch, Cheboygan, Mich., area. Rainbow musky lure. Post-1980.

Unknown Michigan maker.

Gerald Finch, Cheboygan, Mich., area. Beaver musky lure. Post-1980.

Unknown maker, Upper Peninsula, Mich., area. Circa post-1980.

Paul Haarstad, Victoria, Minn. 7" (178mm) musky glider. Very early, ca. 2005.

Unknown maker, Alpena, Mich., area. Flat fish type. Circa post-1980.

Paul Haarstad, Victoria, Minn. 7" (178mm) musky glider. 2009.

Rich Rousseau. In-shore saltwater, 6" (152mm) floater/diver. Designed for a friend in Florida, but used in Michigan as a musky bait. 2007. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Tackle box addition

Another handy little item to keep in your tackle box is one of those multi-tool gizmos. They are worth their weight in gold for dealing with those unexpected problems—anything from repairing a reel to cutting a hook out of your hand.

Murky water cools slower and heats faster than clear water.

Rich Rousseau. 3 ¼" (83mm) bass lure, floater/diver. 1998. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Rich Rousseau. 6" (152mm) sinking baby pike. Designed for Northern pike and musky. 2000. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Rich Rousseau. 1 ¾" (44mm) blue-gill and crappie floater/diver. 1997. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

The most important thing

The absolute most important item in any fishing arsenal is a well-made beverage holder—so important, in fact, that you should spare no expense in acquiring a good one.

Rich Rousseau. 8" (203mm) saltwater squiddy lure, sinking prop-bait. Designed for a friend in Florida; I use it for big musky. 2008. (From the Paul Haarstad collection.)

Rich Rousseau. 2 ¼" (57mm) blue-gill and crappie floater/diver. 2000. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Rich Rousseau. 3" (76mm) bass lure, sinking and wiggling, experimental. 2000. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Rich Rousseau. 4½" (114mm) bass bait surface/prop. 2009. (From Rich’s tackle box.)

Honey hole: A great spot with lots of fish!

CHAPTER1

Getting Started

Making wooden lures is easy—you don’t need a shop full of tools, a barn full of paint, or a Ph.D. in science to create a fine fishing lure. Heck, you don’t even have to mortgage the house for material purchases! This section will show you what you need to create the wooden lures in this book. Tools, hardware—it’s all here! You’ll also learn about the different types of lures and how they work.

Lure Types

Lures are categorized by the action they perform while in the water and being retrieved (when you reel them back in). There are four general types of lures: surface, floating-diving, sinking, and keel-weighted. Let’s take a look at precisely what these lures do and why.

Surface lures

A surface lure floats and continues to float as it is retrieved. A popper has a cupped flat face and splashes water as it is retrieved in short, sharp jerks. A jitterbug has an angled flat face that produces a rhythmic “plop-plop” as it is retrieved steadily. A surface prop bait has propellers that slap the water. And heck, there’s even a lure that has arms sticking out on the sides that grab water and wiggle the lure back and forth—that’s a crawler.

A surface lure attracts fish by making noise and surface disturbance that fish sense from a long distance. Surface lures are effective regardless of water depth and can be used in both shallow areas as well as the middle of the lake.

Floating-diving lures

Floating-diving lures float while at rest and dive below the surface when retrieved. This type can have a diving lip or a cupped and angled face. The angle of the diving plane determines the depth to which the lure will descend. If the plane of the lip is nearly parallel to the lure, it will dive very deep; as the lip approaches 90° to the body, it will not dive as deeply. Keep in mind that the speed of the retrieve will affect depth as well—the faster the retrieve, the deeper the dive. Nearly all floating-diving lures wiggle back-and-forth when retrieved because the flat face is unstable when pulled through the water. The wiggle attracts fish by both creating a sound-pulse or pressure wave and making the color pattern flash. If you crank it back fast, it will wiggle fast; if you retrieve it slowly, it will wiggle slowly. Normally these lures will run from about 2 feet (610mm) deep to about 20 feet (6,096mm) deep.

Sinking lures

As the name implies, sinking lures are heavier than water and sink. This type of lure includes some wooden lures, as well as metal spinners and spoons. Just because they sink, don’t think these lures can’t wiggle, produce sound and flash, and include propellers, spinner blades and the like. These lures are effective when the fish are feeding at depth. Most sinking lures have a sink-rate of about 1 foot (305mm) per second and can, therefore, be counted down. When the lure hits the water, start counting “thousand and one,” “thousand and two,” etc. and before you start your retrieve, you will have a fair idea of how deep the lure is running. You can even let the lure sink to the bottom before retrieving it, which is effective for any bottom-hugging predator species, such as freshwater walleye.

Note that propellers and spinner blades generate lift. This fact can help you design certain features into the lure, as well as allow you some creative retrieve patterns—i.e., retrieve quickly (the lure rises), then slow down or pause (the lure will sink).

Keel-weighted lures

If you wish to make a lure that will resemble a real bait fish, realize that a flat board will not float on its edge. You need to add weights inside the belly to make it float (or sink) belly down. In the case of a cupped-face floater-diver, you may wish to keel weight the very front to ensure that the cupped face will dig into the water and start working immediately. Where you place the keel weights is important because they affect the action of the lure. Basically, if the keel weight is toward the rear of the lure, the action slows down. This means that if you made a lure that wiggles way too fast, you can add a small keel weight toward the rear end, and the lure’s action will slow down. The keel weights also affect the attitude of the lure in the water, i.e., you can make a lure run head-down or head-up or neutral simply by where you place the weights. A secondary use for the keel weight is in a lure you wish to retrieve very quickly—the keel weight will not allow the lure to turn over. In other words, it will remain belly down no matter how fast you bring it back.

Dispose of waste properly when fishing—take it home with you.

Modifying lures for species