Mountainryan

Search for chefchris’s method. It can’t be done to your bait now but can on your next bait. I’ve done some tests and gotten more than 1/4 inch penetration on end grain and it makes the wood hard as rock. I use superglue on testers when I’m in a rush but it’s not as good as the other method.

Before ice out I made this gill profile. Made a few variations like a 4 piece and 3 piece, wake and a crank/ suspending. Carved from Alaskan yellow cedar, wood sealed using chiefchris’s method. Figured out some cool methods of adding holographic effects and wrapping them. They swim super sick and I have been steadily catching dinks. Went to a new spot last night and caught this fat 4. The dark gill I made for @northeast_trev IMG_8356.MOV

Any members heading down to boxboro today? I should be there around 12. Be cool to meet people in person from the area. Shoot me a message!

That’s sick! You should see my lexan tail. It’s embarrassing haha

Nothing quite cuts the fishing time as having kids… I have a 5yo girl and a 3yo boy. They are able to hang longer in the boat so it does get better lol. I spend all the time I can with them, including when building baits. I usually work at a station in my living room. So they are always watching and asking questions. My 5yo has been asking to make a bait with me so of course I couldn’t say no. She picked the bait to make. She stood close by as I did the dangerous bits like the bandsaw but helped cut the joints, watched me carve and did a bunch of sanding. Then I asked her to draw how she wanted to paint it. Here is her drawing ( including where wood would show through!) yes her favorite color is “rainbow”. She did a bit of airbrushing the baits base coat as well. This bait is going to be tied on a lot this year. Hope it hurts some feelings haha.

Like that profile and mouth! Is that a hard tail?

Thanks guys. This is white oak. I went with oak on some baits because I couldn’t fit enough lead in them to overcome the buoyancy of cedar haha. Takes muuuch less with oak.

Thanks Dan! Seriously I almost wish I didn’t put the gold on, the top and bottom are so flashy in person.

I’m curious about what happened to your paint. I’ve made and painted quite a bit of resin and I’m happy to troubleshoot for you. Can also give you some really good products for clear.

Epoxy came out very nice. IMG_7925.MOV

I found some random logs I cut on my property in my basement . Pretty sure they were table legs at one point… I think they are maple. I threw them on the bandsaw and cut them into a few blocks. The grain was super fine and really nice. I wanted to use as much as I cod so I went with a broomstick/ slammer sty bait. The color lent itself to a gold/ yellow base fish color so I went with brown trout. I usually draw my designs on paper but this was a one- off so I went right onto the wood. The line tie will go through the lip to add strength in that thin section but this wood is like rock. I did 3 coats of polyurethane and it really made it pop. I made a set of 20 degree blocks that I clamp my blocks to to cut very accurate joints by hand. Super light spray of fine gold and on to hand dotting. I didn’t have dotting tools so I used an eraser . Made nice dots but was hard to see how far down to press because it’s flat. (You don’t touch the tool down, just the paint) For the other side I got some $5 dotting tools from Michael's and they worked really well- trout painters take note! Worked in the white then dotted on the black and red. Some home made eyes and it’s looking sick. Epoxy clear coat is drying and will post more pics tonight. it’s hard to describe how iridescent and flashy good wood grain is. It’s like the road sign reflectors.

5” bodied 3 piece rat. Weighted to be a low float/ crank. Carved this in oak and the grain looked too good to paint. Thanks for looking. IMG_7904.MOV

Thanks man!

photo transfer crappie 5” crawler

When I started making baits I convinced myself I couldn’t carve or sculpt (still can’t sculpt). I used 3D printing and a variety of methods to get around this and liked the outcome but didn’t love it as it’s a huge lift to make molds and really not able to make refinements or changes easily. Here are some of those. then a few months ago I got an itch to make a wood bait… grabbed some graph paper and got to drawing. Found the graph paper helped me stay even and make copies to use to cut out. Like many others marlingbaits taught me a ton of tricks. After drawing I grabbed some basswood I had lying around and made a big rat. It’s like a 7” body. Guessing the weight needed and watching how lively wood is was addicting. I drew up all kinds of things, some made it to wood, others didn’t. I like the process of working through a bait till paint and clear then getting to start fresh again. I’m not really interested in selling any and will fish most myself. I do give them to friends and would like to jump on the next bait swap. some struggles I’ve found with wood has been: finding board stock the right size- I can manage to find many woods in 2x4 but 2x2 actual size is better. So I glue and cut and make do. wood is buoyant! It takes an impressive amount to get baits to sink- so I’ve switched to denser woods. I hate lead (I manage a state lead poisoning prevention program) so having to use lead and lots of it is the worst lol. I will add a reply with more pics of the different baits I’ve made. If you like em give me a follow on my baits IG swimbaits_sometimes thanks for looking. Ryan

I just print the masters. Tried printing a whole half of a mold but it worked like sh$t