radicalrat Posted September 30, 2013 Report Share Posted September 30, 2013 Alright guys, I decided I want to give making my own swimbaits a try and see what I can come up with. Only thing is, I don't know the first thing about making a swimbait, let alone using a sander or saw. I am most likely the most least experienced person here, but I don't want to let that stop me from trying. I was wondering if anyone out there was willing to help give me a type of guideline to follow while I attempt my very first. Alright, so to get things started, I drew out a "to-scale" out line of what I want my bait to look like that I will be posting soon. I drew a line seperating where I want to make my joint. I went up to my dad's shed to see what kind of tools I could bury out. I ended up finding two different types of Sanders, one orbital 11,000 rpm and one cordless 6,000 rpm. I found a recipricating saw, I found a couple different cordless drills with a ton of bits, two circular saws, is this enough? or do I need anything else? Now, for the swimbait. I was going to head out to Home Depot and pick up the wood and supplies to start with. I am planning on starting with a 6" bluegill type swimbait. I know some people use balsa, basswood or pine. What differences do these make in the bait itself? Also, I know I need to buy some plug hardware... So, I need some closed eye screweyes (Will brass work? and what size?) I know I need to go buy a lure lip, but again if I am looking for a type of glide bait feel, what size/type of bill do I need (and later, the angle?) Split rings size? What type of glue will I need to prevent water from messing it up? Also, what type of epoxy? size of 3d eyes? Anything else? Now as far the order of what happens.....What do I have to do in what order to get it done? As I said, this is my very first time ever guys. I just seemed to get really inspired by some of the amazing work that I have seen some of you guys do here on the SU. Also, I like the idea of learning how to make my own baits, I think it will make catching big fish that much more enjoyable. So, if anyone is willing to guide me along this little journey of mine. I would truly appreciate it! Thank you guys at SU! You guys have really helped me come a long way in such little time. Time to get this started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jut Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 I use devcon 2ton expoy to coat and hold every thing in place. You can buy a piece of lexan at home depot and make a bill/tail. All wood floats different some are more buoyant then others. Some are easier to work with you will find what you like.As of tools sounds like your good. I would get a set of carving knives, different grit sand paper's,and some wood flies. You can pick up other tools later if you like making baits. As for srew eyes you can pick them up at jannsnetcraft on the web. I use the ones for musky baits. If you need help you can pm me. I made a few baits and i am still working on some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 The very beginning.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 After cutting and carving with the tools I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 This is currently where I am. I have it sealed/clear coated, painted. I still need to figure out the tail and eyes, but I wanted to make sure it sat fine in water. Every time I put it in water it floats on its sides. Any side on how to get it to be straight? Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Also, thanks Jut. I definitely appreciate your help dude! =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jut Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Did you weight it and try it with the split rings an hooks? If it still flops over your going to need to weight it. You can use drop shot sinkers or Carolina weights. Drill a hole a little bigger then your weight epoxy it in. You can use wood putty to level it out with the wood. When i weight my floating baits i put a gum band around where i think the weight should go tie a piece of line from the bottom. I put weights on the line till i get it to where i want it to float. You can move the band around also. Its a easy way to see where the weight should go and you know how much weight you need. More weight in the front part of the bait works better i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volfan Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 The weight should probably go either right in front or right behind your front hook hanger. You'll probably need less than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 I tested my bait out today and it was a complete fail... :/ Didn't swim right at all and I have no idea why. It just looked like it was pushing water. No idea what to do to fix it now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltaman Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 This entire game is about trial and error. Using simple principles one can create something wonderful. Not sure what you're going for, glider? Seems to be the most common choice right now. Any who, your bait should be round or oval, the picture makes it seem rectangular or square shaped. The right angles on a square or rectangular shape add extra friction and buoyancy when one is trying to get the bait to sit properly. As stated before you can test the weight you'll need to add by taping it to the bottom. However, this is not an accurate measure because you will be removing material with a drill to add a more dense and heavy object. Make sense? So you'll need more weight when your "seeing" how much weight you'll need to add. SECOND, if you are going to use the pin and tenon joint system then you MUST use a smaller pin. Spinnerbait wire works fantastically. If you are not using stainless steel hook hangers then you are basically wasting your time because if they are brass, then they are consequently short... Short screw eyes pull out on the smallest of fish. THIRD. when weighting a swimbait the MOST EFFECTIVE way to do so is to weight each piece individually, "why?" you ask? Well because. Each piece should be balanced individually because it will create less friction on the joint causing a more fluid and less labored motion. Picture this... One half of your bait is weighted to sit in the water like this / (where one end is more buoyant than the other) Now pair that half of your bait to this half - <-- a perfectly horizontally floating piece. When you put them together your bait will not swim. If you find that this is difficult to understand, then put a lexan lip on it. P.s. When securing your lead into the bottom of the bait, make it snug, then, instead of gluing it in place. Hit it with a hammer so that the diameter of the lead increases wedging itself into place. This, coupled with a clearcoat is pure gold... or should i say lead? MoparMagnolia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Facepunch Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Great advice delta... I will also add that the way I like to ballast is to drill my holes and then take a dremel and open up the bottom side (closest to the center of the bait) so that you basically have a opening that is slightly smaller than the bottom of the hole. once I have this, I will melt the lead and pour directly into the bait. this allows the lead to stay in the hole without having it fall out. Once this is done you can take a drill or dremel and remove small amounts of ballast weight until you get the desired bouyancy. when you are finished, either bondo or eopxy over and sand smooth and flush with the bottom of the bait. There are a ton of ways to go about ballasting, so read up and then start your trial and error process. After a while, you will get to where you don't even need to second guess your ballast locations or hole sizes. Hope I could help, Chad yates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radicalrat Posted October 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 I really appreciate your guys' help. Im doing what I can to get the hang of it. I am having love/hate type feelings right now. Partially because I love the idea of making my own baits, and it is super fun to make something I had a vision for. But now that I am on my second bait, I think I am getting frustrated that I haven't gotten one to swim/wake straight. Hummphh! I was using normal bullet weights and filling the holes I drilled in the bottom, my bait floats straight now, but I am still trying to get them to swim with ease. Haven't gotten around to getting a dremel yet. I mostly use my circular saw to cut the big pieces of, orbital sander to smoothen and sand, and drill to get holes. I'll post my other one in a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deltaman Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 There's this cool website called tackle underground dot com... It's far more technical than this website. Mickey referred me to it about 8 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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