Plug building

A handful more that are finished. I'm making some improvement here and there, but still don't quite have the consistency I'd like. Just takes time and practice I assume.

Had my first short test to see if the fish approve. Not really the time for stripers around here but I did have one schoolie follower and hooked up to two green bass, that I promptly lost close to the kayak. Gives me a little hope at least! Can't wait to build some other types and sizes for my Baja trips. I need to make something that dives...

Love the shine, glitter, variety.  That is consistent.  Production.  Keep going...such work is going into these that I hope they slammmm.....

Well the madness has hit me! While I really appreciated using our family friend's shop, (and I think he enjoyed having me since he's in an all girl household) I didn't want to wear out my welcome. So I began looking around for a lathe. Quite a few guys that build lures use the Harbor Freight lathe with little to no complaints, but I've never been a huge fan of their stuff. Woodcraft happened to have a sale on Rikon products, which seem like better quality and have a 5 year warranty. Price wasn't much more when they were on sale.

I'll be looking to purchase a band saw and belt/disc sander sometime in the near future, as well.

I also picked up some turning tools and some Poplar to try some different wood. The past couple days I've been working on some new styles and sizes to try, along with some different profiles (skinny vs fat). For size reference, the big popper is 7.5" and the needle next to it is 8".

 I need to re-supply on some hardware and I can get back to building.

A handful more that are finished. I'm making some improvement here and there, but still don't quite have the consistency I'd like. Just takes time and practice I assume.

Had my first short test to see if the fish approve. Not really the time for stripers around here but I did have one schoolie follower and hooked up to two green bass, that I promptly lost close to the kayak. Gives me a little hope at least! Can't wait to build some other types and sizes for my Baja trips. I need to make something that dives...

ohhhh those are purrrrrrrrrtttyyyyy... me likey..

Thanks guys! Hoping the stripers show up in good numbers this fall so I can put them to use.

Got the spooks built out of this last batch. Tried some slightly different variations on body shape and came to the conclusion that they all perform about the same, except I prefer the shape of the two trout patterns. I still need to test them with the dressed siwash. These are all unweighted poplar. The 5" have 1/0 x4 Vmc and the 6" 2/0


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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got the spooks built out of this last batch. Tried some slightly different variations on body shape and came to the conclusion that they all perform about the same, except I prefer the shape of the two trout patterns. I still need to test them with the dressed siwash. These are all unweighted poplar. The 5" have 1/0 x4 Vmc and the 6" 2/0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They look so pro.....

Still been building a little here and there, mostly metal lip swimmers, both surface and divers. Lately I've taken on some new projects which has got me all excited to build again.

First, I decided to build some small bass crankbaits with some wood I was planning to scrap, as well as modified some existing lures I built for fishing pyramid. Lastly, I build a couple wood "jigs" based on the profiles of metal jigs and loaded them with lead. The plan is to send them to the bottom and try to catch a ling or two on my own plugs.


Couple cranks, one deep diver and one shallow (still need to test swim)




These were meant to be Lyman copies but instead I opted to put a metal lip and shave their head a bit



And the ling jigs. Most of the weight is centerline with the thru-wire. I'm hoping they'll flutter a little on the way down.






And a few that got painted today. A danny and the two cranks

Those are really nice looking plugs. Great workmanship and artistry! Some of those plugs would slay stripers out here in the SF surf.

You would give a couple plug building guys from another board (Winch, Mike Fixter) a run for their $

Those are really nice looking plugs. Great workmanship and artistry! Some of those plugs would slay stripers out here in the SF surf.

You would give a couple plug building guys from another board (Winch, Mike Fixter) a run for their $

I appreciate the compliments! But I’m far from comparable to those guys. They are legends in the plug building world. Lots of what I’ve learned was from reading through their threads

Been awhile since I’ve posted any builds...I’ve updated my designs and refined my process. The end result has been pretty good! Better yet they’ve been catching!

Top notch, you got the gift:..

I have paid good money for plugs that look like these.  Way to go man.  Those look great.

That red/white plug looks ready to be crushed by a striper. Beautiful work !

Thanks guys! Lots of trial and error but I’m pretty happy with my results now