"Night Bite" walleye baits - Page 4

Fishers of Men · 11-25-2008, 10:37 PM

John, that's sure a fine example of your excellent work. What can anyone say but...sweet!
Thanks for sharing, and I'll bet the paint gets messed up as soon as you get a chance.

ThreeRiversEsox · 11-26-2008, 09:15 AM

One of the best baitmakers in the country, hands down, I feel fortunate I just get to look at the pictures!!

tomb · 11-26-2008, 09:30 AM

You are one talented individual. Those baits are amazing. How much of that detail is necessary to catch fish? Do they have to be so pretty?

Here's the hack job I did on an F-18. At least one dumb walleye thought it looked good. I never caught one fish on it in the original factory finish. Done w/ spray white and brush colors, followed by a glitter nail polish clearcoat.

Look familiar Andy?

TIGGER · 11-26-2008, 06:20 PM

Thanks guys. I am not better than anyone else. There are some Incredible bait makers out there. There are some amazing guys here that build baits!!!!!!!!!!!

The camera helps makes the baits look good.

I was hoping to get out and try the baits but the weather may not help!

Tomb. That paint job looks great. They will crush it for sure! I like the idea of the glitter nail finger polish. I used some of that glitter glue and spread it around with a small paint brush. Let it dry for a couple of hours and clear coat. It works pretty well.

John

peple of the perch · 11-26-2008, 06:32 PM

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goolies · 11-27-2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb

You are one talented individual. Those baits are amazing. How much of that detail is necessary to catch fish? Do they have to be so pretty?

Here's the hack job I did on an F-18. At least one dumb walleye thought it looked good. I never caught one fish on it in the original factory finish. Done w/ spray white and brush colors, followed by a glitter nail polish clearcoat.

Look familiar Andy?

Nice job Tom! It's great that your effort produced a fish. I don't think the fish cares if the paint job is perfect. Only the human brain works that way. It's funny that you painted an F-18 in the wonderbread pattern. I painted one also but only got to run it one night. Yours produced one more fish than mine.

All Eyes · 12-01-2008, 01:18 AM

Been away from the tackle making forum for a while and now am wondering why. These baits are amazing! Seeing them hanging out of the mouths of monster walleye is just too much! Makes me want to get into this craft of making crankbaits more and more all the time. Very inspiring stuff here guys.

tomb · 12-01-2008, 08:54 AM

Very nice redo on that one Andy, looks like Rapala made it that way. It's going to produce soon for sure. Good thing the fish aren't too picky on neatness, I'm no Picasso like you guys.

TIGGER · 10-27-2009, 06:24 AM

Well getting to be that time again!

I think this will get me back into making baits again. I went through a major burn-out period. I really really really like the night bite walleye fishing.

I have been watching everyones work on this forum and it looks great! Keep up the good work!

John

allwayzfishin · 10-28-2009, 12:15 PM

blown away on how great this thread is. i am going to start today and need some advise on where to purchase these hobby materials? methods of shaping and painting these great stickbaits. any input is appreciated guys. how do u make that slot for the lips, and how to shape them? so many questions to ask, but ill start with those. thanks again for all the detailed info in this thread. oh, i have a dremel, but not sure what bits u all use. can i use spray paint and what type of epoxy is used?

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 12:43 PM

Hey allyz, The lures look great! Those will catch for sure. There are so many ways to do things relative to lure making. You can buy lips & bodies from suppliers and paint them the way you want. You can hand shape bodies from wood by using power tools or hand carving them. You can even get into making molds and casting them. Re-painting older lures is a great way to start into the lure thing. You have to watch with some styles of lures on putting too heavy of a finish coat on them not to whack them out of swimming action.

As for some of the other questions that you asked I like to hand shape the lips out of lexan that I bought at home depot or lowes . For the epoxy I use envirotex that can be bought at the hobby stores.

I hope this helps a bit.

John

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 01:13 PM

Well everyone I know I have been withdrawn alot this past summer. I will just call it "The Lost Summer". I went through a bit of burn-out with building lures for 3 straight years without a break. I do that with alot of things. I just hit the wall.
An example, I was a ski instructor for many years in in the 80's. I would get a season pass every year before that. I would average 80 ski days a year. The one day I just said I don't enjoy this anymore and walked out of the ski instructors shack leaving my equipment behind. I have never went skiing since. I am hoping this doesn't happen with the lures so I am trying to take breaks to avoid this example. The irony is I like to fish!

Compounding this was stress of being laid-off for 4 months and fully committed to fishing a walleye tournament season. My wife gave her support and knew I had wanted to do this. She said everything will be fine and worked itself out. It did and thanks again my wife.

I got to learn a new style of fishing for me............ The way of the worm. Worm harnesses are an incredible way to catch big fish in tough conditions. This has led me to making worm harness rigs and playing around with painting some blades for my tackle box. Just what I need another dimension of luremaking!

Well things are getting back to normal. I gave up on my previous employer and settled into another job. It is funny later on you realize that sometimes things happen for a reason without us knowing that during that point of time. My wife and daughter have been waiting to adopt a child for 3-1/2 years now we are getting very very close to it becoming a reality. That sure didn't help worrying about that this summer either. Hopefully I will have some good news for you in the next month.

To all the people that were worried and concerned about my well being this year I really appreciate it. Even though I did not return your calls. I was thinking of you. I will try to get my feet back into the pool again to take another swim.

John

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 01:28 PM

I did still tinker at times in the later summer with daytime walleye baits. I do alot of night fishing when is the season but I still like the deep water day bite out on lake Erie. I started to play around with a larger body bait that was a cross between a bomber style bait and a reef runner action. The bait came out a bit on the larger side but it really was catching some very nice fish. I had a proto of this body and ran it the last fall night bite season and worked great.

Here are some of the paint schemes I did. I took them out a late summer day and great success with them. After the bait would catch three fish I would throw it up on the dash of the boat. It was one of those right time right place deals. I was by myself running two rods. I using a down rigger on one side and wire line on the other. I boated 32 fish that day. I think I could have run out a block of wood that day and caught fish! LOL Color didn't matter or lure type. Everyone was netting around me also! I didn't want to leave that day. It felt good catching and releasing the rest of the day.

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 01:47 PM

Here are some action shots from that day. I think the fish averaged around 6 pounds for the entire batch. I had 4 over 8 lbs one was just over 10 pounds. It was a special day for sure. The conditions were just right and it was just before the full moon phase. After the full moon and clear skies two days later they would not touch a bait during the day after feeding all night long!

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 02:18 PM

I did get to play with a bass bait style that I thought would work very good in the inland lakes. It has a shad body and does not dive that deep. I made to run behind lead-core line. I had some in my tackle box and the next day after fishing the monster day described previous. The bite had slowed down so I decided to put one behind a dipsey diver and run it out at a 3 setting 80 back. To my suprise I got this monster on it. It was 30-1/2" long and was 10.38 pounds. I was really really suprised. I gave one that I had to my friend Scott in a different paint pattern and he called and told me he got a 30" the other night night trolling the night bite. I am going to have to try some of these on the night bite!

I wanted to try something like a rip shad style bait. I didn't like the body at first but it is starting to grow on me. I made two of them. The first one really got taken down hard by this fish. Then I lost the dang thing an hour later aftercatching three fish! I never took a good picture of it and will have to remember the color off this photo!

Here is a picture of the other bait in the same body shape. I got a good photo of this one!

I have one other style of bait. It is a spin off from the "tony the tiger" bait from a couple of years ago. That is retired. I am not going to make them jointed. They are a flatter higher profile. There is difficulty in making them swim right. I think I have it figured out. In September while prefishing for a Huron tournament my friend Scott got this nice one. It just over 8 lbs. I have one other that is used a couple nights ago while fishing after dark.

TIGGER · 10-31-2009, 02:28 PM

Well the fall night bite has officially started this year. I got to get out and fish two nights ago with fello member "JIG" (Bob) and his friend Doug. We got some nice fish. It will keep getting better and better with every day. The water temp is 54 ish. When it hits 50 watch out!

We got one on this wonder bread type of pattern.

We got a couple on that higher profile bait I explained earlier. I will get a better picture of the body style soon. It took two fish over 8. That is a good sign already. The night bite tournament starts November 8th! I can't wait.

This is a picture of Bob and Doug as I left them. I had to get home early that night. They stayed out till dawn. It was nice jumping in your boat and running some lures. Thanks again. The biggest fish was 30" in length

peple of the perch · 10-31-2009, 07:39 PM

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Bischoff66 · 10-31-2009, 07:45 PM

Tigger wow you have got a lot of talent. I have spent the last day or two going over this thread. The baits are beautiful. Also most a shame to put them in harms way. lol I noticed you mentioned getting the lures to run right. Is there a thread on here how to do that. If not can you elaborate on it. I am thinking of trying to make a few myself but want to make sure it is something I can do before buying all the stuff needed. Any help on getting started would be appreciated.

TIGGER · 11-01-2009, 08:34 AM

Bischoff, There are many things that will determine how a bait will run. Here are a couple:

- Symetry of the bait itself. Make sure the body itself is equal and centered with a straight lip. If the lip is crooked it not run right.

- Make sure your bait floats. This is an overlooked aspect at times. Bouyancy is a very very important factor in how a bait will run and its action. The wobble of a bait is the interaction of the bait wanting to float up and the pull of the lip going down. I can tell you that I messed up many many times not accounting for this. With smaller thinner baits is when this happens. They will get tail heavy. When applying epoxy screw eyes and hooks.

- Body shape is another factor. A curved body will add to the wobble and a straighter one will reduce the amount of action. This can be good at times based the time of year and water temp. In the spring the fish want something more vanilla in action. The summer they want a bait more erratic. In the late fall back to more of a vanilla action. Big fish in the fall tend to more lazy in chasing baits I have found. You give them a nice big lazy actioned bait they will not miss it. If you look at my post #104 you may notice something. Look at the baits and their body shapes. The gold one is a straighter body. The others have a medium curve and the bottom one with the greatest curve to its body. I did that with a purpose for an experiment to try to find the ultimate action.

- Lips......... This is hardest to explain without going thru the madness of trial and error. So many things to consider. Does you bait have a nose tie or a lip line tie? This can determine many things about the action of the bait itself. Deep diving lures have the line tie on the lips. Shallow runners usually have the line attachment on the nose. Your lip should not be narrower than the widest part of the body of the bait. On a nose tie bait the farther you move the lip back with a minnow type of bait the more stable the bait will become. Look at an f-18 rapala. When using a lip line tie try to put it 1/3 the way out from the nose of the bait towards the leading edge of the lip itself. There are a thousand combo's when it comes to lip sizes and actions. Here is a thread on musky baits I started a while back on a musky forum. You will be able to different examples of this. This may help in that aspect. This is the hardest to explain. You can photo copy patterns of lips and cut them out on lexan.

http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/boar...sts=75&start=1

One really neat thing about making your own baits is that you match your style of fishing. I have baits for the fall that were made to run 1.1 to 1.5. I take them out in the summer and try to run them at 2.4 they will spin out. Put them in their setting they were designed for and watch out! It is also the opposite . I have baits that run the summer action mode but struggle to run at slower speeds. Both catch fish when in their proper enviroments. I have tried to keep it fresh with changing body styles and finishes. I have some more body styles coming shortly for the next month of fall night bite. I really enjoy field testing them!

With the musky baits there is so much time invested in the quest to catch them. The walleyes I don't have so long.

Bischoff66 · 11-01-2009, 10:43 AM

Tigger thank you very much for explaining that. I have looked at the different styles of baits you have made and placed in this post. I know that every lure has it place and time. I wouldn't dream of running a hot'n'tot in the middle of the fall but the work in the summer well at least use to. Sounds like it can be very frustrating but when one baits goes off then it is worth the effort. I know how much satisfaction I got from being able to take trophy walleye on worm harness I had tied. It adds a whole new element to fishing. Thanks for letting us pick your brain and thanks for posting. Once a I get a few to the paint stage I will pick your brain a little more.

kyjake · 11-03-2009, 02:26 AM

Don't know which is more interesting in Tigger's post,the nice lures or the fishing stories.This thread inspired me to try something I have been thinking of doing.I night fish for sauger in the Ohio river where we catch about one walleye for every twenty or so sauger so thought I would try to target walleye a little more tonight.Took some stick baits and crank baits,they didn't produce anything tonight but caught a few sauger on jigs.Will keep trying the shallow running lures along with jigs until they produce walleye.Did get one small sauger on a crank bait.
Jake

ThreeRiversEsox · 11-03-2009, 09:41 AM

Glad you're back at it John!! Beautiful fish and baits as always!!

James F · 11-03-2009, 10:11 AM

Those are some great looking baits! Do you make any that suspend like the husky jerks?

TIGGER · 11-05-2009, 02:12 AM

KYjake, glad to here you got and tried for some night walleyes. Interesting to here about the saugeyes and walleyes you have down there. I know with the walleye and rocky shoreline the walleyes like to come in tight and high. Alot the fish that we are catching are in the top 8 feet of water and higher. We are fishing the 25 to 35 foot drop-off rocky areas. You can watch the fish rise as the night goes on.

Jake. The suspending happens by accident.

I am trying to get them to be consistent in floating. I am playing around with the resin and the microballons. The first couple out of the mold are sinking or suspending. As the mold gets hotter the expansion is greater and the baits are corkier.

Well my friends Trent and Jared got out tonight. It was sure not fast and furious action. I got to get a couple of fish to go on this new body style. It is a flat pancake body with a high profile. I am going to call it the "Billboard". It has more of a la -la action. It is a stiffer swimming bait like an f-18. I will try to get close-up on the next batch of them. I have three of them I am playing around with. Trent got this nice 10 lber on the bait tonight. It was out 25 feet back behind the board. I have no clue how deep it runs. 25 feet has been working well on it at 1.5 mph. Later in the night as the fish rise up a bit we have been running it back 15 feet and it caught some fish also.

The head on his fish was huge!!!!!!!!! This is a big bait! The picture does not show the size of the fish as it was in person. We released this fish to fight another day. Good for you Trent!

There were some big fish caught. Guys were talking on the radio. A friend of ours got a 13 pound 4 ounce fish! I can't wait to see the pictures of it! Here is a mug of me with a nice one on the same bait.

There are some nice fish in town at the moment. There are not great numbers but there are some real nice quality. Next week should be fun as more move into Cleveland!

JIG · 11-05-2009, 09:39 PM

Got to hand it to ya man! You make some cool lookin baits. Those smaller ones are perfect for in-land waters. Tell those guys well get on the ice again this year. Preet nice being able to walk around and shoot the breeze along with slamin fish!

Pikopath · 11-07-2009, 03:14 AM

The baits, and especially the colourcombos are AWESOME! Very inspiring!

Michael

peple of the perch · 11-07-2009, 09:11 AM

Thanks for all the help guys

TIGGER · 11-07-2009, 12:25 PM

Pikopath, You guys have some really neat styles of baits along with great color patterns over there in Norway. I think you guys are more cutting edge over there............. I am trying to catch up with you guys!

Peple, I know you pm'd me about the night bite over at Ladue. I bet there is one after dark. I have tried a couple of times in the later fall but I think I was fishing in the wrong spot. I had alway believed that the fish would move towards the dam and that deeper water. I was way wrong I found out later.
They did a gill net survey out there a couple of years ago. They randomly placed nets around the lake. I thought for sure most of the walleyes would be caught on the north end. I think there were only 6 walleyes caught north of the 422 causeway. 60 plus fish were caught south of 422. Of the total fish that were caught. I think 6 were over 30" and most of them were over 23". A huge amount in the 25 to 27" range! The fish are moving towards the food source and the river system of the lake. It also happens in Miton. I do want to try the night bite in the fall at Ladue but this time I will fish by route 44.

Well I got to go out last night for a scouting mission before the fishcrazy tournament. I think that front a couple of days ago messed them up a bit. They would not come up to much in the active strike range. If I don't see them approaching the 12 foot depth I know it will be a slow night. I did manage one very tight to the rocks on a 20 foot lead behind the board. It is a new style that I was playing around with in the spring. I wanted to be a smaller musky type bait. It had a very dull action so I decided to heat bend the lip and move the line tie to just on the bend of the lip. It gave it a nice hunting action and a great roll to the wobble. It was in the "tony the tiger" pattern. The fish was around the 7 pound mark. That was the highlight of the trip. We had no other pull-backs or hits. The warmer temps this weekend should get them back on track I hope!

isaiashortie · 11-07-2009, 11:52 PM

so do you sell any of your baits you make???

TIGGER · 11-08-2009, 11:19 AM

Heres a couple or others that I hope will do well for me this fall.

Here are a couple close ups of the that higher profiled bait. It has a wider wobble and I like the way they run at the 1.5 speed.

I tried a smaller 3-1/2" style I hope to use out west in the Huron area this fall. It has a bomber type of body.

I did really well on this one at mosquito lake this spring on lead-core line. I can't wait to try it after dark

Some others in the same style