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Some new homemade crankbaits

105K views 574 replies 71 participants last post by  All Eyes 
#1 ·
Lately I've been making these square bill rattle baits and painted my first craw pattern. The colors don't show up well in these pictures, but I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. These are 2 1/4" and done in cedar. The top one has a wider lip design that I want to try out. I have several new musky and walleye baits in the works also. Would love to see what everyone else has been building.
Fishing bait Plug Bait Surface lure Fish hook
Fishing bait Bait Fishing lure Spoon lure Plug
Fishing bait Bait Fishing lure Spoon lure Fish hook
 
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#5 ·
TY. Those little black specs are done by making the airbrush spit, but for some reason you can barely see them on the pictures. They give that dirty natural look. Most craw baits are splattered like that and I've always wanted to try one.
 
#9 ·
No I am not Fat Fingers, but that is the best compliment I've ever received. :) You are referring to Vince, known here as VC1111. He is the one responsible for getting me into bait making. His work is top notch.
Thanks for turning up the lights on my dark picture. I should have taken some shots outside. There is more of a green tint to it that didn't show up well.
 
#11 ·
Thanks a lot! Vince and I were supposed to get together last year and do some musky fishing, but things didn't go as planned. Long story short, my father passed away and lots of things to deal with. I didn't get much fishing in this past season. Hopefully that will change this year. I have a few musky baits that I am anxious to drag around.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Planning on getting some GoPro swimming pool footage this coming spring. The actions on my shad style walleye baits and the bass cranks for the most part is what I want. They catch fish. Some of my new designs are yet to be determined. One thing I hate about this time of year is not being able to test them out the way I want to.
 
#23 ·
This is a 6 1/2" musky bait that I'm in the process of painting. Still working on the head details and gills/fins. Not the best photos again, but I wanted to bounce something off of you guys. I had an idea that may look good if even for display purposes. Instead of painting the bright orange belly fins like a perch has, I thought about making them out of some thin material or even craft fur and tying or attaching them to the front hook hanger. Has anyone seen this done before? It would have a nice 3-D effect with some added movement going through the water. Any thoughts?
Fishing bait Plug Surface lure Bait Fishing lure
Spoon lure Bait Fish hook Fishing bait Fishing lure
 
#24 ·
My newest batch of square bill rattle baits. These are just over 2" and again made from cedar. For the end caps on the rattle chambers I used circuit board material this time instead of brass. It produces a slightly different sound than the metal does. Looking forward to getting an opinion from the fish as to what they prefer. Please feel free to post pics of your latest creations. I'd love to see what everyone is up to.
More to come soon.
Bait Fishing lure Spoon lure Fishing bait Orange
Bait Fishing lure Fishing bait Spoon lure Plug
Bait Spoon lure Fishing lure Fishing bait Lovebird
Fishing bait Spoon lure Fishing lure Bait Orange
Spoon lure Bait Fishing lure Fishing bait Surface lure
Bait Fishing bait Fishing lure Spoon lure Surface lure
 
#26 ·
My newest batch of square bill rattle baits. These are just over 2" and again made from cedar. For the end caps on the rattle chambers I used circuit board material this time instead of brass. It produces a slightly different sound than the metal does. Looking forward to getting an opinion from the fish as to what they prefer. Please feel free to post pics of your latest creations. I'd love to see what everyone is up to.
More to come soon.
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WOW....A ARTIST
 
#32 ·
#30 ·
Jim- Thanks for the nice comments, and yes, I have several full boxes of my homemade baits and am working on more almost daily. Haven't counted them but am building quite a collection. Losing them once in a while is inevitable, but I always carry a lure knocker in my boat so it's kept to a minimum.

LatinoHeat- VC111 is Vince, who started me on this hobby several years ago through looking at his amazing work in the "Fired Up The Airbrush" thread at the top of this section. If you start at the beginning of that long running thread, you will see some of the highest quality works of lure art in the world done by him and many other incredible builders. It is a section more concentrated on musky baits, so I usually post these bass and walleye cranks in a separate thread. Always appreciate the interest and kind words. More to come shortly.
 
#31 ·
Here are a couple attempts at a foil job in the making. Messing with this ultra thin leafing foil really tests my patience. I shake like a cold chihuahua to begin with, and then drink strong black coffee as I'm working. :rolleyes:Touching this stuff even with a cotton ball bends and flattens out the scales and other details. It makes me nuts but the end result is usually worth it.
Spoon lure Fishing bait Bait Fishing lure Fish

Spoon lure Fishing bait Fishing lure Surface lure Bait
 
#35 ·
I thought the first craw was amazing...... then i saw the tiger/craw! The high contrast blue/purple gill is very cool too, but that tiger/craw is outstanding. The crazy contrast should get some positive reactions.

The idea about dressing the front treble on the big musky bait is interesting. We use them dressed on the back hooks pretty often, but not sure i have ever seen the front dressed. Think it would look like a fin of sorts in the water. Would it be possible to hang a swivel & gold spinner off the front hanger on the gold foiled bait? A backwards, gigantic Little George......?

As others have said........ they are all beautiful creations and no doubt will catch some fish. Betting the high contrast bluegill bait would hammer the walleye in a reservoir i fish. So would a high contrast baby bass bait. ;) I'm picturing a pearly/chart variation looking like it swam right through Davis Bessie.
 
#37 · (Edited)
HaHa Attica! I need to get some glow paint for a nuked bass. Will have to look at that idea of spinner blades. I have a million of them in different sizes. Still playing around with the idea of front fins but have some other projects and haven't gotten back to it yet. Thank you for the nice comments.

Brettsky- Thanks again. That tiger bait was done with a stencil and is real easy to paint. I love the way it came out though. Was thinking about doing some more with different color combos.
 
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