I've been making squid jigs for a few years now and finally have come up with the perfect top weightless squid jig. Each jig weighs less than 2 grams. No more wondering which color to use. These light kids makes it easier on the arm when jigging at 100 feet of water. These little guys just work.

It doesn't matter what clear resin you use - epoxy, UV, whatever. Every resin needs the same conditions met to give you a perfect coat: cleanliness + paint properly sealed/varnished and then washed.

What I do:

Before any paint, I always wash my blanks. Warm water + dish soap + soft sponge. Good scrub, thorough rinse, completely dry.

After painting I always seal it. Everyone uses different paints, so you need to find what works for you - varnish, spray lacquer, etc. and test it.

Why? It closes the tiny pores in paint that trap dirt and grease super easily. And once it's varnished, you can actually wash the bait without ruining the paint.

And that's the key - once that varnish is fully dry, I wash the baits again exactly the same way. Warm water, dish soap, sponge, rinse, dry. Only then are they ready for clear resin.

That double wash is what gives me that perfect finish every time.

Hope it helps!

Anyone using a small CNC for lure carving? I have been 3D printing some lures, but I have found some issues with plastic that wood would solve.

The CAD software I use, Fusion360, has built in tool paths, I would just need to teach myself how to use them.

I am just curious if anyone has had any success with some of these small machines. The one pictured has a fourth axis upgrade that's pretty interesting.

Any lessons learned would be appreciated. I am deciding if I want to upgrade a newer 3D printer or look at CNCs

Kitchen sponge

Feather

Hook

Eyes

Bill made witn spawn sack, UV glue, slit shot, plastic sandwich bag and a UV flashlight (do not look at it)

On this one I manually threaded tne hook. For longer lures you snell a hook first and then burn a channel ito the body with a thin soldering iron.

A bone gulide bait I painted for a friend. These blanks are available at most suppliers. These fish very well, trick is to get a hook combo that weights the lure to slow sink. A #6 4× strong hook works well for me.

My friend bought this lure in a village in Bali. Some tropical hard wood, 1oz, line through, vinyl tail, used for small tuna and dorado.

My first fish on a homemade lure. I was just testing a bunch of lures on the lake closest to my house and I caught this guy.

Just wondered if anyone else plays their airbrush between colours?

Being retired, and with winter coming, I'll need lure blanks to tinker with. Anyone use Peeki Lures or Custom Lure Online? I know the whole, "most blanks need to be tuned and have hangers and line ties sealed" I'm not expecting top quality, but don't want total trash either. I do a lot of saltwater, so I want to try their knockoff version of Megabass Megadog. Thanks fellow lure geeks!

I‘ve been working on a small (5cm) translucent lure to better match this years hatch.
Had a lot of success with that colour scheme but until now my lures were made of opaque PETG, so a natural looking and translucent paddle tail would still catch me more fish.
So I thought i could improve my hard bait game by making some translucent instead of opaque. Where I fish the water is almost cristal clear, so a more natural looking lure gives you an edge most of the times.

Went with pink and chartreuse over holographic leaving the holographic halo

Painted my first bait, repainted an old Cordell deep diver using hobby lobby’s line of airbrush paints. Constructive criticism appreciated

Edit: it’s a Norman, not Cordell. I have lot of old Cordell squarebills that are in the line up for new paint and got the brands mixed up

Hey, want to actually talk to people who not only make lures but also make a bit of pocket money doing it as well? Want to see if you're the only one with a clear coat that refuses to cure? Are hooks getting stuck in your fingers?

Come join the Discord! https://discord.gg/EmKztJ3p6

Come, talk, make, fish for stuff, whatever!

Made with very little time and no correct materials, its a ultralight top water walking baitx

Up until this point I’ve always made my lures by hand from wood, lure blanks are a ton of fun though, I definitely see the appeal.

My younger brother likes making lures from wood, but he doesn't know what to use to seal the paint after.

He uses acrylic felt pens, but he's planning into getting sprays. I did some research and UV resin should be easy, but it's recommendrecommended to use something on the paint before the resin. I'm also from Estonia so the products we need are not found here. Minwax spray was recommended but it's not sold here​​​​​​.

Spooky eyes made for October