Adding to My Collection

With January about gone, the spring rattle bait bite will be starting very soon here in Kentucky so I am adding this custom Rattletrap to my arsenal. I won this 1-1/2 ounce super trap on eBay this week and I gave it some new paint, a tinsel tail and upgraded the hooks.



I also completed a couple topwater baits from the popular blanks I got last week.
First is a ripper type bait. The body is 8" in length and it weighs 3 ounces. It features .092 stainless steel screw eyes, two pair of counter rotating stainless chopper style props, 2oo lb. test triple ring split rings and 3 Mustad 2/0 round bend hooks. The blank was sealed with a coat of epoxy, then painted in the Dr.Carp color with 3 color 3-D eyes then 2 coats of epoxy top coat.















The second is a surface wobbler. It's body measures 7-1/2" and weighs 3.9 ounces. It was built the same way as the ripper except I used a double eye to eye connection as a hinge joint between the two body sections, a # 8 Colorado blade as the lip, counter rotating propeller blades and Mustad 7/0 hooks. I'm a little unsure how well this one will work until I get a chance to test it.

It was a very nice change for me to be able to work with some wood. It had been a long time since I had made anything from wood.

FOR SALE

From time to time I will be offering a few baits for sale on here.
Here is a few new ones that I figured I'd offer to the folks that visit my blog rather than on Ebay.
All baits are brand new (not re-paints) and they feature etex clear coat, 3-D eyes, triple ring split rings and Mustad hooks.
All sales are on a first come first serve basis.
If you wish to buy one of these baits just send me an email at jboggsfish@gmail.com
and let me know which one (s) you want. I accept payment via Pay Pal, money order or check. If paying by personel check the items will be held until the check clears.
Shipping is priority mail small flat rate box. Cost is $5.00 for the lower 48 sates and $15.00 international. 3 to 5 of these will fit in one box so the shipping cost is the same as long as they fit into the box. International shipments have a 4 pound weight limit.

Prices are as folllows:
Not including shipping.




Super Swimmers
9" 4.25 ounces
$24.50 each
Colors, (From Left) Creek Sucker, Yellow Perch(SOLD), Orange Barred Sucker









Long Tail Jointed Swimbaits
14" 5.8 ounces
$26.50
Colors (From Left)
Cisco, Dr. Carp(SOLD), Creek Chub, Spotted Sucker

Hellhounds
8" 4 ounces without the tail
11" 4.25 ounces with the tail
$22.50, without tail
$24.50 with tail fin
Note: The custom tail fin hooks are available and will be made to match the baits colors.

Colors (From Left)
Orange Barred Sucker, Natural Barred Sucker

Waiting for their Turn to Ride

These are fresh from the paint room and as soon as their paint is cured it will be their turn to ride the wheel.
I didn't plan on painting these today but a parts order was delayed so rather than waste a few days waiting on it I decided to work on a couple orders due next week. As soon as the parts arrive I can get back to what I'm supposed to be working on for this week. But I'm sure the folks that ordered these will be happy I got to them a little earlier than expected, however we won't tell "The Pike Master" that I'm dead in the water on his stuff until the parts arrive. LOL

Some on the Wheel

Here's four that took a long ride on the drying wheel today.
Around and around they go.

Things To Think About

I took a few moments today to ponder the options on the wood topwater blanks I got this past weekend. As I tried to match blades to blank size, I considered whether to use buzz blades, prop blades, chopper blades, globe style blades or creeper wings. After deciding on the blade style I had to decide on the blade size,. ... ... . .. . .. then should it be one blade or two .. .. . or three .. . . .. .. . or four ????
Just getting out the box of hardware and holding different blades up against the blanks trying to visualize the best combination for each, gave me a pretty good handle on what I want.. ... ..... .. ..... I think. Hopefully I've figured out what I want on most of the blanks but like all my projects, it subject to change.

Painting Tip

Here's four photos of two different colors, two of each color. The first two photos are of the color pattern I call Dr.Carp and the last two photos is of a color pattern called Crazy Northern Lights. You will see that the two baits in each photo are very different even though they are the same color pattern. They were painted with the same color paints, with the same technique, with the same stencils....so why the great color difference ???? The Base color !!!
The lure on the left side in all the photos were painted on a clear body and the one on the right were painted on a white body.
Just goes to show that the little things sometimes can make a big difference.

Quite a Selection of Colors

The rest of the Medussa's that I finished today.
Colors, from the left
Cisco, Orange Tail Walleye, Yellow Belly Walleye, Barred Sucker, Crazy Northern Lights, Iridescent Tennessee Shad, White perch, Dr.Carp and Yellow Perch.

A Few Medussa's

I didn't get much time in the shop today and what time I was there was spread pretty thin over several different projects. However I did manage to get these 3 Medussas painted. I have several more colors to do for this fellow so check back to see how the rest turns out.
These 3 colors are, from the left
Cisco,
Yellow Belly Walleye,
Barred Sucker

Some New Material to Work With

One of my field testers dropped off a few wood bodies today. He turned these from Popular so they should make some very fine topwater baits.
There's quite a selection of shapes and sizes.
They will be a nice change of pace to work with some wood, it has been awhile since I've made anything from wood so I am really looking forward to it. Now all I need is the time to play with them.

More Long Tails

A few new colors on the long tail jointed swimbaits.
First is a Cisco, it has lots of silver and purple with a pearl white belly and a darker back.
Next is one I call Creek Chub, Pearl white belly, light btown back with silver scales. The camera didn't pick up the scales very well on the body section
The third new color is a Spotted Sucker, pearl white belly, black back and bars, brown scales, orange tipped fins and tail, with some green iridescent highlights.
At the bottom of this post is a few photos of a half dozen finished baits hanging on the rack awaiting hooks. The one on the right in a couple of those pics is a Spotted Musky pattern a friend of mine painted.

Jointed Long Tail Swimbaits

Here's some photos of the two long tail jointed swimbaits I started a couple days ago.
They are now completed except for the hooks and rings.
Both are in the Dr.Carp color.
They're a fairly large and heavy bait. They will measure 14" with the tail extended and weigh 5.8 ounces.
These are very unique in their action with the natural swimming jointed front part and long soft plastic tail. They have a look in the water like nothing else.
Even though these are labeled as the fast sink model they can be fished slow and as shallow as a couple feet with a slow steady retrieve.