Here we go I had the first part on my site so I am using part of it here. I left the story in just for fun hope you like it. Since not all of us have a lathe the first segment will be making a bait without one but I will do a post turning the lures, too.
Nostalgia in Cedar
I’m not a fly fisherman, I don’t tie flies, I do appreciate the artistry of the sport and the amazing art in the flies. I’m not a fly fisherman. I am an artist and sometimes woodworker, oh yeah and old. I remember when the original Big O came out. Hand carved, fat bellied crank bait that took bass fishermen by storm. We were just kids, along with my buddies, Brian and Keith, the twins, we drooled over magazines showing this new wonder bait. Not having a great deal of money but with time and inventive minds we set about making our own version of wooden crank baits.
Brian came up with a couple of slab sided designs that we caught quite a few fish on in our favorite pond in Shelby Park. This 5 acre pond in the middle of East Nashville was our training grounds, test facility and, just so happened, to hold some really big bass. We learned to cast bait casters there, tried all of the techniques we found in the books and caught many a big fish where people thought there was nothing but little bluegill. I caught my first 2 pound bass in the moat like channel that surrounds the lone island. When we carved a new bait this was the first place it hit the water.
Time went on, our income increased so the need to carve baits wasn’t an issue. We had tackle boxes full of everything we wanted so our carving days pretty much ended. Still over time I repaired, repainted and at times, carved wooden baits. What does this have to do with not being a fly fisherman? Well, they tie flies and several people I know have been showing off their flies. What happens when their beautiful work inspires you? I decided since I can’t tie flies, to revisit my youth, carve a quick top water bait and show folks how it’s done including a paint job.
Living where I do cedar is almost considered a weed. It is everywhere and either free or cheap. I make a type of cedar box so I always have plenty of aged stock on hand. The good part about baits, being small you can use scrap wood that normally goes to waste.I grabbed a cutoff laying in the shop and split it using a hammer and wood chisel. Then headed over to the band saw to get rid of the sap wood and start shaping.
This bait is a simple cigar shape used for a double or single prop design. Once it is roughed out on the saw I move to the belt/disc sander for final shaping. This could be done on a lathe but I wanted it to be less than perfect this time, showing it is hand made. I just eyeball the shape, adjusting with the sander until it is very close to what I want. After the sander I use 3 different grits of sand paper to hand sand it into the final shape. Usually from 100 to 220 grit paper. If you do this on the lathe simply turn this shape and you are ready to go but I will go into that more in another post.
Once the lure is to this point it is ready to seal. I use spray primer but a sand and seal can be used. One trick I use at times is to dip them in wipe on poly which gives you a much slicker surface for your paint. Once it is applied lightly sand since it will raise the grain. Another thing you will want to cobble together is a place to hang the baits as they dry look in the pic in my first post I made a simple frame then used copper wire for hooks. I put the screw eyes into the ends now but be sure to drill a pilot hole to keep the screw from breaking I also add some beeswax to the threads.
You will need hardware for your lures I buy mine from Jann's Net Craft online. They have almost everything you need for freshwater lures at good prices. The sizes you buy will be determined by the size of the lures but since they are cheap buying several sizes is a good idea. If you are doing saltwater or big muskie baits you will need bigger hardware than Jann's sells I will locate my link for that and post it in the next segment.
