Sealing lures tonight, very nice gentleman stopped by. He was a cop, talked about fishing for a while. He used to fish the same reservoir in town when he was in highschool. Was surprised I was 15 and making lures on a lathe. Kind man, I hope to see him again on his nightly shifts while I’m in the shop.
Trying to get this batch done before school starts in 5 days. Eek!

Here is one bucket full.

Beats screen time I’ll bet !
Nice work

Got u some lipless swimmers?
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Yes, like those lipless swimmers.

Great job Tommy!

Got u some lipless swimmers?
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FLOYD ROMAN SKIN DIVERS. Cloning for a buddy of mine who had a couple originals.
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Yes, like those lipless swimmers.

Great job Tommy!

Thanks Paul
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Nice work Tommy!

Nice work Tommy!

Thanks Paul, here’s my last batch.

A few of the plugs underneath the certain types of designs are the originals that I used to copy.

Keep doing good things, kid ; )

I think I need a cigarette after that
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Those darters look sweet
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Those darters look sweet
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Paul, they are Frank Eskimos design. All the credit goes to him.
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Keep doing good things, kid ; )

In the words of the BassLESSMaster
Plugs NOT Drugs
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2oz darters, birch my grandma gave me. Has a slight figured look to it.
And Pichney pocket rocket clones courtesy of the original Pichney I got from Paulie :)

All the pocket rockets made from reclaimed old growth maple chair legs.

I have started spraying the finish with an HVLP gun and compressor. Never looking back. Far more efficient in quantity’s over 30 as well.

That is outstanding work. Love those stubby needles. Awesome hobby. Keep up the great work :kewl:

That is outstanding work. Love those stubby needles. Awesome hobby. Keep up the great work :kewl:

Thanks Zimmy, I am priming the next batch tomorrow and spinning some more wood as well. Running out of materials. Need some 8/4 pine for big metal lips.


If anyone has some 8/4 kiln or air dried eastern white or sugar pine please let me know. I will send a finished plug back for the favor.
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Primer as soon as the dew rises off the grass this morning.

Those Habs stubby needles are "SICK"!!!!:jump:

2oz darters, birch my grandma gave me. Has a slight figured look to it.
And Pichney pocket rocket clones courtesy of the original Pichney I got from Paulie :)

Real nice Tommy, by the looks of that thumb you have been getting some bass to.

Tommy youve been killing it this summer. Love your variety of lures. Best way to keep the interest and learning curve.
I have 2" eastern pine in the shop.
I can mill whatever size u want.
Those pocket rockets look all belly weighted.
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Real nice Tommy, by the looks of that thumb you have been getting some bass to.

Yep, I also had a white perch spine in my thumb and it got infected! Had to go on antibiotics.
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Layed down some paint

I have gave up on the airbrush, and use a simple touch up gun for everything now. Works pretty darn good, even for the red chin splash that can be tough to control with a rattle can. I learned from Mike Fixter to spray about an inch or two ahead of the plug and just “mist” the chin.

I am going to try and make a few small bottle plugs courtesy of Dave Anderson’s recent article, any advice for a beginner?

Here is one bucket full.

Next time for the sealer, I need to pour it like a beer on a tilt. To hinder the turbulence and decrease the bubbling. Had to sand a few spots in some plugs because they had a few bubbly spots on them.

Root beer! Now I do not claim
Myself to be a good builder at all but I’ve been able to build plugs that catch fish and with bottles I found doing a lot of hand work and finding what you like and the order to do it in before making any jigs helped me. I love the sporting woods Larry does and got to talk with him on cutty this spring about his design and how he does his and that was helpful. I make one that’s been productive that’s a little fatter and longer than the SW
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Root beer! Now I do not claim
Myself to be a good builder at all but I’ve been able to build plugs that catch fish and with bottles I found doing a lot of hand work and finding what you like and the order to do it in before making any jigs helped me. I love the sporting woods Larry does and got to talk with him on cutty this spring about his design and how he does his and that was helpful. I make one that’s been productive that’s a little fatter and longer than the SW
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Hey Rich you sent me one unpainted. Swims good, nice work. Definitely different than Larry’s bottle darter. Have not put it in my bag yet, fall run is soon!
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Hey Rich you sent me one unpainted. Swims good, nice work. Definitely different than Larry’s bottle darter. Have not put it in my bag yet, fall run is soon!
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Yea tiger maple I left raw just sealed and epoxied. I have great luck with that raw pattern fish it!!
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Hey Rich what you sealing the tiger maple with?
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Hey Rich what you sealing the tiger maple with?
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Helmsman / mineral spirits to quick dunks with couple day dry period then 2-3 coats of true coat epoxy. Started using it last year haven’t looked back. 1:1 mix no voc easy to use once you find a process that works for you
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Thanks Rich. Same here. 60/40.
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Fall stash.

Fall stash.

Awesome!!!

Tommy those came out excellent. Those should last u a bit.
All good fishing colors.
Some interesting shapes.
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Tommy those came out excellent. Those should last u a bit.
All good fishing colors.
Some interesting shapes.
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Thanks Billy, yeah playing around with some stuff. Wish I could have spun some wood today but no power. Little tornado took out a big oak that took out a power line.
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We had a tree down the street take down wires. Got power back 330.
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Sick work, dude! How do the Roman copies swim? That is a shape that has always intrigued me.

Sick work, dude! How do the Roman copies swim? That is a shape that has always intrigued me.

They swim great, I increased the head diameter by 1/16th of an inch to increase its purpose for the surf. Floyd made them for the canal using conventional gear—. They swim tastefully in a nice rip.
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