How To Make A Fishing Lure Using a Wood?- Easy Steps

When it comes to fishing lures, you need to know what kind of fish might grab a bite of that. You can prefer natural baits or artificial lures when catching fish. It’s totally up to you.

You know, most of the crankbaits out there in the market are made of hard plastic. There are some wood-constructed crankbaits, as well. People usually prefer wooden fishing lures; however, it comes with a bit higher price tag.

But let me tell you a secret, you can make your fishing lures on your own. Yes, you heard me right. And in this article, we will go through the steps on how to make a fishing lure. Let’s get started to know the procedure and steps on how to make fishing lures using wood.

Steps on How to Make Fishing Lures?

Tools & Materials You Will Need

You don’t have to worry about the tools and materials as most of them are quite affordable. And you might even have got some of them already in your inventory. Anyway, let’s get to know the list of tools and materials you will require:

List of Tools to Make Fishing Lures

• Roofing Knife
• Coping Saw
• Power Drill
• Tape Measure
• Sharpies
• Sandpaper
• Pliers
• Different types of drill bits
• Knife
• Small Paintbrush
• Superglue

List of Materials to Make Fishing Lures

• Your preferable wood
• Paint
• Popsicle stick
• Wood putty
• Large nails
• Googly eyes
• Small eyelets
• Split rings
• Treble hooks
• Large nails
• Propellers

7 Easy Steps on How to Make Fishing Lures

Making your fishing lure is not as tough as you might think. All it requires is some basic tools and materials. Also, learning the basic steps. Now, it’s time to explore those processes:

Step-1: Choosing the Size

First and foremost, you need to decide the size of the lure. Maybe you want some Pike, Muskie action, or maybe largemouth bass? Just remember, a big lure attracts big fish. Well, for me, I usually go with the average size, near about 3 inches.

Though, I don’t own a lathe yet. So, I had to follow the old school way. I tried to make the process as easier as possible by cutting all 4-corners of the block to give it a thin shape. You can try making a cigar-shaped topwater-lure, and to do that, you have to whittle the end cone shape.

If you use a lathe, it will give you much faster performance. And letting you produce hundreds of blanks of different sizes and shapes. I will start doing it soon as the fishing season is approaching.

Step-2: Time to Polish

Now, grab the coarse sandpaper and rub it on the shape to get rid of the roughness and give it a good finish. As a result, the painting process would be easier and smoother for you. Also, it makes the lure appear more appealing to the fish.

Step-3: Optional Step

I found this excellent idea of adding little wings in the rear of a lure. This makes the lure more stable during the retrieve as the wind can’t make it spin wildly. It also gives the lure an eye-catching impression. I’m not entirely sure but, I guess the fish loves it.

I cut off a small portion from the end of the popsicle stick and divide that into two. The roofing knife comes in handy when I have to carve out grooves. This helps the pieces to fit comfortably, then apply super glue (waterproof one) to make their position farm and steady.

Step-4: Giving it a Realistic Feel

To make the eyes, I had to drill some small pilot holes then drilled two wide holes so that I can fit the craft eyes comfortably there. Do whatever it takes to make them fit in the hole. Check if they have a fitter properly or not, then apply superglue.

Step-5: Making a Good Concept

If you want to make a top-water lure, then a frog pattern would be a good choice. Hold the lure by its eyelet using vice-grips. Make the rear green and place some goldenrod yellow beneath its mouth.

Add some spots in the rear but don’t use too shabby ones.  You can try playing with colors but, just don’t make it look like a joke; fishes aren’t that dumb to grab that.

Step-6: Waterproofing

Get some remaining fishing line to the front eyelet. Blend the polyacrylic well, drop the lure. Let it submerge, then pick it up and get it dry. You can use some newspaper to make the drying process faster. Do two-three coatings and make sure every time you dry it properly.

Step-7: Adding the Hardware

The color coat will take a day to get dry. After drying it, you need to add some hardware. Include eyelets on the belly, on the back, and near the middle but, keep them close to the front. Connect a split ring in the middle of the treble hook and eyelet placed on the belly and the rear. Now, you are locked and loaded to go fishing. You can add a propeller to the rear after the first test.

Benefits of Making Fishing Lure by Yourself

Fish don’t get to what they are after so, it doesn’t matter whether you use an expensive lure or a cheap one. But trust me, Dude, it doesn’t make much of a difference. And you know, even if you are under a tight budget, you can still explore the luxury.

What you need are simple craftsmanship and some essential tools. And just with all that, you can make incredible imaginative fishing lures. You can make the design based on your fishing style.

The handmade lure-making process is not that hard and, also, it’s great for saving your valuable money. Most importantly, it will provide you with true satisfaction.

Final Words

Whether fishing is just your hobby or a profession, every angler out there must learn how to make fishing lures on their own. Using a self-made lure will cut down your overall fishing budget also give you a great sense of accomplishment. It reminds me of the quotation, “to live happily is to live simply.”

Sometimes you may not find your desired fishing lure. In such a case, a handmade lure could turn out as your savior. We hope after this broad discussion on the fishing lure. Now the steps on how to make a fishing lure are all clear to you. No more dependency on capitalism. It’s time to go minimal.