New Saltwater Plastic Design

[Fomen38]

I just thought I'd share my new prototype plastic lure design. I live in San Diego, and I fish saltwater primarily. San Diego Bay has an INCREDIBLE fishery- with at least 25 resident species you can catch on any given day. Lots of guys fish swimbaits and curly tail grubs soaked in fish attractant. To me, those are BORING! Pin on a lead head, cast it out, give it a few jigs, and hopefully you will catch the attention of some unsuspecting fish. But lets be real...... Tell me what in nature actually looks like a swimbait being jigged off the bottom? I can understand if you're strictly casting and retrieving the swimbait, but even then it doesn't have a lifelike presentation. If you watch a baitfish, they dart, then glide. They don't swim erratically, and they don't swim in a straight line.

The bay is also full of little octopus. This lure is designed to replicate an octopus or a squid. They are made of Alumisol with a nice portion of microballoons mixed in for buoyancy. I wanted them to float. They are designed to be fished Carolina style, with a 22-24" flourocarbon leader. I made my own stinger hooks with 40# braid doubled up, twisted together, and set with super glue so they never come apart. They are attached to the hook with a Snell knot, and looped through the stainless steel ring. Then the ring is affixed to the lure with a twist-lock. The hook is simply held in place by the tension between the ring and the split between the center plastic legs. The idea is this- the fish hits the lure and gets hooked. As it shakes it's head the hook comes loose from the plastic. Since the braid going to the hook and the flourocarbon leader will be 180 degrees from each other on the steel ring, under tension of the fish, there is no pressure whatsoever on the twist lock. The steel ring is the fulcrum of the rigging design. That being the case, the lure should last a really long time (much, much longer than it would if the hook were actually piercing through the meat of the lure)

The "legs" are dimpled to hold fish attractant. We use an attractant in San Diego called "Uni Butter". It's all natural. It's made from emulsified sea urchin mixed with a blend of fish oils. It literally has the consistency of butter, and it will stay on the lure MUCH longer than it's liquid competitors. It is DEADLY!!!!! If applied to the legs of this lure, the dimples create little pockets for the attractant to sit in. I also added strontium illuminate powder for those night sessions. I got the powder from Glo Nation. They have about 10 different colors ranging from white, to green, to red, to blue. They can stand up to extreme heats, so adding the powder to molten Alumisol isn't a problem.

As the lure is cast out, and the weight pulls it to the bottom, the lure is retrieved in small jerking motions. This mimics a squid propelling itself backwards, or an octopus doing the same. Since the lure floats, as it's jerked it shoots towards the bottom, then slowly starts a horizontal ascent back to the surface. That way the lure never gets buried in the sediment on the bottom. But you guys aren't dummies... You can look at it and figure out the concept.

I would encourage anyone on here to think outside of the box. Be creative and HAVE FUN! I never knew I was good at sculpting until I started making my own lures. Now I have several homemade lures that I have created from scratch out of sculpey clay. Every time I show them to someone, they always say the same thing- "YOU MADE THOSE!?!" I call these lures San Diego Bay Squirts.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... abd49d.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... cd657b.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... 988bf0.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... 5a347b.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... 2edfbf.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5/fo ... 012d17.jpg

[dahlberg]

I love it! Look out sponge bob.
thanks for the post and pics. great work.
best
Li

[warpsyrhead]

AWESOME! Nice work Fomen! Have you used them yet? What are you catching?

[Fomen38]

I have yet to use them, but after fishing in San Diego Bay for the past 10 years, proof of concept is a given. I have tested them in a controlled, clear water environment and they operate as designed. I have given a few of them out and I'm waiting for feedback and pictures. I will post them up upon arrival. There are 4 species in particular we target in San Diego Bay. They are Calico Bass, Barred Sand Bass, Spotted Bay Bass, and California Halibut. There are lots of other species but those 4 are very prolific and usually targeted. They are also great fighters, regardless of size.