The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Hey guys,
Figured I'd pop in and show a project or two that i've been working on. I decided to make a small 6" Cisco swim bait. It has a hook slot for a weedless presentation or for a weighted swimbait hook. Currently I've been testing it with a 5/0... may bump up to a slightly bigger hook. Anyway, it took forever to make the master but I think it payed dividends. For those of you who are sculpy masters out there... switch from white to the flesh tone or sculpy pro stuff. I personally feel it's easier to work with. I digress, here's the lure. Let me know what you think.
Here's the master for for with the eye I settled on: http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... 6owitj.jpg
Here are some of the pours:
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... o0aaal.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... ujrkkz.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... rhal2q.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... tmqhce.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... hqidum.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... helk9b.jpg

Nice work Rhett. Those look great.

As soon as the ice thaws, let us know what they look like in the water.

Mike

Hey mike,
Actually managed to take them out this week at a cooling lake. They swim great, beautiful subtle swimming action that's typical of votex style tails. Been throwing them on a 5/0 weighted swimbait hook. Seems to push some decent water too!

Nice Job! Just what I need for upper Missouri River reservoirs. Cool "paint" jobs. Thanks for the pics and the sharing.

Rhett,
Did you do a lot of work after the sculpey was baked or was it all smooth and the detail finished before baking? Could you explain the "vortex" tail for me?
Thanks, Kirk

Hey Kirk,
I generally get a basic shape and go ahead and carve the hook slot into the clay. Bake, sand it down to smoothe it out and and then add detail work one side at a time... i'll only bake it for like 5 or 6 minutes just to get the clay to stay in place and hard enough that the detail work won't get screwed up. Then I take a chisel to make all of the detail really fine. The key is adding your clay little by little. Don't try to do too much at once or the details will be disproportionate and it's a lot harder to replicate both sides in a mirror image in one shot if that makes sense. after you have your details how you like, then bake it for like 10-12 minutes to harden everything.

So have you fished a rattle trap before? The shape of that bait creates a "vortex. It's what allows it to get the violent side to side shake. That's what the tail does. It has a side to side shake like a cruising baitfish.

Made a tweak to the tail to a traditional paddle and poured a few. Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/S6PaXJeUm4o

I'd say your arsenal is ready to go. Nice looking lure Rhett.

Mike

https://youtu.be/DLBlMe8L_fc

Here's an action video of the bait

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 ... f1vmaf.jpg
here's a sample of them all finished