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DIY soft lure making


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I made these a while back but thought some of us on here might find it interesting. I needed a large, cheap SP lure body for use on a 6oz jig head for vertical fishing but couldn't find anything off the shelf that was suitable, so I thought I'd try pouring my own. Never done this before so it was a bit of an experiment.

The first stage was to make a mould I can pour into, so I needed to make a master of the lure.

Using Fimo I made the rough shape of the lure body, then baked it. After baking I used a Dremel with a coarse sanding drum, plus 320 grit wet & dry to get the final shape. After shaping I mixed up some fine filler paste to smooth out a few low spots before sanding smooth again. The finished master below.

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Now I had the master, I needed to make the mould of the mould, so to speak. So first I bedded the master into a block of plasticine. This started by hollowing out an imprint of the master so that it fitted snugly half way into the plasticine.


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I added the shape for the pouring funnel in plasticine too. I ended up opening it out once the mould was finished as it was too narrow to pour smoothly.

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The next step was to build up the sides of the mould around the plasticine block. I used the kids's Duplo bricks as they were quick and easy to assemble. I also added some ball bearings from the kids' marble run toy to make locating lugs for the two halves of the mould. See that ball of plasticine at the top of the pic below? We'll come back to that....


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At this point I also sealed up all the edges with small beads of plasticine to give a good seal. I then gave everything a light coat of vaseline to ensure the mould releases well once cured. Now ready for the first pour.

I worked out the volume I'd need and used an online converter to work out the total weight I'd need, then worked out the respective weights of RTV and catalyst. This is quite a large mould so I ended up needing needing nearly 400gr of silicone for each half.

After weighing out and mixing for a good 5 minutes the first pour went in.


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After curing for 24 hours the first half was ready to pull.


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Not bad at all. Pleased with the way the first half came out - fully cured, released well and no bubbles.

Next step was to prep the first half for the second pour. So I rebuilt the mould sides again, remade the second half of the pouring funnel and re-lubed everything with vaseline. The second pour went in - very few bubbles, which is good.

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Mould fully cured and separated after curing.

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Next step was a test pour.lmi17Z4.jpg

First batch of lures from the new mould...

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They all have an imperfection or two but as a first attempt I was pleased with them.

PS: remember that ball of plasticine I mentioned earlier? It went missing overnight after I had poured the second half of the mould - I originally put it down to having a semi-senior moment - did I put it away somewhere and forgot? It turned up eventually..... out of the back end of the dog . She must have snaffled it during the night when the first part of the mould was curing. Who knew that dogs like plasticine...??

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8 hours ago, suzook12 said:

What do you use to make the lures from?

The lures are made from a milky latex solution that is heated to pour. When hot, it goes clear and pigment can be added to give whatever colour of lure is required. It also stinks to high heaven and is an irritant to the lungs so I use a respirator to protect myself.

I'll do another post about pouring the lures themselves shortly. 

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3 minutes ago, jonnyswamp said:

Have you used any in anger? if so how did you get on

I don't think fish worry whether its a sidewinder lure or homemade

Yeah, I was out blanking with them last weekend. I use them on deep marks e.g. 70m to get down and stay down. This particular spot has a 4.5kt tide run so I need the 6oz heads to get to the bottom fast.

I need to tie on a flying hook at the tail I reckon as I was missing bites and not hooking up, so something was nibbling the tail I suspect.

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Whilst making your own plug for the mould is admirable, would it not have been easier to use an existing SP as the plug ? ...... Like BFM, Artic Eel, slim Wreckzer, Vibro Shad etc ......

just curious ........

Now you need to start moulding your own jig heads for then. If you need the special hooks then let me know .....

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3 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

Whilst making your own plug for the mould is admirable, would it not have been easier to use an existing SP as the plug ? ...... Like BFM, Artic Eel, slim Wreckzer, Vibro Shad etc ......

just curious ........

Now you need to start moulding your own jig heads for then. If you need the special hooks then let me know .....

 

On 10/24/2020 at 5:56 PM, Andy135 said:

I needed a large, cheap SP lure body for use on a 6oz jig head for vertical fishing but couldn't find anything off the shelf that was suitable, so I thought I'd try pouring my own.

RTFM GPS... 🙄

I designed the body around the diameter of a 6oz jig head mould that I pour the heads from. No existing SP bodies matched the diameter of the jig head, so I had to make my own.

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2 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

 

RTFM GPS... 🙄

I designed the body around the diameter of a 6oz jig head mould that I pour the heads from. No existing SP bodies matched the diameter of the jig head, so I had to make my own.

Oh,  sorry, missed that bit 🤐 .............. I blame my glasses 🤣 ................

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6 hours ago, Andy135 said:

 

RTFM GPS... 🙄

I designed the body around the diameter of a 6oz jig head mould that I pour the heads from. No existing SP bodies matched the diameter of the jig head, so I had to make my own.

 

We use 160g shads, mainly because you can work them in a way which is almost impossible with the standard flying collar rig .............

If there are Cod on the wreck I switch over to a 160g shad, cut off the leader, and fish direct to the braid ........... we then fish in front of, beside of, or behind of the wreck. The shad is dropped to the bottom and then bounced off the bottom by a sweeping movement of the rod, then dropped by lowering the rod, deadly for Cod and the take is always on the drop ............ A similar movement that you would impart to a slow jig ..............

Edited by GPSguru
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52 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

 

We use 160g shads, mainly because you can work them in a way which is almost impossible with the standard flying collar rig .............

If there are Cod on the wreck I switch over to a 160g shad, cut off the leader, and fish direct to the braid ........... we then fish in front of, beside of, of behind of the wreck. The shad is dropped to the bottom and then bounced off the bottom by a sweeping movement of the rod, then dropped by lowering the rod, deadly for Cod and the take is always on the drop ............ A similar movement that you would impart to a slow jig ..............

Yep, cod hopping. Same as I use mine for, direct to line - no boom and trace.

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