How to Make Your Own Fishing Lures

Making your own fishing lures can be fun, rewarding, and useful because they do catch fish very successfully. It is inexpensive to make them and you can use wooden blanks such as broom handles or scrap wood you can find just about anywhere. Fishing lures can be very expensive if you buy them brand new. You can make a wide variety of fishing lures both fresh water and saltwater. Some examples are floating lures, twitching lures, and diving lures. The possibilities are almost endless with both fresh and saltwater fishing lures. The initial tools you'll need are really basic, but if you become a novice you'll acquire more special tools as you need them for your projects.

Tools

Blank

Saw

Sharp pocketknife

Small Dremmel tool or sander

Sandpaper

Punch

Needle nose pliers

Small screwdrivers (assortment)

Screw eyes

Treble hooks (various sizes)

Metal plates (to attach hooks to lure)

Plastic lips (for diving plugs)

Small screws

Paint

Small paintbrushes

Lacquer or Polyurethane (for final coating of lure)

Step 1

Cut your blank the size you want it to be. It helps to draw the shape you want your lure to be before you cut your blank so that you can better visualize it. Shape the lure using your knife or Dremmel tool and sand it down smooth with sandpaper.

Step 2

Punch out your holes and attach your hardware to the lure making sure they are aligned. If making a saltwater lure, be sure to use stainless steel hooks and hardware so that your hardware doesn't deteriorate when exposed to the salt.

Step 3

Paint your lure the color or colors you want it to be. Use small paintbrushes to ensure precision. When your paint is dry, be sure to put a coat of polyurethane or varnish on it to protect your paint from chipping and to give it a glossy shine.

Tips

You may paint your lure before assembling the hardware if you wish.

Be creative when making your fishing lures and have fun with it!