Some finished poppers ready for testing...

Raspberry Nemo

These are from the cedar blanks I turned earlier in the month, I decided to finish these in two differing weights, 50/55g and 70/75g. The 70/75g will be good for when conditions are not ideal as it has a more subsurface action diving below the wind chop creating a nice smoke trail of bubbles. The lighter 50/55g popper has a nice walk and splash, with some well timed rod work it will also go subsurface with a great trail of bubbles.

Built tough

These are a smaller lure but they are still built tough, the same Stainless Steel wire that is used for the larger poppers and stick baits has been used in these smaller poppers. They are 145mm long and have a 25mm cupped face. I decided to lock the front tow point eye with a wrap as you can see in the photo for ultimate strength.

A NT 5/0 swivel has been used in the belly, this gives the angler 540kg of confidence in their swivel connection, fully through wired and locked up with a double wrap. I also pre-tension the wire to lessen the affect of the wire stretching from skull dragging big fish. 

"Nekid Cuban"

The grain and colour on some of the pieces of Cedar is too nice to hide, the popper looks like a Cuban cigar in colour and shape, ready to smoke some fish! 

I will be testing these myself over the coming weeks, I have also sent off some to be inspected, critiqued and fished by Charter Captain Ben Pokaia from NOMAD NZ .

Ben's input and honesty is helping shape some great lures, nothing beats experience and time on the water! 

Test bait feedback

Just heard from our friends at Nomad Sport Fishing NZ about the test bait. The bait swims real good so I will making this model in the future. Currently preparing blanks for shaping.


Rigged with SJ41's / SJ51's size 11/0 and a 8/0 or 9/0 Jobu in a "Baker" rig setup see's the lure swimming nicely with fish crawling over it! 

Behind the scenes

The not so glamorous side of lure making...Marking out blanks.


This is a rather robotic, repetitive task but it needs to be done. After marking out they need to be drilled and made ready for the lathe. I hand turn each of these lures so there is a little variation but accurate marking out of blanks limits the variation also. 


These are some cedar blanks, this wood is beautiful plus it has a nice sweet smell that fills the shop. Each of these will be made into a hybrid popper/stick bait lure targeted at Yellowtail Kingfish. 

The cedar is extremely stable and makes a great lure, I find the occasional piece with something different i.e. figured grain, different colours etc and I set these aside, these pieces I will not paint and leave the lure with a natural finish.

I find using wood for lures much more appealing than plastic or resins etc... There is something about using mother nature to fool mother nature.

Test Bait

I just took the Single Bait for a swim at a local estuary... Its blowin' a gusty westerly here so there was some wind chop on the water which was great, pond like conditions aren't ideal for testing...

So I rigged up the lure with a couple of SJ41's on the belly and a JOBU on the rear, decided to attach the leader via NT 1/0 and a split...

Quick check on the lures static position, it was sitting around 50-60 degrees ( could go slightly larger on the belly hooks ) ... First up simple retrieve, rod tip down, no rod work and a steady wind... Success it swims with no input, once the lure starts weaving and hunting the large single hook on the rear really starts to wag and add to the action... No roll out, but plenty of flash from the aluminium finish.

Tried some "sweeping" retrieves imparting some rod work on the lure, has a nice slide that is unpredictable on the end of the sweep...

That's enough for now, it needs to be tested in anger and cast at some fish... Will be sending it out to Nomad NZ HQ tomorrow. 

Putting ideas onto wood

Over the coming weeks I will be putting a few new ideas onto wood, these new lures will mostly be pencils and stick baits. There is a new popper I would like to try out also for those casting at GT's but this may have to wait until current customers lures are finished.


I will post details and images of the lures as they evolve from a simple idea into a working lure. I have a few new species of wood to try out with some great characteristics to each species.


Sam.

Yet to have a name for this bait but it is ready for testing....


95g and 200mm long it has been designed to swim single hooks ( Baker Rig ). With the ever increasing effort from anglers for fish conservation this is a step in the right direction...

Aluminium foil finish for some added flash.

Welcome to Reel Appeal Lures

Welcome and thank you for visiting RAL,


Over time I will add to the site to give anglers an "inside look" into the small world of my handcrafted lures.


If you would like to contact me you can via - reelappeallures@xtra.co.nz