The Start to a Musky bait building Season

Well, If we have our pictures and thoughts. Harper Musky Show Photos and Patterns. We should be well on our way with some designs. I have some from last year and a couple of new ones to add with the batch.
These are in Picasa web albums also. Feel free to use them if you like.
 From Picasa you should be able to re size and use at your discretion. When you re size start by keeping the
aspect ratio the same. I will use one pattern to figure out the settings I am looking for. Once you have a benchmark ,the others go a bit faster. You do need to print them out to see the actual size,

These are just cardboard patterns at this point, if what is here is excepted we will make wood patterns with them. It makes it easier to use in the processes going forward , rather than using the cardboard.
What you see here has been drawn or traced from an existing bait and re sized to what we are looking for
.
 Now I will figure out what kind of lips ( bills ) I want to put in the different shapes of bodies.
You should take some time at this point and decide where and how you are going to use the bait. This will help in deciding what type of lip you are going to use.
Look at your collection of lures , think about what each bait does and  then think about what you want your custom lure to do.
You can make what ever you desire, at this time , we prefer flat sided baits verses rounded. This is just a preference. I will try to get the video we have of our 14" bait and post it. Then you will see why we like flat sides.
After the patterns and lip selection, start thinking about weight. There are choices here, a deep diver you might want a little bit extra or not. I have been trying to get neutrally buoyant and hit it half the time. Lighter is better, something I have yet to learn. I did not get the opportunity to use the The Archimedes dunk test, but I will this year.When I master this technique I will be happy.

Even for a trolling bait , (other than a bottom grinder) I prefer something closer to neutral than not. A trolled bait at rest, just hovering or slowly rising is what I can in vision.

I want to go for about thirty baits this year, well maybe thirty five. You have to keep in mind , not all custom lures survive. Some turn into " Why did I do That" .Bottom line is to have enough to play with when the real fun starts, PAINT. Then grabbing the one , and putting it in the water for the first time. It is truly a thrill, one that I cannot shake to this day . I may be obsessed but I love it.
If you are looking for more info or actual dimensions , drop a comment , we will get back to you. 
 

 ( Keep it in the Water )