How to Build a Bottle Plug Lure
When the breeze is blowing off the water into the shore, you need a lure that the wind won't catch and toss back in your face. You need a bottle plug lure, a wooden lure also known as a casting swimmer. And the only way catching a fish "this big" could feel any better is if you caught the behemoth with a lure you made with your own hands. Sharpen your whittling knife and mix up some paint for the lure. Pull out the tape measure for the fish you'll catch.
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Things You'll Need
- 2-inch-by-2-inch piece of soft wood, 5-inches long
- Knife
- 3 wire eye lag screws
- Sandpaper
- Paint
- Sealer
- 2 fish hooks
Instructions
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1
Find out what kind of fish is eaten by the fish you are preying on. This can vary from area to area, so your knowledge should be as localized as possible. Your bottle plug should have a similar shape and size as the prey that your fish eats.
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2
Whittle a 2-inch-by-2-inch piece of wood so that it has the appearance of a fish's body--tubular with a narrow taper toward the tail end, bulging toward the center and tapered, but not so narrowly, toward the head. A wood that is easy to whittle, like poplar, ash, or pine would be best. Do not whittle dorsal, caudal, or pelvic fins, but just the body.
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3
Cut an open-mouth shape into the head. There should be a protruding, large lower lip and a smaller upper lip. This mouth shape will ultimately pull the lure underwater.
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4
Sand the body smooth with three different grit counts of sandpaper. Use a lesser grit count like 80, then a greater grit count like 180, and finally, a finer grit like 220.
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5
Screw a wire eye lag screw into the mouth of the lure. This should have a thread about 1 inch long and a eye that is as small as you can find. Screw another wire eye lag screw into the tail end of the fish and one up into the belly of the lure.
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Paint the lure so that is resembles the fish that is eaten by the fish you want to catch. Let the paint dry, then apply a sealer to the lure.
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Attach a fish hook through the eye of the screw on the tail end. Attach another fish hook to the eye of the screw in the lure's belly. Tie your fishing line through the eye of the screw in the lure's mouth.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
