Great Lakes Lure Maker

Can't wait!  I have the same problem as ifishy, boat all plowed in. I can see i will be digging it out soon. 

Thanks guys...I always think its great to see kids out fishing and hunting. My kids are all grown up so I take my friends kids out. Nothing better than see the surprise on their faces as they pull something like that out. I did have to help hold the rod but she did crank it in herself. She wouldn't have it any other way...lol. Hopefully the first of many...she's already asked when we were taking the boat out fishing...

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Good job. Thats what its all about

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Had a family emergency the last few days, but I will post pics of the boards I use as soon as I can. They are currently under over a foot of snow on the bow of my boat, but I will get them up as soon as I can. I am also making a new set for next year as these have some age on them and are beginning to fall apart.  

Very cool. Nice job to her and you. She will likely never forget that fish as you also stated you wont. Congratulations to both of you!

I have some West River copies that are pretty close to that Eppinger lure but lack the red eye. I have them in plain, or copper and can paint or tape them in any variation you like. $4.25 each plus tax

Jason

Just an FYI

All painted lures made by Great Lakes Lure co. are painted white cup with a glow option. They can be ordered with a silver cup, but standard versions are allways painted white. Regarding the "slow" speed lures, we make lures that are intended to be flutter or "slow trolling" lures, 2.0 or less. The #35 and #44 are slow troll lures as well as the Silver Soldier. Those lures also can be formed in a different die to make them troll faster than 2.0 giving the buyer options to choose from depending on your fishing preference.

The ice is gone now. Saturday's wind broke it up.

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ray,

I used to enjoy your reports

Ditto that!

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Why can we put hydro fracking fluid on or NY roads for ice removal but we can't drill safely??

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Love that one!

It was quite a site to see coming down 414 in the am. Theresa got some good pics of it as well. 

Here is how we do it and it works great. Soak them in stripper, rinse with Dawn and hot water. (Lots of Dawn.) If they are still greasy, soak them in acetone and rinse with Dawn and hot water. (These steps are the most important as you need a good, clean surface) once your done and ready to paint, krylon special purpose appliance epoxy works well for base coating. Rustoleum 2x primers also work well. I would stay away from Rustoleum clear coat. Use krylon. I have had bad results with Rustoleum clear. I let all painted lures cure for 24 hrs before clear coating them. 

I hope that helps.

Jason

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Hi Chas,

I originally raised the eye bolts up on my boards. However changing to a longer bolt bent up really does seem to work better, could be some sort of mechanical advantage - I don't know.

The idea is not mine I found it recommended by someone else and just tried it.

Great Lakes, I am interested in seeing your pictures with the bungie cord.

I also use a long threaded rod bent to pull on the board as well. I will try and post them tomorrow.

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Great Lakes Lures will also be there.

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Why would you use braid anyway??? haha I absolutely hate it and removed it from everything except backer for coppers after one too many lost fish in 2014. Can't get around it there for capacity issues. Even still a section of 50# mono is tied in for the board release on those set-ups. Braid is not friendly on any reel and swells and cuts into itself on the arbor ends. Braid = Perch fishing for me - that's it! Braid ruins release pads too - as you say it does cut into them. You would lose many many fish across the board on Lake Ontario fighting the board. From Walleye, Browns, Steelhead, to Salmon - you will easily lose 25-40% of your fish directly as a result of using an inline and fighting it to the boat. I have buddies out of my port that only use inlines and I can't stand fishing on their boats because of all the fish that are lost using inlines. Big boards are still the way to go and that's why so many of us use them, but in 3-4'+ waves the in-lines come back into play. Mono all the way... embrace the stretch!!!

Ditto that... still having trouble convincing myself to use inlines. Love the big boards.

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I pull 5 leader rigs with 60 oz of lead off my home made planer boards attached to a bunji cord and have no problem in the finger lakes. I can even run (2) 00 dipsey divers off the cable at the same time. For some reason on my phone, I can't see your pics, but I will try and get some pics of the boards I use and post them for you.

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Dennis,

Yes we will be looking for field testers soon. Were working on the details now. As soon as we finalize things I will get back to you about it. 

Thanks,

Jason

Good video! Like scobar said, great quality. 

Impressive! Nice looking fish. Nice job.

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I personally know of at least 10 trappers in PA and NY that catch over 100 yotes a year each. Although that may sound like a lot, it has done nothing to reduce their numbers as they do it year after year. Tagged male coyotes have been known to travel over 200 miles after being booted from the den. They have established well enough that they can sustain losing that many every year.

A lot of those trappers provide the live coyotes used to train those dogs.

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I had a similar issue when I started hunting predators at night. My first shot was a coyote. I didn't know what shot to use, so I started with Turkey loads. Big mistake. First coyote went down but got right back up and ran. Second problem was no blood trail. The second animal I shot was a Fox. Popped right out of a den 20 ft in front of me. I hit him, knocked him over and he got back up. Luckily I had a friend with me who had a rifle and night vision scope. He finished it off. When we skinned it we found most of the pellets didn't penetrate. Left a lot of bruising, very little penetration. I've switched to a rifle and night vision scope, but when i get the shotgun out its loaded with buck shot now. Just not during deer season.

Nothing you did you should be disappointed with. Your learning and getting good feedback. Keep up the good work and be proud of yourself. We all have learning curves from time to time. How you handle them is what counts.

Jason

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Thanks les. I've been waiting for this time of year to come. My phone usually gets quiet this time of year, so I should be able to go full time for a while. Everything is now in place to begin putting product together and get this show on the road. Really looking forward to next year! The paint had me pulling my hair out, but I got some good advise and now the paint quality is were I'd like it to be. A few more to test are curing now and Monday I will beat them up. If all goes as well as the last test, I will be pleased with the progress.

Looking forward to putting them thru the paces with you again next year!

Also, im trying to get some of our old field testers back on board for next year. Hammering out those details now. Cant wait.

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Been a while since I posted about this, but I've been busy with my other business and haven't had much time to do a whole lot. We now have all our tape delivered, split rings, swivels and hooks. We chose VMC as our hook in both treble and single. The single hooks took over 50 lbs of force to bend, which is better than the Mustad hooks we were using, so i'm pleased with the choice we made. Our Silver Soldier die is done and the lures have been blanked, so at this point I have around 5-6000 lures to finish manufacturing ( I have a few thousand already done ) before I can polish, paint or tape. The pierce die has broke several times now and has been modified and repaired, but it broke again yesterday. This has really slowed things down, but I have enough lures pierced that I can move on to other phases. Paint process has been perfected and I have started custom painting for some orders I have. I have been bending lures repeatedly then beating them flat with a hammer to test the paint quality and I am pleased to say they all have survived the beatings. Things are beginning to shape up now and soon we should be producing lures regularly. Generally, this time of year my Heating business begins to slow down, so I should have more time to concentrate on getting some product finished. Here's a few pics taken recently.

Pierce die broke. We beefed the main springs up the last time, but we are still going through punches. Once i'm finished with it for now I will send it back to the shop to be re-built. I think the bolts that hold the stripper should be beefed up. 

Replacement parts.

Repaired.

A box of Silver Soldier blanks.

Silver Soldier.

Custom paint scheme for Minion.

The example he sent me.

Finished product for quality testing.

Bending repeatedly then beating flat with a hammer.

No chips, cracks or peeling. Held up pefectly.

Thank you,

Jason

I see. Small world. Nice job with the dog's and with the yote's! 

Who trained the dogs? I used to sell live coyotes to Gene and Stacy in Endicott NY for them to use in training dogs for clients. Just wondered if there were other trainers. I moved last year and it's too far of a trip for them to come get yotes from me now. 

Nice!

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