I would like to write an article on jerkbait building. I've started building these about a month ago. I'm no handyman though, but I am kind of proud that I've caught three pike on my own handmade jerkbait while trolling.

My brother-in-law lent me an electrical saw and I bought a small workbench from Wolffcraft for about 25euro. You can position the saw upside down on this workbench and that comes in real handy.

To begin with, I bought a jerkbait from Diederik terlaak Poot, who sells jerkbaits made by Loz harrop. That bait was nice and I've always been treated well by Diederik. But I regularly lost a couple and I thought: "Maybe I can build some myself? It's a shame to throw away 24euro per jerkbait!"

When I have sawed out the jerkbaits, I sand them with a belt sander that I purchased from a mini-market. This step takes about 10 minutes. Next I use sanding paper to sand the jerkbaits even smoother. That also takes about 10 minutes. I now drill a leadhole in the belly side of 10mm deep and I position the leadhole close to the head. For building these jerkbaits I use Teak wood or a waterproof wooden board that is used for furniture. These pieces of wood have a thickness of 18mm.

The next step is priming the jerkbait blank white and then I wait about 24 hours. After that waiting period, I sand the jerkbait smooth and I fill the leadhole with lead. The leadhole is positioned exactly in the center of the belly.

I have also purchased an airbrush for lurebuilding. I did get one of the more professional ones. One that first sprays air and then it spray paint. Don't buy one in a toy store but go to a store that is specialized in airbrushes and other tools. They can easily advise you with expert knowledge. A good airbrush will cost around 100euro. To start with I bought a few cans with compressed air of about 12euro each but they are empty quickly. I could only paint about 5 jerkbaits with one can.

To solve this problem, I purchased a compressor. These are available in price ranges of 120 up to 500euro. I wouldn't buy just any compressor because some don't remove oil and moisture. These are useless.

The first time I sprayed some lures, I used hobby paint that I purchased from a toy store but my wife wasn't too pleased with that. The house stunk like hell from the so-called healthy fumes of turpentine and other products.

I went back to the store where I had purchased my airbrush and there they told me to get Createx paint. Several of their customers are lurebuilders, you see. Createx paint is a water-based paint and and it doesn't smell at all. One real advantage is that is dries in five minutes time. This allows you to paint your lures in your living room. There's no need to work in that cold shed in your backyard.

First of all you need to paint the lure white. To do that, use a pipette to put a few drops of white Createx paint in a paint cup and do the same for a few drops of water. Suck this mixture in the pipette and put it in a new paint cup. Repeat this step several times to get a good amount of mixed paint and now you're ready to paint your lures.

Next thing on the list is to mix some orange or some fluorescent red paint to paint the head of the color pattern.

Now mix some black paint in a new paint cup and use a stencil to spray perch bars. Now allow the color pattern to dry thoroughly for a few minutes. Now apply some mesh with laundry clippers and spray silver scales on both sides of the lure. It's really a piece of cake!

I use Yacht paint to coat the jerkbaits. I bought a can of 1 liter and I twice submerge the jerkbaits entirely, once tail first and once head first. Next I allow the lacquer to flow down the jerkbait until no more drips of lacquer fall down. Then I hang the jerkbait up to dry.

The advantages of working with waterbased paint are that it doesn't smell at all, it dries really fast and you can clean everything with water.

If you have any questions about my article or if you can help me with some tips, feel free to email me at rob.goezinne@hetnet.nl

I wish you lots of DIY and fishing pleasure, Rob Goezinne.