You Can Make Saltwater Fishing Lures!

Once you've been fishing for awhile, you may decide that you'd like to take a stab at making your own lures. And, there's something really satisfying about tossing out a homemade lure on your next saltwater fishing trip and reeling in a nice fish! It's a mark of a maturing angler to be able to combine knowledge of the fish's habits with the skill of handcrafting your own lure. In fact, just about all lures used to be homemade—until about the 1920s, there wasn't much of anything you could call a "fishing lure manufacturing industry." If you wanted a good lure, you had to make it yourself or find somebody who held the closely guarded secrets of what the fish wanted. But now, there's lots of advice and guidance for those who want to make saltwater fishing lures.

Making Your Own Plugs

If you're a surfcaster or even if you like trolling with a boat, you're probably most interested in the heavier lures, like plugs, that enable you to get the distance in casts needed to play the lure in and attract the game fish. Most plugs are made from wood and are painted to resemble bait fish, then equipped with hooks, eyes, and other hardware to equip them to be tied to the line. If you're using a light wood like cedar to make saltwater fishing lures, you can attach more hardware and still retain the buoyancy needed to keep the plug afloat and working properly. However, for larger fish, you may have to use a heavier wood like maple, which is less buoyant, so you have to be more careful about how much hardware to attach. As far as paint and other techniques, do an Internet search on a phrase like, "make saltwater fishing lures," and read some of the suggestions you'll find. There are also books and other information to help you.

Saltwater Flies

Fly fishing isn't just for mountain streams and lakes; there's a world of saltwater action for fly fishermen, too! The equipment is slightly different: the rods and reels tend to be a bit heavier because of the generally larger fish, and the usual bait is a wet fly, rather than the dry flies often used by freshwater fly anglers. There are numerous outlets, both local and online, where you can obtain fly tying equipment and materials, along with the knowledge and advice you need when you're getting started. To start out making saltwater fly fishing lures, do a search on "make saltwater flies" and see what you find.