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Wishmaster Big Baits

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Kingfisher View Drop Down
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Joined: 30 Jul 2014
Location: Michigan U.S.A.
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    Posted: 02 Aug 2014 at 8:44pm
Rolf was one of the two men who got me into building large crank baits. I met him in 2002 in  Pittsburg at my first Musky expo show.  Rolf helped me with tips on wire through designs and torch applied Envirotex top coats. He is a legend  in the Musky fishing world and one of the best Big Bait makers of all time.

http://www.friendsofwishmaster.ca/about.php?page_id=9

  R.I.P.  My friend. Mike
http://www.fishall-lures.com
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Steve B View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug 2014 at 9:32pm
Hi Mike. Thanks for the link, that's a nice read. I agree wholeheartedly with Rolf's theory on big baits and big fish. While not as large as Rolf's lures, my default setting is a lure at least 6" and I like to get it down there bouncing over the structure. I agree with Rolf wanting a lure that floats, I want it to back up while it floats so I can drive the lure over the structure, I've also read with interest in your other posts about your use of titanium bibs for strength in bumping over structure, I want strong gear and minimal failures, I use West Epoxy and thickeners, don't read of many others doing this. Keep posting Mike, I like where you're coming from, ps I'm a 58er too.
Cheers Steve.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kingfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2014 at 1:59am
Hi Steve, Rolf was one of my mentors. He sat down with me over lunch several times at the shows and explained to me why he did certain things. He died before discovering titanium diving lips. I guess you all call them Bibs.  His Big wish was 18 inches and his little wish was 14. He sold those 18's for 290.00 each and 240.00 for little wish.   He had 40 hours in each lure.  I looked at what he did and the what John Mulliet did and combined their best stuff. John was master jig maker and tool and die man. What Rolf carved by hand John could make on his shaper/router . I use  shaper Router machines to get close then hand sand and belt sand the rest of the way. . I use Rolf's method of torching epoxy to flash it and get out the bubbles. I use Johns Machining methods .  Ill be posting something on Loke Lures this weekend.  I also learned a great deal from a guy who died about 5 years ago named Bill Wolfgang. His methods on wire through construction are the ones I use on all my wire trough baits.  Three guys who influenced me greatly. Mike
http://www.fishall-lures.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kingfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2014 at 2:27am
Bumping structure or as the Canadians call it rock bashing. It is brutal on lures when done at the speeds required for Musky. Not only do the lips/bibs break but the bodies split like fire wood. Plastic cracks and leaks aluminum gets chipped away and  peened over and Poly carbonate wears down and chips away until the bait stops running. There have been several guys who built a lure that would last 4 to 5 years of constant rock banging. Rolf and his Wishmasters were the best until titanium was found to be stronger.  I didnt start building a titanium lipped bait until after Rolf passed away. Another guy who built a great lure but stopped making them due to cedar dust poisoning was John Parry. He built the Parrywinkle lure . They were about 11 inches long and had special hardened aluminum lips.

   I had to solve both problems with the bodies and the lips. Titanium solved the lip problem and I found a great way to strengthen the nose of the lure to make it impossible for the wood to split and still not increase the weight. Titanium is lighter then Steel but still a bit heavier then aluminum. at float my Titan sits with the tail sticking almost straight up out of the water. The extra weight up front from that lip makes the lure run with  the nose tilted down like a fish feeding along the bottom. The other guys were adding weight to the nose to get the same effect. So when the bait makes contact with the bottom it kicks the tail up and skips along banging off the rocks.  Each Titan requires that the lip is secure in the wood. I do this with 2 Oak dowels  after the lip has been glued in and straight.  The dowels are pressed into holes filled with epoxy and then the holes are filled and painted over. The nose itself is not just cedar but I wont get into how we build this blank before cutting it out.  Lets just say its a trade secret.  I took the first Titan and pounded it into a concrete floor until my hands were blistered and didnt even break the seal on the lip.  A guy could actually split fire wood with a Titan.

I could never have got to where I am without Rolfs help. His years of experience in rock banging saved me at least 12 years of failures.  He always said you cant make them too strong. He applied 20 coats of torched envirotex to every bait. He also painted in between those coats on some of his special patterns.  I have long way to go as a painter yet. There is group over at Muskies first in the basement bait makers forum that are just out of this world. John Snow is one of those guys.  I think that if someone was to combine Johns paint jobs , rolfs top coating and my Titanium  and durability they would have the best lure ever designed for Rock banging. Mike

http://www.fishall-lures.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2014 at 10:58am
Great read Mike.

Thankyou for your time and effort explaining some of your secrets.
Those lures would fair extremely well over here on quite a few of our lure smashing fish.
They would also do well on Papuan Black Bass in PNG as well as Tigerfish and Nile Perch in Africa.
The Journey is the Reward


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