It’s the secret bait of the pros…you have heard that over and over, but when you are talking about balsa wood crankbaits it’s really true. Recently, I went out fishing with a professional angler to do a story about a new lure. Sure it was a hot lure that everyone wants, but secretly the professional angler confided in me that his stash of balsa wood crankbaits was his real treasure which catches fish year round on most reservoirs and rivers. Building and painting these true treasures demands craftsmanship as a constructional engineer in additional to being an artistic graphic designer when painting the finished balsa wood crankbaits. James Marshall, owner of On The Line Crankbaits, designs, builds, and paints custom built balsa wood crankbaits.
Deep into the great Smokey Mountain region of Tennessee; down a hollow and beyond a creek you can find some of the most renowned craftsmen in the world. Their skills allow them to take a piece of balsa wood and turn it into a custom built balsa wood crankbait. Crankbaits that not only catch fish, but anglers who enjoy catching fish on balsa wood crankbaits. These talented craftsmen have honed their skills from hours on hours of carving. They are dedicated to the art of building balsa wood crankbaits. Rob Cochran is one of these skilled craftsmen, but the story goes beyond just owning JawJacker Lures and building one of the best balsa wood crankbait available.
Every hand crafted balsa wood crankbait has its own distinctive appearance and action when fished. Every one of them is cut and shaped by skilled hands. It’s a time consuming process that only a handful of skilled artisans ever conquer. There is even fewer of these craftsmen that compete competitively in tour-level bass tournaments. One of these craftsmen is Craig Powers. Known as CP by his friends, Powers started learning the art of hand crafting balsa wood crankbaits over 12 years ago from his mentor and one of the most respected balsa wood crankbait builders. Powers’ knowledge and skill of building balsa wood crankbaits combined with his angling expertise has made him a threat to win every tournament he fishes in along with driving sales of CP Series Crankbaits well beyond his own expectations.
Every handcrafted wooden topwater lure is unique. Each one reacts different. They have their own personal attitude. That is what makes handcrafted wooden topwater lures so popular with weekend and professional anglers. It’s the wiggle, hunting, splashing, gurgling, and drifting action of handcrafted wooden lures that drives bass wild. True handcrafted wooden topwater lures are not mass produced. No, it takes a skilled craftsman to carve finely tuned wooden baits out of a block of wood. For Larry Mayer, owner of Side Stepper Bait Company, it’s about making that special handcrafted wooden topwater lure. In 2000, Mayer started Side Stepper Bait Company, he was making baits in his basement and the garage; now, Mayer rents a couple office spaces in a local mall to build, paint, and store his lures.
When you think of Tennessee, two things come to mind: the University of Tennessee students singing Rocky Top when they win and hand-crafted, hand-painted custom built balsa wood crankbaits. No other region in the United States produces more high quality, in demand, hand-crafted, hand-painted custom built balsa wood crankbait. The craftsmanship is second to none and jack the jaws of thousands of fish.
Craftsmanship can be measured by the end results of the product they produce. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the craftsmen that build custom balsa wood crankbaits. Imperfections are quickly spotted and only the best end up in anglers tackle boxes. Not only must a custom balsa wood crankbait track right it’s got to have the right shape and bill design; in addition to the right color pattern or finish. One finish becoming more and more popular among anglers buying custom balsa wood crankbaits is a foiled finish. To keep up with demand, JawJacker Lures has released their foiled series of crankbaits in new foiled finish color patterns.
Custom built balsa wood crankbaits come in a wide array of shapes and sizes depending on who is cutting, shaping and painting them. These homemade lures are limited in the number produced due to how time consuming it is to make them; in addition to each one having a distinctive shape and bill. It’s that distinctive shape and bill that makes each one of these baits perform differently. Other attribute will also come into play like the angle of the bill and how it is weighted. Since no one custom built balsa wood crankbait can be used to fish in every situation, CP Series Crankbaits designed a series of balsa wood crankbaits that anglers can use to catch fish all year long.
Anglers are always looking for that next magic lure that catches fish. Recently, more and more anglers have been using hand crafted custom built wooden crankbaits to put fish in their boats. The reason why? Hand crafted custom built wooden crankbaits have a unique ability to produce strikes and catch quality fish. This unique ability cannot be reproduced by the mundane action of plastic crankbaits. The unique action hand crafted custom built wooden crankbaits have come from its enticing movement backing up when paused, a subtle hunting action when retrieved, or its erratic bouncing movement off wood or rocks. Some of these custom built crankbaits are flat sided while others feature a round body. The hand crafted custom built wooden Wiggle D crankbait made by Don Minkler, owner of E-Z Dip Lures, is one of these round bodied lures.
It’s a killer! You heard me right. A killer and its targets are bass. To be specific, post-spawn bass looking for an easy meal after exhausting themselves from courting; however, this wake bait is not made of molded plastic. No, the Killer V by Basshunter Baits in Knoxville, Tennessee, is made from handpicked balsa wood. It only makes sense that the Killer V would come from the heart of hand crafted balsa wood lures. The owner of Basshunter Baits, Brian K. Moore, spent over two years researching, designing, building, and testing the Killer V before it finally made it to any store shelves. It was well worth the time Moore put into it to ensure that his wake bait would have the correct buoyancy and running depth.
All crankbaits, no matter what material they are made out of have one thing in common, they are built to mimic forage. The majority are made to resemble shad, blueback herring, or crawfish. The bulk of these lures are made by an injection molding process while a number of custom built crankbaits are made from some type of wood. Popular choices include cedar, poplar, cherry, sugar pine, and balsa. Similar to the injection mold crankbaits, custom built wooden crankbaits come in either flat and round sided.
It’s the secret bait of the pros…you have heard that over and over, but when you are talking about balsa wood crankbaits it’s really true. Recently, I went out fishing with a professional angler to do a story about a new lure. Sure it was a hot lure that everyone wants, but secretly the professional angler confided in me that his stash of balsa wood crankbaits was his real treasure which catches fish year round on most reservoirs and rivers. Building and painting these true treasures demands craftsmanship as a constructional engineer in additional to being an artistic graphic designer when painting the finished balsa wood crankbaits. James Marshall, owner of On The Line Crankbaits, designs, builds, and paints custom built balsa wood crankbaits.
Deep into the great Smokey Mountain region of Tennessee; down a hollow and beyond a creek you can find some of the most renowned craftsmen in the world. Their skills allow them to take a piece of balsa wood and turn it into a custom built balsa wood crankbait. Crankbaits that not only catch fish, but anglers who enjoy catching fish on balsa wood crankbaits. These talented craftsmen have honed their skills from hours on hours of carving. They are dedicated to the art of building balsa wood crankbaits. Rob Cochran is one of these skilled craftsmen, but the story goes beyond just owning JawJacker Lures and building one of the best balsa wood crankbait available.
Every hand crafted balsa wood crankbait has its own distinctive appearance and action when fished. Every one of them is cut and shaped by skilled hands. It’s a time consuming process that only a handful of skilled artisans ever conquer. There is even fewer of these craftsmen that compete competitively in tour-level bass tournaments. One of these craftsmen is Craig Powers. Known as CP by his friends, Powers started learning the art of hand crafting balsa wood crankbaits over 12 years ago from his mentor and one of the most respected balsa wood crankbait builders. Powers’ knowledge and skill of building balsa wood crankbaits combined with his angling expertise has made him a threat to win every tournament he fishes in along with driving sales of CP Series Crankbaits well beyond his own expectations.
Every handcrafted wooden topwater lure is unique. Each one reacts different. They have their own personal attitude. That is what makes handcrafted wooden topwater lures so popular with weekend and professional anglers. It’s the wiggle, hunting, splashing, gurgling, and drifting action of handcrafted wooden lures that drives bass wild. True handcrafted wooden topwater lures are not mass produced. No, it takes a skilled craftsman to carve finely tuned wooden baits out of a block of wood. For Larry Mayer, owner of Side Stepper Bait Company, it’s about making that special handcrafted wooden topwater lure. In 2000, Mayer started Side Stepper Bait Company, he was making baits in his basement and the garage; now, Mayer rents a couple office spaces in a local mall to build, paint, and store his lures.
Craftsmanship can be measured by the end results of the product they produce. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the craftsmen that build custom balsa wood crankbaits. Imperfections are quickly spotted and only the best end up in anglers tackle boxes. Not only must a custom balsa wood crankbait track right it’s got to have the right shape and bill design; in addition to the right color pattern or finish. One finish becoming more and more popular among anglers buying custom balsa wood crankbaits is a foiled finish. To keep up with demand, JawJacker Lures has released their foiled series of crankbaits in new foiled finish color patterns.
