D.S Lures

Australian Red Cedar is probably my favourite timber to use for bibbed lures and glide baits. It's easy to work with and sand, strong, and has great water-resistant properties. Depending on the age of the timber, its density is pretty well spot on for what I like to do. Having said that, I have used some very old reclaimed stuff that was prone to splitting easily. The only downside is that it's rather expensive due to being highly sought after for furniture.
This batch of jerkbaits is getting the epoxy treatment next and will be instore at The Fishing Warehouse in the near future.

It's the fine details that matter.
Prepping a lure for paint is a process in itself. The top lure is straight off the epoxy spinner, the bottom has been prepped for paint.
A sanding with fine sandpaper to give the paint a "rough" surface to stick to is key for good adhesion. The excess epoxy around the front tow eye is also cut and filed away to ensure the lure maintains its true shape.

A pile of glides nearly ready for paint.
These are all a part of an order heading to The Fishing Warehouse in Townsville who have been stocking my lures for a while now. A handful of larger glides and some bibbed stuff left to build.

This is where they all start.

Starting with strait, square timber makes it so much easier for consistency. Using double sided tape to hold two pieces of timber together means I can cut and shape two lures at once to speed up the process, and make two identical shaped lures.

The variation of timber.

These two glide bait halves are the same shape and made out of the same piece of timber, yet the required weight positions are totally different and no doubt the weight added to each one will be different too.
Each lure half is individually weighted in a 2 stage process to accommodate for the variation in timber and hand shaping. Yes, it does take longer, but it's necessary to get the perfect balance.
The lures are initially weighted to within 0.2g, and then the weight is fine tuned to get the perfect balance.

This mid 70s fish came off the drain in the previous post. A 130mm mullet glide did the damage, and whilst not my preferred size, I was forced to use the bigger lures this year as all my smaller ones were all lost in combat.

Lure selection scenario.
A text book drain steadily flowing out at mid run out tide. The distinct colour change and nervous mullet make it a perfect spot for a few casts, but... Which lure would you choose?
In this case, the boat is sitting in about a meter of water so it's shallow.
A shallow Jerkbait worked with sharp twitches and long pauses would be a safe bet for a Barra.
A glidebait cast way up into the drain and slowly walked out would be a very fun way to temp a Barra.
If your after some excitement, a fizzer worked with a twitch and a long pause will most likely see a Barra leave a big hole in the surface as it sucks it off the top.

For me, it's the glide. In this case it worked well with a few Barra caught just inside the dirty water line where they like to sit.

Can personally confirm that the fizzers work.
Never really been a fan of them myself, but decided to clip one on for a few casts and rat inhaled it right at the boat. The strike is explosive as they are sucking the lure right off the top so be sure to have a spare pair of jocks onboard.