Homemade Fishing Lures: How To Get Started & FAQ

Creating your own fishing lures can be a fun and inexpensive way of designing custom lures that you simply can’t buy in a store.

They also make great gift ideas and decorations.

Making your own homemade fishing lures can help lower your tackle expenses and provide a creative outlet that is fun and rewarding (especially on those rainy days!).

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How Do You Make Your Own Lures?

Homemade fishing lures are created by acquiring the right materials and crafting them into useable lures to attract fish. This can be done by gathering the materials yourself or using a pre-made kit that comes with all the materials and instructions to get started. 

Making your own lures can be a great way to have some fun, cut down on fishing expenses, and ultimately create something that you are proud to catch fish with on your next trip to the water.

Homemade Fishing Lures: How To Get Started & FAQ

Not to mention the endless ways you can get creative with your own materials, colors and style! 

The truth of the matter is there is no wrong or right way to make homemade fishing lures. They can be as practical or as fun as you want them to be.

I’ve seen them made from spoons, old bottle caps, kids toys, seaglass, corks, feathers, animal fur, and just about everything in between.

However, there are also kits, materials, and a growing industry that supports DIY lures.

What Are the Different Types of Lures You Can Make?

There is a large variety of different types of lures that you can create in the comfort of your own home or garage. Each one will require a different set of equipment, tools, and workspace in order to create.

Homemade fishing lures can be made by pouring melted plastic into molds, carving one from wood, or even converting a dinner spoon into a fishing spoon. All of these methods can not only save you a little money at the tackle shop but allow you to create beautiful custom lures with a little bit of work. 

From soft plastic creature lures to wooden jigs and crankbaits that you carve yourself, it is extremely rewarding to be creative and make your own fishing lures.

With the right materials and a little bit of effort, you can make almost any type of lure that you can buy directly from a store or website.

Plus, they make excellent gifts and decorations!

Do Homemade Fishing Lures Actually Work?

Sure you can make your own fishing lures, but does that mean that they will actually work?

This will depend on your workmanship and eye for detail. The last thing that you want is to have a fish strike your homemade lure and have it fall apart due to poor quality.

In general, well-made fishing lures do just as good of a job of catching fish as store-bought lures. In many cases, homemade fishing lures can actually be a better option as you can customize them to specific needs and preferences for your area. 

For example, in my area, there are a lot of invasive Mayan cichlids and I know that Largemouth Bass love them!

If I were to make a homemade lure, I would try and create something that resembles the shape and colors of a Mayan Cichlid. Something like that is unique to my area, and not available in stores.

As long as you take the necessary steps to properly make your fishing lures, they should perform just as well (if not better) than any other lures that you would otherwise buy.

In fact, there is a small community of anglers and lure makers who specialize in homemade and handcrafted lures.

I’m not talking about cheesy gifts….I’m talking hand-carved, hand painted highly customized swimbaits specifically designed to catch fish (usually big bass!).

For example, check out https://www.texasswimbaitz.com/ for some incredibly realistic shad and shiner glide baits.

Instagram and Pinterest are also great places to find custom lure makers, get ideas and even plans, kits, and materials.

How Do You Make Your Own Soft Plastic Fishing Lures?

Soft plastic baits are not only the most popular type of fishing lures, but they are also the most popular for people to make themselves.

To make your own plastic fishing lures, you will need to either purchase an injection mold kit or assemble your own with the necessary parts and tools. 

There are plenty of great starter kits out there that will come with everything you will need to make your own soft plastic lures.

For example, there are kits such as the Alumilite Soft Bait Kit.

Kits like this provide you with everything that you need to get started, including the plastic, molds, coloring dyes, measuring cups, mixing sticks, glitter, and coloring powder.

With all of these items, you are now ready to start making your own plastic lures!

If you don’t want to purchase a kit, you can assemble all of these items yourself.

Many of them might already be laying around your house, while others you will need to purchase. If you can make a mold of the shape of the lure that you want, you may not have to purchase anything.

Molds can be in many different shapes and sizes such as worms, crawfish, flukes, grubs and fish. You can even buy and create your own Senko worm molds!

These molds can be bought for a decent price and can be used over and over again to pour hot plastic into. 

Many anglers will store up the old plastic lures that they use to fish with and use these to make new lures. Yes, you can actually melt down old plastic lures!

If you want a specific color or pattern, plastic can be bought online at a very reasonable price. 

To create soft plastic lures, you will combine the soft plastic liquid with the coloring of your choice. You can also add glitter or powder for added visual effects and scent. These are then combined in a bowl and then injected or poured into your mold. 

Once in the mold, you will heat everything up.

The plastic molds will withstand much higher temperatures than the liquid plastic inside, so the interior plastic will start to harden without damaging your mold. When done, allow the mold to completely cool. 

When cooled, the mold is taken apart and you should find your new soft plastic lure in the shape and color pattern that you chose.

This lure-making method can take a little bit of work, but once you have the molds and plastic, the price of these lures is less than those that you can buy.

Plus its so much more meaningful when you catch a fish on your very own homemade lure!

How Do You Make Homemade Lures for Bass Fishing?

Bass fisherman go through A LOT of soft baits…and I mean a lot! By making your own soft baits you can save money and customize your own colors.

FusionX Fishing Lures make an entire line of soft bait kits, mold and resins that are affordable and great for beginners.

But, soft baits and worms arent the only bass lures you can make from home.

Simple and effective bass lures can be made with wood or metal too.

With a little bit of work and materials, you can make your own lures out of these other materials. 

Spinner baits are a popular metal fishing lure that is easy to make, while wood is used for things such as jerk baits or crankbaits, and glide baits.

To make these lures for bass fishing, you will either need to purchase a kit or assemble all of the materials you will need and follow YouTube videos on how to carve your own lures.

What Kind of Wood Do You Use to Make Fishing Lures?

Many anglers love to make their own crankbaits and jerkbaits by carving them out of wood.

While more time-consuming, the end result is a lure that can be very high quality and custom-made. You must, however, make it out of the right type of wood. 

Most lure makers will use balsa, poplar or cedar to carve their homemade fishing lures because they provide a good balance between being hard enough to be durable, while still being soft enough to carve.

Regardless of the type of wood that is used, it will need to be coated with a sealer such as epoxy, superglue or D2T in order to prevent the lure from absorbing water and breaking apart as you use it.

This will also allow the lure to last much longer and increase its durability when fishing.

How Do You Make a Lure Out of Spoons?

One of the easiest and cheapest types of lures to make yourself are those made out of ordinary spoons! To make this specific type of lure, you will need a vice, spoon, saw, hammer, file, center punch, pliers, swivel, and a treble hook. 

Place the spoon inside of the vise and position it so the vise is holding the handle.

Take the saw and cut the handle off of the spoon. Next, take the file and smooth off the edge where you removed the handle, and make the spoon as rounded as possible. 

Next, you will take the center punch and hammer, to place a hole in the top of the spoon near the edge and another one at the bottom. Taking the pliers, place the swivel at the top through the hole and the treble hook through the bottom hole. 

Ensure that the swivel and hook are firmly attached to the spoon, and you are ready to start fishing!

For treble hooks, the #4 size is a great choice but you can opt for any size that you need depending on the size of fish that you are pursuing. 

Can You Buy Homemade Lure Kits?

One of the easiest ways to get started making your own fishing lures is to buy a complete kit.

These kits will usually come with everything you will need to make various types of lures, as well as a full set of instructions to help you along the way. 

You can buy homemade lure kits at a variety of different websites, as well as major tackle outlets such as Bass Pro Shop, Cabelas, and Tackle Warehouse.

There are plenty of great kits, like this crankbait kit from Amazon:

From soft plastic lure kits that provide molds and plastic to metal spinner lure kits, there are many different kits available out on the market to help you along in your journey of creating your own lures right at home. 

Where Can You Buy/Sell Homemade Fishing Lures?

If you prefer to buy someone else’s homemade fishing lures instead of making your own, there are a few different places to do so.

You may also want to create your own lures and sell them to others in order to make a little extra money for your fishing hobby. 

The two best online marketplaces to both buy and sell homemade fishing lures are Etsy.com and eBay.com. Etsy is a dedicated marketplace where people can buy and sell homemade goods from all over the world, including all types of fishing lures. 

You can also buy or sell your homemade fishing lures through other avenues such as personal websites, local craft shows, fairs, and through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok.

All of these provide opportunities to meet potential customers and sell homemade lures directly to anglers who need them.

Largemouth bass caught on homemade lure (5" fluke softbait)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Making Fishing Lures Profitable?

Most anglers and hobbyists make their own fishing lures for personal use or to share with friends and family. However, there is a growing demand for high-quality handmade lures, especially swim baits and glide baits.

How Do You Make Fishing Lures Glow?

Glow in the dark powder and resins are available for purchase from art and craft suppliers. These are usually mixed with paints or plastic to give soft baits and other lures a glowing effect at night.

Are Homemade Fishing Lures Better?

The quality of homemade lures and their effectiveness are totally dependent on the construction and application. However, with homemade and DIY lures you have the option to customize them exactly to suit your needs or fishing environment.

How Do You Paint Homemade Fishing Lures?

When painting homemade fishing lures, always use oil-based paint covered by a sealant or clear coat. Lures can be painted by hand, dipped, or applied with a craft painter’s airbrush.

Final Thoughts

The wonderful thing about fishing is that it’s accessible and available to so many people, regardless of your income, expertise, or level of participation.

Making your own homemade fishing lures is just another example of how you can have fun with this sport, challenge yourself and learn a new skill.

And it doesn’t stop there…countless anglers and hobbyists make their very own custom fishing rods, hand tie their own flies, build their own cast nets, and even make their own homemade catfish bait.

If you are interested in making your own DIY lures, I encourage you to give it a try!

Best of luck and thank you for reading.

If you haven’t guessed yet, I love fishing and everything about it!

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