Making my own lure --awww for the heck of it !!!

I know you can buy any lure you can think of but…. I like to do stuff myself.

Started making some lure today…Fish Oil, Crayfish Oil

Fish Oil went well. Went out with my daughter and caught a few dozen perch/sunfish (had great time doing it), will add a few more tomorrow and then set out to let sun.

Crayfish Oil didn’t go to well. I’m in the middle of the creek hand catching crawdaddies get a few in my hand and then I ask my little girl (age 6) to bring me the jar, bam. Now I have a broken jar and no start on crayfish oil. Guess I learned a lesson, if you go through the trouble of buying a huge pickle jar, eating all the pickles, don’t take it to the creek with you.

Well guess I got a few pickles to eat before I get to start my crayfish oil !!!

What did you use to remove the "pickle" smell from the jar?

Exactly. You will need an odorless jar. Hope your fish oil isn't in a pickle jar.

Pickled fish oil with a Lemon~Lime twist!

In my opinion, making one's own lure is like being one's own lawyer, one better know exactly what they are doing through experience and many trapline testings. Asa

Never know the animals might take a liking to the pickle smell but i would only us it at a few sets to start with

No matter how carefully one scrubbs a pickle jar, after lure or bait is aged in the jar for a while the pickle smell will still permeate everything. Might not make any difference for raccoon but I wouldn't want to risk that odor in any other lure. Asa

Really you can't use pickle jars !

You can, just so long as they have never held pickles.

that's what THEY say lol


All due respect ... lure and bait making aint rocket science ... no more so than being a plumber or auto mechanic, skilled in what they do ... some have the ability to fix a Buick and also possess the knowledge to formulate a decent lure or bait ... while others are most likely more proficient messing with the Buick and should probably stick to doing just that ... that said, NO it aint something everyone will want to, should, could or can do

the mystique associated with lure making is somewhat mythical ... formulating lures and baits is open to any and all who have the wish want, desire, discipline and dedication to do so ... where and how do you think all of these commercial lures available now got on the market ??? you're right ... they were born in someones shed, out building, kitchen, tree house or garage ... not by some conglomerate R&D firm located on the 5th floor of some 13 story high rise in some big city

I second what you said Possum skinner

possum skinner wrote...they were born in someones shed, out building, kitchen, tree house or garage ... not by some conglomerate R&D firm located on the 5th floor of some 13 story high rise in some big city

Yes possum but hopefully there aren't any respectable lure makers that formulate lures in pickle jars or just throw ingredients together without first testing them on thier trapline and had others trappers arounf the country testing it too. Just slapping things together to save a few bucks is as iffy as being your own lawyer in a capiatl punuishment case. Asa

lol ... agreed Asa, I just elaborated on the subject in general ... sure hope you didn't think I was being disrespectful towards you ... you already know I have tons of respect towards you

Ed

Could there be a lure that would draw animals from a mile away?
The ultimate lure. Naaa,I think as said before any lure will work if you are on location.

i "USED TO" dabble in lure and bait making,that is until my majic potions started exsplodeing!the wife isnt to happy when she finds stinky stuff blowed up all over the place!sent a jar out to yotey in oregon years ago that blowed all over his car setting in the garage!lol i kinda didnt put enough benzonate in it!ill leave it to the EXSPERTS!

Skunk comes awful close one of the few things that pull a bear a right good ways 1/4 - 1/2 mile but the wind blows that way too, we have NE winds most days. Location is way better though .

Would just the smell of a skunk steer the animal to your set though from that far? Would they go out of their way to get to that smell?

I agree that there are no lures that call animals for such long distances and even if the lure could be smelled for a mile how many animals would go that far out of thier way to investigate it? As example, skunk musk is a good longer distance animal attractant but if say a coyote in my part of the country went very far out of his way or strayed from his day's agenda to investigate it he would never get where he was going because he would constantly be zig-zagging back and forth all over the woods.
As for any lure working if one is on location, I'm not so sure about that. I have extensively experimented with at least forty formulas and believe me they vary widely in attraction from near zero attention paid to them up to 95% emphatic working of the lure. Asa

My own test have told me it's difficult to pull them more than a few feet when they are "making the rounds".

"In my neck of the woods" food has pulled them farther than any lure I have tested and I have tested some good ones.

I have used just skunk musk to see what was drawn to it . I just followed the tracks through partly cleared land through woods and right of way that were over grown it pulled them within 20-30 yards of a busy highway where the front end of the business is. I did,nt have a set made, just a place up against the railroad tracks try one thing move away 50-100 yards try something els see what comes and how much it takes to draw them . location is king .

Where could the coyote actually be going? In search of food I would think most of the time. So maybe a very strong food odor might draw him in after thinking about it. Like a dead deer. That would give off alot of smell and they wouldn't be waisting their time knowing it would be there.Maybe a very loud food lure might draw them.

I thought most lures was the same if set on location. Please tell more Asa.

I think they travel their territory. This territory claimed would certainly include a food source. Once they realize their route is safe I'd say they pretty much "stick to the plan" everyday unless there is serious cause to pause. JMO.

This is where pre baiting would pay off before season then. Would lure do the same thing then as pre baiting you think? Change their route.

Canines and coon are a sucker for sweet, edible stuff. They will return again and again for something like cracklin's with molasses or honey on them. It just takes a lot of time to prebait and most serious trappers don't have/take that time, IMO...

I think everyone should do it at least once!

A couple times a summer I throw away fish scraps , when you clean sweet corn I save the parts you cut off, eat crabs and throw away the leftover trash it all adds up, the critters are still around opening day

Your right, as long as one has some basis to start with like a Wyshinski lure making book and uses some common sense they can likely produce some decent lures and add to or subtract from the formula as they do some testing and gain some experience. Asa

very well said John

on a side note ... I must admit, it rubs me wrong and frets me when I see it suggested that one should not tread into doing so for one reason or another ... that mentality is just plain silly ... expanding your knowledge of such can only better yourself as a trapper and a potential bait/lure maker

-----------------------------------



I agree ... if nothing else it will give you a new found respect for those who do so as their livelihood

------------------------------------

check ULINE for your new one gallon glass jars ... they run about three bucks a piece (if you buy 10) ... and they have better shipping rates than most of the so called online wholesale glass/bucket/bottle companies

most places want upwards of a $100 shipping on a couple dozen ... ULINE is only around mid $20's (reckon it really depends on how close you are to one of their 6 warehouses)

If you're gonna go the the expense of buying high quality ingredients, don't skimp and go cheap on the containers. Buy ALL NEW. A half gallon mason( or similar) jar bought new doesn't cost as much as four ounces of castor and other ingredients at four or more dollars an ounce ruined in a salvaged jar that reeks of some kind of food odor. Kinda like buying a new Hummer H3, and putting junkyard baloney skin tires on it, ya know? New containers aren't that expensive, as Possumskinner has pointed out.

If you are going to make your own lure to save a few bucks don't do it, because you will spend more on ingredients than what you could buy a lure for. With that said you should try and blend what ever you feel like together and at least make 1 lure, who knows it may be the ticket you need. One thing for sure you will have a great feeling when you connect with an animal using your own lure. I myself do not use any commercial lure, I have used several commercial lures out there on the market but have not found one I really like. Most all will catch a animal but they are just not what I like as far as smell. Also if you get to making lures always try and make a couple of new ones each year you will have a lot of bad ones but that is were the fun is trying to figure out what works.

Were're talkin' "lure" right, and not baits?

With fur prices once again down why not try all those exeriments you've been considering? There wont be much if any profit trapping fur this year. The stuff that doesn't work or is only marginal won't upset your finances this season. It's a bit late to formulate anything that needs aging so trap your own glands with stuff you know works. Prepare stuff for next year. Probably won't be able to make much on fur next year either.

I stick with beaver lure, and various concoctions for coon and grey fox. It's hard to screw either of those up.

I agree totally with what Poss. said and what would it hurt for a man or lady to try there hand at making a few lures / I do agree he should buy a book and get some kind of reading knowledge of lure making by a respected lure maker like Wyshinski a well renounded lure maker.......and as long as he isn't going to sell it his own testing would service for now...but thats just an ole hillbilly speakin

It probably varies by species but I know for a fact that I have pulled critters from 300 yards into a set just because of the lure. It's a lot easier to judge performance when you have snow to tell the story.

Ken,

Do you make your lure, buy it, or a combinatin of the two?

Surely, like many other things, you must have to do some of it on your own.

I like to make my own lures sure, do I sell any, I really don't think what I make is worthy YET! to be sold but, never the less I like making lures and catching animals from my own stuff. I think it builds ones confidence in his ability as a trapper which in turn builds his overall character as a person...Do I buy lures sure, becuase some things just can't be reproduced correctly without the the original formula.....I would encourage anyone wanting to make lures for himself to GO FOR IT! its fun and interesting. you won't hurt anyone by using your own stuff or giving some to a buddy to try. Heck you may just turn out to be the next Hawbaker or Wyshinski. It may not happen tomarrow but who knows unless you try...HB Ken

I have made my own but these days I buy what I need. It's much faster for me and I can stick with what works. I guess I figure why try to re-invent the wheel. My time is better spent doing something I'm good at. If I could just figure out what that is.

I have seen many times by tracks in the snow where animals have made abrupt turns into a set from a hundred yards or more. Even bobcats have done that when the general concensus amongst many is that cats can't smell well. However, one can never use stronger smelling lures and make them compensate for poor set locations. As a rule of thumb 50 feet is generally how far one can consistently call animals off thier travel route or day's agenda. I suppose that figure might vary somewhat depending upon available food supplies in the area, etc. with a hungry animal being more eager to go out of its way. Asa