Wooden lure making combines craft with practical angling, turning simple blocks and hardware into productive, hand-crafted baits. This guide highlights top wooden lure making supplies that American anglers can source easily, focusing on quality woods, hardware, and carving tools. Each item below helps you shape, assemble, and customize lures for freshwater and saltwater use, with options suitable for beginners and seasoned makers alike.
| Product | Brand | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Tigofly Stainless Steel Lure Screws | Tigofly | Durable screws for plug-style lures |
| Cor cordium Wood Whittling Kit | Cor cordium | Beginner-friendly carving set |
| COUNTBASS Lure Lips Set | COUNTBASS | DIY wooden lure lips and hardware |
| BeaverCraft Basswood Blocks BW | BeaverCraft | Unfinished basswood for carving |
| IDEALSV Screw Eye Pins | IDEALSV | Jewelry-grade eye pins for lures |
Tigofly Stainless Steel Lure Screws
These stainless steel screws are designed for plug-style wooden lures, offering compact dimensions and a corrosion-resistant profile. Each screw measures roughly 1 inch in length with a 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) thread diameter, weighing about 0.013 oz (0.37 g). Ideal for adding small, secure attachments to wooden bodies, these screws support durable rigs without adding significant weight. Use them to fasten lip inserts, brads, or hardware components on carved lures, ensuring a snug hold during casting and retrieve.
Cor cordium Wood Whittling Kit
Perfect for beginners, this whittling kit includes three knives, eight basswood blocks, and glove protection. The walnut-handled knives provide rounded, comfortable grips, while the blades stay securely capped to prevent blade release during carving. Basswood is renowned for its carve-friendly softness, making it easier to shape bodies for wooden lures. The set supports practice and refinement of shape, balance, and texture—essential for creating natural-looking lures with clean lines and minimal tear-out.
COUNTBASS Lure Lips DIY Set
These stainless steel lips are built for DIY wooden lures, offering a reliable thickness at 0.03 inches and a quantity of 20 pieces. The lips can be combined with carved bodies to achieve diverse dive curves and wake patterns. Stainless construction provides resistance to corrosion, ensuring longer life in various water conditions. They work well with wooden plugs and other lure bodies, enabling makers to experiment with action and depth control without compromising durability.
BeaverCraft Basswood Carving Blocks BW
This 16-piece basswood block set offers soft, carve-friendly material ideal for beginners and intermediate carvers alike. Basswood’s softness reduces tool resistance, supporting clean, precise shaping of lure bodies, lips, and fins. The blocks are unfinished, letting makers apply their preferred finishes and paints for realistic patterns and color schemes. The uniform size and easy workability encourage experimentation with body curvature and buoyancy to craft effective wooden lures.
IDEALSV Stainless Screw Eye Pins
These 304 stainless steel screw eye pins are corrosion-resistant and suitable for attaching small components to lure bodies, including corks, beads, and resin accents. With dimensions around 0.31 by 0.16 inches (8 by 4 mm), they offer a compact option for finishing touches on wooden lures. They’re versatile for both decorative elements and functional attachment points, enabling secure lines, hooks, or reflective accents on carved lures.
Beads, Eyes, and More: Lure Accessory Set
While primarily offering additional hardware, this kit includes 876 lure eyes and various components that enhance the appearance and action of wooden lures. The array of sizes and types supports a broad range of lure designs, from flickering surface plugs to deeper-diving crankbaits. Organized storage helps keep parts readily accessible during the carving and assembly process, contributing to smoother workflow and consistency across projects.
Buying Guide
Key considerations when selecting wooden lure making supplies include material quality, compatibility, and intended lure action. Start with soft, carve-friendly woods like basswood for beginners, as they carve cleanly and accept paint and finishes evenly. For hardware, opt for corrosion-resistant metals such as stainless steel to withstand freshwater and saltwater exposure. Lip inserts, screws, and eye pins should match the planned lure shape and dive depth; experimenting with lip sizes can fine-tune action. Carving tools should have comfortable grips and sharp blades to reduce fatigue during longer sessions. Finally, assembling lures benefits from organized storage for small parts—keeps parts protected and your workflow efficient. Always follow safety guidelines when carving and using sharp tools, and test lures in controlled environments to evaluate buoyancy and action before field use.
Throughout your build, consider the balance between lure weight, buoyancy, and motion. Lure lips and weight distribution influence dive depth and wobble, while the finish and paint pattern can affect visibility and appeal. By combining the right wood blocks, secure hardware, and precise carving, you can craft a line of wooden lures tailored to your local waters and target species, without needing professional machining.