I remember when I first started making homemade lures I think I was around 12 years of age. I used to marvel at all the fishing lures inside my tackle box and wonder at how to make homemade fishing lures. Back then there was no internet, no computers for that matter and I had no idea where to even begin. I just jumped into the hobby of tackle making with both feet and learned through trial and error. Let's just say my first few fishing lures turned into dismal failures. The paint job was terrible and would not stay on the lure, my early lures had zero action in the water, but those early learning lessons and experiences make it a lot of fun to look back on.
Making homemade lures actually is quite a broad topic. It all depends really what kind of tackle you are interested in making. Is it spoons or spinners? Perhaps you want to learn how to make wood fishing lures, or maybe you are just interested in fly tying. The problem is there are so many kinds of fishing lures that covering a topic such as making homemade lures in just 1 article becomes a huge task for someone to cover.
Thankfully, though the art of tackle of making no matter what kind of lure you're interested in does not have to be costly to get into and it's not as difficult as you might think. The best bet is to search the net and try and find other articles or books on the subject. There may not be a ton of information about tackle making but what is out there is generally pretty good to get you started off properly.
Here are a couple quick tips on spoons and spinners that you might find useful. Did you know that you do not have to buy spoon or spinner molds and that you can make sure spoon molds out of some old 2×4's you have lying around. What I do is take a spoon shape or spinner blade shape I wish to make and trace it out on a hunk of wood. Make sure to widen the shape as spoons and spinner blades are not flat. Then using gouges and chisels you can create a negative impression of the spoon or spinner into the wood and sand the shape smooth. Then using a hammer with one of those yellow plastic knobby ends you can shape sheet metal into the conformed shape. By trimming and filing smooth you can land up with a pretty nice looking spoon or spinner blank.
You can also get by without having to buy any fancy wire benders in order to make your spinners. By hammering in the ends of some 2×4 a couple nails (it may take a few attempts to get the configuration right) and then cutting off the heads of the nails with a hacksaw makes a pretty nice wire bender for using just scrap lying around.
Of course using fishing lure supplies designed for making homemade fishing lures is a lot better and the results more consistent, but for the beginner that wants to start off in the hobby of tackle making without having to spend any money it is possible using tips like this to make half decent home fishing lures. Then imagine the excitement you'll enjoy when you catch that first bass or trout on that spoon or spinner you made the night before. Such satisfaction is priceless.