At Leadhead Lures, home of the Talon Series, we are one of only a handful of manufacturers who produce their own lures from start to finish at our own facilities. There is always a great deal of interest in how this takes place, so here is an outline of what we do.

 

Design and Development:Everyone wants to know how we develop our lure design. Ideas begin with identification of a need, either from us, our Pro Staff fishermen or our customers. From there the idea goes onto a sketch pad where we decide the best hook style and size and other component needs that the lure may have. Much discussion ensues until an agreement is reached between our craftsmen, our Pro Staff, and even other industry experts about the best design for the lure. Prototypes are developed and tinkered with until we get something that we all like. We research the market for that specific type of lure and develop a name for it.

 

If all goes well to this point, the lure goes to our mold designer, who magically turns our drawings and prototypes into molds that produce the lure. The mold designer is the most critical part of development, and only the very best will do. Test lures are produced during the mastering process which are fished and tinkered with until all involved in the development agree that the lure is ideal. Hours of on-the-water testing take place just to design a single size of spinnerbait. Controlled experiments are performed and documented for all lure styles and sizes. Because of this testing and supporting documentation, we can make some of the most credible claims in the industry.

 

Once the mold is mastered and approved, production is enabled. At that point packaging needs to designed and ordered. Bringing a single lure from idea to production to market availability may take up to a year and will incurr an average cost of $15,000.00 before one is ever sold.

 

Casting:We use centrifugal casting equipment to produce our lures. The process involves a round, flat silicone mold - like a pancake - which is split in half from top to bottom. Each mold can produce from 6 to 30 identical pieces, depending on the mold circumference and type of lure. The mold has a hole in the center of the top half to allow the alloy into the mold. Lure components are loaded into the bottom half of the mold, and the upper half is then aligned and placed on top. The loaded mold is placed into the centrifugal casting machine and a retaining plate is placed on top of the mold. The machine uses pneumatic energy to squeeze the mold halves together and spins the mold like a centrifuge. A measured amount of molten alloy is poured into the top of the machine, where it flows down through the top of the mold and is spun throughout the mold cavities via delivery channels in the mold. The machine then stops and the mold is removed. Baits are popped out when they have completely solidified.

 

A few words about metallic alloys used in lures. There are several alloys in use today for lure production, including lead, tin, bismuth and tungsten. Due to cost, availability and ease of production, lead is by far the most popular. Contrary to popular belief, the average person cannot melt down scrap roofing lead, tire weights, or other “lead” products and expect successful results. These each use very different alloys that were developed to be ideal for their intended use – which is not fishing lures! Quality lures depend on a hard alloy that will not dent under normal conditions, does not readily oxidize, flows well for centrifugal casting, and that holds paints well.

 

Painting:At Leadhead Lures, we do all our own painting. We are very proud of our paint processes and have been highly complemented within the industry for our finishes. Our liquid paint process used on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits took nearly 20 years to develop, and we closely guard some proprietary parts of the process. We’ve also developed a powder curing process that preserves the fragile red coating on hooks. In 2006 we developed Intellicoat^TM Super Durable Lure Coating, which combines several different materials and techniques in a proprietary 9-step process.

We consider painting our Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits an art form. Baits are placed onto racks that are made to hang in our paint booths. After raw baits are cleaned, a primer coats is applied. Coats of pigment are then applied, with some designs requiring as many as 12 layers to achieve the perfect effect. Lures must cure fully between coats to allow the thinners to fully evacuate the pigments. Now it's time for those lovely accents that set our lures apart from the others! Beautiful back, side and/or belly accents are applied to the baits, with fish scale effects where applicable. We don’t skimp on various glitters, and it literally forms the base for some of our designs. The baits then receive our proprietary clear coating and cure for at least 24 hours.

We then apply the eyes and more accents. Each dot for each eye is hand applied, and each eye color must cure completely between applications. When the eyes are completely cured, a final coat of our proprietary clear coat is applied. The finished lures then cure for at least 24 hours. Curing time is dependent on weather conditions. Humidity or cool temperatures slow the process considerably. From casting to final fully cured product takes at least 4 days.

Assembly:After curing, the lures are removed from the painting racks and stored in labeled bins, ready for assembly. Each bait is completely made to order. We believe that fresher skirts perform better, so we make our own to order as well. There are many different types of skirt material, however silicone is by far the most popular. It comes is a wide variety of colors and effects. Some has glitter, some is printed with designs, and some, like Nature’s Edge, appears very natural and contains no glitters.

We also have a wide selection of round cut Living Rubber material. Some fishermen maintain that this natural rubber product has better action than silicone, especially on colder water. Unfortunately, true Living Rubber, or flat rubber, is no longer being manufactured. The alternative is a Fine Gauge Round Rubber, which is what we use on our lures. Living Rubber products are not manufactured in the United States and must be imported. The supply of Living Rubber in the U.S.A. is not secure, and it is possible that shortages will occur as this material gains popularity.

After skirting, jigs are complete and move on to packaging. Buzzbait wires are treated to increase squeal, receive a premium, patented Delta blade, which we treat to optimize performance, are hand tuned, and then go on to packaging.

Spinnerbaits take quite a bit more attention. Component quality is of paramount importance. There are various levels of quality available in just about every part of a lure, however the part most critical to the performance of the spinnerbait is the swivel. The very best available (and the most expensive) is the Sampo swivel, which is machined to perform flawlessly. Blades are also very important, and are available in a wide range of shapes, sizes, thickness, and finishes. This is also an area where "you get what you pay for" and there are no "good deals" out there. Value priced blades are typically thinner and tend to oxidize readily. We use only premium quality, heavy blades and, where applicable, apply our color coatings to these same blades. We hand polish each wire to enhance performance, and polish each blade prior to packaging.

Once assembled and packaged, the lures are ready to go to you - the fisherman - and we want you to have the very best experience possible while using our lures. We have some general tips to help you take care of your lures so they last for many trips.

• Always dry your lures before putting them away to prevent oxidation and keep skirts from clumping together
• Remove jig trailers from jigs before storing to prevent moisture from being trapped next to the hook
• Keep soft plastics and fish attractants away from other lures during storage
• Store your lures in a dry, ventilated area
• Before using a spinnerbait or crankbait always check to see that split rings are intact and replace them if they are spread or oxidized
• Tune a spinnerbait by holding the bait upright and making sure the upper arm is aligned through the center of the head, with the hook aligned vertically
• Keep hook sharpening to a minimum - hooks points are tempered to be very strong and excessive sharpening can destroy this temper and actually cause the points to dull more quickly
• Blades can be polished with any jewelry-quality polishing product
• Follow manufacturer recommendations to keep reels in good working order
• And… Always have a camera along to photograph those lunkers!