Creating your own baits and lures during the winter months, when fishing activities tend to be lessened, is a great way to keep active as well as ultimately reducing the strain on the wallet.

While it can be argued that given the initial investment in tackle craft tools and components, the true savings, if any, might be negligible. In some instances, this might be true, but in others I believe the savings are legitimate. Blade baits are a good example.

Over the years, I’ve written many times about the effectiveness of blade baits, compact metal vibrating lures that excel for a variety of species, particularly when the water is cold. But they are not cheap and tend to get snagged a lot, not a great combination economically.

However, assembling your own blade baits can bring the cost to around a dollar per lure, far less than the price of finished blade baits that are commonly priced at over five bucks apiece.

The only things you’ll need to get started are blank bodies and hooks. A quick look at the Lure Parts Online website, a web store that specializes in tackle craft supplies, lists a five-pack of ½-ounce blade bait bodies for around five dollars. All that’s needed to make them fishable are hooks. I prefer to use clip-on hooks, more specifically VMC 4959s size 6 or ½-ounce baits.

One tine of these round-bend treble hooks is not fused to the other two. Allow the hook to be clipped to a lure without the use of a split ring. This setup works best for me. It’s quick. Also, I realize less fouling of the hooks around the line, a common issue when vertically jigging blade baits, than ones with split rings. But that’s a personal choice. My friend, Sid Brown, a veteran blade bait angler, prefers split rings.

Without any added adornment this simple blade bait, in either a nickel or brass body, will catch fish. But I like to add a bit of accent to my blade baits, feeling that in the deeper water such features can make the lure more appealing and/or visible to the fish.

One simple way of accomplishing this is to add reflective tape to the lure. Pre-cut reflective stickers add much flash, are available in many finishes, and are simple to apply. They add only a few cents to production costs.

Another option is to add some paint. I use powder-coat paint which is very durable. It’s applied by heating the lure up for a few seconds and then dipping it into the powder. I use a cheap heat gun, but one can also use a propane or butane torch. Only a bit of heat is needed, just enough so that a light coat of paint sticks to the lure.

I’ve found it most productive, fish catching-wise, to only add paint to a portion of the lure. Often, I’ll just dip the lead weight part of the lure and perhaps the tip of the tail as well. Just enough to offer some contrast.

Once the initial paint has been applied, it can be cured by a quick session in the oven. I use a toaster oven to accomplish this. Around 15 minutes at 200 degrees will do the trick. Much more and the lead weight will start to melt.

Be sure to clear out any excess paint from the holes in the blade body — the hook holes as well as the line attachment holes — before baking them. Once they come out of the oven the paint is hard, a challenge to remove.

Granted, the purchase of a heat gun, toaster oven and powder coat paint will set you back a few bucks. But in time the investment will pay for itself, and you can use the tools to bait leadhead jigs, another substantial cost-saving activity.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle