You may not speak the language—neither do we—but this video from Hobie Fishing Team member Emil Randemo is still fun to watch. Stian Slora runs Tailored Lures, where he makes a variety of large, soft plastic baits. In this clip, Slora takes us into his workshop for a behind-the-scenes look at his bait-building process.
Fancy a try yourself? Read on.
At Home with One of Norway’s Best Bait Builders
If you’re not familiar with Slora, he is “one of Scandinavia’s most talented kayakers with most large pike and perch caught from kayak.” Even more impressive, Slora accomplished the feat fishing his own baits.
Slora describes his bait-building method on the Tailored Lures Facebook page: “I create soft plastic lures for the top predators of my watersystems, mainly pike and perch. My lures are designed to fit certain conditions to perfection.”
It’s a pleasure to watch Slora work. He melts down leftover plastisol in a very messy microwave, mixing dye and sparkle flake into the medium for just the right effect. Then the mixture is poured into a series of molds to harden.
When the bodies have set, Slora carefully extracts them and uses a stencil and airbrush to add scales and other detailing. You can see the many variations hanging on the wall behind him.
You, Too, Can Build Your Own Baits
Want to be known as an angler who catches fish on your own custom baits? Have a spare microwave to mess up? There are a number of soft plastic lure-making kits on the market to try your hand at building baits. See our most recent holiday gift guide for our pick.
Good Lord how big do their perch get?!