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Posts: 93
| I just had to share this with you guys!!!
I have always been an enormous fan of the lures that Tim Novak makes. Models like the GSB, The Infuriater, JB7, NRG, Waterweaver and The Secret Weapon are all lures I have had incredible and very memorative experiences with. I never thought that the high quality of these baits in combination with an awsome paintjob and dito action could ever be outclassed by him.....ever....until.....
Until Tim gave me a peak of the new line of lures he is bringing out ......right now. The TrueLife lures.....truelife indeed. You can judge for yourself but I am totally convinced and overtaken by them.
I immediately asked him if he was going to sell them, since I thought these might be one timers only. Lucky for me....eehhhh for us he will be selling these. As a matter of fact he just listed a bunch of them on Ebay.....check it out for the pictures....
I asked Tim if he was going to show these baits on MF cause I thought he just had to share them with us baitloving freaks. He didn't think about that so I asked him if it was ok if I did.....he said "go right ahead". Just so you know what to expect so you wont be blasted out of your seats....here are a few preview pictures so you guys know what to expect...
I am really interested to see what you lureloving fishermen think of these baits. I know I am hooked...but am I the only one????!!!!
Let me know...thanks! |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | they look cool. |
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| WoW!!! I got to get me a few of those things...simply amazing!!! Never seen anything like them before. Very impressive. I've always liked novak baits but these things are unreal. |
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | I can't believe I'd never heard of him! Very nice indeed.
Actually they look kinda similar to some of my own baits. The man has talent. |
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| I agree they are amazing glidebaits, most realistic ones I've seen. The Novaks have been making muskie baits for along time 100 years or something like that. I use to fish with Tim's father 40 some years ago. One of the best Musky fishermen alive as far as I'm concerned. He always used lures his father and he made. They made lures you just didn't see back then. We always caught loads of muskys on his homemade lures and had tons of fun doing it. I haven't seen Tim in several years since he moved but still buy his lures when I can. They really have produced some nice fish for me. When my wife use to fish with me she would always get just follows on the infuriaters until I showed her how to snap the rod and speed them up which almost always made the musky hit them hard.
Amazing job with these baits. If they work half as good as they look they should boat some fine fish.
John |
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| Knowing Tim, and knowing his other lines of his baits well enough to probably be a salesperson....
i'd say these things:
-i KNOW the construction will be spectacular
-i KNOW the finishes are already killer
-i was told he changed to a different, harder clearcoat in the past few months
-the action is probably second to none as with all his baits of similiar design.
i can't wait to get my hands on some.....some of you know that i'm not too crazy about the natural looking stuff most of the time....i can't wait to see if he'll do me up some orange firetiger, baby bass and glitter sucker..........can only imagine that the action is spectacular and they are perfectly weighted too!!
hats off to you Tim, if u'r out there reading..they look awesome man!!!
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | Well, I appreciate the words in my defence but I have certainly had my influences (Hughes River, Bikinibaits etc) so if someone got inspired by my baits that's fine by me! Not to say that he was as I've not had the pleasure of chatting with him yet.
Tim, if you read this, shoot me an email dude. You do mighty fine work. |
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| Looks like the only thing novak copied is mother nature if you ask me. How can anyone claim rights on that! The perch looks like a friggin perch not a copy of a lure, and the gill how much more perfect of a body could you get to a gill than that!! Theres been tons of lures on here that look like stuff I've used years ago that are suppose to be all new. Take the weagle, sh!t was fishing with those things 30 years ago. I could go on and on with the different lures that copy the old. Sure novak's been making lures for a long time and snax is a new bait builder but sh!t snax can hold his own as long as he keeps making quality baits. No ones getting rich off of making musky baits anyhow, and another thing if someone wants to promote a guy's lures they believe in thats what this site is partly about. Ok, enough of this BS.. I'll take the 2 top novaks and might just have to get me one of those new sweet lookin snax cranks. |
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Posts: 921
Location: Apollo, PA | There are alot of talented people out there making great looking baits, guys like me ( who can't make diddley) are lucky to have them. Nice Job!!!!! |
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| Incredible work on those WOW |
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Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | How and Where do I get these...those look awesome...
Big Perc |
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| they are on ebay now or you can reach Tim at [email protected] |
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | Hey Overthehill, that's really interesting that lure building has been in Tim's family that long. He had a jump start on many of us, it's in his "genetic code", lol.
Tim is one of the finest builders/painters in the business. The perch pattern on the bottom is simply amazing. Beyond that, Tim is a good guy.
jed v. |
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Posts: 93
| And a new member of the TrueLife family is born......here is the Northern Pike.....keep your opinions comming...love to read them
PS. And Overthehill....loved your story....didn't know it was a family thing either.....but looking at the lures......I could have guessed |
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| What a beauty!! |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | wow that pike is sweet. any one know a price for these? |
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Posts: 613
Location: big cove tannery pa | WOW those lures look so amazing,i wish i had that talent. |
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| fish4musky1 - 7/24/2006 11:20 AM
wow that pike is sweet. any one know a price for these?
I believe it said you have to bid on Ebay to get these lures, so a price.....perhaps you can email Novak, I see that his email is mentioned in a previous quote. Awsome lures btw.....big compliment! |
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| Super nice baits!! |
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Posts: 93
| I just received these pictures from Tim and I just had to post them. Another Walleye and I think it is a beauty. A real nice imitation of mother nature again.....
What do you guys think of this one????
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | Another great Job. Tim and I have a mutual respect for each others work.
It's great to see people pushing their own abilities like this, I love it. |
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | That's as nice as any bait I have seen. Tim has a very good eye for color and accuracy and would make a good taxidermist. The only thing I would personally change is the pectoral fin on the side. I think the fin on the side detracts from the quality of the rest of the bait.
jed v.
Edited by RiverMan 8/10/2006 6:46 PM
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| Love the bait, very realistic indeed. I would like to see one with carved on fins. |
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Posts: 93
| Now this is what the basement section is all about....enjoying the lovely work you see all these artists make but also creating space for some changes that will even improve the best looking baits.....so Tim....you got your work "cut" out for you.....show us some baits with carved fins. HAHA |
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Posts: 93
| Not a TrueLife this time but a one of Novaks new big deep diving cranks.
The specs are:
13 inch body 15 inch with lip.
Aircraft Aluminium deep diving lip
Redwood body armed with 0/6 Mustad hooks
3 coats of epoxy
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | I like the paint work on the head in particular. He has a nice artistic flair. |
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Posts: 786
Location: Minnesota | Nice monster bait there Novak! |
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | I saw that bait some time ago.....that monster crank should get the eyes of a few people that are into trolling "big, big, baits"!!!!!!
jed v.
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| Very cool paint very nice work |
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Posts: 786
Location: Minnesota | I just bought one of his glide baits a few weeks ago off of eBay and I was very happy with it! Aslo happy I got it for $21. I watched one of his crappie glide baits go for $51 the week before. Would be nice to have a following like his!  He does do a great job on painting those baits. Must spend some extra time for that detail.
Again, A+ Novak!
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Posts: 186
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin | How much does one of the trolling baits run? |
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| I just ordered 2 of the large Novak cranks. He gets $75 for them. I can't wait to try them out.
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Posts: 93
| I just ordered these for myself. It is the NEW Novak topwater and it is called..........
"CROC"
It is a solid topwater with a carved head and big glass eyes.
The specs are:
8 inches in length; Weight is 5.8 oz.
I also ordered a smaller version which I be able to show soon.
Oh...fyi the special custom colors are:
NukeFire (top one)
Matrix (bottom one)
Edited by Jokemon 9/3/2006 9:50 AM
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Posts: 434
Location: Omaha, Nebraska | How much do those go for? |
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Posts: 93
| DEMolishedyou2 - 9/3/2006 5:59 PM
How much do those go for?
Depends on what your (special) requests are for the baits.
You can email him on [email protected]
Good luck! |
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| Very nice looking topwater lures. Looks like alot of work making them. |
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Posts: 93
| Apparently the full and correct name of this topwater is "TrueLife CROC".
Only fyi........
Edited by Jokemon 9/5/2006 12:42 AM
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| i can't wait to try mine.
i got one of the first (if not THE first) CROC in the mail last week as a gift.
I was so bummed this wkend when i couldn't get out to fish and try this bait. I'll have a full report here after this weekend!
it looks spectacular....those pics simply DO NOT give the NukeFire any justice at all. It's so nice and bright and cool looking, and loaded with glitter.....i love it!
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| My report on the NukeFire Croc...i'm being dead honest too...no offense meant to anyone or any particular baits.
As usual with Tim's baits....excellent finish and the coloring is SPECTACULAR like i said...2nd to none. it REALLY glows in the sun on the water...unreal. Not a finish flaw on the one i have. The hangers are epoxied in, or at least seemed to be...i couldn't move them.
This bait weighs in at around 6.5 ounces, but it's perfectly balanced and casts like a bullet.
If you're looking for side to side travelling action, this bait will do that if worked fast. It flawlessly pushes water and makes the good noise that we all like. If you work it a little slower, it just hangs there nearly in the same place with no forward motion at all...this is my favorite thing to do with big topwaters....snap....sit....snap.....sit. Just turning it from left to right. For me, the Croc takes that to a new level, it just turns back the other way and sits there smiling!
The pivot point on the bait i have seems to be somewhere in the middle and it really throws/moves some water too, slow or fast. it didn't foul on the leader at all either (195lb single strand that i make myself), that's always a plus. Even when i was crushing it with HARD taps, it responded nice and cleanly.
Croc is fat and has a BIG profile, not so much as long as everyone's late favorite the Weagle...but the Croc makes up for it in girth!! As I always do, I T'd the hooks and bent the barbs slightly away from the body to keep that finish from getting worn...though i do think it would take a while...it's a harder finish than Tim had used in the past from what i understand.
I still love my Weagles, but man, it's nice to have something different in the same category of baits that cooperates just as smoothly but pushes a bit more water. This baby is thick, heavy (good heavy though!!) and really moves some water....i'd rate it an honest 10/10.
The other thing i liked for ME...the river i fish constantly has floating weeds and junk everywhere.....this bait has 2 hooks and the tail hook is hung just a tad bit higher, yet still enough to be seemingly be effective and still avoid most of the junk getting fouled on the lure....i can steer it just as easily as a weagle too....i love it.
Thanx J for a great gift, and Tim for making such a killer custom lure for my abusive fishing tactics. She'll get the use she so lovingly deserves!!!
if you see the Croc on ebay or anywhere else....get it. Well worth it.
Edited by The Yeti 9/15/2006 3:26 PM
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| Has anyone ever posted anything on a site and wished they could take it back as soon as they punched the submit button? I say that because I posted early in this thread something about the first couple of lures from Mr. Novak that wasn't fair and really wasn't thought out very clearly. To say it was late at night and I was in a bad mood, is really just an excuse. I should have been more considerate and really, recognized that there was some jealousy involved. Rightfully the post was pulled (I wished I could pull it myself after I read it online, but no go...) Anyway, since then I've kinda been hangin back from posting on this site a lot because I felt bad and frankly was embarrassed. But an apology is in order, and I'm going to apologize to Mr. Novak by purchasing one of his lures (or more than one, if I keep it on the downlow from my wife). Has anyone seen the latest creations that keep showing up on Ebay? Amazing? These lures just keep getting better and better. And each one is different showing how much creativity he really has. I guess I can say that when I'm wrong, I'm really, really, really out of the ballpark. |
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Posts: 480
| Yeti, you write like you made the bait, did you? Duff Thury |
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Posts: 32902
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | No, he didn't.
Toad, no worries, we all have a bad day now and again. Most folks recognize that it's easy to say something negative while looking at a computer monitor, but WAY harder to step up and offer an apology. |
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Posts: 786
Location: Minnesota | Nice toad! Speaks volumes.
He does make some nice baits! Has a few more on right now. I bought one a few months ago for a great price. Worked great for me on Mille Lacs.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZshadezone44QQssPa...
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | One thing I've learned never to become jealous of is the talent of others. Tim is an awesome artist and it shines in his baits. Hell, if I didn't make baits myself, you can bet I'd be buying a whole whack of those babies.
We've emailed back and forth a few times now and have a mutual respect for what eachother does. Shine on brother, shine on! |
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Posts: 399
Location: Burton, Ohio | His baits are incredible! I go on ebay just to catch a peak of them. I like the fact they are always different! Its like ocean fishing! You never know what you are going to get.
I would like to meet him someday. |
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| Toad I've seen some of your work and it's nothing to sneeze at brother. It takes a way bigger man to admit when your wrong and apologize than to criticize. Your a better man for it. Novak's one hell of a nice guy and all I know is if you guy's haven't tried one of his gamma-rays you don't know what you're missing, man do they catch fish!!
take care all
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Posts: 786
Location: Minnesota | Scott,
Got apic you can post of this gamma ray bait you have?
TIA,
James |
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| I would look on ebay if you want to see one. |
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| Guys, get over these lures! He's not the only quality lure maker in the world. They are nice indeed but there are many, many other quality baits out there where you don't have to spend $30 to $50 to get a lure and hope you are the high bidder. The fish does not care if it's a Novak or a Storm...If it's hungry it will destroy just about anything. This is getting ridiculous with some of these posts about this guy and his lures. I'm sure some of you agree with me. The way some of you talk about them, it's like these are the only lures to buy.
I personally have 2 of them and would pick other gliders such as Snax, Bikini, Beaver or Mantas way ahead of them.
If they are only sold on Ebay, ok. But if he has them in bait shops, as a shop owner I'd be pissed if buyers can get them on Ebay when I'm trying to sell stock from my store.
Relax.
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | I think it's great that the folks that buy custom baits are as passionate about them as the folks that build them. I too have a pretty loyal following and it sure does make a guy feel good about his hard work and skill to read nice comments about them. Hell, most of the best bait makers all are fans of one anothers work and all have their own unique twist to what they do.
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| Sounds like more jealosy to me. Novak's not got the market cornered so why all the hostility toward the man. Alot of basement bait builders baits show up here to be looked at and admired so why is it different when a novak bait shows up here? There are many talented bait makers and Novak is just one of them. I personally love his baits to look at and to fish with and know some guys that own 50 to 60 of them. Of course you don't need a top of the line bait or have to spend 50 bucks to get a bait to catch fish with, but if a person chooses to then it's nice to have makers out there that can supply them. I love looking at all the beautiful baits that show up on here and think this is the greatest site there is. Do I only fish with novaks no way! I try them all. So keep the bait photo's coming guy's, I love drolling over them!! |
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Posts: 4266
| I think they are awesome. Worth every penny for the amount of work that goes in to them.
People like him and Snax and "Foil Boy" have really taken it to another level.
I like Novaks because he holds his lures in his hands, and you can see that he has a "baitpainters thumb."
I resorted to wearing rubber gloves because I use all acrylic lacquers. Got a little tough on the skin.
Anyway...getting back to the jealousy thing. I don't think that any of us are jealous of one another, I think it is mutual admiration.
I'll never be a Snax or a Novak. I buy my blanks. I'm not a carver. I try my best to weight and balance them to give them superb action and roll and flash and glide, and then I try my best to give them a good looking paintjob and a tough clear coat.
I doubt that any of the guys that I mentioned are jealous of me, but I have talked with and e-mailed them, and we all have a mutual respect for each other.
I think what the point of the one post is......and pardon me if I'm way off base.....Using this forum to display your work, and then selling alomost exclusively on e-bay.
Well, the guys can sell them where they want. It doesn't violate the rules of the board. It might tick off some retailers if they are selling lures for someone and trying to make a profit, only to see the same lures selling for less on e-bay. It's a touchy situation, but again, there has to be mutual respect between the builder and the seller....if there is one.
I don't have that worry either. I make so few lures that I never have paid off all of my supplies in the 3 years that I've been trying to make lures. I thought it could be a hobby turned into a business, but after meeting with small business people and people from The Dept. of Vocational Rehabilitation, they told me that I was "a business not for profit." I could never make enough lures all by myself to make a profit, so I am concidered a "hobbyist".
Now, with all of that on the side....I have no website....I do not advertise.....this website has given me a place to show my work, along with Joe's web site, and so as a way of saying thankyou to Steve and Zach and Slamr and the others, I only offer my lures for sale here on the buy/sell/trade board. You guys see how it goes. I do a lot of prep work, then 10 at a time, or sometimes less, I post what I bring in from the garage. What doesn't sell either goes into my tackle box, or once in a great while I will post a few lures on e-bay. Lately I've been trying to do batches of lures for the outings. Trying to stay seasonally and regionally specific. Again, I'm happy to do that for the guys at muskiefirst who have such a thing as a "Basement Baitmakers Forum."
That way, if you see someone throwing any of my lures, chances are pretty #*^@ good that he's a muskiefirster.
So, I believe that the one post talking about the cost and availability......thank-you for giving my baits a nod by the way....wasn't written with any jealousy intended, but more of an issue of availability.
So until Steve decides to change the rules and say.....All basement baitbuilders must sell some of their product on our buy/sell/trade board and donate to any and all benefit auctions and donate door prizes to our outings in order to defray the costs of operation of this site.......I guess that the guys can show off all that they want.
I enjoy seeing where luremakers are taking their art. It is, in fact, another form of American Folk Art. Much like decoy carvers and the wooden lures of the 40's and 50's.
The bar has definitely been raised over the last few years, but I'm not jealous....envious, maybe. These guys are so good. But I will continue to do the best that I can with what I've got, and seeing pictures like the one from The Presque Isle Outing make all the long hours worth it. If mine are good enough to catch big fish, then I guess that I've done my job. I'll never be a Snax, but I'm content being a Beaver.
Beaver |
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | #*^@ Beaver, you make me sound special! lol
Thanks for the kudos but we all share a passion for what we do and love seeing others enjoying the fruits of our labour. We're in it together bro. |
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| ray which models do you have? I know novak makes over 20 glider models alone. |
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| I bought this one several years ago:
[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/2mxjr68.jpg[/IMG]
Thanks,
Andre de Boer
The Netherlands |
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The NEW amazing models from Tim Novak - TrueLife lures