The questions in bold print below are what I asked Larry while he was working on a number of different lures. I had a tape recorder running so I didn't miss anything and did my best to try to translate what he was saying into this format:

 

How long have you been making lures?

Larry has been making plugs for 4 years
 

What was the biggest help in learning how to make lures?

When he got into plug making, he learned a lot by using the plug building forum on S-B. It was very informative and there was always people willing and ready to give advice and help. He saw some of the beautiful plugs people were making through the S-B forum

S-B was an invaluable resource of help and information in learning to create lures

What was your favorite plug to use when fishing?

Started out by throwing Gibbs pencils, that was the best part of fishing for him

Have you done anything to encourage others to make plugs?

Larry set up the first MSBA Plug Night when he was the Entertainment Coordinator for guys to come show and even sell their own plugs if they wanted.

How did you benefit from that night?

Larry bought a used lathe and scroll saw that night from and got good at turning lures pretty quick.

What was the first lure you ever turned?

It was similar to a Gibbs popper, although he never fished with it, he still has it hanging in his shop

What was next for his turning of lures?

He started making needle fish, similar to Habs. Made about a dozen and a half plugs in his second batch and fished them

What was your best memory of fishing with your own lures?

Larry fished with his friend Matt (S-B, Slinger) down the Cape one June night on Balson Beach using his lures and pounded the fish all night long, including 17 keeper sized fish up to 25-pounds on his needlefish. He fished that same lure until he noticed the split ring had straightened out and he lost a hook. After he retired that lure, he pulled another one out of his bag and hooked into another 10 fish. Awesome feeling

Where were you when you started making your own lures?

Larry started out making lures when he lived in Abington, making them under a carport outside in the cold, he later moved to an unheated garage. Like with anything, his lures just kept getting better.

What is the biggest inspiration you draw from when making your own lures?

Draws his inspiration from other people lures, color schemes, details like layered paints, mimicking bait fish, action, appearance and motion. It’s hard to come up with a different style, there are so many variations, but the custom look and action is what makes them unique. He visions the action in his head that he’d like to see the lure make.

What is your favorite pattern to make into lures and how did you come up with it?

Everyone has a bunker pattern lure, Larry went with a more realistic appearance. He saw his first adult bunker during a bluefish blitz in Rhode Island, the blues were pushing the bunker right up against the rocks and anglers were snagging them there. Such a beautiful fish, he wanted to copy it as closely as possible.

Who do you look to and try to learn from and why?

Ryan Smith and Burnsy are two of the best lure makers and painters, the way they blend their paints and make the transition seamless to make the bait look more natural.

How many test variations do you make for each lure when creating new ones?

When making lures, he’d make 3 or 4 bodies, weight them differently and test fish them to see the action, some will have belly weights, some will have tail weights, some have no weight. Test fish them and move the weight around until you get the action you want.

Lures like Spooks have a zig-zag action, you use the walk the dog type action, if the lure has a belly weight, it doesn’t require much rod action.

Your lures are so lifelike and brilliantly painted, how long have you been painting?

Larry has only been using an airbrush on his lures for a little under 2-years now,

Not all of the lures are painted with solid colors, how do you paint the scale patterns on the lures?

When asked how he makes the scale pattern, he not only explained how he does it, he took the time to give me a painting demonstration after all of the questions were done.

A hard thing to do was making a larger version of the pencil using the small version as a model was to keep

 

 

MY OVERVIEW

It is pretty amazing and difficult to believe when you look at Larry’s workmanship that he has only been making lures for a few years and painting them himself for under 2 years. I was thoroughly impressed, not only with the talent and patience it takes to hand paint the bodies but the time and effort it takes to complete all the details included in making each lure.