Allow or No Allow: 3D printed lures

 Happy Thursday.  I recently had a conversation with a friend regarding 3D printed lures.  We discussed various aspects of it, namely cost to create versus cost to purchase.  This seems like a good topic this week for Allow or No Allow.

I'm all for it personally.  I've been fishing since I was about 9 years old.... so 30+ years now and I've seen a lot and talked with a lot of people throughout the US and beyond.  If people want to fish, they are going to fish and find a way to fish. Plain and simple.

Ancient fishing methods were all DIY in my opinion.  I imagine a bunch of dudes, on a boat or standing on a fallen tree over a river, throwing anything they can in the water to either trap, entice, or otherwise catch fish, crustaceans, shellfish, etc.  After a quick google search and finding this link History of Fishing - From Ancient Fishing Methods, I'm not too far off in my assumptions.  

In my opinion, Angling was one of the first true forms of DIY.  Dudes just doing whatever ideas come to their brains to catch a fish.

With that said, is 3D printing lures for fishing allowed or disallowed in some way?  

From a legal standpoint, if its a blatant one-for-one copyright rip then that small legal part of me hesitates for a heartbeat.  However, with the birth of Creative Commons Licensing I believe that alleviates any legal worries one may have about 3D printing anything, even if they are trying to sell the lure online.  I will eventually start doing so.... eventually.

"But Mr. Jon its made of plastic, wouldn't it break?"  So the question of integrity comes into play here.  Let me put this to bed once and for all:  the entire lure is no 3D printed plastic!!!  there is still wires, fishing line, hooks, etc.  Reference the below picture.  As you can see, this particular lure has a through wire and weights.  Once it is solidly glued together and otherwise dressed, it will definitely be good to go.  I have printed a lipless plug of the same nature and its survived several pike over two seasons so far.

 
Source:  Topwater Fishing Lure by sthone - Thingiverse

"But Mr. Jon, wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy a lure from the store instead?"  Ya sure, but where's the fun in that???  

On a serious note though, calculating costs,  i've found it to be 1/6 to 1/8th the cost of a store-bought lure if I create it at home, even if its not a 3D printed lure.  Let me break down the math:

Cost on 1x roll of PLA is ~$24 USD.  This is for 1kg (1000g). 

$24 / 1000g = $0.024 / gram of filament.  Roughly 2.5 cents per gram.

Stack in 330 yards of 10 pound test, roughly $0.01 / foot.  I use about 2-3 feet, so another 6 cents.

Standard pack of Gamakatsu fishing hooks, roughly $0.32 per hook.

Beads can be found just about anywhere nowadays, from Walmart to Hobby Lobby to Home Depot even.  So rounding, we will say about 1 cent a bead.

So far, outside of calculating the cost of filament, we are at ~ $0.40 per lure.  

Now, an Apex-style lure as imaged below runs ~$12 depending on where you shop.  Its a decently excellent wobbler type spoon that I've had success with mostly trolling, but also with shore fishing by adding a little split-shot to the line for added weight.  

The one on the left is courtesy Amazon, the one on the right is courtesy of a designer in Thingiverse.  Amazon wants $12.  My printer asks me for 4g of filament.  4x 0.025 = $0.10.  Instead of $12, I'm paying a grand total of ~$0.50 cents...….  and its a damn good lure.

  

You can also apply the same to Mag Lips style plugs also.  I've printed several of them and caught plenty of Landlock Chinook, Pike, and Trout from the lakes and rivers in the Interior.

In conclusion of this segment of Allow or No Allow, is it cool to print and create lures to catch fish?  Humans have been doing it since the dawn of time.  I do recommend to check the Creative Commons Licensing and any copyrights on company-made lures and 3D models before going and selling your finished 3D created lure.

Remember:  Fishing is Life, and for everything else there's coffee