Thanks Fellas.
Mario, as I said in my original post, I don't really know what sort of timber most of them are. This is because I source the wood from some very unreliable sources, such as my Dads shed, and so mostly wouldn't have a clue what I'm using. Some of the stickbaits were some kind of pine, while the poppers are a reddish coloured hardwood. Sorry, that's not very helpful, I know!
Mark, yeah, that drilling is a challenge, cos I still don't have a drill press, so I'm using an extra long drill bit in a standard hand drill, (drilled from both ends of the lure body). So by doing all the drilling by eye, this obviously leads to the aforementioned inaccuracies!
But in the absence of any better system, it's what I'm currently putting up with.
G'day Trav, long time, no hear. Hope you're well. Yeah mate, I am weighting the stickbaits, they will get a tail weight, and some lead inserted in the front wire hole as well which keeps the nose down a bit. Actually, by varying the amount of lead from lure to lure, I can make the lure float, sink, or even have it neutral in buoyancy with a little practice. I'll PM you.