Some New Lures of Mine

Deiter,

Once again, nice work.  You have the shifting weight system down to a science.

And I really like your paint jobs!

I have been hesitant to use lead balls (in my case split shot) for shifting weights because I am afraid that the soft lead will eventually get deformed, and may tend to stick and bind.

Have you had that problem?

 

It's good to hear your voice again.

I hope you and your wife have a great holiday season, and a very successful upcoming fishing year.

Thanks a lot , Mark , ....hope you're having an enjoyable holiday as well , ..at least you should have better weather over there , LOL .

 

Your concerns about deforming lead weights get me thinking as well , ......there are one or two lures amongst this bunch  where the weights do bind a bit AFTER final assembly(they did not in a dry fit , otherwise I would have reworked the fit) .

 

I'm just busy topcoating two more large "Weightshifters" of abachewood , one of these has these issues as well .

 

But possibly deforming lead is only one option ,..... could happen as well , that the belly hookhanger mounting screws could accidentally get too close to the internal straw liner inside of the center bore , thus maybe bulging up the wood to somewhat tighten that liner , making it a bit too narrow for the balls to pass properly ?

 

Also that internal straw liner often comes to sit more or less curved , as I'm drilling from either side to meet in center , not always 100% accurate , ......... as a result the liner tightens as well somewhere in the bend .

 

And the balls are stated 7mm dia. sliding in a 8mm outer dia. straw liner , so not much room left !

 

Never had these issues with the smaller .22cal (5,5mm)airgun pellets sliding in that 8mm outer dia. straw , simply because there is much more room left to even out little imperfections . 

 

But obviously these smaller balls do not provide as much sliding ballast , thus are not as effective compared to bigger lead balls(would be great to have some in 6,5mm dia. , but not available) .

 

The "PN-Kid" and the rainbow trout colored lure have a 6mm outer dia. straw liner holding a couple of just 5,1mm dia. balls , ...looks like with this set-up the odds are a lot better in terms of the weights binding , ..all stands and falls with a bigger tolerance between ball dia. and liner size .

 

I'm also not so sure , whether the balls might deform a bit after a while of use(would be able to tell more by the end of next years season) , ...but if the liner's dia. is big enough , it won't matter to a proper function , I guess , ...this is the point !

 

If you're using splitshot , you would need a bigger liner , too , as it is not much of an entirely spheric shape and also it might even deform easier due to it's deep slot .

 

But two or three years ago I have also used cylindrical curtain weights of about 10 X 5mm dia , ......even inside of a PVC lurebody WITHOUT any liner inside of the center bore these do properly slide into the lures nose , when the retrieve ist started , ....so they overcome the friction with ease .

 

I've used these lures quite a bit since , ..the bore dia . was 6mm , if my memory serves me right , ....no binding of the weights has occured so far .

 

                        Greetz , Dieter

We finally got some good rain here.  It's been a dry winter so far, but it looks like that is changing.

We need the rain.  Our reservoirs have been down, and the word drought has crept back into our conversations.

How has the winter been for you so far?

 

I've been using sst ball bearings, so far, but I am thinking of trying lead, both for the additional weight, and for the softer sound they would make.

I'm using them in a cross bore just behind my belly hook hangers, in PVC, so no liner needed.  I do have to be careful to clean out all the drill shavings.  PVC is really tough and clingy.

I've been playing around with side-to-side shifting ballast to try and get my crankbaits to "hunt".  So far, it's hit and miss.  I get one that hunts, and then, when I paint it, it doesn't.  Really touchy.

But it gives me another project to do.

 

Take care, and have a happy holiday season.

Mark

Local weather's going up and down , some two weeks ago we've had some inches of snow and all stillwaters iced up , up to -10 C during frosty nights , ....approaching Xmas all melted away again , down Munich they had unbelievable 20,1° C last weekend ! ! !

Around 22nd and 23rd we've had some more snow , but won't last , right now it's stormy and rainy  around 7° C , for Friday and Saturday friendly weather is forecast , but with slight frost again .

 

Really weird weather , blaming it on global warming , during my younger years it used to be much more consistent .

 

For your hunting baits , ..have you considered about a little blade on the tail end of the lurebody ? 

 

Somewhere I have seen a video of a Japanese lure like this , the heavier blade is not swivelled , just attached to an eye at the rear , ....it would hang and flutter to one side letting the lure break out to this side , ......if the line pull would get to strong dragging the bait back on course or  the blade accidentally swings over vice versa , the bait would change direction and swim to the other side , ...all in all providing some kinda "drunken" course to the bait .

 

Meantime an ordinary lip would let it wiggle all of the time .

 

Guess , I'm gonna do some final casts tommorrow , before season ends December 31st .

The missus intends to stroll the shopping malls in Hamburg city , so I'm gonna take rod , lurebag and net along to go down the "Alster" lake there and see , if I could still stir something up in the cold water , .......all the best and Happy New Year , ...cheers , Dieter

Good luck.

Thanks , Mark , ....was a rather short session , the missus was done with shopping pretty fast , .....only thing that I've caught was a wristwatch , LOL !

 

                                   Greetz , Dieter

Nice work Dieter!

 

Really enjoyed the tub test video ! Thank you for sharing your work. Interesting to see how the various designs wake. All but that one with the long lexan looked pretty good. I am thinking if that bill was closer to the nose the action may have been tighter. Really nice to see your work again. Hope you have a great new year!

 

Vic

Hi , Vic ,

 

Thanks a lot for your comment , .....yes , I think , I'd have to reduce the size of the bill on these two lures , but will wait for the first swim outdoors , .....altering it's position is no more possible !

 

But I've also found , that an exaggerated sideward swing is a result of the weights being located along the lengthwise center axis of the lure , ......non-shifting , "ordinary" ballast weights close to the belly outline would provide a better "keel" function , thus not letting the lure roll and swing out that much .

 

Gonna upload another video of displaying two more "WeightShifters" that come up with a similar swimming pattern !

 

Have yourself a great 2013 season , too , ... ..greetz , Dieter