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Beautiful baits Bob!

Is there a secret to keeping this style of baits from spinning?

Vic

Them's purty, Bob.

Vic - I don't think there's a secret if you're talking about body torque caused by the rotation of the props. A flat body is more resistant to torque than a round body due to its resistance to lateral movement in the water. Also, the more freely the props spin on the prop shafts, the less torque energy is transferred to the body of the bait. Also, using some ballast, along with the weight of the treble hooks, helps stabilize the bait. Getting everything in balance on a prop bait can be quite fussy and the smaller the bait body, the harder it becomes because you quickly run into buoyancy problems with all of the hardware. Next time around, I'll modify the body shape - a little longer, a little wider, less tapering at the tail, and change the bait's profile so the nose and tail are closer to the top of the bait, which will put the prop shaft higher and let the props ventilate more. This batch was sort of 'thrown together' with a ready-made balsa body.

Thanks for sharing Bob

People laugh at me but sometimes I find a topwater bait harder to make than a swimmer. Sure it floats or not but does it do what you want? I have a nack for making topwaters that do nothing I want.

They look great Bob.

Bob, how did you secure the wire inside the bait? Bend the tail prop to counter rotate and the bait will not spin.

Very nice job Bob, They look great!!

Bob, really nice baits. Great work

Angus

benton, I call this 'semi-thru-wired'; I split the baits, laid in 2 separate prop packages, then epoxied them back together. I scored grooves inside the bait to hold extra reinforcing epoxy and I bent the prop shafts 90 degrees inside. Doing separate shafts let me to get an exact exposure fit for the prop hardware, which I find hard to do with a true thru-wire using thick hard temper ss wire. But then comes the hard part - you have to undercoat, paint, and topcoat the bait with the props on. That reminded me why I haven't done any of these for a few years! It's a major PITA. Next time around, I plan on using harder paulownia wood and ss screw eyes with plastic anchors inside the bait. Then I can finish the baits before adding the prop hardware - much easier.

Thanks for the tip on blade counter-rotation. I hadn't thought of that! I'd really love to find a source for the type of aluminum prop blades you see on Heddon Torpedoes. The chromed brass props work OK but are pretty heavy and it would solve some problems to find props that are good quality but lighter.