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A few weeks back I spent alot of time testing different crankbaits in my pool made from several different types of wood to test the properties and characteristics of how they act it the water. I learned a ton about different types of commercial made baits as well as my own. One of the things that I will share is that this deal about balsa being the only wood that will backup and quiver when the crank hits something is crap. I have been told by some of the finest crankbait makers in the country that balsa is the only wood to use for making crankbaits because of these properties. WRONG!!!!!!!! Every commercial balsa bait that I tested floated up like a rocket. They all spiraled on the way up. As a norm, all balsa baits rotated 360 deg. for every 5 ft. that they rose. None of the commercial crankbaits quivered. The weight in all of them is too light to allow it. They all rose very very quickly. The thing here, is that all balsa baits, regardless of how you weight them, will spiral. They will just spiral quickly or more slowly depending on the way they are weighted. Heavier weighted balsa will rise about 1 - 2 ft. before the spiral starts severely. All of the commercial baits that I tried are really not weighted properly. This includes those made out of cedar also. However, the ones made out of cedar did not spiral when raising. They still come up way too fast. None of the baits that I tested "quiver" on the rise. They don't have time to quiver. They come up way to fast to allow it. All hardwood and balsa baits do backup when they hit something. The more dense the wood the less they backup. Balsa will backup about 1 to 1 1/2 ft. for every 5 ft. it raises. The poplar that I use in some of my baits and cedar backup the least. They will move about 6 inches for every 5 ft. of rise. The biggest problem that I did notice was that the majority of commercial baits are weighted improperly. Sure, lots of fish have been caught off of these baits, but that does not make them right. If I sold 30,000 baits a year, I am sure a fair amount of fish would be caught on them throughout the country. This does not make them correct. One commercial bait that was designed by one of the nations top crankbait pros for deep cranking, was a total flop. It is suppose to be specially weighted for the task. They are not made anymore, and I was able to get about 20 of them for $2.00 apiece. The bait sits almost level in the water before you start the bait digging. This is totally wrong. The placements of the extra weights is wrong. I redid the weighting and put one of my own special lips in the bait and can get that bait to dive quicker, deeper and run more accurately than it did out of the box. The action is much better also. Another thing, all of this stuff about how difficult it is to hit the 20 ft. mark with a crankbait is garbage. I make a crank that has a much smaller lip than anything that is sold commercially. It does not look like a frying pan hanging off of the front of the bait. It will consistantly hit 24 ft. with 12lb line. So far this summer, I have caught over 130 lbs of bass off of one of these plugs. My point here is....... Don't believe everything that you hear. Pros will not truely give you what it takes to make the perfect crankbait. If you think that a pro that is paying the bills and making good money through competition will share his secrets with you.... you are crazy. If you think that the pros that are making a living from cranks are throwing stock crankbaits, you are crazy too. If you were a pro and you won $250,000 this year throwing crankbaits, would you share with a national magazine or reporter the bait that you were using? Would you tell them what makes that bait so good? I don't think so. Skeeter

Just remember, when you own your own business, you only have to work part of the day.( Pick what 12+ hours you want to work.) It's not easy but a lot of fun. We have been doing this for 8 years and it has been a headach at times but we meet a lot of great people and learn new things all the time. You won't make any money starting out but it takes sacrifice to get where you want to be. Keep very detailed records as the tax man will come knocking......

IMO, anyone can start a business, even with one dollar as said, I think the key to most failures, is to many people try to start small business and live on them. If I didn't have a regular job, Id already be done. I reinvest about 120% of the gross sales, Just because I want to grow.

Tracy, You are doing just fine. I still make mistakes just like I did 14 yrs. ago. You are correct... each lure can have its own personality. I too still use hand tools that belonged to my grandfather from the 1920s. You will never get rich making crankbaits by hand. It just takes too much time. I had a guy tell me that I needed to automate to step up production. He said that I wouldn't make any money the way that I do things. For me it is not the money but what my peers think. If I can impress them then I have done something. In 2008 at the FLW Championship on Lake Murray, Patrick Sebile took an intrest in my baits. He wanted to buy two of them but I gave them to him instead. That is when I knew that I had it right.That is the rush for me. Skeeter

The other problem with the FLW and some other circuits is, if your not a sponsor of the tournament you will not get any recognition. John is not allowed to wear our logo in flw practice or competition because we are not sponsors. That yanks!!!!!