Skeeter

DeVeryTY, I have seen this happen before. There was a site that some of the old guys here use to frequent and it happened to someone there. Redg8r was one of the tallented folks that frequented that site. Then that site fell apart and Red started this one. ( I am very thankful that he did). But you have to remember that an awful lot of people cruise this website every day. MANY of them are guests. I truely believe that there are many of the larger bait companies searching out information on this site also. When we share our secrets and pictures of our baits on this site, you are opening yourself up for posibility of this type of thing happening. Isn't it something how the price of manufactured crankbaits have gone up? I really believe that the manufactures see the prices that some of the custom bait makers are getting and decided to raise the price of theirs also. Last year you could buy a Bagley BII Square bill for 5.19. Now they are 9.99. There are some very tallented bait makers on this site. There have been some outstanding ideas from the members posted here. Not only do we teach people how to do things, but we also give them pictures and tutorials. There are also some very tallented people that just visit this site daily that are not actual members. Believe me, they are learning alot. People like you and I consider ourselves hobbiests, or avid fishmen that have a passion for making the best possible baits that we can. But many of the ideas and techniques that have been brought to this site by us amatuers are actually cutting edge. Anyone, including companies and individuals, can learn much from this site. Skeeter

Coley has some good thoughts. But like he said.... it is hard to troubleshoot your problem without any information about it. Tell me about the bait. What is it made out of? How long is it? Is it a round or flat sided crankbait? How large is the lip and where is the line tie located? It would really be better if you could post a picture of the bait. If you don't want to post the picture here on the site then send it to me or Coley by email. I have a little bit of experience with lips and weighting. As far as the consistancy goes....... are you trying to make one specific style of bait and just can't get multiples to match? I would be glad to help you if I can. Skeeter

Time to Get Cranking The end of winter is in sight. Throughout the cold months, many of us at Tackle Underground have been making crankbaits to pass the time. Others have broke the bank and finally purchased that custom crankbait that they always wanted to try. With all of these new crankbait warriors out there chomping at the bit, I am starting to get allot of email asking me, ?When should I start throwing a crankbait?? What I am about to tell you works anywhere in the country and it does not matter where you live. The reason that I can make this statement is because everything in my crankbait strategy is conditional. As long as the area you are fishing meets the conditions, then you should be able to catch fish with a crankbait. We all watch the pros on the fishing shows practice and put a strategy together and catch sacks of fish that most avid fishermen can?t seem to duplicate. Whether we are fishing for fun or fishing for money, the first thing that most of us must realize is that we are not professionals. Most of us do not have a 6th sense of finding fish, or spend 200 + days a year fishing. We have a very limited time in the day to find the fish and put some in the boat. Therefore, we must have a solid plan that can be executed with precision that can give us the maximum opportunity to catch the bass without wasting time. To be successful you have to give yourself a chance. The first thing that I consider is the surface temperature of the water. If I can find a surface temperature of 48 degrees or greater then I can get serious about cranking up some fish. At this temperature or a little greater, fish start to move. Nothing is happening fast, but things are happening. Most of the fish are in deeper water. Their metabolism is slow, but they know that it is time to start moving. Now you are probably wondering, ?Moving where?? At 48 degrees baitfish generally move up and down within the water column to feed and take advantage of any warmth that they can get. The bass will do the same. They will follow the bait fish, feed, and enjoy the same warmth of the shallower water. And don?t forget that around 50 degrees the crayfish are starting to emerge from their winter dens and mate. My second consideration is water clarity. Personally I like a visibility of 2 feet or greater. Light penetration is better in clearer water. Sun penetration in will warm clearer water quicker and signal fish in the deeper water that it is time to start moving. Normally clearer water this time of year is found in the mid to lower sections of the lake. My third consideration is to find a hard lake bottom. Clay, rock, chunk rock, or pea gravel are some examples. Areas with hard bottoms will have the clearest water. Banks with this type of composition absorb rays from the sun which aid in warming the water. I will start on main lake structure where I would normally find fish in the heat of the summer. Stumps, channel bends, rock piles, humps and ledges in less than 15 feet of water all make good starting points. If that does not work then I will move to main lake points that are at the mouth of major creeks. I will look for points that have structure on them and have a channel nearby. I usually have two crankbaits tied on. One bait will reach the 10 ft. mark and the other will run down to 18 ft. I will start on the end of the point and cast across the tip and work my way up to the 10 ft. mark. The reason that I cast across the tip and not up on the point is because I do not want to spook any fish that are on the point. If I throw a crankbait from the tip straight up the spine of the point, then when my bait lands it may spook fish that are positioned on the point. I start on the down current side and throw across the deep end. I work my way up the side of the point. At the 10 ft. mark I switch to another shallower running crankbait and work my way on up to the base of the point. If that does not work then I will go to the end of the point and work my way straight up the spine of the point. Then I will move to the other side of the point and work my way up the side of it just like I did when I first started fishing the point. I will try several main creek points. If that fails then I will move up into the creeks and fish any rip rap near the creek channels or secondary creek points. I will fish these points just like I did the main lake points. If you follow this strategy then eventually you should find some fish. You will have to experiment with retrieves just like any other time of the year to find out how they like it on that particular day. If you follow this metheod and you don't catch any fish, then you can feel confindent that you covered your areas thoroughly and completely. On the next trip you can repeat the process again until you connect with the bass. It will happen. It is just a matter of time. There is one other thing that you MUST remember. During this time of the year, the fish have a definite dinner bell. There are certain times of the day that the fish will become active and feed. If you watch the water you will see bait fish jumping around just like they do in the fall. The fish are feeding and you need to hit them while you can. You can load the boat with some real heavy weights real fast when this happens. Last March I saw some bait fish jumping on a main lake point. I started throwing a flat sided coffin lipped crankbait that I make. I caught three fish in four casts that weighed a combined weight of 17.5 lbs. It all took less than 12 minutes to catch them. Then the bait fish went away and I could not buy another hit. Everything quit biting. Normally there are two feeding binges that take place at different times throughout different sections of the lake. If you pay attention and mark these times in your head, then the times will hold up for about 3 weeks or more. Then the fish will be gone for good. In the next article I will tell you where they went. Skeeter

FF, Forget the Patent thing. You are looking around 5000 dollars to do it. It really won't help you with a lure because all someone has to do is make a slight change in the original lure and they are legal. If you have a neat saying or slogan then you may want to copywrite it. Like Skeeter boats did with their saying " Eat, Sleep, Fish". If you have a good symbol for your baits then you can trademark it with your division of business services for your state government. State Gov. have a trademarks div. It is not expensive. I believe most are less that $50. Skeeter

I have held the NEW LT rod. It is very very light in weight. I would still go to the older LT. It is just as light, has the powermesh webbing, and is coated the entire length of the rod. I like coating on the entire length of the rod because it protects the graphite blank from nicks. I cannot tell the difference in weight between the two. You could maybe see something on a scale, but they would be extremely close. The new LT that I held was a MH. It has flex. Of all of the flipping sticks that I held I would say that Diawa, St. Croix, and Gloomis IMX are the lightest. The All Start Big Boy was light also. But the diameter of the rod at the top of the handle is pretty big. It is not quite as light as the others. For the money I would go with any of the LT series or the St. Croix. At least that would be my choice. Skeeter

Well, I checked the Bass Pro site and they were not there. But Bass Pro does carry them in their store. I did find them on the Diawa site. http://www.daiwa.com/tackle/rods/fw/tl/index.html Skeeter

Diawaman, I am talking about the silver and purple blank L/T rods that were made years ago. Seems allot of the pros wanted those rods back and Diawa started making them again. I was familiar with the older rods also and the re issue of these rods are the exact same as the old ones. They do not have them in the catalog. I have seen them at the Bass Pro shop in Charolotte. I am considering buying one of them also. Check the Bass Pro web site. I'll bet they are listed there. They are amazing rods. They are clearcoated the entire length of the rod but they weigh about the same as some of the lightest rods without clearcoat. To me that is impressive. Skeeter

The rod that you miss is the Light and Tough Series. It was an IM6 rod. Diawa reintroduced them last year. You can get them from Bass Pro. If I remember right its was $107.00. Your right, it is a beautiful rod. If ou are going to build your own...... I would agree with Mattman on the St. Croix. Skeeter

Well, I am going to go against the grain. I throw my medium to large crankbaits on a 7ft. MH Rick Clunn Crankbait rod. I bought my first one 3 yrs ago. I like it so much that I bought two more. The rod is tough, really light, throws very well. I also use the same rod for spinnerbait, worm, and jig fishing. You can thow a crankbait a long way accurately. I have also caught a 32 lb. cat fish on this rod. Otherwise I would look at St. Croix. They have an excellent rod also. Extremely light. Skeeter

Vy does excellent work. If his baits work half as good as they look they are well worth the money. What he is doing is a full 3 point harness. It is the hardest to do. Very few bait makers still do this. The pictures and the tutorial are excellent. Good work Vy!!!! Skeeter

I have seen them at Bass Pro in Charlotte. They were in a package called Bagley Classics. Check there or try the Bagley site. Skeeter

FF, Who was agressive and opinionated? Skeeter

I wish I knew about the VL because I would have bought it from you. But as you said, everyone has their own favorite. Your pressure is good. I would change to lacquer. That should really help your problem alot. Skeeter

VMAXX, I am glad that the tuning went well. If it works well in the yard then it should work well on the water. I understand about the grades of RF. I guess that since I paid the money that I did for my reels that I am going to make sure that everything is well lubricated. Since I have to go to Japan for parts, I don't want to take chances. I have found that 1 drop of Shimano factory oil does last longer than I thought it would. I checked one of my reels the other night and the oil was still there in good form. I used this reel on three trips before I put it up in December. Every thing still looked good. Even with 2 drops of oil my Scorpions perform better than anything else that I have ever owned. But you are probably right that 1 drop would be enough. Skeeter

What pressure are you shooting your paint. Skeeter

Beautiful paint jobs. Skeeter

Great work Coley. Now paint those suckers up and post them again. You are really getting into this foam thing aren't you? Skeeter

I worry about this one drop of oil stuff. I have read it all like some of you in this post have. If you don't use a reel that much then a drop every 6 to 8 weeks is ok. But if you throw a particular reel most of the time like the one I use on my crankbait rod, then I like to put about 2 drops on each bearing every 4 trips. It is not uncommon for me to throw that reel 8hrs. a day. There are different grades of rocket fuel. But the bottom line is that it is very light oil. It is a thin viscosity. That is the reason for oiling more often. I do use Hot Sauce grease. I am impressed with it. I would not hesitate to use the oil. But for now I use the manufacturers oil. Shimano and ABU make some excellent oil. Skeeter

It doesn't matter. Just make sure that the bearings are completely dry before you lube them. If fluid is left behind then the oil will not adhere to the bearings. Skeeter

Draw the outline of your bait on the wood. Draw the lines for the lip slot. Cut the lip slot out on a jig saw or band saw. Then cut out the outline of your bait. This will ensure that the lip slot is square. Cut the slot about 1/2 inch deep. The slot does not have to be skin tight in the slot. When you glue the lip in use Devcon 5 minute epoxy. Skeeter

Delw, A Cajun no matter what size will handle anything. I have owned a few in my day. If they still made them I would own one now. The molds for Cajun went to Flippin Ark. Gee I wonder who is using them? Skeeter

50lbs. is plenty. You will normally shoot between 20 and 25 psi. I use a Paasche VL and I am very happy with it. Get a double action airbrush. Pushing down on the trigger increases the air passing through the gun. Pulling back on the trigger incrreases the paint flow. Make sure that your compressor has a regulator on it. Go to http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp The VL comes in a kit with everything that you will need. It sells for around $64.00 Skeeter

I agree with Blades and Baits. Keep dotting your eyes. You will get the hang of it. You did so well on the bait that stick on eyes would just ruin it. Skeeter

I don't know LaPala...... If just one of us could reach the "destination" then we would be pretty rich. Then we could all fly over to your house in Malaysia and just sit around drinking and eating all day. Skeeter

A Skeeter. Skeeter