luresmith

Spot on big splash, red is definately the first to go. In theory, the red will appear black, or more likely greyish. The darker the shade of red, the closer it will appear to being black at those depths beyond the extinction of that wavelength. Regards Greg

Hi Ken, Sure. I remember one memorable trip where those of our party using fluro green lures scored almost 100% bream and those using pink got almost 100% perch. I changed to green and guess what? Yep, bream. There are definately times when color matters, especially in shallower and clear water. I just reckon it's the least important determinant most of the time, but it's the first thing that many anglers base their selection on. If you do the science you'll soon realise that there are some colors that just aren't visible at depth. Its not just my opinion, it's scientific fact and well published in the limnology literature. Unfortunately most anglers don't read the limnology literature! Those particular wavelengths just don't penetrate deep enough into the water column, so it's an impossibility for those colors to be visible. Regards Greg

Hi Maze, Thanks for the great feedback and sorry to be so slow in replying. Glad you like the site, I've just employed a couple of guys to really spruce it up, so it should be even better soon. I haven't had any personal experience with the color c lector, though I have read a couple of fairly complimentary articles about it. I guess to me it just seems a little gimicky, so I've never bothered to explore it further (the sceptic in me also asks "if its so good why isn't it made any more and why does it keep appearing on ebay"?). To me color is (usually) low on the list of priorities when I'm thinking about what lure to tie on my line. Except for some specific conditions I'm usually more focussed on lure size, action, dive depth and profile than color. When I finally get down to choosing a color I tend to go on gut feel and the type of info that I put in the article you've just read. I've used underwater cameras extensively for scientific assessments and if you take the time to think about the outputs you realise that they can give some insights. For example, next time you're watching a documentary on marine fish notice how the camera picks up all sorts of colorful species on shallow coral reefs, but at the outer margins of the reefs, in deeper water, the fish and corals appear predominantly blue and green. Then go back to my article and ask yourself why. Is it because the fish are blue/green, or is it because other wavelengths don't penetrate that deep? I've never swum lures past an underwater camera though, perhaps I'll sneak a few into the kit next time I'm up working on the lakes!! In some lakes I've worked on, up to 99% of light is absorbed in the first 10m, and these aren't particularly turbid lakes, the water is quite clear. All of this has implications for lure color selection. Don't get too hung up on it though, those other things I mentioned are more important in my opinion. Regards Greg

If you use them in the salt at all stick with nickel. Bronze may last OK in the fresh if the allow the hooks to dry before you put them away, but no matter how thorough you are about rinsing and drying they don't last long when they're used in the brine. And here's a tip for new players: after you've sharpened your bronzed hooks, colour the bare metal in with an indelible laundry marker. Takes about 2 seconds and seals the metal to protect the point from rust. Regards Greg

Yep, spot on in my experience.

Thanks again Skeeter, Good points and, as always, well put. Couldn't agree more with everything you've said. One additional point I'd like to make - lots of good crankbait can be made to 'hunt' with a little judicious rod tip action or the occasional faster crank of the reel handle. Don't rely on a straight, constant rate of retrieve, make those babies twitch! Regards Greg

Thanks Skeeter, Some good points regarding weighting cranks, and well made too. With most I couldn't agree more. Correct weighting is definately an important aspect of getting cranks to perform properly. Get it right and your cranks can be retrieved or trolled at higher speeds without "blowing out" to one side or other. Get it wrong and you can throw the crank out and start again. I also agree that proper lip design, placement and towpoint configuration are the most important things to get right. There is just one point you make that I take exception to: That weighting a crank doesn't decrease it's action. The action of a well designed crankbait is the result of opposing forces that are placed on it as it is dragged through the water. One of those forces is buoyancy. One way I proved this to myself was to make a wooden crank, drill it and place a small amount of lead in the hole with a small blob of hot glue to hold it in place. Give it a test swim and note the action. Then remove the weight and replace it with progressively larger amounts of lead giving it a test swim each time. Believe me, all other things being equal the action does decrease. Having said that, a more heavily weighted crank tends not to blow out, so action can be increased by increasing the size of the lip or moving the towpoint back slightly. Going back to basic physics - crankbait action is the result of opposing forces. Among those forces is the competition between buoyancy and the force of water on the lip making the lure dive. The greater the difference between these forces, the harder the lure will work to counteract them, hence the stronger the action. It all comes back to the basic reality that you can't just change at one aspect of lure design in isolation. If you increase the weight you may need to change lip and towpoint configuration to compensate. Thanks for the useful discussion, keep the thoughts flowing! Regards Greg

Getting a really wide action on a shallow running bait is tricky because of the competing forces that cause a crank to wobble and dive. Here are few tips to try: The bib length should be short. How short? It depends to a fair extent on the size and shape of your bait. Experimentation is the key. The bib should be angled so that it sits about 65-75 degrees from being at right angles to the longitudinal axis. In other words, not horizontal, closer to (but not) vertical. This affects angle of attack more than dive depth, but if you are casting rather than trolling will have an effect. As well as being short, the bib should be wide. This will help acheive the wider action. Shape and overall area of the bib exposed to oncoming water are both important. The wider the bib the wider the action (to a point), but making the bib wider will increase the area, resulting in a deeper diving lure, so it's a compromise. Lure action is maximised by minimising the density of the lure. Use the lightest timber or resin you can get, and don't insert lead into the body (or at least experiment to find the minimum amount of lead required to get the thing running properly). I don't put lead into shallow running cranks at all. If you do insert lead be sure to get it about the fulcum of the lure action. Put the weight too far forward or too far back and you'll reduce the action of the lure significantly. Depending on your target species you might consider fitting lighter gauge hooks and/or rings to reduce overall weight. This will help both reduce diving depth and increase action. Incidentally, adding heavier hooks and rings can be used as an offset for taking lead out of the crank body if you just can't get it to swim properly otherwise. If, on balance, you've still reduced the overall weight of the lure then you're in front. Finally, there are some things you can do when you're actually using your cranks. The action of topwater and shallow running lures can be helped along significantly with a bit of judicious rod tip twitching, and diving depth can be reduced by keeping the rod tip high and the retrieve speed low. I've often though of making a suspending or slow sinking version of Arbogast's jitterbug for this very purpose, but haven't ever got around to it. Has anyone had any success with this idea?

I agree with the others, perseverence is the key. After a while you'll get a feel for it, perfect a pattern or two and you'll find that you have few failures with your favorites. You should still expect to have a reasonable number of failures when you're developing new patterns. Often I'm quite specific about exactly what I want a pattern to do and it takes plenty of trial and error to get it right. After that you can usually churn them out pretty quickly and without too many lemons. Keep at it, don't give up! Greg

I also use tulle. It takes a bit of persverence to get right, but once you do it's very quick and easy. I place my crank back in the mold, stretch the tulle over and spray (one quick, clean pass). Don't leave the tulle in contact with the lure too long or your paint will come off with the tulle! For larger lures I use various synthetic mesh fabrics. I quick visit to a craft or haberdashery shop will see you walk away with half a dozen different mesh sizes. Regards Greg

Hi Guys, A while back I wrote an aquatic scientists perspective on lure color selection. Thought a few of you might find it useful. You can read it at: www.theluresmith.com/articles/color/color.htm I'd appreciate any feedback you may have Regards Greg

Looks like a shallow running crank from the drawing. I'm not completely clear on the problem, what exactly is your question? I couldn't find any questions on your website. Here are a few thoughts: Based on the drawing I'd tend to place one larger weight in the forward position and leave out the rear weight. I say this assuming that your crank is reasonably thick in the front section, so you have plenty of buoyancy up near the head of the lure. You'll maximise action if you keep the weight near the pivot point. The bib angle has minimal effect on diving depth, but has great effect on the angle of attack. Making the bib more horizontal will make the lure get to maximum depth quicker, but won't change the maximum depth. If you plan to troll your crank then the lure angle you depict is fine. If you plan to cast and retrieve you may want to change the angle so the lure gets down faster. Increasing the area of the bib will increase the dive depth. A wide bib will create a wider action while a narrow bib will create a tighter action. I have some downloadable info that gives much more detailed design information, complete with diagrams to make things clearer. Send me a personal message if you'd like the link (and anyone else for that matter). Regards Greg

I've found the thin PET used to make fruit juice and milk bottles to be very good. Cut a piece and lay it over the lure, then melt it to shape using a paint stripping gun or hair dryer. It does spring back a little as it cools, but not generally enough to matter. Then I cut the stencil using a scalpel. PET produces a cheap and very serviceable stencil. Regards Greg

Styrofoam is a bit light duty for cranks. The stuff to use is rigid polyurethane expanding foam. You'll get it at marine stores. Cheers Greg

Hi Happy, I like to use a through wire in balsa cranks. Don't use screw-ins, the just don't hold well enough in balsa, though they are fine in some harder timbers. I cut a slot in the blank using a tenon saw, bandsaw or tablesaw before I start shaping the crank body. After shaping I glue the through wire in place with a good quality epoxy. Some weight in the belly does help many cranks swim better, but lots of the ones I make don't have this. Using no weight does give the lure a crisper action, but some just won't dive properly without a bit of lead. Experimentation is the key. Cheers Greg