BobP

Another advantage of horizontal tail hangers - you can use a split ring and a single hook on the tail instead of a treble hook if the tail hanger is horizontal. On a small balsa bait, take off both trebles and mount a #1 or #2 Octopus hook, point up, on the tail. This makes a very snag resistant lure for fishing brush and weeds. It hooks fish quite well and you have less worry of getting stuck by a treble.

Oops - The wakebait was 6" not counting the joint spaces.

If you want a tough wakebait you want hardwood. Even strongly reinforced balsa will not be as tough as hardwoods. Balsa has a standard density of 11, basswood 23, and paulownia 16. I built a 7" double jointed wakebait a few months ago out of paulownia and the guy who uses it likes it a lot. It weighs 1 1/4 oz with 3 #2 trebles and has the basic shape and lip design of a stretched Bomber King Shad swimbait, which I feel is a good shad profile. It seems most important to get the lip angle right on a wakebait. I put that one at about 80 degrees, almost vertical, and it swims on top beautifully. I feel cedar or basswood would be acceptable if you can't get your hands on some paulownia (which can be hard to find).

It depends on how you want your trebles to ride. I mount the belly hanger "vertically" and the tail hanger horizontally. The horizontal tail hanger lets you choose whether you want the bait to swim with two hook points UP or two hook points DOWN. Two UP may also prevent the tail and belly trebles from tangling if they are too close. Commercial plastic baits are made in halves and are ultrasonically welded so it's more efficient to mount everything "vertically" in the seam. Hooking/holding power should be the same in either case.

Thanks for the tip; ordered some from Cabelas to check them out. I don't worry about rash on my custom baits but it's irksome to buy $15 Lucky Crafts and have them trashed in a few days fishing. BTW, I like the VMC Permasteel on freshwater baits. They're a nice dull silver color that goes well with white belly lures and they come sticky sharp, which is unusual for saltwater trebles. I put them on all my saltwater baits that carry trebles too, especially Tsunami jerk jiggers.

Me too. Seems easier to shape and sand.

I've heard that the optimum prey size is usually 1/3 of the length of a predatory fish so am not surprised a 50" musky would munch a 12" bass. Gues that's why you see musky baits as long as your arm and I'm assuming they're mostly trolling baits. Can't believe anyone could cast a 17" plug all day.

There are different "schools of crankbait making" among the luremakers on TU so star ratings don't seem especially useful. I'd hate for a luremaker to avoid posting a pic because he feared critical ratings. What can you tell from a photo? It's purty. It ain't. The judges that count all have fins and don't surf the web. ps - Dang it, Dean, I thought your post was gonna turn us on to some great cheap crankbaits

This is the first I've heard about problems with epoxy. I don't discount the possibility but on the other hand, there are lots of possible chemical irritants like solvents used in lure building, plus sawdust from the wood itself. And if you're doing it outside, there's air pollution and pollens in the summertime to consider. If it's severe enough to keep you from a hobby/business you love, I'd consider a visit to an allergist to isolate the irritant and maybe desensitize yourself to it.

I also remember posts regarding chrome paint and anything decent was very expensive. If you want chrome flash, you might consider foil on your baits. It's realtively inexpensive, pretty easy to do and gives a good effect. I use aluminum foil duct tape from the home center.

Rookie, your Ebay stuff looks great and it's fun to read the descriptions just to get a laugh. Guys have to bid on the stuff after getting a little free entertainment

I depends on the wood you're using. Balsa is a natural sound deadening material and it's soft so I just insert a pre-made rattle in it. There are more options for hardwood. Another method is to drill a hole through the bait, glue on a cap cut from a pop can on one side, insert the beads, then glue a cap on the other side. Pop cans cut easily with sissors. I cut a slight recess around the hole for the caps to fit into, then use wood filler to make them disappear. This creates a loud rattle as the metal caps act like drum heads just under the lure's finish. It is more labor intensive than inserting a pre-made rattle. A tip - when you put in the beads and glue on the 2nd side cap, keep the lure laying flat on a table and don't lift it until the epoxy has cured. You don't want beads getting glued if a bit of epoxy sneaks its way into the cavity. And use the epoxy sparingly. Don't worry - it will hold.

If you're in the U.S., Devcon Two Ton epoxy, sold at Walmart in a double syringe for around $2 is a popular clearcoat. Mix thoroughly for 30-45 secs, paint it on with a brush within a few minutes of mixing. Hang the bait alternately by its nose and tail for the first 30 minutes to prevent epoxy migration, then leave it to finish curing for 24 hrs. Cleans up with acetone or lacquer thinner. If you'd rather spray, any can of outdoor polyurethane will get the job done but it won't be as durable.

I didn't mean to come off as critical about choosing either lip material and don't see a post in the thread questioning anyone's veracity. Every builder is different and has different opinions about many build factors, not just this one. CB may wear faster on rocks but IMO that doesn't mean it's too fragile for rocks. Depends on how you rate performance factors. Fishing rocks is exactly when I want to throw a CB lipped bait. I like durability as much as the next guy but crankbaits are expendable tools. I expect to wear them out or lose them eventually.

Blackjack, The guy who got me started with circuit board wanted it precisely for its sharp rebound off rocks. He claims, as do a lot of experienced guys, that it triggers more bites than Lexan in those circumstances. The guy who returned the bait to you must have fished the snot out of it to wear the lip round. I assume it was catching fish and wonder what he would choose? I try Lexan and G-10 on various baits to see how each performs and favor G-10 on shallow baits and Lexan on deep divers. Admitedly, we're looking at it from opposite ends of the builder spectrum, which tends to inculcate different biases.

It takes......as long as it takes. Ommmmmmm. Just don't be in a hurry. As time goes by and the addiction grows, you'll naturally become faster and surer at the required operations. Like Longball says, KEEP NOTES. Once you make that perfect crankbait, you just might want to do it again.

Circuit board is just what it says - a board made from nonconductive material on which electronic components are mounted to create circuits. It is made in various grades, from various materials but the most popular for lips is G-10 Garolite. G-10 is a fiberglass cloth substrate with a heat set epoxy resin filler. It is quite durable, thin, waterproof and very stiff. Thin lips dive quicker and get a bit deeper. G-10 lips rebound more sharply off hard cover than polycarbonate (eg Lexan). McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) sells G-10 and G-11 (even harder and stiffer) sheets in various sizes. Their 1'x1' sheets are convenient. G-10 is variously colored. M-C's G-10 is yellow, their G-11 is a yellowish green. I get small sheets of white (slight green tint) G-10 at www.asp-rocketry.com. There is no free lunch. For the improved physical properties of G-10, you give up the transparency of Lexan. G-10 has become very popular for bass crankbaits, especially shallow divers, but you also see it used in some of the newer deep divers.

I'm not super cautious about tool safety but always wear a pair of polycarbonate shooting glasses when scroll sawing hardwood. Like most, I've broken my share of blades. They usually doesn't fly out of the saw... but who knows where a piece might fly? The thicker blades with coarse teeth cut straight lines easier, the thin blades with lots of teeth (20 tpi) do curves easier. I use the thick blades more often since they also cut a nice lip slot that's just the right thickness for my circuit board lips. I crank the tension on my blade down pretty tight, using pliers if necessary. As far as sticking to a fine line, I think it just requires a little patience and experience. Let the tool do the work and don't get in a hurry.

I've used Oatey PVC cement with good results but I don't know what kind of plastic I was joining (it was a Spook). It comes in 2 cans, a primer and the glue. The primer can be either clear or dyed with purple dye. The dye is so you (and the building inspector) can see whether the joint was primed. Don't buy that type because the dye will bleed through your paint job. Otherwise, the stuff works great and is fast. About 10 secs to bond solid and 1 hr to finished strength on PVC water pipes.

I'm not saying you can't "invent" a paint scheme that won't be original, at least to you and 99% of they guys who see it. There are an infinite number of colors in the spectrum and an infinite number of points between any two given points in mathematics. But I believe 99% of "original" schemes, in their major color elements, have been done by somebody else, sometime else. Maybe the painter didn't sell as many crankbaits, or was just a hobby builder and so was never recognized as the "famous originator" of the paint scheme. There is a long tradition of paint schemes from which we all borrow and/or build upon. None of us builds in a vacuum.

Well, you can load any bait to sink and get to any depth you'd care to mention but floating cranks that actually hit 20 ft are pretty rare. Big Hot Lips Express at 22 ft, Brian's P24 at 24 ft (claimed), maybe a Sisson P20 at 20 ft (claimed). There are probably others. But I don't hear anybody claiming 25 ft for a stock crankbait. I can get an original Rapala minnow to 25 ft every time - tied to a 3/4 oz C-rig

DP, that was a Sexee Shad, not a Sexy Shad! I think trying to pin down who "invented" a paint scheme is a total waste of time. "There is nothing new under the sun".

It's very fragile and requires a deft touch to work. It was not easy to get on the bait without missing spots, coming back off, etc, like Fatfingers says. All in all, it's much easier to use foil duct tape. If you want gold foil, spray it with Createx transparent yellow. Roll a threaded bolt over it to make scale impressions. works well. JMHO

I think 2 rpm will do OK on unthinned Devcon Two Ton. But IMO it's too slow for thinner clearcoats like polyurethane or Etex Lite.