BobP

If you are looking for a lower ratio than the 6.2:1 Curado B200, it also comes in a 5:1 ratio model, the CU200B5. I think Shimano upgraded the Curado this year to a much more expensive reel. Another sweet cranking reel is the Ambassadeur Promax 1600 with a ratio of 5.3:1. These reels were sold in the early 1990's but you can fine them on EBAY for $50-75. Parts are readily available from ABU and independent parts retailers. The Promax has 6 interior bearings and is a round reel, all metal, with a very light aluminum spool riding on 2 high grade bearings. The spool bearings are the same as a Curado (3x10x4mm) and ABEC7 bearings are only about $8 ea. You can turn the cast control entirely off, put one plastic brake block in the centrifugal brake and let'er rip with no worries about backlash. Do that with another reel! Outstanding with 8-12 lb line and one of the smoothest retrieves you'll find anywhere. The Promax had very weak silver gray paint from the factory that was the first thing to go on these otherwise excellent reels. But that tends to keep the prices down! The Promax 3600 is the same reel with the same gear parts but is about 1/2" wider. A similar but less expensive reel, the BlackMax, is the same reel with fewer interior bearings but the same casting quality and a better, black annodized finish. I have mostly Shimanos including a Scorpion 1000 but when it comes to crankbaiting I almost always clamp a Promax 1600 on the rod.

If you want a wide variety of colors at a reasonable price, try hobby acrylic latex paints sold in 2 oz bottles at a hobby shop or at Walmart. They cover well and clean up with water. You should always basecoat the bait with white before applying colors.

Man, some of the first time crankbaits appearing on the photo board recently are just plain OUTSTANDING. If TU had anything to do with this, and I'm sure it did, TU is definitely advancing the state of the art among custom crankbait builders! Kudos!

NICE FISH! No sense crying over lost crankbaits and a few fish that size make it worthwhile. Retie often.

I'll try that netting trick but wonder how the scale pattern lasts while you're smoothing the foil out? I apply smooth foil tape to the crank and then texture it with a 1/4" bolt. Run the bolt threads across the tape at 45 deg to the axis of the lure, in both directions. You have to clearcoat the textured foil with epoxy before spraying acrylic colors since they won't adhere to the foil otherwise.

Lexan/polycarbonate is tough stuff. I like thin bills and use 1/16" on most cranks, reserving the 3/16" polycarbonate for something really large like a musky crank. On small cranks I like 1/32" circuit board (aka G-10, FR4, G11, micarta)

Hunting is when a crank changes direction slightly from straight ahead and then corrects itself a moment later to "on course" again. I's not bouncing off cover. It's a little like bouncing off cover without the cover being there, though Lots of things have been cited as promoting hunting but I think it is a combination of design factors. Hunting cranks operate on the ragged edge of tuning. One build feature that tends to promote hunting is a brass line tie that flexes while the bait is retrieved. The thinner the wire, the better. I use .031" soft brass wire on some baits, which is the wimpiest you can use (for bass lures) and not have it deform easily. With that wire and tweaking the bill shape and size to be almost out of control, you can get some cranks to hunt. But not all. And some will be uncontrollable/useless. About a third of the cranks hunting would be excellent yield. Obviously, trying to build hunting crankbaits doesn't have much future for a commercial crankbait maker - the yield of good to poorly performing cranks is just too low. If you're building for yourself, go for it. IMO, There's not much you can do to most commercial plastic cranks to get them to hunt. Alternatively, fish non-hunting crankbaits so they bang into and off of as much cover as possible. The result is the same as far as Mr. Bass is concerned.

I've used a couple of different brushes and currently use a VL. Is it the perfect brush? Dunno. I use the medium needle and nose piece 90% of the time to spray acrylics. IMO 3 variables are important: the airbrush, the compressor and your skill level. With any equipment setup, you will do better as get experience and get comfortable with your setup. I doubt the VL as the epitomy of brushes for fine line detail painting but it's sufficient for my purposes: spraying acrylics at 35-50 psi including shading and frisketing. If I used lacquers and did fine detail work I might look at a more expensive Iwata with gravity feed and a more expensive compressor with finer pressure controls. Maybe I "don't know what I'm missing" but the VL seems fine to me.

I don't use adhesive masks because I want gradual transitions from one color to another for a more realistic look. I do use friskets, a pattern you hold up in front of the bait to exclude areas from getting sprayed. Scale netting is an example but I also use a frisket cut from acetate for vertical bars on a sunfish pattern and another for speckles on a crappie pattern.

I mostly use the 3D eyes from Janns Netcraft or other online tackle shops. Staminainc.com carries little foam paintbrushes called "eye dotters" made for this purpose. Sort of like a foam Q-tip but smaller. Dip them in acrylic latex and touch it to the bait. You can load quite a bit of paint on them to get a 3D effect.

If you fish crankbaits much you need a lure retriver. I first try a "pocket rocket", a 2 oz egg sinker with a snap swivel attached and 85% of the time it does the job. You also need a heavier retriever like a Hound Dog or whatever when that doesn't work. A neat idea is to attach the large retriever to an automatic dog leash. I have a pretty functional attitude about cranks and I think it's a disservice to the crankbait and its maker not to fish them to best effect - and that means never hesitate to contact cover with them. Yes, you'll lose the occasional crankbait. Build another.

I like to undercoat with epoxy on balsa. Mix up some 2 Ton Epoxy, cut it with a few drops of lacquer thinner or acetone and paint it on with a brush. It soaks into the top surface of the wood, making it tough and waterproof. You can let it cure as a thick coat and sand off the gloss afterwards or you can paint it on and wipe most of it off with a cloth after a few minutes, so you won't need to sand it. Others use solvent based primers like polyurethane, etc. Alot of things work OK except water based acrylics, which aren't very strong and will raise the wood grain.

Rolling your own is easy and you can customize it. I use a 3x5 index card, fold it in half with a sharp crease, lay out half the bib shape and cut it out. Unfold and voila, a symetrical bib.

You can shoot Createx straight from the bottle or thin it with a little water. I use a Paasche VL medium tip at 30-50 psi. It just depends on how thick the paint is in the particular bottle. You want it no thicker than milk. I think most guys, including myself, try to shoot paint that's too thick which produces splatters and clogs. Other acrylic latex hobby paints are not formulated for airbrushes and need to be thinned more. Of course, they also cost half as much as Createx Plain cool water will clean the brush. When shooting a variety of colors, I clean out the paint siphon with a spray bottle and run a little water through the brush, then just squirt in the next color and thin it with water, stirring with a swizzle stick. Shoot lighter colors followed by darker colors (that's usually belly up, which works out well). I disassemble the brush and rinse it out with water at the end of the session. Use a hair dryer to set the colors between shots.

With no confidence that I can drill a hole exactly from nose to tail, I cut the bait in half longitudinally, groove out the wire frame shape and ballast pocket with a Dremel and lay in the wire. 5 min epoxy the halves back together. This method also gives balsa baits a very sturdy epoxy backbone

I use epoxy on all hangers and line ties. It keeps them straight and makes them hold better. Second, it prevents water infiltrating in around the screw and causing the bait to swell, popping off the finish and eventually cracking the bait. I'd think it would be even more important on a pike or musky lure.

Sure, a"goof" may make a bait swim differently and catch fish better. But the serendipity of a goof causing a better bait is rare. More often, the crank is trash can bound. Hey, I'm glad to see it happen on the rare occasion but I'd rather be good than lucky. It has a higher yield

An effective color around this part of the country for brownish and greenish stained water is "Homer". Bright chartreuse body, Bright green back. I've even had bass hit it in very clear water when tuning cranks.

Aaron, I suggest you test float the next one after applying a waterproof undercoat. Put on the hooks and hang ballast lead on the belly treble until the crank has the right float. Drill out a cavity, melt the ballast and drip it in. Lead solder is easy to drape off the trebles and easy to melt into the cavity with a soldering iron. Alternatively, you can melt scrap lead with a torch or just glue it in. Usually, the lower the ballast lies in the body, the better. You can divide the ballast into 2 parts in front of and behind the belly treble for a level balance or put the ballast in front of the treble to get a head-down attitude.

I use fine metallic glitter from Janns Netcraft. Just put a pinch in the epoxy clearcoat.

All circuitboard I've seen is colored. Mostly opaque to slightly translucent. It is epoxy pressure laminated on a substrate of fiberglass or linen, so it is never clear. I've seen light green, yellow, or yellow-brown. I prefer light green but it's harder to find. If the bill color doesn't complement the rest of the bait I just paint it. Circuitboard, aka G10/FR4, has excellent rebound when the crankbait hits cover. .032" G10 is easy to shape exactly and makes a very thin, durable, light weight bill for bass cranks. It's very popular on custom cranks among pro and tourney fishermen.

I use 5 min Devcon epoxy or the 2 Ton Devcon epoxy, which has a longer working and curing time. Some drill a couple of small holes in the bill to form a "key" of epoxy to lock in the bill better, or they sand both sides of the bill to promote better adhesion. I usually sand mine. You can use the 2 Ton to clearcoat the bait after you paint it but the 5 Min Devcon cures too fast and won't level. Wood baits will swell and pop the finish off if water seeps in. Devcon comes in a double syringe at Walmart. The 2 Ton is a little stronger but either works fine to glue in bills. Don't try to clearcoat with 5 min Devcon as it cures too fast and doesn't level out like the 2 Ton.

Lexan is one brand of polycarbonate, which is clear and very tough. It should be available just about anywhere. It is often used as a break resistant replacement for window glass. "Circuitboard" is a translucent material made of fiberglass or linen cloth pressure coated with epoxy. I usually use 1/16" thick polycarbonate and .032" circuitboard. Circuitboard is also called G-10, G-11, Micarta or FR4. Both can be purchased online in 1 square foot sheets from McMaster-Carr but I don't know if they ship overseas.

I'm making a couple of deep diving basswood cranks right now and decided to put rattles in them as the cranks are intended to work deep where light penetration is limited. I drilled a smooth 1/4" hole through the bait perpendicular to the long axis, just behind the belly hanger. I superglued a small round piece of aluminum soda can over the hole on one side, let it dry, put in 2 ss bearings and glued on a cover for the other side. It's easy to cut the aluminum with small sissors and it sands down nicely after it's glued on. The vibration seems better than I get with worm rattles. The bb's whacking the metal caps just under the epoxy finish have a more direct contact with the side of the crankbait (and the surrounding water). Plus, you can use this type rattle in crankbaits of just about any thickness. Don't get glue in the chamber after the bearings are in! I don't think this would work in balsa but it seems fine in hardwood. I also use the small aluminum can covers to patch holes drilled in lipless crankbaits to add/subtract rattles - just to give Mr. Bass something different to listen to.

I have used short glass worm rattles but mostly gave up on the idea. First, it's hard to get a loud rattle in a wood bait. Second, you need to be careful where you put it. At the rotational axis, you won't get much rattle. Too high will throw off the balance. That leaves low down where you're already putting the hangers and ballast. Tough to find room there in anything except a very large bait. One I tried listed to the side 'cause the BB's shifted and the rattle was too high. Lastly, IMO as a fisherman is that I don't want all my cranks to rattle. I like no rattles in clear water and reserve rattles for fishing chocolate milk. The more pressured and "educated" the fish are, the less I want rattles.