Weighting Walk the Dog baits......
We build some top water WTD style Musky Baits. We make 7, 8 and 10 inchers. They are made from cedar and are turned on a lathe starting with 1 1/2" square stock. They are tapered with the head being 1 1/8" down to 1/2" in the tail for the 7 and 8 inchers and a little bigger diameter for the 10 inchers. We then soak the blank in sanding sealer and let dry. Next we drill a hole with a 3/8" forsner bit straight in the tail of the bait about 1 inch long. We then attach a 1 1/2" screw eye in the middle of the hole. We then melt 1/2 oz of lead and pour it in the hole around the screw eye. The end is sealed with epoxy, the other screw eye is added and then prime, paint and top coat. This seems to be the perfect weight for this bait. They turn out to be 2 1/2 and 3 oz. with two 4/0 VMC trebles. These baits have awesome action, very easy to work and Muskies love em. I have caught some huge smallmouth on these while fishing for Musky.....With the 10 inchers we use 3/4 oz lead. These end up about 4 oz or so and three 5/0 VMC trebles. Because these baits are heavier than most commercial WTD topwaters they don't blow out as easy on a strike from below and you get much better hook ups. All of these baits have the line tie approximately 1/4" under the nose of the bait.
Rod