Sonny.Barile

That does make sense.

At the very least....you have a place to start. I would think that the fish that would bite at that depth are going to be big. With the bigger fish goes a bigger bite. With the right hook shape you may not need to actually set the hook.

BobP Do you do that because you fish in clear water?????? SOnny

I ahve so much wood "scrap" that I may install a fireplace......

Little river, it would be relative to the line and conditions but my theory is hairbrained. I did not consider that when we do get line bow it doesnt curve downward. If it was a matter of simple geometry it would affect the lure in the opposite direction, reducing the depth. I am more inclined to agree with Crankpaint after hearing his explanation. After reading thru it I can recall times where I couldnt get a lure to swim because of severe line bow. It makes it seem like you have the line taught from the water surface to the rod but the line out to the crank is actually loose and doesnt pull straight on the bait. So I answered my own question......."Im an idiot" LOL

Mark I must admit that also tried reinventing the wheel. I was trying to create what I thought would be the most freely moving joint yet, but failed. You may have seen me post about it a few weeks ago. I was trying to use bundled braided line. It didnt work and I have elected to use screw eyes on the next one.

Im not an expert but after thinking about it for a minute I have surmised this theory.....feel free to beat up on this...... When a crank reaches its full depth the line will be at an angle to the rod tip. This angle will always be the same for that specific lure when at that maximum depth. If you put enough line out in to the water, the line itself will be under more drag or resistance. You may notice sometimes that you get line bend. The point at which the line bends is in the water somewhere and is now the place where the angle at max. depth is measured from. So in essance, you have moved the point of reference from the rod tip to somewhere down on the line. Im either a genius or an idiot..........LOL Sonny

If im not mistaken, Diemai had a tutorial on forming a hinge from some sheet metal or metal from a can or something like that. (Im getting old.....They say the second thing to go is the memory, and I cant remember what the first thing was.....)

You can get various grades of stainless. The 304 locking wire sold at Harbor Freight is ductile enough for tuning but still many times stronger in tensile than brass wire. Also, Im not sure what kind of water you fish in but even the slightest brackish content will kill all but stainless.

The only thing I could get to work is onion bag netting. I use thinned cheap craft paints in my airbrush and I do not heat set. In the beginning I was letting the paint dry and the netting would stick a little and tear at the edges of the scales. I found if I remove it just as the paint tacks then it wont smear or tear the fine paint edges. It is washable (gently) and it is virtually free. (unless you dont eat onions) I also tried fishnet stockings which work really well and clean-up for reuse but the scales were huge.

Why dont you get a small piece and put some paint and clear coat on it to see if you have any adhesion issues before you invest in shapeing out a body.

A question for you casting guys.... I want to do a 2 part RTV mold and was wondering if anyone ever used Play Doh as the clay base?

Thanks But I wasnt the original poster with the steel leader joints. His work was the inspiration for mine.

Ben That sounds like a good possibility. I have some soft surgical silicone tubing. I have seen it used to dress hooks. My biggest frustration is that my knife skills are still in the infantile stage and it takes me so long to complete the carving. It only takes seconds to ruin days of work. I think i may carve one more and use the sections to make some silicone molds so they can be replaced easily. I can see the finished lure in my head but I can also see alot of little details I still need to work out. The cool part is hat the bundled braid is super flexible. If I can get this to work it will move unhindered.......

Well......my braided braid is a fail. The epoxy did not wick into the bundle but the edges of the epoxy are sharp and easily fray the braid and cut the outer strands. I did the hole thing all in one glue-up so now I need to carve another lure body to try it with mechanical fastening. Back to the garage.........

Bison is a good brand name.