Ishitaro

Finally got around to finishing this up and posted a pic in the gallery. I sent it to my dad in FL so hopefully I'll be able to post another pic here soon of a smoker King Mackeral. Thanks so much for all that helped! Ishitaro

Thanks to all that helped me out with my body roll issue.

Let's try this again.

Thanks for the help guys. I thought I had more video's, but apparently not. Sorry for the shotty video footage I was by myself and only had my phone to record. This is how it swam originally with a tear drop shape, vertical ballast in the 1st, 2nd, and third sections. You can clearly see the body roll so bad that you can even see the hook hangers. In this clip I tapered the swimbait more from the front to the back, as well as, from the top to bottom and included a ballast weight in all sections. I'm happy with the way it turned out with very little body roll and little to no head shake. Thanks again!

Actually I did perform a video test after each change I made, but can't figure out how to post them on here. Mel

Ok, so not settling for failure I examined my bait a little further and decided to taper the bait a little more, this time from front to back. Also, I added a small ballast weight in the fourth section as Vodkaman had theorized and Viola! Success at last, it even has little to no head shake. So, at this point I can't pin point if it was the weight in the last section or tapering it from the front to the back. I took a short video I will try to post up. Again, big thanks to all that helped! Mel

I appreciate everyone's help on this build as it has not been easy to eliminate the body roll. I used PVC and the bait measures 7" in length and is 1 3/8" tall. This is what I have done so far and what the results were. Test #2: Tapered sides to be more flat and and removed 3rd ballast weight and tested with hooks this time. Results- Still had body roll, but sank at a faster rate. Body roll subsided when burned through the water. Test #3: Removed old ballast weights and installed horizontally and flattened, maximizing the distance from the CoG. The first ballast weights were inserted vertically and almost touched the CoG. Results- The changes made a signifigant difference to the body roll, but still exist. I belieive with this particular bait there is not enough distance from the CoG to the bottom to fully eliminate the body roll, afterall I'm only dealing with 11/16" from to the CoG. I will continue through trial and error to be body roll free and let you guys know if I have any success. Again, thanks for all the help and support on this build. Mel

I drilled all of the ballast holes vertically vs horizontally making the ballast closer to the COG. Like Vodkaman said the goal is to maximize the distance between the CoG and the CoB, so I will also make this change and let you guys know how she swims. Before you know it this swimbait is going to look like swiss cheese. Mel

Thanks for posting the links Atlasstone that put the COG in perspective very clearly. Ok, so I tapered the sides to where they are flatter and added hooks for this test and it tamped the body roll a little, but it's still there. Now that I think about it that makes a lot of sense with what Vodkaman is saying about the tail section not having a ballast. I was also thinking about backing out the screw eyes a little to give the joints a little more play, but I don't think it will make a huge difference. I'll make the changes and keep you guys posted. Again, thanks for the suggestions and feedback. Mel

Thanks for the feedback Mark. It's a slight tear drop shape. But your right, my last 2 swimbaits had flatter sides and swam great with little to no body roll. There's so many things to remember when designing a new swimbait. I'll flatten the sides, reduce the 3rd section ballast and test it with some hooks this time. I'll let you guys know how the test goes. Thanks again! Mel

I am building a 7" Cigar minnow and just tested it and noticed it had too much body roll. The swimbait is a 4 section "V" notched swimbait including the tail. I have the ballast in the 1st ,2nd, and 3rd sections. I predrilled the ballast holes while it was still a block so there shouldn't be an issue with having them lined up. The front section is weighed more to sink head first which it does, but I'm thinking the weight in the 3rd section is throwing it off, If I take it out then it won't sink. I noticed that when I burn it through the water the body roll goes away. The only thing I can think of is the height of the swimbait is relativly short in comparison to the COG. Also, I did not test it with any hooks and I know this could effect the body roll. I will try that next. Any comments or suggestions are welcome and thanks in advance. The test was also to see how the tail effected the way it swam. It swam much better without the tail needless to say. I'm thinking the tail section is too long. I would like to have a tail on it obviously but hate that it acts like a rudder. Again, any comments or suggestions are welcome. Mel

Those are some good tips and suggestions. I make all of my screw eyes. I was going to use thicker diameter wire, go through the eyes then bend forward into the top of the body and bondo. Vodkaman, I like the sst tube idea, and thank you for clarifying what video it was. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Mel

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker of TU and building swimbaits for about a year now. This site has really been informative but I can't find any information on joint placement in the search. I'm working on a 3 joint gizzard shad and using the hinge and pin method. Does it matter what joint recieves the eye? I want the first and third to recieve the pin, the last section will also recieve a pin. Will this effect the the way it swims? Reason I'm doing this is because I want to use the hook eyes for the pins. If anyone has tried this can you please shed some light for a noob? Thanks in advance Mel! Here's a pic of what I'm working on. Took about 4 hours to get to this point.