RPM

Second on the Excellent Point, and very eloquently stated I might add. I was trying to come up with a sensative way of putting it but you beat me to it.

Azsouth great action, Thanks for sharing. Very well done

SlowFish that is the lure I mentioned in an earlier post, thanks for sharing that. There was a video on youtube several years ago that showcased and explainted the theroy and reasoning, along with action and results. Very cool. azsouth, great work explaining how you arrived at your conclusion. Several years ago when I had the test tank I had planned on trying something like this, never got around to it, to busy I guess, but great work anyway and thanks for sharing. Dave, I think we talked about this sometime ago, I was on a Japaneese Crankbiat kick and then swithced to your Hunting theroy because it called to me. Like I said in previous post's I have had success using Vodkaman's theroy and method, which in short is making the Diving bill longer and trimming it to get the desired action. There is alot more to it but that is the skinny of it. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I've even got myself in trouble or accused of absurdity when I mentioned this, the thought of tuning your crankbaits can be a touchy subject with some builders. So in general one thing I've learned from several guys here on TU, theres a lot of information that can be applied if we are only willing to think outside the box, or try something that does not makes sense at the time. When I take a dozen or more crankbasits to the lake my fishing partner and others look at me like I'm crazy and ask why do you spend so much time tuning crankbaits? HeHe! I build my crankbaits in weights, diving bill lengths, design and other ideas for a purpose, which is build a crankbiat for each application I think I need, and to try to perfect the action to the best of my ability, which does include tuning. Which brings us to whole other subject we can discuss on another thread. It's ideas, thoughts and applied science that makes this stuff happen so once agian I tip my Hat to you guys here on TU. Rich

UKandy I have disected many baits, and alot of balsa line thru baits are not sealed properly, or should I say sealed for structural strength in mind, normaly they epoxy the line thru channel but do nothing to the balsa to make it stronger, so it's rather easy to tear the line through out of the bait either upwards or forwards, once the line through starts to tear slightly it will let water into the bait which will eventually cause catastophic damage. I twist my own line tie with stainless steel wire and epoxy it into hardwood dowells that are then epoxied into the balsa body which is sealed to my standards and have yet had a line tie fail or lost a fish because of a bad line tie, My line, hooks or split rings will fail before my bait fails. Hope that helps, but with Bass sized Balsa baits I see absolutly no need to build line through.

OK, Guys and Gals, lets get to the nuts & bolts? Why do we ask or look for through wire? Answer is because we thought it was stronger, supperior, etc. WRONG! I have built Custom Handcrafted Balsa baits since 2011, built them both ways, lets break it down. I'm in a bad mood and will vent trying to be subjective and civil. Through wire is a joke, perception and a farse! A through wire is only as good as the build, simply as that, it can be weak, defective and cause issues if not built correctly, same as other methods. There is no sure fire method of building crankbaits, except for trial and error. You can build a bad through wire same as you can build a bad screw eye or Twisted line tie, come on be honest with yourself. Both methods work effectively and it depends on the build. Simple as that. I BUILT 12 Old school D baits for a friend, based on his perception of how the OG Baits were made, mine were better but thats another story. He wanted through wire and balsa, If you build the baits based on the old technique they are no good ( my opinion ) because they wont last, the line through pulls out and the baits fail over time. I built them to my standards and built them to last, he liked them but ask why I went to so much trouble, ? Duh! moment, why do I spend so much time making a quality bait when the user only wants a replica? my mistake, NOT! Heres the real deal! we can replicate baits from the past and they will be just that or we can use the technology and components of today to replicate and build a superior bait that should last a life time, which would you prefer? I've built both, and given the opportunity I will replicate but build to my standards a quality bait that should last and give the user a lifetime memory of fish caught on a bait that he suggested. Now heres the problem, a D Bait that Cost $20 back int he day, cannot be bought or built for the same price Today! I took a dozen baits to a friend that fishes for a living last fall, I explained the same cenareo to him and he agreed to try them, guess what I just checked in with him Friday and he's still usingthe baits and loves them. I charged him $25 per bait, but should have charged him $30. each, if you build a quilty bait, be proud of it, and if you sell it, sell it for waht it's worth. In my opinion a quality handcraftd bait today should bring between $30.00 and $50.00+ dollars. if it's not a qulaity bait or a prototype maybe less, but do not sell yourself short. There is a demand for quality, handcrafted lures. I'm winding down my career and trying to build less, but starting today, $30.00 or more and the list continues to grow so if you build a great bait they will come! Thanks Rich

I've been building Custom handcrafted crankbaits for certain conditions since 2011, I'm in Southern Indiana and fish alot of the Tenn River chain lakes, & River Systems. From my studies the Carolina crankbait guys are target oriented. Not so much on speed or action all though speed & action is very prevelant when it comes to crankbaits there. They also want crankbaits to HIT a target, ie: Stump, rock pile boulder, etc. Hunting Crankbaits will not perform well in these conditions. I have a certain crankbait that hunts like crazy but is no good at target fishing, because it can swim with such deflection it's impossible to hit a taget even with the best of cast's. but in open water it's deadly. Thanks Rich

Travis, my experience is the Hunting Cranks are NOT based on lures from the Carolina's, the lures from the Carolinas were lures created more for situational conditions, ie, depth, structure, and speed and action. More of what we are looking for targeting certain depths these days. If we could put a geographical area on Hunting cranks I would personally say it may be more from the East Tennessee area where shallow crankbaits were more prevalent or the focus.