Bdnoble84

I really dont feel like it matters much. A bass doesnt care which way a crawfish is swimming. Its a meal. I have caught fish on unpainted wooden cranks in testing also to suggest color doesnt even matter as much as action in many occasions. Crankbaits to me are about drawing a predatory response.

Try moving the weight back. The weight in the nose is possibly deadening the bait. Its a tough balance because you want the bait to stay somewhat level on the sink. My understanding is, the farther back, the less stable the bait is, I.E. the weight in the back will maintain momentem longer than the the front of the bait making the tail swing forward. I have gained much better results since i started mong my weight farther back to the center balance of the lure. Basically, you want the tail to maintain momentum longer than the head of the bait.

Are you going to make them out of wood, if so this is my process as it is for any woodbait. Its imporant to know the boyancy of the wood. I always cut a 1x1” square from my wood and run calculations on the measurements and weight of the wood block. This gives me wood density. Engeneered anglwr has a very good tutorial on this. A few of us on here have also made calculators in excel. If you send me an email i can send you mine and explain how to use it

I’ve started brushing on multiple thin coats. I was dipping 1 heavy coats and no mater what i did, i would get unevenness. It takes alittle more time because you are pulling out, brushing, pulling out brushing. Added benefit is i have a bunch of glitter colors mixed up in little cups i got from hobby lobby. I will put a glitter coat on first. Then subsequent coats will be clear. I do this with wire baits and hardbaits. Jigs have held up ok, especially the ones i powder coat instead of airbrush

Figured it out i think. This is most likely eastern red cedar. When i looked up density, it was suggested to be .45. I will still make a few bait and see what it does. It will float and wiggle, just not with the same boyancy. That isnt always a bad thing. I dont need as much weight to get neutrality if i want that

Thank you. I will do some research on that, but what you say makes sense. I didnt mention, my blanks are as much as nearly a gram different in weight. I will play with a couple but since i am going for a consistent batch and wanting to play more with lip placement/angle variables, I may put them off to the side for now and get something more consistant.

I have some wood that is confounding me. It Cedar. My neighbor that has a woodmill gave me a plank. It has wierd divisional coloring to me. Whats more i did some calculations on a couple of squares. The density is not making sense to me on top of the different colorations. The density of these two squares is wierd. They are .45 and .48 and .46. Cedar is expected to be .375. The piece i had befor from menard was .4. Much closer to standard expectation. I made about 20 blanks. If anyone has any thoughts i would love to hear them. I am attaching pictures of the wood and calculations. Second picture is of the original cedar calculation for the cedar i got from menards

Speaking specifically to the poisontail, wire keeper > than lead keeper, atleast for me. Keitech fat impact style baits in particular just do not hold well unless there is a wire keeper.

I’ve used the VMC 7249 because of the extra long shank for 3.8” and longer paddletails.. But its extremely light and flexible because of the thin wite and extra long shank. Im going to try something different next time i order. For smaller 3” paddlwtails and hair jigs i go with a bp500 lil nasty sickle hook

Id be happy to try them. Fish rocky rivers so would be a good test. Run into pike this time of year so that could be a good test

Ive painted some economy nickel blades with createx. No prepwork. Clearcoat with polyurethane or kbs after. They work good.

Experimenting and drawing freehand is part of the fun. A micrometer is an extremely useful tool. Make your paper template out of cardstock. That way if it works you can duplicate it. i would start with basswood as it is quite a bit easier to work with than cedar. Also get several different sandpaper grits. I like the the one inch beltsander type with the fabric back. It is very durable.

Revivingn old thread based on a question i have. I dipped some painted jigs in KBS DIAMOND 5-6 days ago. They have been hanging in my basement which generally stays around 70 degrees. At this point they do not seem dry. They feel like they have a slimy finish. Is this normal. Do i need to do something different.

You need to stencil your lip on then double cut. Stay inside your lines and conservatively make it wider. U wil get the feel

Im sure woman can cast just as men can.

Misdle hook hanger is too far back imo. That and back hook will probably tangle pretty easily

What are you using for aluminum lips