Hillbilly voodoo

Ok those who followed the surface paddler thread have seen the lure I designed over the winter. Well it works but seems to have a fair amount of short strikes. It was developed for pike/musky(No musky yet but my lure tester out East has been skunked in general ) and has been catching pike. The lure comes in around 6inches long and 1 1/2 wide so it’s got some size to it I am not normally a top water fishermen or builder so not accustom to solving the issue of short strikes on top water. Getting the fish to respond to the action is not an issue but they are missing or taking the rear hook only. Personally I think a down sized version will solve this but curious on what tricks others have from the reports of bass taking interest in the design I think a smaller option would be a positive addition ether way. So Topwater gurus what are your tricks to combat short strikes?

Heading to work so can’t get into too much detail but the balist in the bait Is pure resin settled in the drop in the head section so yes low

I say you are bang on Dave. The bait I posted uses the lip in the pic. It is also a flat sided lure. The prototype with similar action I abandoned is also a flat side. similar style lips mounted between 45-50 degrees. This resulted in a bait that slams side to side. You can’t miss the action on the rod tip when trolling lol Out of the species I have tested this action on only lake trout seem to really like it. Pike are not big on it, The guy I have testing on musky has had no luck, no luck on walleye, and a little only caught 2 bulls with the initial response I got from lakers I was expecting better results but not the cases

All I have around is a few with defects but here is one. I have posted this design before but never mentioned the action.This design may go the way of the dodo because it is not as effective as others designs with lower material costs I have another old prototype with a less aggressive version of the action as well personally I won’t be building anymore lures in this style of action because after plenty of testing it’s a meh action compared to others. It does catch lakers though and fairly consistently

Thanks again

@Curt - RIYour a good man thanks for investing your time to maintain things around here May I suggest if possible add an erase function so members that exceed their limit of pics can clear out some old ones if one exists and I am just not tech savvy enough let me know how

@Curt - RI it’s working now

There is the last steps a little late but there you go lol

Let’s see if this works

@Curt - RI just tried again and it says I can only upload 1.6mb. When looking at my attachments in my profile it says I am at 96% Thanks for the response

If you can post a video of a lure with the rolling action you are looking for it would be helpful. if it’s what I am thinking I have a few sitting in my lure room I built that do exactly what you are looking for. It has very little wiggle but tips heavy side to side.

The how lips/bills work thread is another good one Weighting varies depending on the body shape, material, hardware, and desired depth. Basic principle for a crankbait is weight it so it sits level or front slightly down as for your “rolling” action again not a cut and dry answer and not 100% on your goal. It will also very depending on it you looking for a gentle roll or sharpe fast action. Depth is another factor. a shallower fast action I would Be going with a square bill on a 45+ degree angle. That is is I understand what you are looking for I have built lots of lures and yes I can throw together a lure with respectable action no problem but to create something really good means trail and error I credit my ability to build lures with good action to the fact I built lots of meh lures learning over the years. Don’t expect it to come easy. There is basic principles to lure building but there is a lot that varies between each design

Welcome

Can’t type out an explanation right now getting ready for work soon but it’s not the body. The tail doesn’t wag the dog. The only thing the banana shape does is generate lift to the back end which helps create a wider wiggle

I knew the lazy Ike was wood at one point but not the flat fish. Most lures were plastic by the time I started paying attention. I am old enough to have some grey hair but not old enough to be over the hill yet Back in the days when I refused to build lures with added lips. I built lots of wooden banana style baits. But never copied any models. That curved body style has followed over into some of my lipped baits these days .The principles I mentioned in this thread are what I used

This one drives me crazy because if it was in my hands it would take me less than a minute to figure it out lol A little tip to odd shaped baits is don’t over think the body and focus on the angle of the lip/face that catches the water. That is the most important because that is what creates the action. The body angle is not that important. The weight and buoyancy of the body has more impact then it angle. The kwik fish is designed so the fat ends buoyancy will counter the less buoyant front end. Remember built with plastic the lip would sink and the air cavity in the fat end is buoyant hope this makes sense I am still half asleep lol PS going by memory the kwik fish sits about 2/3 in the water lip down. When the bait is floating the hook hangers should create a relatively straight level line. I am pretty sure you’re tie point should be a little closer to the tip of the lip. Hope some of my half asleep ramblings make sense. Its easy for me to build but trying to type out how to do it is way harder for me

Half asleep at work just noticed I forgot to consider the buoyancy of the wooden lip vs being plastic. The weight will be more forward nightshift messes up my train of thought. I will be smarter in 5days lol

@DGagner if you look at my designs they almost all have a curve to them. The real trick is carve with balance in mind and the kwik fish design does this. You can accomplish balance with curved baits with no weight if you design it right Odds are the weight goes between the 1st and 2nd hook 1/3 behind the first hook. But I need to float test to really know

Hooks are part of the weighting and yours are on the small side. This will also cause hook up issues I recommend up sizing this aside do you have a pic of it floating in the water? odds are if you can get your copy the float in the same angle as the original that will solve the balance/weighting. also adjust your tie point is another option remember you are trying to replicate a plastic lure using wood so adjustments are going to be needed to get close action wise What action are you getting? I am assuming it’s blowing out with the front lip over powering the lure Odds are if you balance it so it sits the same as the original it’s a matter of adjusting the tie point. If you are blowing out move it closer to the front of the lip. If you want more wiggle move it towards the body Hope that makes sense I am on nightshift for a few shifts so may not respond quickly if you have questions

I also use Maple and they have been great but they are also within driving distance

Tried that no go