For a jointed crankbait, do you put weight in the tail????

[Helmout]

Hello everyone, i'm building some jointed crankbait.....

I'm just out of the bathroom, i was testing some jointed rapala, perchbait, belivever and other.

What i just realized is that the tail sink more than the body???

So my question is are the tail of a jointed crank is weighted????

I tested my own jointed crankbait that look very similar to a dephtraider from jo bucher.

Swim nice but, when i stop it i see the tail sink but just a bit from the weight of the back hook.

The tail of my jointed crnakbait don't sink as mutch as the other jointed bait, should i weight them to get a beter action??? or i can leave them like that.....

thx

[benton B]

I've done it both ways on the few jointed baits I've made. I found on the smaller crankbaits the hook was enough weight to keep the tail level in the water. I don't think adding weight will get a better action, but may help keep the bait level as it swims.

[BobP]

I don't ballast the tail segment but I use double hinges, one on top, one on the bottom so the tail doesn't really have much freedom to float up from the rest of the bait.

[mark poulson]

I don't weight the tail section. I thought that might dampen the swimming action, like a feathered tail hook, so I never have done it.

Bob, I use two hinges on my 10" lures, but I can't find enough room for two on my 8". The lure body is 61/2", and the soft plastic tail is 1 1/2". The tail secion is, maybe, 1 1/4", and only 3/4" tall. Any suggestions?

[benton B]

Mark, you can put two hing points in a tail that size, I've done it with smaller jointed crank baits. But my bait is for bass and mostly small bass, I don't know if my cotter pin system will hold up to a big fish. I'm using 1/64 x 3/4 ss cotter pins for the hinges.

[mark poulson]

Thanks Benton. I'll try the 1/64 pins.

I'm not worried about it failing due to pin size, since I don't have any hooks in the tail section. If it does fail, it will be on a whale, and I'll gladly make another tail section, if that's the case. )

[BobP]

Mark, you can mount 2 hand wound hinges into 3/4", you just need to make the hinge eye loops fairly small. An advantage to hand wound is you can use small diameter wire and not weight down the small tail segment. I bend a piece of wire with round nose wire pliers, then clamp the ends in some vise grips and twist them into a tight screw by anchoring the loop end over a drill bit clamped in a vise. To complete the hinge, double another piece of wire, slip it over the drill bit and thread the first screw eye onto the wire before you twist the 2nd screw eye. Benton's method of using cotter pins is similar but I think leader wire will make a more compact hinge. I use 190 lb test stainless leader wire (Malin Hard Wire size ?12?) but even smaller wire will get the job done. I don't build baits in volume, so hand twisting screw eyes is my standard for all hook hangers, hinges and line ties. For the line ties, I use .040" soft temper stainless steel or brass wire from Mcmaster-Carr. Easy to work, durable and makes the baits easy to tune. Mounting line ties out on the lip is much easier with soft wire.

[mossy maker]

Sometimes I make my own eyes as well. I use a similar techniques as BobP but instead of hand twisting, I put the ends of the wire in a drill. Perfect twist in no time at all.

mossy maker