muskietom51 Posted December 2, 2003 Report Share Posted December 2, 2003 Well back at it since the cold weather is finally here, I want to work on some stick baits and glider baits and am looking for some info on how much weight I need to add to them, any good ideas on how to judge how much weight to add. A guy I was talking to said he added weight by pouring it into drilled holes than put the bait in a tank of water an watched how the bait floated, seems like it would take alot of weight to make a wooden muskie bait sink. Any ideas out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted December 2, 2003 Report Share Posted December 2, 2003 You'd be surprised! You need to think about the wood's buoyancy (and therefore wood selection) placement of lead in the body, size of the body and so on. I made some Cobb's gliders out of maple and I think I used 15 g (1/2+ oz.)of lead in total. That made for a nice suspending 6" bait. You will need to experiment. Find a friend with an indoor pool. Cheers, o2l Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskie1958 Posted December 2, 2003 Report Share Posted December 2, 2003 MuskieTom, o2l is dead on. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are using a heavy wood like Maple, thebait will not take nearly the amount of lead as if you were using Cedar. Where are you in Ohio.? I fish Salt Fork and Leesville sometimes. Also are yo0u trying to make wire through baits or are you using screw eyes? This also has a big efffect on wieght placement. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatnik13 Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Reading your post I have to ask! Are you trying to ballance in general or are you trying to make some lures float,sink & sub sink as in diffrent actions. I'll e-mail you later on wood type and ballance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legendary Lures Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Here's a couple ideas that might reduce the number of prototypes you'll have to make: 1. Do this will all of your hardware on the lure, including hooks. Buy some various sizes of those little bass sinkers that are teardrop shaped and have a brass wire loop. Tie one to a rubber band. Slip as many weights/rubberbands onto your lure body as you think you'll need. Put a couple extras in your pocket. Add/subtract weights until you achieve the bouancy that you're after. Next, slide the weights around until you get the balance. Mark the lure. Go home and make duplicates. 2. If you have a pretty good idea where you want the weight to be placed, drill a fair-size hole in the bottom of the lure body. Use lead shotgun shot to fill the hole and put a little piece of tape (duct or electrical) to hold the shot in. When fieldtesting, let a little lead out until you get what you're after. When you get home, carefully empty the lead shot out and weight it. Then you can fill the hole with with either the same amount of melted lead or a mixture of lead shot and epoxy glue. Since you'll know the weight, you can make consistant copies. Hope this helps. BTW: No offense intended, but this board is here so we can help each other. I would like to read the suggestions that the previous poster was going to email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radu Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 could you elaborate a bit further about the effect of eye-screws and through wire on the weight of the lure? thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe32 Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Hi All.I would also like to read what Boatnik13 was going to say about wood balance. I see someone has mentioned the cobbs glider I made some up recently out of beech 6" in length and they requirered 21 grams of lead to make them slow sink at a rate of 2 seconds per foot. As One poster has said make sure all the hardware is attached. The way I add lead for ballast is to drill holes in the bait where i want the lead and pour in melted lead,I then check the sink rate and weather it sinks level in a bath full of water.I adjust buy drilling out excess lead until I get the lure doing what I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskietom51 Posted December 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Joe the way you do the testing is what the guy told me before I posted this question, I think that is a good way to do it I think, mainly because I don't have access to a indoor pool boy wouldn't that be great though. Before you do the weight testing do you use any sealer on the bait? As soon as I get a e-mail from boatnic I'll let everyone know what he says. Thanks for all the help, all the help makes me want to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe32 Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Hi Muskietom,Before I test the lures I seal them,What I do is drill my holes then seal the whole lure with thinned down varnish then fill the holes with lead and test.if useing beech it is very important to seal the lure as it sucks up water like a sponge. Thank for offering to send me the e-mail I would be interested to see what he has to say. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Splash Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Use rubber bands, or tape to get a good idea where the wieghts go before you drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatnik13 Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 erase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAWESOX Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 PLEASE REVIEW THE THREAD ON WOOD WEIGHTS I HOPE THIS WILL HELP SAWESOX AKA LUNGEBOB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
