Help double bladed spinners

[muskietom51]

I'm working on a double bladed spinner bait, with I believe are#8 blades. The couple I have built seem to work the way i think they should But sometimes I really have to jerk the bait hard to get the blades moving, is this common with double bladed baits, or is there a fix, thanks Guys

[Spike-A-Pike]

I think it sounds like a lure body weight issue were it may be a bit tail heavy. The closer to horizontal and quicker it gets on plain, the faster/smoother those blades will start to spin. Clevis size plays an important part too. A good source for figuring out component computability sizes is the Canadian guild to Lure Making - Download - Canadian Guide to Lure Making

Good luck.

[reeves]

What weight size is this spinner? A #8 blade is pretty large, so it must be an ounce or bigger. Also is this a two wired bait? Would like to see a pic if possible.

[Spike-A-Pike]

I could well be wrong, but I was thinking something like this

This shows a little more of the details. I keep forgetting about those other spinner baits - Sorry George

[reeves]

Yeah Bruce, I see now what you mean. I am thinking of spinnerbaits and muskytom51 is obviously working on an inline. I have no experience with them, but it looks from the picture that the overlapped clevis setup would tend to interfere with each other???? should they be stacked instead????

[Spike-A-Pike]

Well George, some of the more contemporary musky in-line spinner designs, like the Llungen Lure's DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, and Musky Mayhem's Double Cowgirl, use that inter-locked clevis and blade arrangement. They have that definite "that ain't right" look about them, but it creates what they call a bulger bubble when the lure gets on plane (and looks very cool).

That was part of what I was testing in Clinton last spring; I found it very easy to over load the in-lines with too much weight and with the weight of thick skirt, it was nearly impossible to get those blades going:?. The other factor that needs to factored is using a large enough set of clevis' so as to allow them to spin freely.

And you thought I was just wearing that cheese wedge as a "fashion statement". Tight lines

[muskietom51]

Good call Spike a Pike I removed the keel weight on a coil an they planed out just right. Its been so long since I order the material I don't have a clue of their weights. They move alot of water, can't wait to run them over weeds. Oh an thanks for the tutorial on skirt making,makes it a whole lot clearer. Thanks again everyone

[Spike-A-Pike]

Glad it helped - Musky in-line spinners are a little different and it is critical to balance the entire lure. I was experimenting with lure weights, segments, and lengths early this Spring and really learned some design issues that that have to be addressed in order to make everything work together. I hear other constructors talk about problems with line twist that I have not experienced. Now, I feel I have locked that "perfect in-line" in my mind and by just spinning the blades and determining the balance as the lure body floats along the shaft. I have started taking those lessons forward into my bass and pike lures, and I'm debating if I can carry it forward into crappie and perch sized tackle. God luck and tight lines.

[diemai]

@ Spike-A-Pike

When I still was quite a rookie in luremaking many years ago , I also had to learn the hard way about inline spinners being too heavy at the rear and therefore not spinning properly .

Here are some of my quite successful pike spinner models of those years .

Since I wanted them to run deeper than commercial ones , I made the body heavier , at first I employed .357 Mag. casings , rigged a wire piece through them and poured lead in .

The first ones worked quite well for some reason , so I made about two dozens more , only to see them not spinning properly !

I've found , that they'd not swim horizontally but tail-down , so I assumed , that this would be the reason for their failure:? .

All the ones , that didn't work , I've cut apart again and used the casing bodies as sinkers for bottom set ups , fishing for carp and tench .

Anyway , I now had so many of those homemade blades unused and had to think over another solution .

So instead of those ammo casings I used aluminium tubing , 8 mm dia and 6 mm bore .

These contain less lead , also they are longer , so that the weight is not concentrated only at the rear .

These models worked pretty well and reliable , countless numbers of fish caught on such spinners through the years !

@ muskietom51

Glad , that you seemingly have already solved your problem !

Looking at your pics , I would have rigged one small bead between clevise and the tapered spacer piece , this would furthermore reduce friction and let the blades spin easier !

Good success , diemai

[Spike-A-Pike]

Diemai,

Those spinners have aged well. I think that I'm going to have to invest in a ruler with a metric scale on it to show the true scale of these musky in-line lures. On average, muskie lures start with a #8 blade style, but could use #9, #10, and #11 sized blades. Every year for the past 5 years, blade sizes have been growing to key in on bigger and bigger fish.

A 3/0 treble hook used to be a common musky hook, now it isn't uncommon to see hook sizes from 5/0 to 8/0. 20 years ago, I would make a pike/muskie in-line spinner and they averaged about 5 to 6 inches (12 to 15 cm). Yesterday, I was putting together a few lures - they averaged 10 inches (23 to 28 cm). I'm getting ready for my trip to Wisconsin later in September for some fishing and talking to a few bait shops to see if there is any interest in my designs.

The lures just seem to get a little larger every year. Just when you think, "Well, that's big; they'll never get any bigger than that..." And surprise, next year the designs are just a tad bigger. There may be an upper limit out there somewhere, but muskie lure designers don't appear to have reached it yet.

Thanks for sharing Diemai. Tight lines

Edited July 10, 2008 by Spike-A-Pike

[diemai]

@ Spike-A-Pike

No need to get that ruler just for me:nuhuh: , I am familiar with the sizes of your musky bucktails over there , have blade size charts in some US catalogs and books and I also have some homemade bucktails , though only in the "old fashioned sizes":wink: !

I fancied to try bigger blades some three years ago , so I shaped some of thinner SST sheet , about 4 1/2" to 5" long and rigged these onto a heavy copper wire coil body . Since I didn't have any ready tied bucktail nor any tying material , I just added a red lure flipper to the hook .

On the second day testing a smaller pike scratching 28" took that lure , but I haven't used them a lot anymore , since the tension of the spinning blade on the rod is just too much for me , and I don't like to carry an extra more rigid rod along , I'd only do that in fall season ocassionally .

For sure I won't tie on a 10" bucktail , in Europe everything is a bit smaller:lol: !

These lures won't cast too well , not a problem for you guys with your spacious boats that get anywhere , but over here the majority of anglers fish from bank only , so most likely we need lures to cast well !

Good Luck about introducing your lures:yay: , diemai

[Spike-A-Pike]

Diemai,

I think you'd be surprised how quickly you can learn to cast a well balanced muskie lure 50' or 60' within just a few inches of where you wanted it. Some the bass fishermen I watch for time to time can cast a 1/4 oz. spinner and easy 40' into a pocket or slight stick-up, and pull a big bass like it's no big deal.

[diemai]

@ Spike-A- Pike

I can imagine this accurate casting very well , though I am not too good in it .

I assume , that in America you'd pass by such spots by boat and cast towards the bank or timber or whatever holding spot .

Standing in a boat it is a lot easier to cast accurately , rather than casting fom the bank , standing under trees and bushes , at reed margins and stuff like that , every cast probably has to be made different , due to these obstacles .

I have some US musky videos , just remember the guys in there , standing on the deck of their boat , casting....reeling....casting.....reeling....movements of great conformity !

Over here many of us lure anglers don't bother much about such pinpoint casting , distance is rather more an issue , with well balanced tackle we make 40 or 50 as well , not feet , but metres !

Our bank fishing lure rods are up to 12 feet long , so its a good lever to fire out your bait into the sunset on a thin braid !

In many waters , like our bigger rivers , bigger lakes with boating restrictions or the Baltic coast , such is essential to reach the likely holding spots of the fish .

We say , that "you have to reach over the edge" , meaning the first drop-off from the shallow bank water to deeper water , that's where you can expect the fish to be !

But I am also convinced about this method casting accurately into likely holding spots , its always a new challenge to get your lure there without hanging it into trees !

I have already caught a few fish this way , and its fun !

Greetz , diemai