Need help making a jointed swimbait

[summitlures]

Hey guys, is it possible to make a sinking jointed swimbait with out using any lead ballasts, or pouring lead in holes? can you insert split shots in the bottom holes for the hinges?

[scottishghillie]

Sounds feasible. All depends on the type of wood your using and how fast you went it to get down. Suppose it also matters how you are hinging the 2 parts of the lure.

[diemai]

@ summitlures

Don't know about the exact design , that you'd probably have in mind , but I'd rather say , that it would not work out , since maybe only smaller leadshot would fit into those hinge bores at bottom of lure .

Even if you would use a less buoyant kind of wood , a certain amount of weight at the belly of lure would still be essential to balance the lure to a proper swimming action , at least if its heigth is more than its width(cross-section of body) .

But it really also depends on the design in general .

Greetz , diemai

[summitlures]

oh, I was planning to use basswood, but, is it possible to just put drop shot weights on the hook hangers

[diemai]

@ summitlures

Dropshot weights have a kind of line clip , do you mean to utilize that one to fix the weights outside of body to the the hookeyes to save the work of elaborate balancing and embedding weights into your lure ?

If it should be so , I tell you , that it would be worth a try , but in my opinion it does not look too well and , more important , bigger weights near the hook might decrease amounts of hook-ups of striking fish .

I don't have experience about such exterior weights rigged onto swimbaits , but I have already tuned crankbaits by winding solder wire or roofing lead-strips around the hookshanks , but these only provide a little , subtle weight to bigger lures , on smaller lures though , these could make up for the difference of a sinking , floating or suspending lure .

But they might as well minor or even spoil the lures action , it is all subject to trial and error !

Sorry , can't talk about basswood , I know the term , but as far as I am concerned , we do not have it in Europe , at least I don't know a translation for it(if there even is one ?) .

Proper weighting does not only depend on the kind of wood you use , but also on the size of your lure , just for example:wink: :

A 5" bait of more buoyant wood would probably require the same amount of weight as a 7" lookalike of heavier wood to let both lures sink at same speed , but that does not neccessarely mean , that this certain weight provides enough balance on the larger lure to get it to swim properly !

A certain amount of "keelweight" is essential to counterbalance the swinging movements of a swimbait and hinder it to swim on its side .

But as said before , there's a lot of trial and error about it .

good success , diemai

[mark poulson]

summitlures,

If I understand your question, and you'd like to use the clips on the drop shot weights for hook hangers, the answer is no, they are not strong enough.

I use egg sinkers with sst cotter pins pushed through them for my hook hangers. It's a idea I read hear when I first joined the site.

I've found, with the lures I make and the wood I use, I always need ballast weight anyway, and the location of my hook hangers is a good place for it, in terms of the way the weight affects the action, so I kill two birds with one stone.

I use 1/8oz egg sinkers, two per lure, and I haven't made one so far that didn't need even more weight afterward. The 1/8oz is small enough and short enough that it doesn't interfere too much with my hinging method.

I haven't tried Basswood, but I've use pine, douglas fir, and now I'm using poplar, and they all need additional weight.

Also, the profile of my lures, taller than they are wide (think Triple Trout), makes a ballast weight at the bottom, to act as a keel like diemai said, is always needed, or the lures lie on their sides, even with the hooks in place.

So I wouldn't use drop shot sinkers for hook hangers. But I would try and use weighted hook hangers. There used to be an outfit that make them, but I can't get a return phone call to reorder, so maybe they're not around any more.

That's why I make my own with egg sinkers, and they work well so far.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I've had two cups of coffee this morning, and I'm wired.

Edited July 20, 2008 by mark poulson

[summitlures]

oh well, it was woth a try, but, could you use lead tape on the belly?

[boomah21]

Just curious why dont you want to drill into the bait to add weight?

[diemai]

@ summitlures

If you don't care about the outer look of your bait , you surely could !

But , as I mentioned previously , the amount of weight would be the problem , or you don't mind to stick a couple of layers of such lead tape over one another to your lure ?

Don't know which kind of lead tape is available in the US , over here in Germany we can only get(hardly) "Suspendots" and "Suspenstrips" by "STORM" , and these are surely not suitable to entirely balance a larger lure , but only to achieve subtle changes in lure action .

To obtain heavier stick-on weights as the "STORM" products , I have simply evened up some roofing lead sheet of 1 mm thickness(possibly not too tarnished) and stuck it onto double sided tape(the kind used for laying carpets) , this way I can cut out those weight strips just with scissors , peel off the second protective foil from the tape and stick the lead onto my lure .

Most likely this kind of tape sticks like hell , and won't come off in the water easily .

Maybe , there is even thicker roofing lead around(never came across such here) , in this case one could still go heavier by this method , but using shears for cutting !

Greetz , diemai

Edited July 20, 2008 by diemai

[summitlures]

oh, but could you use the suspend strips to balance a lipped floating swimbait? So it won't tip over?

Edited July 20, 2008 by summitlures

[mark poulson]

summitlures,

You should try to do your balancing and weighting after you've sealed your bait, but before you paint it. It's much easier.

When I first started making floating gliders (Lunker Punker knockoffs) I carried suspend dots and suspend strips in my boat when I took them to the lake, but I found that the best way is to work really hard to get it right by float testing them in my garage, in a 5 gallon bucket of water, and then priming them white, so I can really see them well, and going to the local pond and trying them out. It's really hard to get things right on the water, with so many variables. A water bucket, or your bath tub, will give you much more accurate results when it comes to weighting. Just make sure your rubber ducky doesn't get hooked.

[diemai]

@ summitlures

As I stated before , it is only a matter of the weight required , also to prevent a lipped bait(of any kind) from tipping over , but too much weight at a wrong location might also minor or even spoil the lures action .

But when a lipped bait tends to lay on its side on retrieve , you might also try to shave the lip first , or alter the position of the tow eye .

At least this would be your only option , after weighting trial and error should fail .

If you would supply a pic of that lure , maybe I(and other members) could give you more detailed advice:huh: ?

greetz , diemai