Diving depth

[carver]

I've read on past threads that 1" of bill equates to roughly 10 feet of diving depth. I am trying to create a crankbait that imitates a fathead (perch) minnow and I would like it to run about 7 - 10 feet. The body I carved is about 1.75 inches long. I feel as though adding a bill that is close to an inch long will make it too big in comparison to the body. Is it possible to add weight to the body to get the bait to suspend a few feet and then put a 0.5" bill on to get it the rest of the way down?

Hope this isn't a stupid question. I'm new to all this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[benton B]

You won't hit 7 feet with that bill length imho. a 1 inch lip on that size bait won't look that big as the bait is doing it's thang. You could use a 3/4 inch lip and 10/2 braided line and you might hit 7-8 feet.

[mark poulson]

I fish my deep cranks slow, so I can feel what they're doing.

I would go to the longer lip, and keep the buoyancy, so, when you bump a log or stick, you can stop your retrieve and the lure will float back up away from the wood and let you continue your retrieve.

I think making a lure go deeper by weighting it is a recipe for lost lures.

Except for jerk baits, I almost never throw a suspending crank.

[carver]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help. Also, I've read that using a square lip tends to make the lure run deeper. Is that true?

[BobP]

Square bill? - No. Look at the commercial deep divers DD-22, DT-16, DT-20, etc and they're all rounded. The only attribute I keep hearing about square bills is that they bounce off of / come through cover better than other shapes. Not sure I believe that either since some of the best I've used in heavy cover also have rounded lips !

[diemai]

Also don't know any deep diver with a square lip , in fact such lips are not very common over here on commercials !

Deep diver lips are most likely rounded at their forward end , and narrow down their base end towards the lure's body .

In the book "Crankbait Secrets" by Joe Bucher I have read , that "triangle" lips(like on lures like "Cisco Kid" , "Depthraider" , etc....) are best suited for cover , and I believe it , since these lips make those lures "shake" left/right in a way , that any debris or vegetation would fall off the lip .

@ carver

If you're seriously interrested in crankbait dynamics , I would advice you to take a read in that certain book , it's a pack full of knowledge to me !

Easy-to-follow style of writing , even for me , that English is not my mother language !

Greetz , diemai

[mark poulson]

I'm glad you guys answered, because I only have lipped crank experience from fishing them, not making them.

I would think a square bill would be much harder to use on a deep diver without making it tend to roll and be unstable. Shallow cranks aren't that much of a problem, since I fish them slowly, so I can work them through snags and wood without hanging up. Most of them I've fished are very buoyant, so they tend to be stable on the retrieve. A deep diver is much more finicky. I've played around with the lip shape on several commercial lures, making them into coffin bills, and all it did was reduce their diving depth, and make them tend to roll at faster retrieve rates.

I'm sure Vodkaman will have the definitive answer, if you can pry him out of his secret lab long enough to answer.

[carver]

Thanks, everyone. I went with a longer bill as suggested. Got it epoxied in last night and the bait is prepped for paint. I will try to post a pic when it is complete as this is my first bait. I'm not holding out any hope that this thing will swim where I want it, but it's been fun and I'm sure it will improve as I do more.

Thanks again for your time and input.

[BobP]

When all else fails, take a look a various commercial crankbaits to see their lip configuration vis-a-vis the body size, crankbait weight, where the bait balances fore/aft, lip angle, where the line tie is situated (a big factor), etc. Everything affects everything else so it's as much art form as science. BTW, I've never built a successful 10' diver that didn't have the line tie out on the surface of the lip. A Rapala DT-10 is a good bait to examine because of its stable performance.

[carver]

Uh oh....guess I should have waited a bit longer before setting the hardware. I have the line tie in the nose of the bait. Ooops.

Well. I'll finish painting this one and then start another. Thanks, Bob. I will try your suggestion on the next iteration.

[clemmy]

Carver,

You could still add another line tie in the lip. Might even give you a good education on the effect of line-tie position. Personally, I believe depth is more relative to lip surface area/ angle, and line tie position, than lip shape. Shape to me is more about action and deflection qualities, although I will admit that on a deeper diving bait the higher lip forces can also begin to overpower the design. Also consider that bait action may well decrease with increased depth....

Clemmy