Bill thoughts- wake bait

[LBH]

I notice with the slammer type baits, the first section does not have much side to side action. The usual waker uses the square bill. Is there a reason for this? I was thinking of using a triangular bill for the next one and seeing if it gives the first section a bit of swagger. Bad idea?

[BobP]

I don't think a ton of design necessarily goes into lip design for wakebaits. Square lips work OK and they're easy to manufacture, so that's whatcha see. A Shimano Triple Action topwater swimbait has a rounded triangular lip (narrow at the nose and wide at the tip) and they have lots of body roll along with their swim action. I don't know if that's due more to the lip design or the "wave shaped" body however. And I'm not sure you'd want alot of roll in a segmented swimbait. If you're just looking for more swim action, a larger square lip will do that. If it's some other quality?

[LBH]

Excellent reply Bob, thank you.

So, if I go a little "longer" on the lip, it will give it more walking dog type action?

[BobP]

A wider lip generally produces a wider swim action. Longer lips usually dive deeper but they can also introduce some added action because of their greater lip surface area. The segmented swimbaits I've made so far are all wakebaits so I keep the lips fairly short and set them at a very steep angle, about 80-85 degrees down from horizontal. The swimbait I mentioned with the triangular lip has a bunch of body roll, a rear prop and lots of glass beads that make tons of noise - but it has no segments. Everything affects everything else in a crankbait, so changing one feature often has unforeseen consequences. Sometimes the good, sometime not. You do the change as an experiment and the fish decide. Sometimes they want harder action, but not always. The trick is to have a variety of munchies on hand to find something they will eat on the day.