Crankbait Bill Education Request

[SR9]

I have searched the forum for threads containing any answers to my question / questions, but I think that just made me more confused.

Can someone provide me some education on length size, width, different shapes of bills , what effects or affects does each one of these provide?

I think that I have understanding of the angles, as of now.

This might change though.

Any and all statements / suggestions are welcome..

Thanks in advance.....

[Vodkaman]

SR9, excellent question. Normally I would make the answer to this question overly complex, so this time I will not mention vortices (darn, I just did!). So, as long as you just accept that the lip creates side forces, that will suffice.

The width of the lip controls the speed of the action or side to side motion. The wider the lip, the slower the speed. The forces on the lip also cause roll. The wider the lip, the more roll is generated. There comes a point when the roll becomes too much and the bait will spiral or swim on its side and become unstable.

The length of the lip determines the power of the forces. These forces are balanced by the water forces on the body of the lure. A good analogy is a see-saw, were the balance point is the tow eye. On one side you have the lip forces, the other the body forces. If the lip forces are too strong, then the lip is pushed down. It will reach a point were it gets too far down and it will break out to the side and spiral.

This is why on deep diving lips, the tow eye is usually on the lip itself, so that part of the lip force is above the eye, helping to balance with the body. Fine adjustment of this position will get you the maximum depth.

As for the various shapes and patterns of lips, I can

[Coley]

Check this site. It is compiled by one of our very own.

Gene Graham, aka Lincoya;)

THE SCIENCE BEHIND MAKING YOUR OWN CRANKBAIT LIPS

The Science Behind Making Your Own Crankbait Lips

[Milia B]

Coley, thank you for that link it provided all the info anyone could ask for!

[SR9]

Thanks Vodkaman and Coley.

That helped.

Is there really a difference between a round bill -vs- coffin bill?

Or is this just a personal preference type of thing.

From what I have read so far, it appears it all comes down to "deflectivity" -(new word) when comparing round and coffin bills.

But at this point, I know that I have a few things to learn.

[Vodkaman]

Deflecting baits off rocks and stumps etc. is one of the finer points of fishing, endulged by professionals and connoiseurs of rod and line. As I am probably the worlds worst fisherman, I do not concern myself with such issues. I concentrate on lure action.

Action is a combination of many variables, of which lip shape is only a small part. You must also consider, body density, ballast location(s), eye location, lip angle, hook size and even choice of top coat and hook size.

I suggest that you build four identical baits and put a different lip shape in each one. Take them to the lake and let us know whether you could see any difference in the action between them.

Dave

Edited March 20, 2009 by Vodkaman

[diemai]

@ SR9

If you're willing to spent up to 20 bucks , I'd recommend the book "Crankbait Secrets" by Joe Bucher , a very comprehensive book about all aspects of crankbait fishing .

There is a chapter about lip shape and its effects containing as well .

Google it , you may find cheaper , second hand issues as well .

f. e. JOE BUCHER'S CRANKBAIT SECRETS. by Joe Bucher : Ray Riling Arms Books :

greetz , diemai

[brendakshi]

Edited by Nathan

Edited August 1, 2018 by Nathan
Spam

[basscatcher89]

Not sure if the last post was a real account or not but the fact this thread came up just solved so many problems I had been searching for answers to over the weekend! lol

[Vodkaman]

This is a video that I made after this post. I have posted the video before, but I believe it is relevant to this post.

Dave

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by Vodkaman

[mark poulson]

Dave, I could watch your videos all day!

To my untrained eye, the widest action was with the round bill, and it seemed to tighten up as you went from 7 to 10.

Would you post this video somewhere on this site, so we can refer to it from time to time?

Did you ever reconstruct your test tank?

[basscatcher89]

Excellent thank you! Almost a 10 year old thread and great info back then and more now.

[Vodkaman]

Mark - yes, round and square very close in action. I like square because easier to keep symmetry during build.

I have just modeled up a new workshop for the limited space that I have available and should start building soon. I have a few projects to build first but hope to get back to lures soon and obviously a test tank will be required. I might even tackle a new duplicator project.

Where do I need to post the video?

Dave

Edited June 27, 2018 by Vodkaman

[mark poulson]

Dave,

I don't know where to post it.  Ask Nathan.  He knows the site best.

I like square bills for shallow runners, and round bills, coffin, or contour bills for 6-12'.

Deeper than 12', I like round bills.  They seem to get around/over obstacles better.

 

[Nathan]

Dave,

For the lack of a better place to put it..Just put it here on the forum...It definitely pertains to our conversations..Nathan

[barrybait]

To my way of thinking, Vodkaman's video should go into the Forum "Knowledge Based", "Member submitted tutorials", "Hardbait how to"

Good job Vodkaman.  Your bare bait with reference lines help watch the action.  The difference appears more subtle than I would have thought.  I did something similar once but instead of making 4 baits, I made one bait with a lip slot.  Then I made four lips of different shapes for that lure.  I used one or more layers of clear packaging tape over the part of the lip that slid into the slot to keep it in there firmly.  In that way I was trying to reduce variables with the bait and only observe variables with the lip only.  I found the differences to be subtle as well.