Crankbait Lips

[brendandrage]

Hi all,

I have decided to dabble with a few crank baits and am happy with the progress of the pro to type so far but have hit a stumbling block with the bibs. The lures are for large Australian natives largely Murray cod, the lures will be deep divers to around 6-8 meters and made of balsa wood. The bibs themselves will be quite large and I would like to know what type of product to use, how to cut it and lastly how ensure a neat finish with consistent shape?

I know I am asking a lot of questions that may have been covered in the past but I couldn't find any with the search feature.

Thanks in advance legends!

[Fishwhittler]

I use 1/16" lexan from US Plastics for my bills. I trace the pattern for the bill on the plastic film on the lexan, cut it out with tin snips about 1/8" from the line and sand it to final shape using a dremel with a sanding tool I made. Pics of the tool are below. You'll need aluminum flashing, closed-cell foam, #80 sandpaper and a dremel cut-off wheel mandrel. Trace a 1 1/4" circle on the flashing and the sandpaper (an empty spool of thread works well for this), cut out and drill or poke a hole in the exact center of each. Cut a smaller (7/8-1") circle out of the foam. Assemble by putting the sandpaper on the screw first, then the foam and then the flashing. Once you have the bill sanded to shape you can polish the edges by hand with finer sandpaper. The tool can also be used with #50-80 sandpaper for sanding lures.

Hope this helps.

Ben

[BobP]

It's a challenge to get a slow floating bait that will dive 6-8 meters. There are a few that will go to 6, very few that go to 8. The lip has to be oversize and the bait has to dive really well. A majority of the baits I've seen in this category have lips made from thin 1/32" G-10 circuit board. And they weigh 1 to 1 1/4 oz. I use basically the same method as Fishwhittler to shape lips in Lexan (polycarbonate) or circuit board. I make a paper template, trace it onto a sheet of plastic and cut that out. Use the plastic template to outline the lip shape on the paper backing of the polycarbonate or directly onto circuit board. Do a rough cut with metal shears and sand down to the exact line with a Dremel. In my case, I just use a 1/2" diameter fine grit Dremel sanding drum. You can dress the edge with a Dremel felt polishing cylinder if desired.

As far as consistency of shape, it starts with the first paper drawing. Either use drafting tools and be exact, or use a CAD program (free versions are available) and do it on a computer. I use a CAD shareware called "Powerdraw". The benefit with CAD is that you can get it symmetrical and the shape measured exactly in the computer, with the line tie exactly in the center of the lip surface. And with CAD, it comes out the right size when printed on a standard printer.