muskietom51 Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Kind of curious how you guys go about lip placement is it usually a visual procedure? Sometimes I have a hard time getting it just right. I got a lure with good action finally but when retrieved faster it wants to pull to one side, Other than bending the line tie how would using a file on the lip work? Any other tips on truing a lure would be helpful. I've done a little searching but my server is running really slow here today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 (edited) It can be tough to get them aligned if the body is not perfectly symmetrical, which most wood baits are not. Even roto-molded wood baits are usually not truly symmetrical. It starts with a good square cut lip slot and a good symmetrical lip. I sight down the belly from the tail to see if the tail hanger, belly hanger and lip seem to align and if equal amounts of lip are showing on each side of the lure. If it looks OK, I look at it from the top to see if it looks straight and even from that perspective. Another alignment aid is a laser level. If you mark the lip's center tip when you trace out the lip, you can sight the laser level down the tail and belly hangers and the line should hit the mark on the tip of the lip. I have not had good results reshaping lips to correct alignment because while it equalizes the areas on each side of the lip, it also distorts the lip shape. I'd rather bend the line tie - that's a natural part of lure tuning. If it just won't tune, you might as well try trimming the lip but it's a last desperate resort. Edited December 27, 2009 by BobP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 I know this has been discussed before, but I too came up dry with 30 minutes of searching. So it is probably worth a discussion. My test tank is currently in a dismantled state, after my recent relocation, otherwise I would have nipped down stairs and done a few tests for you and myself. From what I remember from testing lures, is that you bend the tow eye in the same direction that the lure is pulling or shave the lip on that side. This makes sense to my engineering mind, but I have just read an article that states the complete opposite. So I would wait for a few more responses before attacking the lip. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Dave, Dave, Dave .... you bend the line tie away from the direction in which the lure is pulling! That may be counter-intuitive for an engineer looking at it from the perspective of balancing out the hydrodynamic forces on the left/right sides of the lip, but that's how it works. What side would I trim (if I were to trim a lip)? Whichever side looked like it was sticking out too far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Thanks Bob for clearing that up for me. I really need to make some space and get that tank filled again, I'm getting rusty. Tom, maybe you should post a pic, end on, so that we can see the problem. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rofish Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 I always shave the lip at one side before I try bending the tow point. I know, I know, that it is much easier to bend the wire than to shave the lip, but I like to have a good looking tow eye (I mean straight). So when a crankbait has a tendency to pull to the right, for instance, it means that the surface of the lip on the right side ( the right hand half of the lip) is bigger that the left half, so you need to trim the lip on it's right side. When the perfectly symmetrical lip has a slight angle to the left or right, things are a little bit more complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskietom51 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Thats what I was thinking also trim the lips. I heard about a guy that went to a pond with a bucket full of lures an tuned them I bet a lil twicking should do the job, but yeah no 2 baits are sysmentical alike also. Well just got home tonite snowing big time 4 inches sofar I bet the waters hard now. I always wait til it gets cold before I mess with lure building lol. Going to change things this year. Thanks for the replys guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrophius Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Thats what I was thinking also trim the lips. I heard about a guy that went to a pond with a bucket full of lures an tuned them I bet a lil twicking should do the job, but yeah no 2 baits are sysmentical alike also. Well just got home tonite snowing big time 4 inches sofar I bet the waters hard now. I always wait til it gets cold before I mess with lure building lol. Going to change things this year. Thanks for the replys guy. I know there was a tutorial on cutting the lip slot somewhere on here, but I could not find it for the life of me, maybe it was a post. I think it was hazmail that posted some pics of how he does it. Basically if you have one, a table saw works well. i dont have one so I use a mitre box on my blanks before I shape them. Here is a thread on it. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/16659-crankbait-lip-slot/page__hl__lip%20slot__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidergrub6 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Just like everyone else I've delt with this problem of lip alignment. The best thing I have found is to cut the shape of your bait on a flat piece of wood, then using a scroll saw or band saw I cut the lip slot for the bait while it is still flat. Doing it this way ensures that the slot is perfectly straight and square. You still have to manually check the lip when putting it in but at least the slot isn't off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
