nitro98 Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 I have gotten my swimbait complete. It is made of resin and has mircoballonns. The action is great but it cant for the life of me get it to swim with the body vertical. It swims at about 30 to 45 degree angle ot being vertical. I have tried a ton of different weight locations to no avail. Again the swimming action is great a high and low speeds it just wont run vertical. Anyone have any ideas for a fix? Attached is a photo if it would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) @ nitro98 Welcome in here at TU ! Hard to tell on a distance just by a photo ! To me the bait looks alright and functional , though on my own swimbaits I prefer to put the line tie and nose low , not high like on your bait . But still my theory of uneven pressure and leverage around the line tie is fullfilled this way ,...... and you state , that your bait does "snake" well so far . I am sure , that your bait requires more weight in its belly to have it remain upright on retrieve , most ballast should be placed into the head section , further down the tail the ballast should become less on each section , ..........the bait should sink in a horizontal level(or also barely float up , if desired) . If it already sinks now with little ballast in its belly , you have made it not sufficiently buoyant , and I'm afraid , that there is nothing much you can do except try cutting some air pouches into its back(probably glue in buoyant material)and trim it again . The longer upward curved chin also enhances the tendency to lay on it's side on retrieve , but this won't be a real problem , if the lure was buoyant enough to accomodate enough ballast to act as a keel weight . good luck , diemai Edited March 28, 2010 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitro98 Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 Thanks for the advice! Yeah i get great "snaking" action. I was actually suprised at how easy it was with a little preparation.I think im going to tweak the head a little. I think is is too long and is acting like a kite in the wind. Right now with no weight the bait sinks slowly and evenly just on its side. the more weight i add the less neutrally boyant i am getting jand im not gaining anything that i want. Also can someone tell me where i can get some smaller stainless eyescrews? I have the smallest that home depot sells but id like some that are a little smaller in diameter. Again thanks for all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxicbaits Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 Thanks for the advice! Yeah i get great "snaking" action. I was actually suprised at how easy it was with a little preparation.I think im going to tweak the head a little. I think is is too long and is acting like a kite in the wind. Right now with no weight the bait sinks slowly and evenly just on its side. the more weight i add the less neutrally boyant i am getting jand im not gaining anything that i want. Also can someone tell me where i can get some smaller stainless eyescrews? I have the smallest that home depot sells but id like some that are a little smaller in diameter. Again thanks for all the help! smaller stainless eyes can be obtained at Janns netcraft.com or stamina tackle or barlow's.. i think barlows carries them. These are all good websites. If your bait sinks slowly with no weight I can understand why you wouldnt want to add mroe weight but boyancy is what will keep your bait straight upright. I have never poured resin baits.. i work with wood.. but i suspect that if you add more micro balloons to your mix then that will fix the problem. moving the line tie and tweeking the head a little couldnt hurt... all you can do is learn more about bait building but i suggest pouring a new bait with more boyancy and this should solve your problem. Also this will give you more control over sink rate and angle of descent. as much or as little lead or tungsten can be added to achieve the desired results Ceaser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.dsaavedra. Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 make it more buoyant and add more ballast and you'll be good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 IF EVERYTHING FAILS.... do the FIX ALL!!! Put a lip in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 It has to do with the mixture of your microballoons to resin................how do I know this? Because I have had the exact same problem lots of times. Keep experimenting. Take notes. RM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 @ nitro98 Do not shorten the length of the head , .........the head section is supposed to be the longest of all ! First to be able to carry the largest amount of ballast inside of the bait , second to generate currents and vortices in the water , that cause the lure to snake at all . The shape of your bait is 100% alright to me , .........it is a problem minor buoyancy of the material only . There is a thread somewhere in here about those currents and vortices , guess it was started by Vodkaman , .....not quite sure , whether it's named "vortex theory" ? If you do a search , utilize the term "Mandelbrot files" or "Mandlebrot files" , a rare term , should not lead you somewhere else . I buy my screw eyes at My link , there are also some small ones available there , ........all are made of stainless steel , no brass ! good luck , diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnbassbuster002 Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 It a lack of balloons I've had the same trouble in the past. My most consistent mix seems to be two part resin to one part balloons. This seems to work well for everything. You can always add more or less but start with that. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rofish Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 Most probably, you have a problem of non symmetrical distribution of weight, from top to bottom of each section. Can be from an uneven density in the material, or lack of symmetry of the lure (left - right) or unproper placement of the weight. It happened to me too, with my crankbaits. Even if I tried to to make everything symmetrical, and the lure appeared to be perfect, when I put the lure in water, with the cylinder lead pressed a little into the vertical holes which I made into the belly, to find out how much weight is needed for each lure, I sometimes saw that the lure does not sit vertically in the water, but at an angle (left or right). In such cases I make a hole on the other side of the lure, at about 1/3 of the height of the lure from the bottom, in which I place a small piece of lead. The leverage of that small piece of lead will correct the sitting position of the lure, bringing it to a vertical position. You can glue different weights on the side, to see how much weight is required to bring the lure to a vertical position. Of course, this would work in case your swimbait would stay afloat, but yours is already a sinking one. Plus you would need to know if you will add weights to all segments, or just one, or just to the segments that have already weights in them. But I think it would be worth trying this method. I am sure that your swimbait will not sink at a much higher rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnbassbuster002 Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 Also I forgot to mention if it is a weight placement issue and you have problems with it swimming on its side and you drill the weights into the bottom it may be that your weight goes too far up the bait. Try taking the weight and drilling it in between the joints and hiding it in the bottom if the bait under the bottom screw eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitro98 Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Also I forgot to mention if it is a weight placement issue and you have problems with it swimming on its side and you drill the weights into the bottom it may be that your weight goes too far up the bait. Try taking the weight and drilling it in between the joints and hiding it in the bottom if the bait under the bottom screw eye. It was a 100% bouyancy issue. Added more microballoons then reballsted it and presto. Actually got a great sink rate perfectly horizontal and it swims true vertically. I did shorten the head slightly before i recasted it with more microballoons. Mother nature knows what shapes work so no need reinventing the wheel there. Thanks for everyones comments and help. As soon as i get done with the detailing and paint i will post more photos. The best thing about my last test is i had about a 3 lbs bass follow the bait. Talk about blood pumping on a bait you made! consider me hooked on lure making! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitro98 Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 @ nitro98 Do not shorten the length of the head , .........the head section is supposed to be the longest of all ! First to be able to carry the largest amount of ballast inside of the bait , second to generate currents and vortices in the water , that cause the lure to snake at all . The shape of your bait is 100% alright to me , .........it is a problem minor buoyancy of the material only . There is a thread somewhere in here about those currents and vortices , guess it was started by Vodkaman , .....not quite sure , whether it's named "vortex theory" ? If you do a search , utilize the term "Mandelbrot files" or "Mandlebrot files" , a rare term , should not lead you somewhere else . I buy my screw eyes at My link , there are also some small ones available there , ........all are made of stainless steel , no brass ! good luck , diemai Thanks for the link. Do you know what the inside diameter of the eye screws are? It is hard to find that information on any of these sites? Im not worried about a long length of the threaded shank as devcon and my casting resin have some pretty good tension capacity but I am looking for that smaller inner diameter to cut down on the width of the slots in the bait segments. It would lust make the bait look cleaner to me. What I am using right now will work but im always looking to do a little better where I can. Also if anyone is looking at a way to make scales on a resin bait, get one of those mesh body scrub things the ladies use cut the rope that holds it together and glue it to the blank let it dry before making your mold. stuff works great . gives good detail, dont have to paint the scale (for those of us who are painting challenged) and you can make hundreds of baits with the mesh in this thing for less than a buck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitro98 Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 It a lack of balloons I've had the same trouble in the past. My most consistent mix seems to be two part resin to one part balloons. This seems to work well for everything. You can always add more or less but start with that. Good luck I used little more microballoons but i was pretty close to that ratio and i get the problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitro98 Posted March 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 Also I forgot to mention if it is a weight placement issue and you have problems with it swimming on its side and you drill the weights into the bottom it may be that your weight goes too far up the bait. Try taking the weight and drilling it in between the joints and hiding it in the bottom if the bait under the bottom screw eye. I have always put the weight on the bottom of the bait. If you go to far into the belly it shifts the neutral axis of the bait. The problem was bouyancy. I didnt have enough to keep the bait in a vertical position with a very slow fall when the ballast was added. i got it now though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 @ nitro98 The inside eye diameter and shank length of the screw eyes is listed in a table in the PDF catalog of "Moore's Lures" . Glad , if I could help , ..........greetz , diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainbutter Posted March 30, 2010 Report Share Posted March 30, 2010 There is a thread somewhere in here about those currents and vortices , guess it was started by Vodkaman , .....not quite sure , whether it's named "vortex theory" ? Yup, the term used in physics is "vortex shedding" Here's a video of a cylinder in current. Imagine instead that the cylinder is your head section of your swimbait. Low and high pressure waves are shed off the head as water flows over it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted March 31, 2010 Report Share Posted March 31, 2010 I used little more microballoons but i was pretty close to that ratio and i get the problem solved. Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
