Floating Suspending Or Sinking Question

[H20]

Hello everyone,

I have been reading this forum for a while and have gotten some really great tips from here. This is my first post, so hopefully it goes ok.

My question is, how do you determine how much weight to add to the belly of a crank to get it to float/suspend/sink? I was thinking of using a graduated cylinder and seeing how much water it displaces with all components and shoot for the total crank weight being the same weight as the displaced water. If i am thinking right this will give me a suspending crank, then either adding or subtracting weight will change it to a floater or a sinker. Does this sound like a good idea, or is there a way easier way to do this?

Thanks again for all the great information that has been posted on this forum.

Edited December 23, 2010 by H20

[ROWINGADUBAY]

Great plan I think it should work never heard of doing it like that but it should work great but remember paint and clear will change it a little

[BobP]

Having tried 'displacement' with very uneven results, I say just float test the bait. It's no harder to do and seems to be the surest way to get one to do what you want. First, build the bait to the undercoated but not yet ballasted or painted state. Stick in the lip, the hook hangers, trebles, and any other hardware you will use, then float it in water with lead solder or lead fly ribbon weight wrapped around the front treble until it floats the way you want it. Weigh the lead and use that as your ballast amount, minus a small amount (.02-.03 oz is typical on a 2-3" bass bait) that you will add later as finish.

Bait suspension depends on water temp. A bait that suspends in 70 degree water will sink in warmer water and float colder water. Personally, I rarely use jerkbaits in water warmer than 70 degrees so I ballast them to suspend at that temp. In colder water, they will tend to have a slow rise and I can correct that by using a Suspendot or wrapping a little lead around the front treble hook. You can correct a slow rise to suspend but you're out of luck with a bait that sinks at the temp you're fishing it.

[H20]

Thanks for the help guys. I will give the wire weight a try. I suppose if I make a few of the same type of cranks out of the same wood I will able to narrow down the weight well enough to get them close.