woodenfeather Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi Guys, I was checking out the sebile stick shadds and was curious about the keel it has and what this brings to the table as far as action is concerned. Part of my brain says it would inhibit the walk the dog action, but from experience the more flat the sides are the quicker it turns? I find it an interesting feature and was wondering what you guys thought. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to make a subsurface twitch bait . My head is full of ideas on how I can achieve the action I want and still have a nice tapered fish shape( I'm assuming the shape is why mine suck). Here's a pic of the stick shadd. Thanks, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Musky lure builders make lots of subsurface jerkbaits and gliders. Perusing the building plans on http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html it seems to me that where the bait is ballasted has the most effect on a glider's action. Many of them use tail ballast to induce the correct subsurface walking action. Every little thing you do to a bait affects its performance but I know nothing about external keels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) In my experience with walking lures, Bob is right about the ballast being the most important factor. Placing the center of gravity just slightly behind the mid point will result in the tail having more inertia, and continuing to move after the front has stopped. The farther back the ballast, the more exaggerated the walking motion, but the harder you have to jerk to work the lure. There is a fine line between having a bait that walks, and one that's so tail heavy it just sinks tail first. Every bait is different, so I find I have to test each new shape to find the "sweet spot". I've found deeper bodies roll less, due to water resistance on the sides. Edited June 2, 2011 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenfeather Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Thanks Guys, that website is awesome. I repositioned the ballast weights to the tail and nose and it has a much more exaggerated side to side motion. Still needs some work though because it wants to nose dive. I think I need to try a different wood. I am using cedar and I need to add over an ounce of lead to get it to slowly sink. That's in addition to the two 4/0 saltwater trebles and three split rings, plus a through wire harness of 1/16" dia. stainless. Thanks again, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
