Crank Bait Problem...

[Sharptooth]

I am having problems with some of my jointed crank baits. When bringing them through the water they want to come up on their side. Some do this and some dont. I thought maybe I wasnt getting my lip in square and I read Big Bass Mans post and the advice you guys gave him on cutting lip slot. I also notice that if running the baits slow it is less likely this will happen. I connect my lures bodies with screw eyes and joining them together as you can see in the pic below. Any help is appreciated.

[MuskyGary]

How long is the bait and how much balist are you using? When it floats on its side is it the front half or the rear half or both?

[diemai]

@ Sharptooth

Many causes possible for your problem , ....first thing is , I'd check whether enough ballast has been inserted .

Probably your timber material also lacks buoyancy , thus you cannot add enough ballast without rendering your bait into a sinker , also minor buoyant wood does not offer as much sideward stability .

Also you can reduce the lip size a bit , but this also reduce diving depth and wiggling action .

You may also try to put the line tie a bit lower towards the lip(not in general , but for this particular lure) , this reduces the leverage around the line tie caused by the oncoming water pressure .

By mentioning your joining method I figure out , that you are blaming that joint for your problem somehow , ..........but this won't be the case at all .

Just try to temporary tape some ballast under the belly of the front section(rear section should possibly remain unweighted not to slow down the "snake" move)and see , what your lure does , .....if no more ballast can be put still keeping the lure afloat , try to reduce the length of the lip or make it more pointed towards its tip, just STEP BY STEP , ...always test inbetween .

Next time try using more buoyant wood , this can carry more ballast , so you have better opportunities of balancing you lure .

good luck , diemai

[Vodkaman]

I wrote a lengthy reply to this thread, just as Tu shut down and the text was lost. It was all about more ballast, shorter lip, messing with the tow eye position, pretty much a duplicate of Diemai's post.

You could try a steeper lip angle next time, say around 70 degrees. But this will result in less depth. You have some experimenting to do. Good luck with it.

Dave

[Sharptooth]

Thank You guys for your help. I took it to the pool with some lead and black tape and believe I have it figured out. Just needed a little bit of weight in front of the first treble. I still cant run the lure very fast but gonna experiment with the lip angle and see what I can come up with.

[diemai]

Thank You guys for your help. I took it to the pool with some lead and black tape and believe I have it figured out. Just needed a little bit of weight in front of the first treble. I still cant run the lure very fast but gonna experiment with the lip angle and see what I can come up with.

You have to be aware , that your lure would most likely swim a little different , after you would have finally embedded that taped weight into the belly and painted over the weight hole !

Now the weight sits a bit higher compared to being taped underneath the belly , thus has a bit less of a "keel" function , ........also your lure would be a little less buoyant , as you remove buoyant material to insert the ballast piece .

To gain as much of a "keel" function as possible , do not use cylindrical or drum-shaped lead chunks placed into deeply drilled belly holes , but beat your lead chunks flat into a kinda brick shape and insert them into flat pouches cut ou with "Dremel" router bits(provided that the lure dimensions allow for sufficient space to do so) .

The closer your ballast sits to the belly outline , the more sideward stability you build in to your bait .

good luck , diemai

[woodieb8]

hi there. heres my humble opinion. the lip is too long to realation of pull screw. that causes roll. normally we install the pull screw lower down with 1 inch max from screw to lip end.

another thing is the belly hook should be moved forward, which will help as ballast. or try a larger treble.. try this i bet it will help your adventure.

[Sharptooth]

Thanks guys, Woodie, are you saying I should use a smaller lip or move it back further on the lure? Im just getting started and everything I have learned has been trial and error so any info or shortcuts I can get I appreciate.

[mark poulson]

A small suggestion.

Try using Plano box dividers for lips when you're testing. They can be easily trimmed with siccors to make them initially, and then with toenail cutters or diagonal pliers when I'm testing them, and are easy to install and remove with crazy glue.

I always start with a lip that's a little bigger than I think I'll need, and trim it on the water until it works the way I want it to. After that, it's a simple matter to replace it with a lexan bill of the same size and shape.

Edited September 1, 2011 by mark poulson

[woodieb8]

what i suggest is lower the pull screw. install on anupward angle.. i am computer stupid. i build daily but cant even post pictures.. . as stated assuming the lip is straight its fine. it appears to be cut near 45 degrees., which is good for a medium dive.

send me your e-mail i can forward a picture to show you from my files.

[MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF]

Add more weight to the belly.... then move your eye tie on the nose down close to the lip and under the throat of the bait..that is where I would start first. If that still makes it blow out! Which is what I call it.... Move it back up more on the nose of the bait.. But by looking at your bait I think you need to move your line tie placement down and add weight to the belly of your bait to help the balance.

Sometimes is just trial and error.. hopefully Im correct..but I have been wrong before.

The Rookie

[Sharptooth]

Thank You all for being so helpful. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to make some more jointed ones so I can experment a little more. Hopefully I will get a chance this evening to work on them.