Questions On Crankbaits.

[BigBaitkid]

I have recently been making some balsa flat sided crankbaits. I would like to know your guys opinions on these things.

- Should I use egg sinkers and put the screw eyes inside and epoxy it?

- Do any of you pour hot lead inside your balsa crankbaits?

- Also i always hear people say to use a 1/8oz egg sinkers for the belly weights and I was wondering how many of you actually have success just using a 1/8oz egg sinker for the belly weight and have a true running crankbait.

-My last question Is for those of you who are experienced at making flat sided cranks. The ones I have made always seem to only run true at slow speeds. Are there any of you who can make them run true at all speeds and are there any tips you guys can give me?

Thanks in advance,

BBK

[jwfflipper]

make sure your lip is perfect! and your belly weight is in the center of your bait! Everything from your rear hook hanger to your line tie HAS to be in perfect alingment! I never use egg sinkers, too easy to have them lean to one side or the other as this will throw your bait off to one side or the other. there are places like lurepartsonline.com to get insert weights for the belly. No screw eyes make your own because screw eyes aren't long enough for balsa. and depending on how big and how deep you want your bait to go depends on the amount of weight you want in the belly. most of my cranks are 2 3/4 inches long and 1/2in thick and 1 inch tall and i use either 3-5 grams to weight my baits.

Hope this helps

Jeff

RiverValleyCrankbaits

[BobP]

" Do any of you pour hot lead inside your balsa crankbaits?"

No, because the hot lead chars the balsa and makes for a very weak bond. If the lure gets slapped on the water (never do that to a balsa bait!) the weight will shoot through the finish and out the belly.

" Also i always hear people say to use a 1/8oz egg sinkers for the belly weights and I was wondering how many of you actually have success just using a 1/8oz egg sinker for the belly weight and have a true running crankbait."

As long as the ballast weight is centered in the bait, it doesn't matter what it is - egg sinkers are OK. That doesn't necessarily mean that 1/8 oz ballast is the proper amount for your crankbait, however.

"My last question Is for those of you who are experienced at making flat sided cranks. The ones I have made always seem to only run true at slow speeds. Are there any of you who can make them run true at all speeds and are there any tips you guys can give me?"

Everything on a bait that runs true at any speed is right. Right amount of centered ballast, the right sized lip centered and at the correct angle, and a body that is very close to symmetrical. It's not easy to make a good bait but it's possible. The more everything is symmetrical and centered, the better chance that it will perform well. For baits that run OK at low speed but fail at high speed, the first thing I ask is whether the lip is too large or maybe canted or not centered. I that looks good, I begin thinking maybe the bait needed more ballast. Many of the most successful small flat side bass baits are 2 1/4" long and weigh .29-.35 ounces. The first bait you make is really only a prototype. There will almost certainly be changes needed to make it work the way you want and you will usually need to make a series of baits to refine your design. If you are careful and keep good notes on how you build them, going from first prototype to "perfect" is a lot faster.

[Nathan]

You can pour your lead into your bait....just pour a little extra so it stands outside the bait...The second the lead skins over (from cooling)turn the bait over on it's belly and push down mashing the soft lead into the bait...I've built several hundred baits doing this and have NEVER had one returned ....Nathan