Bill Modification

[saltshaker]

If this has been discussed recently...forgive me.

If I were to chamfer the corners of a 1.5 square bill crank......what would be the chance of screwin' up the bait entirely? Bomber did it, so, I figgered why can't I?

Thanks

[mark poulson]

"Coffin bills" for medium running cranks have been around for a while. I think the idea was to get a more snag resistant bait than the round bills, and most medium and deep runners are fished slower, so deflection isn't as critical.

But shallow runners benefit from having the bill wide enough to protect the hooks when they encounter brush and snags, because they are fished fast through the cover. The full square bill keeps them from twisting on impact at higher speeds, so it affords some additional hook-snagging protection.

I think the shallow runners with rounded or chamfered corners may be to help the bait run more true, but I personally don't chamfer or round my squarebill corneres, other than to soften the sharp edges.

But that's just my take.

[BobP]

Well, worst case scenario is you'd trash a $5 crankbait, so what? On the other hand, KVD spent time getting the 1.5 to run the way he wanted and I'm wondering what it is you don't like? Personally, I've had poor results when trying to modify the lips on shallow running plastic baits. There's not a lot of lip to work with and the problem you might think is the lip can be something else entirely. It hasn't kept me from tinkering with them, though.

[mark poulson]

Well, worst case scenario is you'd trash a $5 crankbait, so what? On the other hand, KVD spent time getting the 1.5 to run the way he wanted and I'm wondering what it is you don't like? Personally, I've had poor results when trying to modify the lips on shallow running plastic baits. There's not a lot of lip to work with and the problem you might think is the lip can be something else entirely. It hasn't kept me from tinkering with them, though.

Bob, I read that and had to laugh. I have a few lures that are now worthless because I couldn't leave well enough alone.

But I did rescue one shallow running jointed minnow bait by cutting the lip off almost flush with the bait, and making it a wake bait.

Dumb luck, which I seem to have an abundance of. Hahaha

[bodfish]

Hey guys,

What exactly are you trying to accomplish by chamfering the bill?

bodfish

[saltshaker]

Hey guys,

What exactly are you trying to accomplish by chamfering the bill?

bodfish

Nothing, I suppose. I have some blanks that are beyond saving, so, I just thought I'd practice with tinkerin' with the bills.

[mark poulson]

Saltshaker,

I just reread all the posts in this thread, and we all wound up sounding disapproving, and I'm sure none of us meant to be.

Playing around with stuff is fun, and it's how we learn lots of new things, and grow to understand more about this crazy hobby.

I think we just didn't want you to ruin a good lure without a good reason, and wondered if you were trying to achieve something specific, instead of just experimenting as a learning tool.

In my experience, shaving or reshaping the bill on a store-bought crank doesn't improve it. The lure companies have designed that bill to get optimum performance with that bait.

But I did try it anyway, and learned some things about how lure shape affects both a lure's action, and how deep it dives.

So I wouldn't discourage you from doing it, if the lures are truly beyond saving, as you said.

My test baits were typically Rapala DT's, because the bills on them broke so often (Grrrr!!!!).

I made a wake bait with a DT16...failure. I tried to give it a smaller bill...failure.

I got some DT16 bills from Predator Bass, and put the same size and shape bill back on the bait, and it worked great.

Through all of that, I learned more about how bill shape affects performance, and how bills and ballasting are inter-related.

So it wasn't a waste.

Good luck.

Edited April 21, 2012 by mark poulson

[saltshaker]

No disencouragement taken, Mark. I've screwed up 100's of Bomber jerkbaits throughout the years by modifying this and that, but, some of the tinkerin' suited my application. I just had a couple of crank blanks that had a messed-up epoxy coat on 'em and, since I wasn't about to try to sand the stuff off, I thought I'd tinker. I put the epoxy on the blanks and forgot to turn on my lure wheel. YIKES!!

[mark poulson]

No disencouragement taken, Mark. I've screwed up 100's of Bomber jerkbaits throughout the years by modifying this and that, but, some of the tinkerin' suited my application. I just had a couple of crank blanks that had a messed-up epoxy coat on 'em and, since I wasn't about to try to sand the stuff off, I thought I'd tinker. I put the epoxy on the blanks and forgot to turn on my lure wheel. YIKES!!

I thought I was the only one that ever did that! Hahaha

[bassguy]

No disencouragement taken, Mark. I've screwed up 100's of Bomber jerkbaits throughout the years by modifying this and that, but, some of the tinkerin' suited my application. I just had a couple of crank blanks that had a messed-up epoxy coat on 'em and, since I wasn't about to try to sand the stuff off, I thought I'd tinker. I put the epoxy on the blanks and forgot to turn on my lure wheel. YIKES!!

Isn't bait building and adjustment all part of the learning curve? I have more than a few baits with the "built-in" death roll. So I've put the "deep diver" on the back burner for awhile.Trial and error and info from this site made my baits much better. So...sand away, trim, cut whatever it takes to make the bait what you want it to do.