First Swimbaits... Not A Total Failure

[Tree_Fish]

So I finally decided to take the plunge and start building and fishing swimbaits. I built 4 to start with with the idea I was going to make 2 fast sink and 2 slow sink. Well I got them to the point you see in the photo and took them for a swim test. The 2 lighter lures swam much better than the heavier lures, they have a very nice side to side action. Both lures have just a tiny bit of body roll, not enough to actually blow out but just enough to make it noticeable. The heavier lures had body roll pretty bad the first time I tested them. I backed the joint out a little bit and while this improved the action I am still not satisfied. In looking at most of the commercially available swimbaits I see that the majority of them are fairly uniform down the length of the bait and are fairly close to being jointed dead square at half the bait. (I am talking s-waver style) I? believe? that this was my first error on the shad bodies, the tail is much shorter than the body section and it also comes up at a pretty sharp angle, in no way does this promote equal force on both sections. Plus I read on a thread here that you generally use flatter sides to help with body roll and the tails on all 4 baits are fairly rounded at the end of the section, but they are pretty flat on the sides, I think this is why I got as good of action as I did. I also read not to put weight in the middle section. Well I think this is where my second error is, on a few of the weights I placed them vertically to save space when I should have put them horizontally along the bottom of the bait. I've been kind of rambling up to this point but the questions are coming I promise. Since these lures only have 2 should I space the weight out to avoid the middle? Do the tails need to be more squared off as well? Does it matter if the bait is fairly uniform down the length of the body? I like the shape of the shad bait if I could just minimize the roll but at this point it wouldn't bother me to much to make new tail sections for the shad bodies if it would help stabilize the bait. Any suggestions /constructive criticism is highly welcomed. I'm new to building and fishing these so please do correct me if I'm wrong. I will try to get some videos up on YouTube of a swim test so you guys can actually see what I'm talking about

Edited August 15, 2013 by Tree_Fish

[mark poulson]

Those look really good!

I'm no two piece bait expert, but here's what I would try.

I would try making a flatter tail piece for the shad baits.  Just like with crank baits, flatter sides cut down on roll.

Making your baits tapered in cross section, from the shoulder to the belly, so they have a V section will cut down on roll, too, since the belly will have less buoyant material.  My swimbaits taper from 7/8" at the shoulder to 9/16" at the belly.  It's not scientific.  I taper them at the belt sander, by eye, using my center line as a guide. 

Also, I wouldn't put any ballast in the tail sections.  This keeps them buoyant, so the baits swim level, and it helps with the action.

Let us know how whatever you try works out.

[Tree_Fish]

Thanks for the reply and the compliment Mark! The lures are actually all tapered, I don't think quite to your measurements but the piece of angle iron I use on the bandsaw to trim the skin off the azek is slightly angled, producing a taper from shoulder to belly. Believe it or not I do read old posts hehe. I credit the success I did have on my first build to TU! When I went to do the sink test putting weight in the tails was the only way I could get them to sink the way I wanted to. The lures are so thick that I had to use more ballast than I had originally intended in the baits. I think the next bodies I build will be quite a bit thinner. The weight with hooks and all came out to slightly over 5 ounces on my fast sink and around 4.5 in the slow sink. This is way heavier than I intended! I also tried the JR Hopkins method but the body had 4 sections and the body was so big it needed more weight to sink it than I could fit in there lol. So yeah plenty of errors on my part but hey I'm having fun and I've definitely got the swimbait bug Like I said though it wasn't a total failure, I've learned a lot about swimbaits in the last couple of weeks and I'm bound and determined to get it right!

[mark poulson]

You're definitely on the right track.

I use the AZEK decking for my swimbaits, and the trim board for my cranks, which need to be more buoyant and don't need as much strength to hold hinge hardware.

The decking is a little heavier, but still buoyant, so I can use less ballast.

I keep my swimbaits on the thinner side so they aren't as buoyant and require less ballast.

I use 1/4" lead wire for ballast, and put in into vertical holes I drill up from the bottom of the bait, starting at the front and moving back only if I need more ballast than I can fit in the front.  The eyescrews for the line tie and the hinges limit how deep I can drill.

Good work, and good luck!

[Nathan]

Tree,

You've accomplished two of your three goals on your first baits.....Your having fun and you learned from what you did wrong....Your Third goal of getting your bait to swim the way you want will come in time.Don't be afraid to make those mistakes....Myself and all the other old timers here will tell you that you will learn so much more from your screw ups than your successes ....Nathan