AweStarCustomBaits Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Hello, I'm a jig and plastics maker but I want to experiment with basswood cranks for personal use. I am going to order some 2 5/16 flat side crankbait bodies from Janns. My question is what size square bill should I get for these? It doesn't say how wide the crank is. I guess the next question would be how deep should I cut the bill slot to fit the bill? The bill lengths are confusing also. Any help is appreciated. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I never bought any of the flat sides from janns but I'm guessing they are going to be around 1/2" wide. For the 1/2" flat sides I make I use janns square bill number 008. The number 005 will work too but it stays wider then the lure in the back of the cut. I don't really like how that looks. Maybe wait till the blanks show up before you order the lips. Anything I've ordered from them had never taken longer then 3 days to get. In regards to the lip slot I go 1/4" deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I forgot to mention I use the circuit board lips. Sorry bout that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAWGFAN Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 When buying lure lips, the dimension is usually given Length X Width (at the widest point). You can verify by looking at a style that is much longer than it is wide. The dimension should make sense to you. As barr5150 said, the Jann's 008 or 002 (not exactly square) should fit your bait the best. I agree that the body is probably about 1/2" wide. A lip that is wider than your lure at the small end could always be sanded to fit. As for the depth, my rule of thumb is to not have more than 3/4" of lip beyond the line tie. You'll be in danger of overpowering the bait, and can have excessive hunting or even a full roll over. If your bill slot is tight enough, you can actually test without gluing the bill in. This can save some frustration and time/expense. I tend to make my bill angle fairly steep, trying to get a wider wobble. A flatter bill angle could have a tighter action, and might be more forgiving. There are other factors that affect this as well. These are just some very general things to keep in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
