Spec Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Has anybody built a lure to simulate a hooked hammer handle (Northern) I ask because this last summer, I had 6 or 7 Muskies and really big Northern's hit smaller ...Largest was 24" caught fish ( I had to keep 2 13-15" because they were so severely injured) Over the years I have seen this hundreds of times on the river I was thinking a 3-4' depth, with a slow rise, and kind of a cockeyed lip or something so it would swim erratically and roll at a different speed. Like a hooked H.H. does Possibly even a jointed body at bad proportions What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Check the hard baits gallery. Someone posted nice pike jointed lures there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 This is my Dying Trout....your weight placement can have a huge effect on how your bait acts...I would mess with that instead of mounting a bill in off kilter...Lead..Not just for ballast anymore..lol..Nathan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeee Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 (edited) One of my favorite baits for pike and sometimes musky , is the old magnum Rapalas. You can twitch them like walking the dog baits and they pause and spin, stop and change directions, as long as you keep them moving in an erratic way the pike go insane. They follow them, strike and if they miss they keep on striking I have seen them strike 10 times before getting hooked. If I was to build a rolling bait I would copy the magnums and they have a pike like shape so it would be easy to paint them in a pike pattern. We use to call the action " The Dying Flutter" Edited December 15, 2014 by Jdeee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted December 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Thanks JDEE, I looked them up and they look like they should be not too hard to build Nathan THAT'S AN AWESOME LURE!!!!! It really is OUT OF THE BOX THINKING I'm thinking about the "Barrel Roll" that they do when you get them close ...That seems to be where they get hit 5-10' from the boat I troll more than I cast... I have A.S (Really bad Arthritis) So only a few casts and my upper body is hammered to a pulp That was the reason for changing speeds to get the Lure to roll I was also wondering about a rubber/plastic tail or an angle mounted dorsal fin, so it would "pull" to one side or the other depending on what side of the boat your fishing...Sounds stupid but I mostly river fish and can run 2 rods It seems that maybe I just want to build an Ill handling lure on purpose 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 (edited) I'm not an expert Spec, but it would seem to me that if you put an angled fin, or tail, on a bait it would roll continuously. Sort of like a rudder on a sailboat. Once you turn the rudder it only steers to one side. Ben p.s. Sorry to hear about the A.S. I have my fair share of those types of problems and it sucks when you have to endure pain just to do something you love so much. Hang in there. Edited December 15, 2014 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted December 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Thanks Ben, I was kind of thinking that... If it could just roll all the time...I was hoping to troll it slow and kick the trolling motor up a notch to entice the roll After getting back into building Lures it's just amazing the new stuff out there compared to 35 years ago when I was learning from an old timer And the advancements thanks to the GREAT MINDS of forums like this! Just tested 5 Different Lures that got whipped up this last week and they all swam in the bathtub! Anyways I hear ya on the AS thing...when lake fishing I load up on oxy's...But on the river I need a clear head...so Ibuprofens... either way if I have a good day fishin' I'm gonna have at least 2 days of paying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Like I said before..weight placement can have a huge effect on a baits action..You may want to try placing some weight a bit higher on your bait...Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Like Nate says weighting can play a huge role in how your lure acts. Sad thing is there's no magic formula that works for everything so it will take some experimenting. And there are other ways of making a bait almost unstable without altering the shape of the lure. Namely amount of ballast and it's location. Play around with differing amounts of ballast, fore and aft location as well as top to bottom location. You might be surprised with what you come up with. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Thanks Guys, I RE-swam 5 small (Biggest was 5") Units in the bathtub tonight...The wife didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as I did unfortunately they all swam really stable Until I zip tied some small sinkers in weird places Nathan and Ben, You guys are 100% on the ballast I have another Newbie kind of question...I'm thinking it should probably be jointed? What do you think? Keep in mind I haven't built a Lure except these 5 in 35 years or more. Joints just escape me But, did a lot of research and ended knowing less than when I started was thinking the pin and plate Joint would be the way to go because of the conditions it would be subjected to on the river Rocks, snags, stumps etc... Any suggestions? Edited December 16, 2014 by Spec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Years ago I did a series of angles bill baits, to simulate a bluegill struggling to swim upright. Nate's right, unless you use a jerk/pause retrieve, the bait just rolls over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Until you get the hang of things..I'd use a simple eye screw to eye screw joint to start with.After you understand what your doing you can change it if you want..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted December 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Thanks for the input guys, I have some new ideas, They are pretty abstract at this point, so I'll post up pix when I cut the blanks and ask for more input then Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Nathan, I'm cutting the blank now (For a jointed 2 piece Mooneye) 8 1/2" long I noticed on yours you had 2 hooks I was thinking of using 3 - 2 in the front section and 1 in the tail Is that over kill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogAddict Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Nathan, Where did you put the ballast on that lure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Spec, I prefer to use 2 larger hooks instead of 3 smaller ones..but that is just a personal thing..I hate fighting a third hook when trying to unhook a fish... Frogaddict, The ballast to stand the bait up is located in the belly of the bait under where the hook hanger is...The rest of the weight is along the side of the bait...Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec Posted January 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks Nathan, I wired it up for 3, Because where I'll be using it the water clarity is pretty bad. About 28 to 36" But some of the lakes are really clear, 15 to 30 feet, I should probably build a couple I'm thinking of using 4/0 hooks or maybe 3/0 I agree on the third hook being a pain...Can't tell ya how many times I've had tp get the hook pliers out to get them out of my own hand, But It's hard to predict where they are going to hit it From what I can remember they tended to hit the "Handles" right behind the gills (It all happens so fast on the water) That's why I was thinking 3 ( I've had them grab them more mid to closer to the tail as well) Thanks for the input...I really appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
