New Here Couple Questions

[Bass&Duck]

Hello all,

 

    I'm new to the site and lure making in general.  I've been carving some plugs, rip/glide baits, poppers and cranks, all from cedar.

 I've got all the belly weights, hook hangers and miscellaneous hardware I need, my main question pertains to the belly weights and how to ensure they don't pull out.  I usually put 1.25-1.5 inch I hooks for line ties so I'm fairly confident they wont pull out. I've never put a belly weight in a bait but I've got a few to do this weekend and I'm curious if anyone has ever used marine grade JB weld to secure the weight and seal the hole. Thanks for any and all advice, I am by no means and expert but I really enjoy carving and making baits, lets hope the fish like them as much as I do.  

[Vodkaman]

I presume you are attaching your belly eye through the lead. Nothing wrong with this, I have used this design before to save space.

 

I don't know anything about the JB weld product, but I would say that your ballast is secure. It is all to do with the area of bonding contact. For example; a 6mm dia lead weight has 3x the bonding of a 2mm dia twisted wire hole for the same length.

 

If I am trying anything new, I set up a simple pull test; Fix an eye to a door or roof beam, some line and a bucket of water as the load. My standard is that the test piece must survive 24 hours. I just measured my standard bucket for you; it holds 14Ltr of water which is 30Lb. I think that is a pretty good test.

 

DAve

Edited April 1, 2015 by Vodkaman

[Bass&Duck]

That's and excellent idea, I really appreciate the help.

[mark poulson]

You can use any water-proof epoxy.

I used cotter keys pushed through egg sinkers for my belly weights for years, and never had one fail.

If you're just putting ballast in without a hook hanger, there is no strain on it, so you can add a couple of drops of crazy glue to hold it in, and fill the left-over hole with bondo, which sands easily.

You can reduce hook rash by turning your belly hook hanger cross-ways, so the tines of your treble hooks straddle the belly.

[BobP]

An epoxied belly hanger/ballast won't pull out of a cedar body.  If you want a little extra insurance, roll the belly weight between 2 bastard files to rough up its surface and increase the adhesion.  As far as the epoxy goes, I've used 30 minute epoxy, 5 minute epoxy, paste epoxy, and epoxy putty logs to install belly weights and have never had one pull out over hundreds of crankbaits.

[Bass&Duck]

Thanks guys,  I got the weight in and was really happy with the results until I dropped it in the tank to test it. When I tested the bait initially I had a small guide hole drilled where the weight would go, I inserted a small I hook with a split ring on it, hooked to the belly weight.  5 grams made the bait sit correctly and got me the desired walking motion I wanted.  when I put the weight inside the bait however, it rolled back on its side.  I suppose the angle of the weight hanging below the bait was greater than its influence on how the bait sits when its actually inside the belly of the bait. Back to the drawing board.

[mark poulson]

Where the ballast weight is in regard to a centerline running from your line tie to your rear hook hanger is critical in how stable you lure is.  The higher the ballast goes up into the lure from the belly, the less stable the lure becomes.

A general rule of thumb is to keep you ballast as close to the belly as possible, and also closely centered around the belly hook hanger.

Using a preweighted belly hanger, one with lead already poured around it, gives you a good start.  Or you can use an egg sinker, with your belly hanger wire pushed up through it, and spread at the top.

Small cranks are the hardest to weight correctly, because you have less space to play with, so how you do stuff is more critical.

Good luck.