Weight Placement In A Rat Wakebait

[Luke Brennan]

Im currently making a large rat wakebait. I'm curious as to what people are doing weight wise. Ive weighted and ballast glide baits before but not a wake bait. So my question is, are you weighting the entire bait, front to back. The front section only, or the back section? I was thinking the bait might work well with some weight stuck between the bill and hook hanger. I'd love to get some advice either way.

I still have some details and sanding to do but here is the rat I've been working on.

 

 

 

[jigginpig]

The easiest way to figure out how to duplicate a design is to reverse engineer it. Just get a Nezumma Rat, cut it in half with a saw, and see where the weight is. Then make your copy like Scott Whitmer made the original. 

 

[Luke Brennan]

The easiest way to figure out how to duplicate a design is to reverse engineer it. Just get a Nezumma Rat, cut it in half with a saw, and see where the weight is. Then make your copy like Scott Whitmer made the original. 

 

 

 

 

What can I even say to that?  I'm not looking to copy someones design.  Its pretty hard to make a fresh looking rat bait now a days with all the rats on the market.   even though I'm sure it wasnt a real suggestion, Cutting open a nez wouldn't help me much considering its a resin bait.

 

I got help on some other forums, thanks for your suggestion.

[JRammit]

I know it sounds like extra work.. But the easiest way for me is to build 2 of any new design

One is sacrificial, so no need for paint or details.. You can drill, cut and hack away at it with no fear of destroying it..... In this case, you could drill holes all the way down the belly and p0p weights in and out til you find what works best..... Then youll know how to weight the second one

This is also good practice.. If you're able to build the same bait twice, youll be able to build it 3 or 4 times... Incase (knock on wood) you ever lose it

[surfk9]

Luke the rats that I've made have ballast only in the first section (2piece bodies)
My ballast has been just behind the hooks
Your material looks to be pine (??) it should be fairly buoyant you'll just need something to keep it from rolling over... Your idea of ballast location sounds good to me... I've found my rats work a little better with a flatter bottom... Also they "walk" better with the tie closer to lip...like your design be nice to see finished product.. The grey rat is total length of 31/2 inches the brown is a little over 4 inches
( excluding tail). They're a lot of fun to fish good luck!! As you can see i moved the tie closer on the grey rat to get it to swim better...trial & error...lol

Edited March 24, 2016 by surfk9

[Luke Brennan]

I know it sounds like extra work.. But the easiest way for me is to build 2 of any new design

One is sacrificial, so no need for paint or details.. You can drill, cut and hack away at it with no fear of destroying it..... In this case, you could drill holes all the way down the belly and p0p weights in and out til you find what works best..... Then youll know how to weight the second one

This is also good practice.. If you're able to build the same bait twice, youll be able to build it 3 or 4 times... Incase (knock on wood) you ever lose it

 

 Thats actually a pretty solid idea.  I am currently making two rads but one is a flat joint (the one I posted) and the other is a V joint that will use a spoke as a hinge pin.  Im sure the trial and error on this bait will help a bunch on the next one for sure.   Seems like everyone does things a bit differently depending on the rat.  A lot of the suggestions I received from other people were to basically start with no weight, see if it swims and go from there.  Not a bad idea either. 

 

Thank you for the advice.

 

Luke the rats that I've made have ballast only in the first section (2piece bodies)

My ballast has been just behind the hooks

Your material looks to be pine (??) it should be fairly buoyant you'll just need something to keep it from rolling over... Your idea of ballast location sounds good to me... I've found my rats work a little better with a flatter bottom... Also they "walk" better with the tie closer to lip...like your design be nice to see finished product.. The grey rat is total length of 31/2 inches the brown is a little over 4 inches

( excluding tail). They're a lot of fun to fish good luck!! As you can see i moved the tie closer on the grey rat to get it to swim better...trial & error...lol

 

 Your rats are looking very nice.  and it also looks like you live in Monterey, ca.  Im in Santa Cruz.  Small world!

The wood I used this time was western red cedar.  It appears to be very light and I would imagine quite buoyant .  Like ive mentioned above, it seems like some people dont use weight and allow the hooks to ballast the bait, and go from there, which is what I'll probably end up doing.  I plan on keeping the line tie closer to the bill, so thats a good suggestions.  I wasnt aware that a flat bottom and the line tie were components in the rat walking correctly.  Thank you for that.

 

I'll post a pic of it finished, and my results for others who may have had similar questions.

 

I appreciate the compliment and advice.

 

Luke

[surfk9]

Luke not really certain you need the flat bottom...the "punker style" baits I've made have the traditional taper from the dorsal to ventral side...they walk great!!! Like JRammit says it would be nice to have two of the same to experiment with...good luck...Mike

[token12]

Hmm...i would seal the bait first, then with a hot glue gun and weights, hot glue them to the body and test them out in a sink and keep moving weights around to see which set up works to get the right balance you're looking for. 

[mark poulson]

You might have an easier time if you add your hook hangers, seal, then put on the hooks and hang egg sinker to the belly hook tines to get the right ballast amount.

You want just enough to keep the bait from rolling when retrieved.

And like Surf said, no ballast in the tail section is key, so it is really free to wiggle.  Think Twerk!