Tested some crankbaits today. Looking for suggestions.

[MarkNY]

I tested 4 lures today. Overall I'm happy but 2 of them were a little unstable. They swam good up to half speed retrieve but then started to roll and come up. First off, should I expect all crankbaits to be stable at full speed? Secondly, what are the general rules for adding stability or creating a stable lure? The top two lures in picture were the ones that were unstable. They had great action until they blew out. The perch bait swam the best with a great wobble and stable swim. My goby lure swam good too but I wish it had a little more wobble to so I'll keep working on that. I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on this. Thanks, Mark 

[woodieb8]

the pull eye is to hi up from lip..bend it downward it will improve stable action.

[jigginpig]

Lip size (and to a lesser extent shape), lip angle, the location of the tow point in relation to the lip, the amount of ballast, and the location of ballast are all factors. Building large batches of baits allows you to isolate these factors by playing with them and keeping notes. In other words, trial and error, with an unfortunate emphasis on error. Most folks don't get it perfect right out of the gate, I would say you are doing very well. 

Symmetrical profile is important too. You may be able to adjust a small amount by "tuning" the line tie to one side or another, but starting with a bait that has bilateral symmetry is very useful. It looks like the bottom alewife type bait has a little more meat on one side than the other. It will take water a longer time to go over the big side than the little side, so the bait will tend to blow out towards the smaller side. Try establishing a LOT of construction lines on your bait when you are carving, and get a contour gauge if yo don't already have one. 

That looks like maple... Is it? Maple is somewhat denser than other woods used for bait building, and because of that you can't ballast it as aggressively. 

I also think dropping the tow point towards the bill could help. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by jigginpig

[MarkNY]

Good points guys. I wanted these to be shallow runners and did a 45 degree lip on them. Might be too much. I've done some of the same with a flatter lip and they swam well but were deeper divers. I'll just keep experimenting. The nude bait is actually 2 pcs with through wire. I found that a little more difficult to keep symmetrical, especially on a thin bait like this. I've been doing solid wood and screw eyes since. The wood is poplar which I love. Mark

[Hughesy]

If you want them to run shallow, take a look at a bagleys balsa b square bill. Notice where the line tie is. Your bill angle is similar so just move the line tie and they should be good to go.

[mark poulson]

If you make a prototype with several different line tie options, you can get a feel for what will work for whichever shape/lip combination you want to build.  Use sst screw eyes, and allow for the additional weigh of the extra screw eyes.

If you use sst screw eyes, you can try a line tie position, then remove it and relocate it and try again.  That way, you don't have to allow for the extra screw eyes' weight.  Just seal the old holes with crazy glue before you test swim your new locations.

 

[All Eyes]

First off, your baits look fantastic!

Jigginpig summed it all up rather nicely.  Lots of trial and error.  Lip size, shape and angle, wood type and bait shape/size, ballast and line tie placement all work together to create a specific action. Sometimes just adding a bit more ballast will stabilize a bait enough to keep it from blowing out. Easy enough to test by adhering weight before drilling into them. 

[MarkNY]

Thanks for the tips! I'll keep tinkering. I'm still working on my method for testing a new model. I like the idea of installing more than one screw eye. Also thought about cutting more than one lip slot. Lately I've been glueing the screw eyes and lip, then sealing the wood with a spray sealer. Then floating the lure in a bowl and getting the proper ballast, then epoxy ballast in and install hooks and split rings and swim test. If I have to add weight I can still drill for that. Don't know how you guys do it but that's what I've been doing. Mark

[MarkNY]

All Eyes, I love your work. Been studying pictures of your lures in the gallery. Great work! Mark

[All Eyes]

Thanks a lot for the kind words Mark! Your baits are looking great also. Very clean work. 

[All Eyes]

As Jigginpig pointed out,  symmetrical profile is very important. Even good eyes can be fooled. One way to check during the shaping process is with templates that you can make in different sizes.  Some use C-shaped templates that check one side at a time. The way I go about is is to fold a piece of plastic masking film, or cardboard, etc. in half and cut out half of an oval (on an oval shaped bait) so that when you unfold it, you have a hole that is perfectly even on both sides. Slide your bait into the hole you cut and line the top and bottom centerline up to the fold in your template.   (Hope this is making sense- I'm terrible at explaining things sometimes)

With different sized templates, you can check the bait from head to tail.  What you are looking for is daylight on one side but not the other. It's just easier to tell where more material needs taken off.

[BobP]

I agree with Mark and Hughes about the line tie placement.  I put the line tie right down on the lip on just about every shallow bait I make.  It gives the bait a wider kick.   Is it absolute proof against the bait spinning out? No.  But if it does spin out you know that the lip is grossly too long which yours don't appear to be, or the ballast is too small.

 If you hand craft wood baits and want to make them symmetrical, a very methodical approach is best.  I use a compass to mark off where to round over the corners on baits  and center lines, and careful measurements and marking lines for tapers.  Others use glue-on templates, etc.  It can be rather tedious to do this but in my experience, trying to eyeball symmetry on a bait is a hit and miss proposition.

[SW Lures]

I agree with BobP on the hit and miss aspect of by the eye. However at the end result it is the eye test that says yes or no. I use the glued pattern technique. This is done by measurement, center lines, etc. I use a profile gauge to check my profile symmetry. I have wrote on how I make/design my profiles. I'm getting into doing the profile now out of lexan, yep both deminions. I give them a name like A, B etc. I drill a hole in the lexan and hang them with the master. All infomation is there or on a spreadsheet.

Yes I agree with the location of the tow eye being to high from the balance point. Remember even with shallow runners you are always pulling up on the bait as you retrieve or troll. Speed of the retrieve starts to multiply the pull factor, so you have to allow for this.

Not seeing the bait in the water or holding it, etc. Ballast could be a factor along with the rest.

Dale

[MarkNY]

Thanks for the help. I'll keep working on it. 

[MarkNY]

Did some more testing today. I made some adjustments to the lip on my shallow running alewife lure that has a 45 degree lip. I cut the length down so it did not extend past the line tie when looking at it from the side. That made a big difference. It tracked straight but also danced from side to side and it didn't roll out at high speed.  I also made the lip wider than the width of the bait. I wasn't able to change the line tie position on this one as it was through wired and complete but I'm gonna experiment with that on the next one. Mark

[All Eyes]

Glad to hear it was salvageable. Those baits look very nice. 

[jigginpig]

One thing I have done in the past is have several lips cut in slightly different shapes and NOT installed in the bait I want to test. I will wrap the end of the lip that goes into the bait with a single layer of masking tape so it friction fits into the body well enough to swim test. You can cycle through a few variations rapidly this way without having to mock-up a gazillion prototypes. 

Obviously water intrusion at the bill is an issue to be concerned with, but I look at these baits as "prototypes" and use them to develop basic styles. PVC works well for this because it is bright white so you can see it good in the water, and it is impervious to the effects of moisture intrusion.