Pickadoll Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 Hi everyone! I have made lures for about 4 years now. Mainly Jerkbait gliders and Tailbaits for pikefishing but I never made any crankbait/wobblers. I want to learn how to make Crankbaits now cause I like trolling for pike :)! Here is my questions: How do I know how thick the radius of the lip should be compared to how thick the wood of the lure is? How do I know how near the front/head of the lure I should attach the lip? How long should the lip be? How sensitive is a crankbait for different weight positions? Is there some kind of formula for these moments as a starting point for a newbie or is it just trial and error (as usual) :)? You can see the lures I've done before at Instagram: pickadollbaits Thanks! /David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted February 2, 2017 Report Share Posted February 2, 2017 David, the best advice I can give is to pattern your bait after a commercial bait that you like and has a good reputation. Ballast position does have significant effect on the action of the bait in terms of the bait's attitude as it swims, how active the swim action is, and the amount of body roll during the swimming action. There is at least one Scandinavian musky lure site that has templates including info on ballast position for a range of popular musky/pike lures. I don't have the URL handy, so maybe someone else can chime in with it. Oh, and yes, whatever route you take usually requires some experimentation and testing before you get what you want. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickadoll Posted March 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Sorry, I forgot to answer you BobP haha but it's never too late ;)! I have made a couple of prototypes. Ballast had effect on my models but I think that lip position and line tie position was the most important to get right. I will add some pictures of the lures when they are done. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 For pike they prowl in mid rang 15' to somewhat shallow 4' or so. My question is the depth that you want to troll for them? The lip angle is important for the depth. I agree with Bob on the manufacturers bait that you like for this fishing. You can just trace around the lure to get a pattern. Then you can use a profile gauge for the 3D profile. Ballast has a lot to do with depth of course but can change action for the good or bad. We all would want the first one. Think about this do you want the bait to float with no retrieve or sink, floating nose first or whatever. The ballast controls this as you probably know. I gave up on suspending, water temperatures can change the speed vertical movement. I have a 8" bait that may do well for this. The bait has a shad shape head with a small amount of flat sides. It's tapered down to a round tail. I'm sure you can come up with a design that you like. Good luck, Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
