SW Lures Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I have been talking to BobP about these baits. Several swam properly and some didn't. They did well on retrieval test, but when I tried trolling they rolled. I'm hoping to salvage them if possible. The ones that swam correctly caught fish. These baits runs 25' deep with a fast wiggle, and wobble at a nice rate. I'm wondering if the shape, length or width of the lip is the cause. This one runs true, This one does not, I want to show the size of the baits on this one, These were the first baits I made. I think I see one issue from the pic. I was thinking about rechecking the center of the bait to the center of the lip and maybe rounding the lip. So what do y'all think, what can I do with these? Thanks, Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemmy Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 (edited) Likely they are over-lipped. In addition the second bait's lip looks slightly skewed to the left. Having too much lip for the size of the bait is likely what is causing the bait to be okay on a retrieve but roll on the troll. With the increased speed and duration a the forces on a trolled bait are higher. The options to try to salvage would be to try to reduce the lip forces or increase bait stability. Lip: assuming you don't want to deal with moving the line tie: You could narrow or shorten the lip. Stability: Add heavier/larger split rings and/or hooks (make sure they don't tangle.) Add a dressed treble for the rear treble Add weight to body (either lead tape/suspend strips to belly , or lead wire to hooks), once you find if it works you could then add the weight into the body. Flatten the "forehead" and fist half of the back of the bait (in theory flattening the sides could affect too) craig Edited April 2, 2017 by clemmy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemmy Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 Easiest thing to try would be to put an oversized treble (like 1/0-2/0) on the back just to see if this calms it down on a troll. Then you would know that you are on the right track... craig 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Thank you Graig, I have already reduced the width and length and will test them this weekend. I'm going to take some oversize hooks as you suggested. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauds Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 I really like the "add a dressed treble" idea from clemmy; never would have thought of that. I think I'll be trying that in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Young Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 Don't be afraid to use two different size hooks on a bait. Another way to to test different weights is to cut lengths of solder and twist them around the hook. If you find one that works, drill and add permanently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted April 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) Thank you for your ideas. I have change the bill width and length. I also changed the hook size up on the front. The bait ran fine in the testing. This gave me 4 more baits. I took the boat out and all the tools I needed to do the repairs. Did it on the water and in deep water.....lmao. Got it done tho! I'm leaving tomorrow and will see what they can do. I'll be back in a few weeks and hope to have some fish pic's with the baits. Thank you and take care, Dale Edited April 6, 2017 by DaleSW Typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...