weighting crankbaits

[Skeeter]

Excellent..... glad it all worked out. I learned something out of this too. Leave it to Bob to come up with it.

 

"There was one other caveat of importance noted during the experiment. This goes back to something Bob said about an object shrinking when cold and this effecting it's buoyancy. After doing some testing in the cold water with this small bait, I noticed it did not want to float at all in the warm water. Infact, the same bait that would rise without hesitation would not rise at all after testing in the frigid water. After the bait had had time acclimate to the warmer water( appx 2- 4 minutes) it was once again rising to the surface. I tested this too several times and each time same result."

 

"I believe the larger the bait the more of an impact bait temp will have on it. I am equally sure lure composition too will be a factor but in general terms hot baits rise faster than cold ones."

 

I will agree with you about the size and composition of the bait. What was really cool is that you did it with balsa. Thanks for taking the time for the experiment. Good work.

 

Skeeter

[RayburnGuy]

Nice work Vic. Thanks for putting in the time and effort to do the test.

 

Ben

[littleriver]

@ Skeeter 

 

I too liked the results. Something for everyone. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it. Now I have to wonder what the pressures of the deep do to a wood bait, I'll just have to wonder on that point. I have one slight correction to add. The test bait is made of pine ; a wood bait though for sure.  

 

@Ben

 

No problem. It was my pleasure. I would have never guessed temperature of the bait had more of an effect on buoyancy that the temperature of the water. Small changes in water displacement of the bait  go a long way.

[RayburnGuy]

Small changes in water displacement of the bait  go a long way.

 

Your statement reminds me of something that Dave (Vodkaman) spoke of quite some time ago. If I remember it correctly he was saying that even the added thickness of an epoxy top coat, which is really close to having the same weight as water, had an effect on the buoyancy of a lure and that it was the added displacement that caused this. I doubt I'll ever be able to build a bait with such tight tolerances that this would be a factor, but it's kinda cool to think about these things.

 

Ben

[bassguy]

Your statement reminds me of something that Dave (Vodkaman) spoke of quite some time ago. If I remember it correctly he was saying that even the added thickness of an epoxy top coat, which is really close to having the same weight as water, had an effect on the buoyancy of a lure and that it was the added displacement that caused this. I doubt I'll ever be able to build a bait with such tight tolerances that this would be a factor, but it's kinda cool to think about these things.

 

Ben

 

So after reading what Ben wrote, doesn't this kind of circle back to what a suspending lure does; ie, getting to a point of neutral buoyancy so the bait will suspend a desired depth? Oh great, I think I just threw more wood on the fire so to speak.

 

Jerry

[RayburnGuy]

So after reading what Ben wrote, doesn't this kind of circle back to what a suspending lure does; ie, getting to a point of neutral buoyancy so the bait will suspend a desired depth? Oh great, I think I just threw more wood on the fire so to speak.

 

Jerry

 

The way I understand it Jerry is that this is just one of several factors in what makes a lure suspend. This portion of it would be pretty hard to allow for since it would be such a small amount. The main contributing factors in my opinion is going to be the amount of ballast and the temperature of the water. In tests I've done the difference in a slow floater and a slow sinker was such a small amount of ballast that my digital scale wouldn't weigh it even in thousandths of an ounce. I may be wrong, but I'm not so sure that a lure can be made to truly suspend. When I was doing the test described above in the bathtub the bait would take several seconds just to rise a few inches,  but the fact that it rose any at all meant it wasn't a truly suspending bait. The same thing happened in reverse before I removed a wee bit of ballast. It would take several seconds to sink a few inches. Can a bait be made that will truly suspend? I'm not sure since the amount of ballast we're talking about is so small I'm not sure how you would even weigh it. When you have to start taking into account the amount of grain versus sap wood then in my opinion your going to drive yourself silly.

 

In my opinion suspending lures are easier to build out of PVC. This way you don't have to worry about resealing the bait to test it every time you make a change in the ballast. And PVC is going to be much closer to the same density from one piece to the next so once you do your experimenting to determine how much ballast is needed to make your prototype "suspend" it should have very similar rise or sink rates on subsequent baits as long as the lures are as close to being the same size as possible.

 

just my  .............Ben

[rhersh]

Wow! I was thinking of starting to play with making wooden baits, but after reading this whole thread I'm scared.Jk lol

Edited October 4, 2013 by rhersh

[RayburnGuy]

Wow! I was thinking of starting to play with making wooden baits, but after reading this whole post I'm scared.Jk lol

 

Welcome to the madness. 

[rhersh]

It's really good reading, and may I say fun to read all the ideas. Keep it up guys.

[diemai]

Wow! I was thinking of starting to play with making wooden baits, but after reading this whole thread I'm scared.Jk lol

Don't be scared , ...just get a carving knife out and give it a go , ......you can't lose(well , maybe exept your lure in the mouth of a fish too strong for your tackle  ) !

 

Good luck , diemai

[mark poulson]

If you make a jerk bait that slowly rises in the test tank, the line you use can affect it when you fish it, too.  It will remain slightly buoyant if you use nylon monofilament, but will either suspend, or slowly sink, if you use fluorocarbon, depending on the line size.

I use mono when the water's warmer than 70 degrees, because I do want the bait to rise on the pause.

Below 70 degrees, I use fluorocarbon, so I get either a suspending or slowly sinking action with the same bait.

So many variables, so little time!  Hahaha

[EdL]

Mark I was thinking the same thing about line affecting the rise of bait or even how deep a crankbait will go. Some line materials tend to sink while others float  One trick to adjust the bait's sink or fall rate in the field (or rather while fishing) is to have some thin lead wire in the box.  That way you can add bit of wire to adjust the rise or sink rate.  Just wrap a few turns around the hook shank.  Also they sell some stick on weights.  Don't have a good idea how to make it float.

 

The science and theory behind how a lure works is interesting to this ole retired engineer but I don't really worry about it too much about exact fall or sink rate.  I am not that good at finding where the fish are so catching them is more about some knowledge but more about luck for me.  I'm not out to catch every fish in the world.  I'm about just getting out on the lake, enjoying nature and let the world's issue clear from my mind.  If I happen to catch some fish with a lure I've made then the day is an extra special one. That's just me.