ROD W Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 OK, Old Man Winter is not so far away here in the mid-west. Ice will soon close down my field testing facility (AKA local boat ramp). I can't in good conscience sell a lure that doesn't run correctly. Mainly I'm talking diving baits here. How does the rest of the cold weather guys handle this problem? You warm weather types don't reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Though it seldom ices over here in N.C., it is miserable fishing weather in January, February, and early March. The bass agree and unless you build crankbaits that dive 30-50 ft deep (ha ha) a true test to see what the BASS think of your lure is limited to seeing only what YOU think about it. I don’t consider that to be sufficient testing. But what I CAN do is build batches of baits that have proven fish catching ability, to have a supply on hand when fishing resumes. I can build those baits with confidence that they will conform and perform to spec. I don’t tune every crankbait before it leaves my hands. If a user doesn’t know enough to tune a crankbait, he really has no business throwing custom crankbaits. I buy custom wood baits and always expect to tune a new bait the first time I throw it, even if the builder thinks he did it for me. So to me water testing every crankbait I build is a moot point. Jmho 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 I have found a few spots that never seem to freeze even when the lake ice is over 2 feet thick: winding rivers, a channel that connects 2 lakes, pools below dams, town docks/marinas that use bubblers to prevent freezing. If the winter is a brutal one, those openings do shrink some. But, I can usually get in a decent cast. Some rivers only get a skim coat of ice right along the bank. You have to be careful when there is snow on the ground because you can't tell where the land ends and the river begins. I usually break up this thin ice with a stick and walk out a couple of feet in knee high boots to make my casts. There are probably some areas like that near you. It's just a question of finding them. If there is a bait shop in your area that sells live shiners for ice fishing, you may want to ask them. There is a bait shop in my area that keeps shiner traps out in the local rivers in the winter. I am not expecting to catch bass in these areas. I am just looking to see a lure's action and how it runs. A pike or pickerel is possible, maybe a river smallie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitaker201 Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Like JD said, look for a river or stream with moving water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Well I have the same problem so this year I will try the Y and see if I can use their pool if not then see if I can get into the local motels with pools and maybe for a small donation I can use there pool for a hour, even if at one o clock in the morning. wayne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 I've been building the same models of cranks for years now and never put one in the water to see if runs. If you follow a repeatable formula for building your cranks then there should not be any problems from the 1st bait to 100th bait. If you make a change in the formula then you might run into problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 20 hours ago, ROD W said: OK, Old Man Winter is not so far away here in the mid-west. Ice will soon close down my field testing facility (AKA local boat ramp). I can't in good conscience sell a lure that doesn't run correctly. Mainly I'm talking diving baits here. How does the rest of the cold weather guys handle this problem? You warm weather types don't reply. I feel your pain. Good responses above, and the indoor pool idea might work, but lots of pools get crazy when they discover you have "hooks attached". I suggest you don't even bother with the 4 star hotels. LOL Personally, I prefer to do my design work during the "off season", when I have more time. I don't need to test every lure I make because I have a tried and true method on my "production" models, but new designs or modified designs need that open water. I have just as much of a problem during the summer when the water gets cloudy. I know that some that are testing non-divers use a long trough or tank in their basements. I don't have that option either. And if I did, my wife would prohibit it! Vodkaman use to have one of those and his videos were the stuff of legend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROD W Posted November 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Thanks for all the good ideas. I do have a proven design BUT there are factors in construction that I need to consider. Hard to believe but I have created a few negative thinkers that now are key chains or hang in the wall of shame. When I give or sell the baits it's a comfort level to me to say, I have tested each and every one. Now top waters and shallow diving minnow baits I have no worries. The divers are my worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 were lucky. we test in Detroit river. gotta wash your hands after that. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 I am in northern BC so I understand your issue. Bath tub can give you an idea for shallow running baits. Deep diving I resort to driving down to the ferry terminal where they have bubblers keeping an ice free channel Often in the winter if I make a proto type it sits alone till things thaw Winter is making pre tested designs or ice fishing gear mostly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 If you are going to use a pool to test lures, you could hang paper clips or some wire on the split rings instead of hooks. If you have a good scale that weighs fractions of an ounce, you could exactly match the weights of the hooks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 9 hours ago, JD_mudbug said: If you are going to use a pool to test lures, you could hang paper clips or some wire on the split rings instead of hooks. If you have a good scale that weighs fractions of an ounce, you could exactly match the weights of the hooks. Great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 22 hours ago, benton B said: I've been building the same models of cranks for years now and never put one in the water to see if runs. If you follow a repeatable formula for building your cranks then there should not be any problems from the 1st bait to 100th bait. If you make a change in the formula then you might run into problems. BentonB.......you can build them without having to tune them? Not saying it's not possible but I haven't been able to. The only reason I bring it up is I hate freezing my tail off in the winter months tuning 100's of cranks. If I could get out of it I would sure like to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal cranker Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 37 minutes ago, barr5150 said: BentonB.......you can build them without having to tune them? Not saying it's not possible but I haven't been able to. The only reason I bring it up is I hate freezing my tail off in the winter months tuning 100's of cranks. If I could get out of it I would sure like to. move south 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonister Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 One place.. Hot water discharges. Fertilizer plants, nuclear plants, paper mills. Etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Find a local YMCA with a director who fishes, and ask to use their pool for testing after hours, in exchange for lures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 Ya, I second the after hours. I live at an apartment complex, with a pool, and they let me test during the summer. I often go out when no one is there and within minutes there is a dozen people, kids to old timers like me, all wanting to see what that crazy guy is doing "fishing in the pool". Ugggggg 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted November 21, 2017 Report Share Posted November 21, 2017 I don’t know how BentonB does his, but as a hobby builder I keep a library of body and lip templates and a notebook recording measurements, weights of components, wood type and coating details on each new crankbait design I do. That lets me reproduce a successful crankbait and gives me a base line of detail from which to experiment to improve a design. If I want to cook up a batch I made 5 years ago, I just refer to my recipe instead of my faulty memory (which NEVER works). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DingerBaits Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 I end up sending samples and proto types to guys that have open water. Wisconsin is pretty much frozen already where I am at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 2 hours ago, DingerBaits said: I end up sending samples and proto types to guys that have open water. Wisconsin is pretty much frozen already where I am at. Yep, have some at Lake Powell in Southern Utah this week. The problem is that they will be fishing Strippers and if they are hitting/boiling on the shad, anything will work, including a chewing gum wrapper hung off a hook. ROFLOL I hope I get some action video to at least evaluate the action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Ron Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Rod I feel for you and the cold. Wait a minute. I feel for me. I'm just up the road from you in Onawa. And this 18 degree weather is killing my bones and winter hasn't started yet. BobP I was living in Fayetteville and while Casey Ashley was winning the 2015 classic my son and I were fishing Harris and the Cape Fear. It was cold. Hauling butt across Harris heading towards the bridge and then crackle crackle crunch, crunch. 1/2 in of ice never even saw it. No damage or anything. Actually comical at the time. NC may not get ice like we do here in the Midwest or further north but cold is cold. I think I will just hibernate till March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 I'm in the camp with Bobp, very good notes are keep on each body style I build. Each body style has it's own formula for ballast weight, line tie position, lip angle, lip depth, line tie and hook hanger weights, and finally the wood blank weight. When that bait is finished it will be within of .010 of the finished weight in the formula or that bait does not make the cut. This is the process I use and it works for me. I do all my field testing in the warmer months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 16 minutes ago, benton B said: I'm in the camp with Bobp, very good notes are keep on each body style I build. Each body style has it's own formula for ballast weight, line tie position, lip angle, lip depth, line tie and hook hanger weights, and finally the wood blank weight. When that bait is finished it will be within of .010 of the finished weight in the formula or that bait does not make the cut. This is the process I use and it works for me. I do all my field testing in the warmer months. Benton, the question I asked was missed and I didn't want to hijack the thread. I'll send a PM. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblades Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 (edited) On 11/29/2017 at 8:19 AM, benton B said: I'm in the camp with Bobp, very good notes are keep on each body style I build. Each body style has it's own formula for ballast weight, line tie position, lip angle, lip depth, line tie and hook hanger weights, and finally the wood blank weight. When that bait is finished it will be within of .010 of the finished weight in the formula or that bait does not make the cut. This is the process I use and it works for me. I do all my field testing in the warmer months. Wouldn't just the wood density vary more than .010? You can keep the paint and sealer coat within .010? All the hardware used doesn't vary more than .010, when aggregated? Edited November 30, 2017 by dblades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
