DIY Lure Problem

[dylzee]

Hi Everyone,

I have been dabbling in the art of lure making mostly trying to replicate existing lures to learn how they function etc.

The biggest problem I am having is the action on the retrieve. Every lure i have made wants to just do spirals in the water which eventuate to flipping over and rising to the surface of the water.

I have tried different retrieve speeds, tuning the line tie but at no point do they look like they want to create the nice side to side action.

Searching the internet i have not found anything regarding the spiral action it creates. mostly just tuning to run straight etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Hillbilly voodoo]

Explaining issues and solving them is not my strong point so bear with me here. Way easier for me to fix things hands on 

Ok first make sure your lure is balanced so it doesn’t want to learn to one side or the other. Basically if weighting or hardware/hooks are off center it can cause the lure to lean to one side increasing the odds of it spiraling or tracking to one side. Check the balance by putting your lure in the water if it leans to one side it’s not balanced 

If it’s blanced it’s likely the lip over bowers the lure

The lip is most likely over powering the lure causing it to spiral. 3 possible ways to solve this but all will achieve a different action. Move the tow point closer to the end of the lip but this changes the diving depth as well. A smaller lip will cause less resistance preventing a spiral but changes the action and depth depending on the shape/size of new lip. Finally weighting the lure more weight will combat the power of the lip. Changing the location of the weight will effect the angle of the lip when it dives effecting the power/depth the lure dives

if you have ?s on the above ask away. 

[mark poulson]

It sounds to me like you need more ballast in the belly.

When I'm trying to get a bait to fish like a similar commercial bait, I put them side by side in a 5 gallon bucket of water, and add split shots pinched onto the tines of the  belly treble until my bait hangs in the water with the same angle as the commercial bait.

Then I take the spit shots off, weigh them on my gram scale, and use whatever weighted belly hook hanger I need to get that weight.  If I need more than the belly hanger's weight, I use  either 3/16" or 1/4" lead wire to get the additional ballast.

Depending on how long the lead wire I need is, I may have to cut it into two or three pieces to be able to drill belly holes while keeping the ballast low in the belly.  If I need multiple holes, I'll keep them around the belly hook hanger, starting with just in front.

Since, from experience, I've found that most of my cranks need 2 or 3 grams of belly weight, I use the weighted belly hook hangers from Lure Parts Online.  That way I keep my ballast as close to the belly hanger as possible, which is the center+- of the X wiggle of my cranks.

http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Muskie-Bait-Parts/Plug-Belly-Weight-Inserts.html

 

[Hillbilly voodoo]

Mark is giving you the most likely way to solve your problem and a good way to address it. 

Unfortunately my overthinking causes me to wander into all the different factors instead of focusing on the one most likely option before moving forward 

 

[Vodkaman]

You have chosen a difficult lure to start with. I take it that is a pic of the original. I would be interested in a top view of your construction, so we can get a feel for the lip shape and size.

Good advice above. But moving the eye is probably not an option, instead you can achieve the same by trimming the end of the lip closer to the eye. Only by 1mm then test, and repeat.

My advice - start with a shallow swimmer with a deeper body, much easier to work with.

Dave

Edited July 26, 2019 by Vodkaman