ravenlures Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 starting to make a 14" trolling lure what sizes do you guys prefer, and depth. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 All depends on where and what I am fishing for. Between pike and lake trout I can use anything depth wise. Size the lures I make mare between 4-8inch usually 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted May 19, 2020 Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 we build 10-11 and custom 15 inch. max depth 18ft. muskies are hard to get a bite deeper. ..law of average slower when built bigger. colder water metabolism slows up.here on l st clair and st lawerence ,speeds slow up . under 45 degree,s we troll 2.5-3.1 mph. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted May 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 So I should try for 10' to 20' for trolling, I can do that, of course it depends on how much line out. My 9" lure with 25' out 7' deep with 50' out 13' deep 75' out 18' deep 100' out 22' deep, at 3.5 mph, so my lip angle is in the area I want. That is with Cedar, and with Maple a few feet deeper. If this works for me I will switch to a resin bait or it just might be better in Cedar some guys just like wood. I am changing my style of my three baits to a narrower bait, something I have wanted to do since I started making this lure, I hope to get a tighter wobble, as always my method is trial and error, till I get want I want. TEST...TEST..TEST. Thanks Guys Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted May 19, 2020 Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 Wayne something I have found effective that you may want to try out is building a bait that is wider then it is tall. In my opinion a lot of the time the fish is looking up at your bait so a wide belly profile can help catch there attention. Combined with a paint job with contrast between the belly and sides alone with an action that has a wiggle combine with a good tip side to side. my goal is to try and get the contrast between the colour of the belly and sides to flicker. Just something I do with good results on a few baits 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted May 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 Maybe I will try that on a smaller bait. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Something does not make sense to me, "WIDER THAN TALL" so the size will be, so you are saying that a 4" lure high should be 6" wide better explain better to me I am missing something. At first I was looking at the length (7" long X 9" wide) help me. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Just got to work when I get home I will take pics to explain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman03 Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Most of the muskie trolling baits we use on LOTW in the fall range from 10-14". As far as depth, when the water temps are 40+ degrees, we get most of our bites from 10-20 feet. Cranks like 10-14" grandmas/jakes are popular. Trolled at 3-5mph. Once the water temp gets in the low 40's and into the 30's some of the real big girls can be caught deeper. We tend to move a bit slower as well 2-3.5mph. Lures like a legend plow are popular. Trolling in 20-30 feet off a deeper breakline. Lures hitting bottom in 20-25. But this is a small window before lakes start to ice up, so as much as I love these lures (and love making lures like them), they don't see a ton a use, but have caught some of my biggest fish. Anyway, just my little bit of experience as a musky fisherman on a shield lake. As far as construction, I would stay away from hardwoods like maple. I cant seem to find it, but I remember reading an article about how a lure kicks in the water, and the cedar lures outperformed, and out fished almost every hardwood lure. Tough to really tell though honestly. Send one over! I'll give it a good test lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman03 Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 As far as the width, I'm not sure it is a huge factor in the trolling game. We have taken a lot of footage in the last three years of our trolling lures with Spydro cameras, and see tons of followers or followers then biters and they all are behind or to the side of the lure and often nuzzle up to the lure basically letting it hit them in the face, it's crazy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 5 hours ago, eastman03 said: As far as the width, I'm not sure it is a huge factor in the trolling game. We have taken a lot of footage in the last three years of our trolling lures with Spydro cameras, and see tons of followers or followers then biters and they all are behind or to the side of the lure and often nuzzle up to the lure basically letting it hit them in the face, it's crazy. That would seem to make adding some kind of a scent a good idea. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 Here is what I am talking about this bait is under an inch tall and 1 1/2 wide across the belly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly voodoo Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 9 hours ago, eastman03 said: As far as the width, I'm not sure it is a huge factor in the trolling game. We have taken a lot of footage in the last three years of our trolling lures with Spydro cameras, and see tons of followers or followers then biters and they all are behind or to the side of the lure and often nuzzle up to the lure basically letting it hit them in the face, it's crazy. Can’t say I have ever tested it on Musky but I have a fishermen in Toronto who will be testing a few baits of mine this year Both pike and lakers have the same style of following. Laker are actually notorious for following behind the bait for extremely long periods. The theory is the wider belly is easier to see drawing attention from fish bellow your bait. It’s all about catching there attention. It has proven highly effective on lakers so far. The only thing that draws followers to bite is a hiccup in the action not the profile. That’s why myself and likely the rest of the members on this forum make turns and bump the throttle when we troll 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert59 Posted October 11, 2020 Report Share Posted October 11, 2020 eastman03 Do you use aromatic cedar or western red cedar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman03 Posted October 13, 2020 Report Share Posted October 13, 2020 I use western red cedar mostly. I will use white cedar if I can get it as well. I have a friend that operates a sawmill, and he saves me cutoffs of western red cedar that have no knots and relatively straight grain. If I need really consistent straight clear pieces, I will go and actually buy a 2x8 of clear straight grain cedar from Windsor plywood. I don't like doing that because it gets pretty pricey per foot. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert59 Posted October 14, 2020 Report Share Posted October 14, 2020 I hear red cedar is the best, but I think I received in slab form just regular cedar. Has a nice smell when you cut in to it, but absolutely no red color in the grain. It was cut down in central California, and I can't wait to make some lures out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastman03 Posted October 14, 2020 Report Share Posted October 14, 2020 I like cedar for it's buoyancy, and natural water/rot resistant properties. I'm not exactly sure what kind of cedar they grow in California but i'm sure it will do. However, for carving fine details, it can be frustrating. The grain that is there is much harder than the wood between the grain if that makes any sense. So I can make for a difficult process to carve details. I prefer bass wood if I want to add any fine details, that stuff carves like a block of butter, it is amazing. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
