Twitch bait wont Twitch

[Hand Crafted Angling]

My buddy requested I make a twitch bait for striped bass. I threw one together in cad. I think I got the weight right because it slowley sinks perfectly level. I havent used twitch baits much but I know im doing somthing wrong. Its my understanding that some twitchbaits dont swim on a normal retrieve and some do. I would like it to swim if possible. But mine doesnt swim at all. Straight retrive does nothing. A light twitch it moves forward straight as an arrow. Ill post some better pictures tomorow but can someone point me in the right direction for what I did wrong? Im not sure what part of the body gives this bait the action. Im working on a v2 with a flattend front and bottom of the tail like a rattle trap but im not sure if thats the problem.

[azsouth]

I would say try moving weighting and be sure and use a snap... if you're direct tying it will kill action.

A good video would also help.

[Vodkaman]

The flattened nose is a good idea. You want a shape that will disturb the water, not simply glide through, I suggest a fatter nose. The 'twitch' action causes a single vortex down one side, causing the side deviation. The next twitch will move in the opposite direction provided not too much time between twitches.

As usual, I am talking theoretical, I have never made this type of bait. I tried to resist posting, but alas....

Dave

[Hand Crafted Angling]

1 hour ago, azsouth said:

I would say try moving weighting and be sure and use a snap... if you're direct tying it will kill action.

A good video would also help.

I had it tied to a splitring. Ill give a snap a try. Where should I move the weight too? Ill try and get a video of it soon.

[Hand Crafted Angling]

47 minutes ago, Vodkaman said:

The flattened nose is a good idea. You want a shape that will disturb the water, not simply glide through, I suggest a fatter nose. The 'twitch' action causes a single vortex down one side, causing the side deviation. The next twitch will move in the opposite direction provided not too much time between twitches.

As usual, I am talking theoretical, I have never made this type of bait. I tried to resist posting, but alas....

Dave

Yea Im not good when it comes to lipless lures. I made one lipless crankbait before but that was a rattle trap design with the line tie up top.

[azsouth]

Shoulders are usually quite a bit bigger than the bottom of the lure, the belly weights should be as low as possible and static.

This is the learning curve of building your own bait, knowing were and how much weight is tricky at best.

Ad weight to the belly hook and see how it affects the swim. Remember +/- 1 gram can be the difference between a good bait and a paper weight.

[Vodkaman]

5 hours ago, azsouth said:

Remember +/- 1 gram can be the difference between a good bait and a paper weight.

Love this, very poetic

Dave

[Hand Crafted Angling]

15 hours ago, azsouth said:

Shoulders are usually quite a bit bigger than the bottom of the lure, the belly weights should be as low as possible and static.

This is the learning curve of building your own bait, knowing were and how much weight is tricky at best.

Ad weight to the belly hook and see how it affects the swim. Remember +/- 1 gram can be the difference between a good bait and a paper weight.

I dont think I can make the weights go any lower without making the bait weak. I can deffinitly tweak the ammount and make it static. Ill give that a shot.