Performance of my first lures!

[AaronM]

Hey!

I finished my first five lures the other day. I went to test them out at the lake. Well, the first two didn't even go under water. They just flopped over and flew across the surface. I looked over the lures and looked on this forum and learned that my lures were top heavy. I also did not weight any of my lures. One of the other lures went under water, but the action was all over the place, haha. I looked this one over and I believe I put my pulling loop in a bad place. I need to move it closer to the body I believe. The other two lures submerged, but had little action.

I guess you weren't kidding when I read that making lures is a lot of trial an error. I learned a lot from making these lures! I definitely need to weight them, place my pull loop at the best distance from the lip tip, place my hook loops dead center, and make sure my lips are completely symmetrical. I sort of rushed through those first lures. I am going to really take my time on my next one. Hopefully I can get all the bugs out and make a kick butt lure that all those fish will be craving!

I have learned so much from these forums all ready! Although my first attempts were mostly failures, I did learn a lot about lure making! Perfection takes time!

I did, however, almost catch a fish on a homemade lure when I tested them out! I was using my photo-finish mino that is about three inches long and I had a little sunfish on it, haha. But, it hopped off because I didn't set the hook properly. I thought that the lure was a little large for a pumpkin seed! Maybe I snagged it...who knows! I can't wait until I catch my first fish on my own lure!

Have a great day!!

Aaron

[Skeeter]

Glad you enjoy the site AaronM. We all are learning here. Otherwise we wouldn't be on the site. Making crankbaits is probably one of the hardest of the lures to make. There are allot of variables in making these lures. I am into my 5th year of making crankbaits. I had a new design fail on me last week. (Back to the drawing board) But if you love it.... you will figure it out. You are right. You will have to weight your baits. Take one thing at a time. Get the weight right first. Then if the lure does not run right you can start to play with the lip. If I can help you in any way just let me know. There are allot of tallented baitmakers on this site and it is a wonderful thing that they are all willing to share. Welcome.

Skeeter

[BobP]

Aaron, I suggest you test float the next one after applying a waterproof undercoat. Put on the hooks and hang ballast lead on the belly treble until the crank has the right float. Drill out a cavity, melt the ballast and drip it in. Lead solder is easy to drape off the trebles and easy to melt into the cavity with a soldering iron. Alternatively, you can melt scrap lead with a torch or just glue it in. Usually, the lower the ballast lies in the body, the better. You can divide the ballast into 2 parts in front of and behind the belly treble for a level balance or put the ballast in front of the treble to get a head-down attitude.