Time Bandit

I wanted to check something with you experts here....I was told recently that there is a patent held on the delta blades used on buzzbaits. I'm referencing the blades where the wire passes through the middle of the blade itself going from the tab on the front of the blade to the one on the back. This sounded wildly inaccurate to me, but I wanted to check it with you guys first. Anybody heard this or know anything about it?

That's a great looking chatterbait, Long Lake!!!

Just an interesting bit of info from observation in the big cement pond test tank the other evening....I used the Trokar Arky mold to make a chatterbait with a direct connection between the hook eye and the blade. Used a straight blade and it would "hunt" on the rarest of occasions but it seemed that the blade wouldn't start vibrating as soon as it would on a model with a bent blade. How many tabs will you guys use in the skirt for a chatterbait? I usually only put 1.75 or 2 tabs in a chatterbait skirt as opposed to a full 2.5 tabs like with most jigs.

Guys I know that bending the shakee blades backward a bit will help the chatterbait stay down better....I've read that on a lot of forums and I do it to all of mine now. But the first couple of chatterbaits I made, I made using the split ring connection and a straight blade as opposed to punching the hook eyes open now and connecting a slightly bent blade directly to the lure. Those first couple of chatterbaits would suddenly cut out to the side randomly periodically during the retrieve and it looked really good. I haven't seen that since with the direct connection or the bent blade. Any of you all have any insight into which factor (the split ring or the straight blade) was contributing to that random kick out during the retrieve? Is it possible to keep that even with a trailer on the lure, or does the trailer act as too much of a "keel," for lack of a better term, and keep the bait from kicking out or hunting?

I have this thing about using oversized hooks. I'll use what the mold manufacturer calls for if it's a finesse application, but if it's not finesse, I almost always upgrade the hook at least one size and if I can go two and get away with it without seeing a fall off in lure performance (as tested in the swimming pool), I'll upgrade. Generally, larger hooks have bigger gaps between the shank and the point and I like that. Personal experience, I hook more fish and hook them in places where they are less likely to throw the hook. For instance, I use that 5/0 on that 1/4 oz swim jig head and put it on buzzbaits that I make (think similar to a Strike King Swinging Sugar Buzz) and from what I've found so far, about 60-70% of fish I've hooked on it, from 1 pounders to 5 pounders are hooked in that bony cheek plate in the side of their face. Probably another 20% are hooked in the hard part of the roof of the mouth, and the remaining are hooked around the edge of the mouth somewhere. I fish chatterbaits and buzzbaits both on 30 lb braid on a 7'6" Seeker BS756 S-glass blank that I built. I fish the swim jigs on a faster graphite rod on 30 lb test braid. The most significant bending I've seen was probably 30 degrees worth of bend and oddly enough it came on a fish that I caught on the buzzbait. And I didn't really set the hook hard. Just reeled into the fish and then swept the rod to the side like I would a crankbait.

I have the Do-It Trokar Pro Swim Jig mold and have been substituting the Mustad 32796 in 5/0 into the 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz cavities for swim jigs and chatterbaits. I've noticed a couple of times recently that the hooks are bending on good fish. They haven't straightened out to the point that a fish got off. However, I'm in the process of getting my jigs to the point where I'm satisfied with them to sell them and I really don't want to see any bend in them. Normally I really like the premium Mustad jig hooks (the NP-BN series) and have had good luck with them and so I use them in a lot of applications. Has anyone else had this problem with the 32796? I know sometimes a lot of hooks won't get tempered quite right and will experience either bending or breakage.

I just got my Twistech Magnum wire former and have been trying to perfect the R-bend part of a buzzbait wire using .051 wire and I'm not pleased with the tightness of the line tie bend so far. Also, it seems that the wire form won't lay flat on a table like a retail form will once I get it the bend somewhat satisfactory. It is twisting the wire form when I get a bend that looks even somewhat decent. Any videos on making the R-bend with the Twistech? Suggestions?

Yes, and I think bending the blade give a little better vibration, too.

I tend to agree. I've really gotten addicted to fishing crankbaits over the last year and I think the most important thing is to make the fish make a snap decision on whether or not to eat. I think they decide to eat much more often that not when it looks like a potential meal may be about to get away.

Anyone else ever notice that nearly all crawfish patterns on crankbaits are painted where the claws would be toward the bill of the lure? It seems odd to me, given that crawfish don't move very quickly going forward. Crawfish move much nearer the speed of a crankbait when they are going backwards, trying to evade a predator. Excepting Rebel and the Wee-R craw, I think maybe Live Target and Rapala are the only two companies that I've seen which offer crawfish patterns which are painted in what I think is the more natural orientation. I know fish can't reason, and I'm sure they aren't inspecting the lures and thinking to themselves "that crawfish is swimming the wrong way." All that to say, it's interesting to me the orientation of most craw patterns on cranks.

This seems like a really elementary question, but when you guys say, for instance, "I have 50 strands in my jig skirts," are you saying that you're putting five tabs of 10 strands in there, or are you putting 2.5 tabs of 10 strands in there and there end up being 50 strands once the skirt is doubled over on the jig, if that makes sense?

Are you bending your blades?

Interesting. How many skirt tabs are you using on your head? Maybe I'm making too big of a skirt.

Following up on the "hunting" thing. I got that same kick out with some chatterbaits I made using one split ring to attach the blade to the jig head on a couple of the "shakee" heads provided by Barlow's Tackle. However, it seems like when I put a trailer on them, (Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, Lil Dipper, or Zoom Z-Craw Jr.) that I lose the kick out. Have you guys experienced the same thing when you add a trailer?

Most welcome! got it licked now??

Here you go:

You don't have to open them. You're going to need a solid pair of needlenose pliers, though. I just made a short video on how to do it. Let me upload it to YouTube and I'll link it here.

I use them on the ones I build because they are beefier than the duolocks. They can be found at Barlows as a "dropshot clip." I like size 32 clips.

Just a follow up on this topic from some in-the-field R& D, I know a lot of you guys bend the rounded blades to be similar to the blades on an original chatterbait. I had not been doing this and did it over the weekend and got the vibration I was looking for. It was a much more rapid vibration than I was getting with unbent blades. The grinnel seemed to be fond of it, too. Got second place in a kayak tourney fishing for them.

You can if you mod the mold to take a normal hook...which I did. There are definitely variables which have to be tried one at a time. I just didn't know if anyone had already compared original blade vs. rounded blade and had any experience regarding difference in quantity of bites.

I started building chatterbaits this year to use to fish for grinnel in the Mobile Delta (we have grinnel tournaments down here, they are so plentiful). I found out that a black and red Chatterbait Elite caught the fire out of them and it prompted me to start building my own. I've been experimenting this year with my own baits, and it seems that the vibration I get out of the blades from Barlows isn't quite as intense as the vibration that I get out of the original Chatterbait blades. And, it seems that it makes a bit of a difference to the fish, as far as I can tell, because I'm getting more bites on the original Chatterbait. There are three variables at play that I can identify. The jig heads I'm using are different than the ones used on original Chatterbaits; I've used the Do-it Gamakatsu Ball head, the Poison Tail, and have now kind of settled on the Trokar Pro Swim Jig head (connecting directly to the hook eyelet). Second variable is skirt color. My skirts aren't spot-on imitations of the red and black Chatterbait Elite. They're pretty doggone close, though. Last variable I can identify is the blade issue, and I'm thinking that may account for the difference in the number of bites I'm getting. Have any of you noticed a difference in the vibration and the number of bites you get using the Barlow's blades versus the original Chatterbait style blade?

Looking to make an accurate copy of the LC Pointer 100 jerk bait in wood. The real pointer is noisier than I like and I want to be able to tune the sound to my own liking. How would I go about making as accurate a template for it as possible and then, what type of wood would you all suggest for it? Plan on rough cutting them out of square stock on a band saw and then finishing out with tools and sandpaper.

This is a Lucky Craft Pointer 100. Does anybody know how to recreate these foil scales? I've seen the techniques involving imprinting a knurled or other pattern on the foil and then applying the foil to the lure, but I think this particular technique is interesting because you could use it to create the effect of a baitfish that has had scales knocked off of it. I've always had some of my best success with crankbaits and jerkbaits with lures that were scratched and scuffed up from catching fish.

Okay guys, I have noticed that I don't see any jerkbaits (whether they be high-end or low-end in cost/quality) made with circuit board bills/lips. Anybody got any ideas on why? Would there be any potential benefit to doing it? What about a square lip? I've seen one of Megabass' versions that has the square bill/lip but no others. What gives?