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I don't want to sound condescending and I am by all means no expert but I don't think I quite understand what you mean. Some of the information I've read on this forum and things I've learned from personal experience are contradictive to these statements. As a total noob, I'd highly appreciate it if you could help me to understand. I'm not too good at not sounding like an arrogant sycophant so I apologize. I'm just trying to learn and for the most part I've been successful. If by "walk the dog" you mean short quick zig zag back in forth motion - I would agree. But from my personal experience of various trials and errors I've found that for a very wide glide from one to two feet or further in each direction is easily achievable by having the weight in grams of lead evenly distributed between nose and tail. I feel as though an equal amount of lead as weight a half inch from nose and a half inch from tail to personally be the best in terms of horizontal fall and glide for my specific shape. I feel as though this is highly dependent on the shape of the bait and henceforth the location of the "cof".

O'baits, thank you for showing me your method of determining the CoG. One would think it is quite simple, and in reality it is, but the complexity involved is magnified by the fact that wood is perfectly inconsistent in it's being. Add that to the fact that I like working with softwoods and you have a recipe for a headache lol. I now understand why most choose to use a hardwood, such as maple, when building a glider as the wood is more consistent and easier to manipulate with less lead. I have built many gliders with using hardwoods like maple; however, I find that it is difficult to work as a result of the hardness and thus prefer softer uncharacteristically preferred woods like pine and Basswood. Additionally, I prefer lighter using lighter glide baits because I have issues with arthritis and throwing 9oz baits really isn't too good for my arms. I don't quite understand the current trend of giant heavy baits. It seems like the standard has become an ounce per inch. I personally feel that anything over 5 ounces is too heavy. No one ever said that a 9" glide bait has to weigh 9oz - but they typically do. There I go again rambling about lol. When it comes to perfect balance, I've found that that having exactly the same amount of weight on each end at exactly the correct place for a horizontal fall provides the best glide possible. It is however, easier said than done. Again I thank everyone for their help and input. I am definitely going to implement your method of determining the CoG today when I finally get the motivation to get up and go outside.

Indeed, trial and error is the best teacher - for me at least. I need to meet some baitmakers in my area. That'd be cool if there was some type of baitmakers gathering or something - I'd definitely attend. Always cool meeting new people with the same interests.

How do you dictate the CoG? For the most part I've been successful at getting the baits to work consistently and correctly. I've found that when I balance for nose up, they swim nose down and when I balance for nose down they swim upwards or horizontally. One of the most difficult things I've discovered is trying to discern what is horizontal in regards to different shapes. Some shapes appear to be horizontal when slightly nose up and vise versa. I have also discovered that water entering a bait has been the reason for some of my nose dive blues so I'm extra careful to seal the baits before testing now. And Iron is right, definitely not a simple solution to anything related to glide baits, there are so much variables that can affect everything. That's why it is important to take notes, and if making changes only do one at a time - unfortunately I learned this the hard way lol.

I am pleased to say that the nose dive blues have been corrected! In attempting to fix the issue, I have learned a lot from experimenting with different angles. I haven't fixed all of the other baits yet but I did fix one by adding two additional coats of epoxy more The bait has fully cured and completed. I ended up applying a total of 5 coats of etex lite; however, I took great care to make sure the epoxy wasn't too think and spread evenly. I tested after the first two seal coats, the first coat after painting and after the final two coats. During each test, the action was perfect and as desired. The bait glid from one to almost two feet in each direction and suspends on the pause for a good two and a half to three seconds before slowly sinking at an estimated foot every two seconds. Overall, the bait is extremely stable and no matter how the bait is worked it glides extremely well. Occasionally it will arc back at the end of the glide as if to check if it's being followed. Needless to say, I am very pleased. I thought I had reached the limit of effectiveness with my other glides but this bait proves that I was wrong. It's amazing how complex these baits are and how very small changes can be the difference from a bait that works perfectly or a bait that doesn't. Again, I'm truly thankful for all the help. I'm not trying to kiss ass and I'm not a sycophant I'm just extremely thankful. On a side note, I ordered some Musky Magnets from Kermit Good, and I guess he thought that my overly starstruck flatteration was sycophancy because I recieved the baits in a box that had a clearly visible buttocks on the side lol.

Again, thanks for all of the help. I'd be so lost without this forum and the help I've received. I got some more wood and this evening it was cool enough for me to get outside in my "temporary tent shed" and cut-out a blank. I ballanced slightly nose up, accounting for the 4 gram leader, confirmed that it still had a slightly nose up ballast after drilling the holes and placing the weights (only needed 28g per weight this time). I went to the river to test the glide and it was extremely good! Now it's cooking on the rotisserie with a little basting of etex. Going to test it again before I paint and will post the results. On a another good note, I gave one of my functioning baits to a friend to test and he had phenomenal results fishing from the bank. While he didn't catch anything during the hour and a half he fished, he had several followers and one particular fish lunged at the bait at the end of the retrieve and banked itself lol. It looks like this FalI/Winter is going to be awesome once I get rid of these nose divin blues.. Fingers crossed for tomorrow's test!! I'll definitely post the results. Thanks again to everyone that has helped. From the ballast calculator, to the faustner bits, to the Lowe's rotisserie and everything in between - this website (and the people on it) has definitely made my bait making easier. I look forward to contributing as I continue to learn.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do much today, but it's great to know that nose up ballast solution will work. Which leads me to another question that may very well be stupid. What creates the center line? Is it the shape of the bait or the weight added to the bait for ballast? Also, what, if any, does the screw eye affect the center line? I've been trying to design baits in which the middle of the nose lines up exactly with the middle of the tail and balance them accordingly. But sometimes it gets a little tricky because it seems that the center line isn't where I thought it should be.

I'm going to give that a shot tomorrow. I just got finished running some experiments one of which included adding a significant amount of weight to the rear to get a high nose up float. The bait nose dives worse than anything before. I've watched the "how to make a glide bait" video again today and I also did the suggested balance test. I first balanced an uncarved blank on an 1/8" piece of plexiglass. Then I sealed and added hardware to a carved blank and ballast tested to horizontal fall. I then balanced this bait on the same plexiglass. The difference was 6.5mm towards the nose from the uncarved blank. Finally, I balanced a completed bait that had nose dive blues. The difference was 6.5mm towards the tail. I'm not quite sure what to make of everything yet. But it was definitely interesting to find that added weight to the tail made the bait nose dive worse. I thought the opposite would occur.

Yes, I've read a lot of your informative post. Your engineering has definitely saved me a lot of time. I particularly love the ballast calculator and use it a lot. I try my best but mathematically I'm challenged. Basically I can see the physics in the world around me. I understand how the laws interact, but to explain in mathematically terms isn't something im very good at. I still love physics and am intrigued by how much engineering goes into everything - especially fishing lures/baits. Tomorrow I'll do the experiments you suggested and post the results. Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the help. I tried my best to do it alone but sometimes thats impossible. Anyways, Here is some more information about my bait with included picture. The weight of the baits is 120g - give or take a few with equal (31g each) or slightly more in the rear. The bait is 190mm long. Specific Gravity of the wood is .55. The shape is a typical drop belly glider that I shape using a table router with a jig I learned to make from this site. For now, I'll drill out some of the lead and patch up the baits. What would you suggest I do to avoid running into this problem again? I guess I'm going to have to figure in the weight of the epoxy and paint. Ugh, and I thought I could wing it lol. Ultimately, I feel that I am so close to obtaining the perfect glide for my specific fishing requirements. Thanks again!

Hello all, This is my first post. I've been a member now for a few months and a lurker since last year. This past May, as a result of boredom associated with the stay at home orders - amongst a great many of things, I finally decided to design and make my own glide baits for Muskellunge. I had been wanting to make my own baits now for awhile. Mostly because I was getting tired of spending $45.00 on a bait from the "whatever Facebook DIY bait company" only to find that I waited three weeks for a pretty paper weight. Completely incapable of catching anything other than fishermen. I was also getting sick of the selective favoritism. Many times, I would ask to purchase a bait, only to be told that I'll be added to a list or that they're out of stock, only to find out later that it was a lie. It seems some of these DIY bait makers have their special clients that they cater too - and I wasn't one of them. I guess I don't kiss enough ass. Anyways, I thought I could do better than some of these elitist DIY bait makers whom only cater to the rich and famous of the Muskellunge world. And so this past May, I went out and purchased all of the tools and supplies needed to get started, created a account on this forum, and without any experience with wood working (or using any tools) I started cutting out blanks to make lures. First starting with a one piece drop belly glide bait. It was a long road with lots of ups and downs but I've finally got some awesome looking baits that have the action I want. I was surprised by how easy it was, with the help of this website, to get started making baits. I also thought if it's this easy, why did I end up with so many junkie baits? Who knows, but I swear some of these baitmakers care more about the money than anything else. Alas I digress, I apologize for the long post, but it's kind of an introduction to me and my situation. ANYWAYS, as the post states, I'm having the nose dive blues. After ballast testing for a perfect horizontal fall, I take my baits down to the river to test and they've been working great. But after the paint and epoxy (1 base coat and 3 finish coats of etex lite) they nose down on the retrieve. I've been including the weight of the leader, I've pushed the front weight back. Added more to the rear, used three weights to limit the weight in the front but it still occurs 90% of the time. What could be causing this and how do I fix it? Below is my process for production if that may help uncover the issue. 1. Trace blank, cut out with band saw, smooth edges with belt sander. 2. Run through router, sand finish rough edges. Use template to mark the center line, and holes, for screw eyes. 3. Drill holes and add screw eyes, seal bait with ca glue, add hooks. 4. Ballast test for horizontal sink, drill holes for weights, place weights, seal holes and confirm Ballast. 5. Take to river to test. If successful I dry bait and first base coat of etex lite. 6. Paint bait, then 3 coats of etex 1 every 6 hours. Wait 24/36 hours after final coat to test. Usually after the cure is complete I'll take the bait down to test it and almost always the bait goes nose down limiting the distance that it can glide. The bait still glides but it's frustrating because I know what it's capable of without the nose dive. The bait still sinks horizontally so IDK what to do to fix it. Am I adding to much epoxy? Since I anchor the bait by its tail end to the rotation device is to much epoxy going to towards the head? IDK, any help would greatly be appreciated. As I feel like I've tried almost everything.