"Weightless Slope Head"

[StoneCoal Tackle]

Okay, here's a couple baits I posted in the gallery that I need some help with.

First of all I was trying to capture the old Creek Chub "Shur-Strike" style G lure of the late 1920's. As some of you already know I love doing the old style lures but my problem sometimes is that I've never actually had one of these lures in my hand and do them from looking at pictures. Such was the case here and I missed the mark on the little orange one but went ahead and painted it up and stuck some paint brush bristles in for a tail. Now, not bragging but I pretty well nailed the shape on the other one and finished it off in my rattle can version of "Silver Flash".

Now for the problem, I didn't weight either one of these because I didn't know if the originals were weighted or not. So one sunday afternoon I took my canoe and a bunch of baits and hit Stonecoal Lake to do some testing. When I came to these two the little orange one dove to about two feet and had a nice tight wiggle and caught the sunlight like crazy:yeah: . Then when I threw the green one in it righted itself quickly and sat there nice and level until I started reeling, then it wanted to roll over (first one way and then the other) and shoot off to the side:mad: . So to make a long story short ( too late!) Where would I place a weight to make it perform? The lure is 3-5/8" long and about 3/4" in diameter at the largest point. Any help is appreciated, and I will try to duplicate it and use any of your weighting suggestions.

Thanks,

daymon

[sagacious]

Okay, here's a couple baits I posted in the gallery that I need some help with. ... As some of you already know I love doing the old style lures but my problem sometimes is that I've never actually had one of these lures in my hand and do them from looking at pictures. ...

Thanks,

daymon

Daymon,

Great looking lures. Can you post a pic of the original bait duplicated in the second pic? Weighting may possibly be an issue, but for this style lure, the width of the lip seems small in relation to the bait size (3-5/8"), and I can see how lip width might be problematic to judge from a picture. Lip width is obviously adequate for the shorter lure.

As I'm sure you know, lures of this type are very similar to the 'J-plugs' used for decades by West Coast salmon fishermen. In those baits, lip length is indeed short, however it is fairly wide. That may just be the rub here, since as far as I know, those baits don't now (and historically haven't) used or needed weighting to make them swim correctly.

One more thing: Historical accuracy aside, the line tie should probably be as low as possible on this type of lure. I believe that Luhr Jensen recommends a solid knot to their J-plug's lure eyelet, and that the knot be pushed down forward on the eyelet, so that a low angle is achieved. Latest production uses a through-fitted bead chain swivel to achieve a low-angle line connection. So, perhaps a smaller (lower, shorter) line tie eyelet might help too.

Hope this helps, good luck!

[LaPala]

I agree with saga on this Daymon, the tow eye on the second one looks too high and far back. Think of "lip" configuration like this as lipless vibe lures, the part in front of the tow eye affects how the lure digs and wobble too wide and long will kick the lure into in balance.

My guess is tow eye shift to position in pic below:

[Mallard]

Hey Daymon,

I never used the type of lure you are working on, but I did buy a couple Cheek Chub Open Mouth Shiners to test fish. They come from the same time period as the Shur-Strike. The OMS is unweighted and I thought they might work like the Darter that eventually replaced them. I was a bit surprised to discover they had no real action at all. In fact they sat so high in the water that it was little more than a glider. I think a stick with a hook attached would have better action.

That fact is a lot of early baits (pre 1930) were junk compared with modern baits. Maybe the original Shur-Strike wasn't much better than your replica.

I made my our OMS replicas, but I chin weighed them to get the lip (forehead) to bite enough to force a shallow dive and swim action. They turned out to be super baits.

I would suggest a weight just forward of the collar to get the lip to bite. You may also need a bit of weight mid-body or 3/4 back to keep the tail wiggle under control. The brissles in the tail of the orange bait probably help control the action in that bait.

I really like that orange bait a lot by the way.

Rob

[Nathan]

I agree with Mallard on the weight placement..Good too see you back Mallard..Where you been?..Nathan

[StoneCoal Tackle]

Thanks guys for the input. Sagacious, you may be right about lip size as it is hard sometimes to get a shape down from just a pic. However I think I am pretty close on this one but the line tie suggestion you and Lapala mentioned is worth a shot so I'll try that first. Mallard you make a valid point about the action of some vintage lures. I've had the same experience with a couple of vintage models that I've risked testing. I will also make one with your and Nathan's nose weight suggestion.

Anyways, it might take awhile to get to these but I'll make some more to test your guy's ideas. Thanks again for the input.

Daymon