frenchman Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 I'm currently trying to fix one my castaic shad swimbait. It's one of those half soft half hard swimbait with a thick lip. I Have already fixed some issues about it like running straight. Among other things I inserted 2 tungsten nail in the belly. But I find the swimming motion way too wide. I would like to lessen it, to tighten it. I would like to know how I could go about it? I see that the lip is very wide compared to body of bait. What would happen if I grind it on the side to make it narrower? (assuming I would do it right!) Thanks for your help..I prefer to ask first and cut last!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KcDano Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 The frequency at which it oscillates will increase and the distance it swings will diminish, inverse proportionallity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted December 30, 2007 Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 To dampen some of the action, try adding some weight to the rear. Temporarily tape it on first and test it out. A photo or two would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchman Posted January 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 This is where I got the idea of modifying this bait: http://www.westernbass.com/utah/library/view.html?id=2089 Here's a couple pics to show what I'm talking about. The picture with the red line is meant to show how the bait stands in the water. The red line illustrates the water surface. The other pic just shows the lip. Now my question is, how can I get a tighter wobble. Right now, I need to go excrutiatingly slow to keep it balanced. If I shave the sides of the lip off will it get better? Thanks for your help...I could always use the trial and error method but now I have glued the bill so well it's not moving, ever! So I can't efford 1 error.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Yeah, I think if the lip is narrowed it should swim a little tighter. You can easily reshape it with a Dremel sanding drum. How the bait sits in the water also has an effect on the swim action since it determines the angle at which water flows over the lip. If your bait swims tail down as in the top pic, the lip angle is effectively very shallow (i.e. closer to horizontal) than it would be on a bait swimming horizontally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captsully18 Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Frenchman, the castaic bait is supposed to flost the way you show it. It was designed to swim slowly, it is pretty much a wake bait. Yes, you can tighten the wobble by sanding the lip, but it still may roll on you at moderate to fast retrieves due to weight placement. You may want to contact Castaic and ask Jason about your ideas just to see what he says. He is the man who invented the thing and he is really nice guy and will talk straight to you. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
