Joe Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Hi Guys, Although I have been calling my crankbaits flat sided, they are not as per Skeeters description a while back. I have been carving all my baits and only a small portion of the sides are actually flat. I made some of the D Bait style lures using the true flat sided style as many of you do. While testing the baits today, I was not expecting to see what I did. I tested some of the D Bait style carved like I usually do and those ran with a tight wiggle and to a depth of about 2 1/2 ft. The true flat sided baits ran only about 18 inches deep and had a much wider slower wobble. The looked great, but I couldn't beleive the difference in the actions of the two styles. Both styles are 2 5/8 in. long 1 1/8 in . high, 3/8 in. wide. All are made from Cedar, weighted with a 1/16 oz. worm weight,fitted with 2 # 4 round bend hooks. The lip is a round lip with line tie attached. It's the smaller of that style lip from Jans 15/16 x 3/4. Is the action I described typical to that of a flat sided crankbait? This is my first attempt at making this style bait and really didn't know what to expect?The belly hook and rear hook are attached with 1 1/8 " brass screw eyes .062 dia. Thanks , Joe The action was exactly the same in seven baits of each design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassNator 1 Posted March 28, 2004 Report Share Posted March 28, 2004 Hey Joe, Im wondering if you can post a pic of the baits you ran. My concern however is in the depth the lure ran you stated in your post. My D-Baits got down in the OVER 5 foot range deep (more like 5 1/2 feet deep) and ran with a nice tight wiggle. Granted the inside temp of the pool was 80 degrees... I think that would cause it to be more buoyant. But at 5 feet, my baits were digging into the bottom of the pool. I think that that is the right depth these lures should be running.. someone correct me on this if Im wrong. I also tested the lures on a 10 pound test. A higher test line would also keep it from getting down as well. I also used Poplar for the wood, with a little more weight on the inside. But... it sounds as if you got it pretty consistent and if its working and you like the depth.... Youve got a winner! The lip design and the shape of the lip is what will give the lure its action. Adjusting your lip designs will give it different action. A rounded lip gives it a wider wobble a squared lip gives it a tighter wiggle. My line tie is NOT on the lip itself but it is screwed into the lure above the lip. That also can affect the running depth. Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted March 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Cody, I'll try to scan the baits so you can see them. The baits I discribed had shorter lips than the D Bait lip. I did this to try to get a shallow diving version of the lure. I do have others I made with 1 1/4"/x/1" round lips and these dive to around 5' - 6'. The size of that bill is pretty close to the size of the D Bait lip that was posted on the site. Thanks, Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassNator 1 Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Ok Joe, It sounds then that you got it down and its doing what you want it too then. Good Job! All Im aware of is that the Angle of the Lip Gives it its Running Depth as well as where the line tie is and the line you use. A squared off lip will give that same lure a tight wiggle, a rounder lip will make it wobble. The same holds true for a lip more perpendicular, it wont go as deep, a round lip more wobble, a squared lip tighter wiggle. The size and shape of the bill as well as the shape of the lure creates the action. I am using a squared off lip design on my D-Bait imitations and it has a tight wiggle. Rounder lips will give it a wider wobble as you described. So if you need a tight wiggle instead of a wide wobble, sub in a squared off lip. I got a real good idea on lips and what it does to the same bait one time in the pool. I was able to have a few different lips cut out from a small square to a large coffin. A former post had a PDF file that when printed was a PERFECT design to trace onto the Lexan. It worked perfect! The lips were a NICE TIGHT fit into the lure so I could run them without glueing or it fouling up. I learnt a GOOD LESSON doing this and how the lips affect the action! I thought that the lip actually creates the depth! NO NO NO! All my lures ran the same depth... Just about. They had a different action to them, from a side to side wobble to a rolly poly kind of thing. I reccommend to ANYONE... take your designs to an INGROUND POOL.... ( A CEMENT POND for the Jed Clampett fans ) and see what they do! If you havent done this already! Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted April 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Cody, Better late than never, I guess. Here are the pics you asked me to post. Took a little while for me to learn how to do it. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassNator 1 Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Nice baits Joe! I love the paint on them and of course the Daiichi Red Hooks! I would think that they would get a little deeper though! But if you got the action and they run.... you got it down! I had the opportunity to give my new ones a go last weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they actually suspend! I was very impressed with that one. In the warmer water for sure they are gonna be slow sinkers, BUT Oh well, when you FIRST start out.. you never know what you got until you give it a whirl in the lake. Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
