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Mitchell

Line Tie Position Question

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First off all I would like to thank all the folks who are so helpful on these boards. I've been reading these boards for almost a year but have never posted. I've been slowly getting my materials and tools together and I've got a few crankbait bodies shaped and sanded. I'm now at the stage of putting in my eyescrews. Thats where my question comes....I'm not sure how the position of the line tie affects the action. If I put the eyescrew closer towards the lip will i get less "wobble"? It seems from looking at it, that if i put it a little higher it would create more but I'm not sure. Any tips are appreciated and thanks for all the useful information here. This is one of the funnest hobbies I've come across.

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The eye position is a critical adjustment. A few millimeters the wrong way and the lure may swim like a stick or wrong the other way, may blow out, swim on its side or even spiral.

Generally, if the lure has no action, moving the eye position lower or closer to the lip, increases the action. If the lure seems sensitive and prone to roll out, move the eye up or away from the lip.

What you have written seems to contradict this, I hope I have got it right. It could explain why my last few cranks have been disappointing :lol:

Dave

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I think Dave has it right. If you look at popular commercial shallow baits like the Lucky Craft RC1.5 or others, you'll see the line tie is usually right down on the surface of the lip. That gives the bait maximum action, all other design features considered. Every design detail enhances or detracts from a bait's action so you can't say "always put the line tie down on the lip". You can (and I have!) built baits that way which were impossible to tune. That most often happened when I tried to push the envelope and build a deeper running bait without moving the line tie out to the surface of the lip. When you get the lip too long, a line tie in the nose just won't work. Guys who fish jerkbaits sometimes bend the line tie down toward the lip to give the bait wider and harder action. It's surprising how much a seemingly minor line tie position change can affect action - but it shouldn't be a surprise, considering minor side-to-side adjustments are usually needed to tune a bait to run straight.

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On first prototypes, what I do is fit an extended tow eye, sticking out about 5mm. This allows me to explore what action is available, by bending the eye up and down. Once you know what is available, it is not difficult to find again with the next prototype (or two) with a correct fitting eye. This technique can save you several builds or a lot of cutting and hacking, not to mention time.

Dave

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I make a variety of lures. Small cranks(just got those down) all the way up to 12" swimbaits. I shape them out of wood but use no template so every bait is different. I have a drawer of small screw eyes.. the smallest i could order (forgot what they are now) and i place 3 or four in the front and test all tie locations. With the screw eyes installed it is easy to compare actions and determine which is the best for that particular bait. Just use a snap and switch back and fourth. Im lucky enough to walk out my back door and test my baits off the dock.. but if you have to travel to a lake or pool to test the actions on the end of a rod this could save alot of time and guess work. When Im done I take out the screw eyes I dont want and fill the holes with toothpicks and epoxy, then install a full size screw eye in the desired location. I always paint after im done tuning the action. Not the most scientific method but it works! Alot of my personal baits have two line ties on them for two seperate actions. But usually when you compare them all one stands out as the winner, especially on larger wakebaits. good luck

Edited by Toxicbaits
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I've been tinkering around with the actions of crankbaits for bass and have found Vodkaman and BobP to be correct. If you want more action or your baits just isn't swimming well move the screw eye down closer to the lip. Too much action or if you want a more subtle bait move the screw eye up and away from the lip. If neither one of those is working a lip with the line tie already in the actual lip should do the trick.

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I think Dave has it right. If you look at popular commercial shallow baits like the Lucky Craft RC1.5 or others, you'll see the line tie is usually right down on the surface of the lip. That gives the bait maximum action, all other design features considered. Every design detail enhances or detracts from a bait's action so you can't say "always put the line tie down on the lip". You can (and I have!) built baits that way which were impossible to tune. That most often happened when I tried to push the envelope and build a deeper running bait without moving the line tie out to the surface of the lip. When you get the lip too long, a line tie in the nose just won't work. Guys who fish jerkbaits sometimes bend the line tie down toward the lip to give the bait wider and harder action. It's surprising how much a seemingly minor line tie position change can affect action - but it shouldn't be a surprise, considering minor side-to-side adjustments are usually needed to tune a bait to run straight.

Bingo! Low line ties (positioned back for more effect)+ lips on the edge of being to long = Increased odds of being a hunter!

The larger lure shown has been my best hunter to date and I think for this very reason.

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I've found that, for the lures I make, the lower in the lure I mount my line tie, the higher the center of gravity becomes, and the more unstable the lure.

The perfect situation is for the lure to hunt, and not just roll. For me, that's a matter of fine tuning the ballast by adding a little at a time between the lip and the front hook hanger, until the lure is just barely stable.

I find it's easier to tune shallow runners like this, because they have small lips.

Bigger lipped baits are more finicky. I find the larger the lip, the more sensitive they are to retrieve speed.

I also find that giving a crank bait a V section shape, thinner on the bottom and thicker on the top, helps to keep it more stable at higher speeds. That's something I first started doing with jointed swimbaits, and it works for cranks, too.

I'm pretty sure it's a center of gravity thing, although I'm not sure exactly what. I did it initially to make the top of the lure more buoyant than the bottom, reducing the amount of ballast I had to add.

Stability at high speeds was a bonus.

I've found that there is a trade off between stability and wobble. Flat sided baits are more stable, but they don't have the wider wobble that round bodies have.

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"I've found that, for the lures I make, the lower in the lure I mount my line tie, the higher the center of gravity becomes, and the more unstable the lure. "

True

"The perfect situation is for the lure to hunt, and not just roll. For me, that's a matter of fine tuning the ballast by adding a little at a time between the lip and the front hook hanger, until the lure is just barely stable."

Yes. I generally spread my ballast over the bottom in 3-6 or so locations. I try to balance it such that "if it were to suspend"..."it would suspend in a horizontal position". I think by spreading it over more locations, it makes for a more stable bait and allows me to get away with more "slop" (to experiment with :)

"I find it's easier to tune shallow runners like this, because they have small lips.

Bigger lipped baits are more finicky. I find the larger the lip, the more sensitive they are to retrieve speed."

Too fast and they'll blow out. Especially in casting and retrieving I think bigger lips help a bait to hunt. When you give it the "jerk" the big lip makes the action more erratic. It also helps it vary more off the "straight line of the retrieve", dart out, etc.

"I also find that giving a crank bait a V section shape, thinner on the bottom and thicker on the top, helps to keep it more stable at higher speeds. That's something I first started doing with jointed swimbaits, and it works for cranks, too.

I'm pretty sure it's a center of gravity thing, although I'm not sure exactly what. I did it initially to make the top of the lure more buoyant than the bottom, reducing the amount of ballast I had to add.

Stability at high speeds was a bonus. I've found that there is a trade off between stability and wobble. Flat sided baits are more stable, but they don't have the wider wobble that round bodies have."

Good stuff, lots of variables to experiment with!

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