Juice780 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 i have just started to make my own crankbaits and i'm trying to make some flat sided balsa baits similar to alot of the popular ones that come out of east tennessee. first one i made didnt run very well at all, ran on its side. i was wondering if you guys had any tips for me to get the lures to run right. The bill and line tie is straight and the ballast is centered and when i set it in the water it sits straight up and down in the water but still runs one its side real bad. I used one of the 4 gram pre made belly weights and its in the lowest part of the belly. I think the weight of the belly weight is a hair over 1/8th of and ounce an the whole bait weighs just a hair short of 3/8ths of an ounce without the hooks. I was just wondering what suggestions yall might suggest to get em to run straight. I know there are alot of variables that go into getting one to run straight, i have some friends that have bought some of the high dollar baits from tennessee and they didnt run straight. Maybe its the way i am tying the bait to the line? I am using a snap ring on my split ring, should i not use this and just tie to the split ring or not use a split ring and just tie to the front line tie in the bait? i am using oval split rings on my line tie would that effect anything? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 I don't think the snap ring is causing your problem, but I do not see the point of the split ring if you are using a snap ring. I like the snap ring, so that I can change baits in a couple of seconds, but I have to force myself to tie a fresh knot on the snap ring occasionally. It would really help if you posted a few pics of your lure, side view, view of the lip and a view of the belly. Your problem is almost certainly going to be tow eye position. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juice780 Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 i'll try to get some pics on here today sometime i just finished a few more baits and i'll post pics on here of them and see what you think they have different lips and line tie is a little different on some and maybe you can tell me some mistakes i might have made. havent gotten to test the new ones yet might go to the neighbors pool if they will let me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juice780 Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 heres a few pics there not the best, try not to laugh at my painting skills which arent very good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 (edited) Try looking at the photos from a few feet away and visualize the amount of bill surface is on the left and right side of the lure center line and line tie.. It may be that more of the bill surface is on one side. In the last photo it looks to me like there's more bill on one side which will make the lure turn sideways.It maybe just the way the pic was taken but if there is more bill grab of water on one side than the other side it will turn the lure. Edited July 31, 2011 by EdL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allstate48 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 The lure looks very good. The bill looks off a little. Good start . Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juice780 Posted July 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 yeah after looking at a couple of em i think the bills may be off slightly on a few of em. do you think this can be corrected by bending the line tie? i wont be able to test any of em out till the end of the week. what kind of methods do yall use to make sure the bill is straight, i have pretty good eyes but i dont know if they slid alittle before the epoxy could dry, i used 30 min slow cure i got from hobbytown what do you guys use to install the bills? i might have to make a bunch and so i know at least a couple of em will run straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassnbrad Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 yeah after looking at a couple of em i think the bills may be off slightly on a few of em. do you think this can be corrected by bending the line tie? i wont be able to test any of em out till the end of the week. what kind of methods do yall use to make sure the bill is straight, i have pretty good eyes but i dont know if they slid alittle before the epoxy could dry, i used 30 min slow cure i got from hobbytown what do you guys use to install the bills? i might have to make a bunch and so i know at least a couple of em will run straight. Having not made my own baits I can offer suggestions not solutions. Like Ed said the bill does seem a bit off. I would suggest using a micrometer, start at the base of the bill prior to gluing. Mark the centerline of the base, then mark the centerline of the bill at the widest point. Using a mechanical pencil and straight edge draw a line from base to tip using the marked spots as guides. On your bait mark the center of the nose or cut. Now when you glue you have a visual line up tool that after the glue dries can be easily erased from the bill. Hope this helps, or gives you some ideas. bb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 On the ones you built try eyeballing the bill and mark with a pencil and trim the excess side with a file. For your new ones considder makeing a jig holder. I seem to remember that vodkman came up with jig or tool to hold the bill in place while the epoxy sets up. Try doing a search on this forum. I'm thinking maybe a piece of 1 x 4 with a bunch of finishing nails to hold the bait up and hold the bill aligned. This is something I will try on my next bill. I too had some bills misaligned on the last batch so the lures don't run true. They didn't turn sideways but ran to one side. I'm still on the learning curve myself. As far as the paint job don't worry. I don't think the fish will critique it as much as you. I have some baits that have the paint job scratched and scraped up quite a bit and still catch some on them while I have some nice "pretty ones" that have yet to get a bite. Just keep practicing and you will get it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juice780 Posted August 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 good suggestions guys i will try those on my next baits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) I have just built a bunch of flat sided prototypes for another here is the link. Lip alignment is something that I also struggle with. The problem is that you are dealing with compound curves and there are optical illusions happening, especially if your carving is not exactly balanced and symmetrical. It should be easy to at least make the lip symmetrical, using patterns and/or templates. My method, when I am not being lazy, is to draw three parallel lines, full length of a sheet of A4 paper, about ¾” spacing. Place the paper on your table. Close one eye and hold the lure half way between the paper and your eye. Align the body on the middle line and adjust the distance so that the edges of the lip align with the outer lines. This will help you see any errors. Dave Edited August 1, 2011 by Vodkaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 On a couple of the baits, it looks to me that the lips are too long to have the line tie in the nose. Nose line ties are fine for shallow baits but for medium and deep divers, you need to put the line tie out on the lip surface. I don't know of a 100% sure way of centering lips and am not enough of a metal worker to make a centering jig, but there are a couple of considerations if you do it "by sight". First, it is hard to center a lip in a bait that is not symmetrical side-to-side. Symmetry makes for good bodies, good lips, and good crankbait performance. There's no way to align a lip if you have no trued-up sight line anywhere on the bait to reference it against. So good symmetrical bodies make for good lip alignment. I like to flip the bait on it's back and sight down the center of the belly. Look at how much of the lip you can see on each side and adjust to make it equal. Alternatively, if you have a laser level, shoot it down the belly and the laser should hit the tail hanger, the belly hanger, and the center of the lip. If you were smart enough to mark a center point on the tip of the lip, it becomes pretty obvious how to center it with a laser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 The bill is too long and wide for the line tie in the nose. For that bait I would use a bill that sticks out from the nose no more than 1/2 inch. I would also make the bill just slightly wider than the bait. You have made a very good start with that little bait, just tweak the bill size and I'm sure the next one will run great. Get ride of the split ring, no need for it when using a snap ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks Vodkaman for correcting my bad assumption. Apologies to Hazmail for the mix up. Both of you guys do such great builds and offer so much help to everyone my head spins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 I have to agree with benton B. I don't have nearly the experience as a lot of these guys, but I had pretty much the same problem on one of the baits I built. While it wouldn't turn completely over on it's side, it would run off to one side or the other pretty drastically. Trimming the bill made all the difference in the world. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfowler Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 ive made a ton of flat sides, the bill is too long for your line tie location shorten the lip and you will notice a difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
