Greenwirecranks Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 any alternite way than through wires for balsa? any tips for making though wires? anything would be apreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 When making balsa baits I use a basswood core sandwiched between two pieces of balsa. This allows me to use twisted wire hook hangers and line ties epoxied into the bait. Some folks drill holes where the hardware is attached and then glue dowel rods into the holes to sink their anchors in. Some people use one of the denser types of balsa and just drill their holes and glue their hardware in. There are several more ways of doing this, but I can't think of them at the moment. I'm sure others will chime in with their advice. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 8, 2015 Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 It's player's choice. Would I use a commercial 1/2" screw eye glued with super glue into raw balsa? No, but I would use a 1+ inch hand wound stainless screw eye into a slightly oversize hole filled with epoxy. It's all about how durable you want your bait to be and how much work you are willing to do to get there. Some guys have the equipment to saw a bottom slot into the bait and place a thru-wire into the slot. I think that's what Rapala does to their factory baits. When I thru-wire, I split the bait in half with a razor blade, make small troughs in both halves of the balsa where the hardware goes, lay in the hardware, and rejoin the bait halves with 5 minute epoxy. That gives the bait a nice durable epoxy "backbone" but you usually have an external repair to do to the bait where it was cut in half. I also often I will just drill holes in the balsa, fill them with epoxy, wet the hardware with epoxy, and fit it into the holes. I've never had a piece of hardware come out, so either way works for me. In my experience, bass don't break balsa baits. They are either destroyed due to a failure to the topcoat and subsequent water intrusion, or a bone head breaks off the top of the head and the lip when he smacks the bait on the water at 100 mph to clear weeds off the trebles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 That's Mr. Bonehead to you! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) Then I'm Bonehead Jr. Been there, done that - and learned my lesson. Awhile back, I saw a pic of a well regarded guide on Lake Guntersville holding a double handful of broken $25 custom balsa baits, bewailing how fragile they were. I commented about the stupidity of blasting balsa lures into the water to clean grass off them. An eerie silence followed. Edited June 9, 2015 by BobP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 I can't really comment on the learning curve of others. I have had the same experience with Rapala lures. Their baits break at the line tie, or right at the body/bill joint. It only took me a few to learn not to do it anymore. You'd think once would have been enough, but, nooo, I had to really learn the hard way! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loft Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Propobly not the obvious choice, but you could make a release tackle, then you only need to worry about durability for cast and retreiwe. There ofcourse some cons to it too, but it gives better hookup rates with some species too. Loft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loft Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 There is an introduction to release tackle here: http://www.bursell.dk/articles/fishing/saltwater/coastfishing/show/279 Loft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 That's a neat idea tho not sure how well it would work throwing crankbaits into grassy areas. Release or not, you'd still be breaking the bills off balsa baits if you slapped the bait on the water to shake off grass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
