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Swimbait4life

Line tie science

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I think the vertical orientation of line ties to some degree comes from the manufacturing process.  It’s easier and more logical to put a vertical tie in a bait that is built in two halves as most plastic and many wood baits are.  It also makes tuning the bait to run properly a heck of lot easier.

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To quote Captain Jack Sparrow, "It a matter of leverage."

To me, the line tie (tow point) provides a balance point between a lipped crankbait body's movement in resistance to the water flowing over and around it, and the lip's resistance to the water striking it.  The position of the line tie provides more leverage to one or the other. 

Achieving a balance between those two forces is what give a lipped crankbait stability. 

I like to think of it like a seesaw that has different sized kids on either end.   They move toward or away from the fulcrum, the pivot point, until their body weights achieve a balance, so they can go up and down effortlessly, or the tail of a kite, long enough to provide stability, but short enough to still allow the kite to fly.

As Bob said, a lure with a horizontal line tie would be much harder to tune, although it would allow you to move the tow point up or down more easily.

 

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Wow, Swimbait, you ask some deep questions!  LOL

Bob has explained why I think most like ties are vertical versus horizontal, but not all.  When I first saw the River2Sea S-Waver with the horizontal line tie I was surprised because it is made in two halves like most commercial baits.  But, for that swimbait, I believe he hit the nail on the head with he mentioned 

5 hours ago, BobP said:

makes tuning the bait to run properly a heck of lot easier.

For their bait, it seldom needs to have any side to side adjustment but up or down adjustment is a common issue for them, especially once slammed into rocks for a few hours.  OUCH!  Also, it looks more streamlined on the S-Waver because it fits the profile of the nose better.  LOL

So, vertical versus horizontal may be a case of manufacturing ease, or tunability, or even looks, depending on the design.

Line tie orientation on jigs is a different thing, and they to come in horizontal or vertical.  The horizontal work better with Chatter Bait type set-ups.  The same set-up may give advantages to other rigging options, like not being effected by the line slipping forward or back.  Vertical line ties are a little less likely to get more weeds because it is in line with the hook already.

Mark, well mark just went off and got super deep.  

4 hours ago, mark poulson said:

To quote Captain Jack Sparrow, "It a matter of leverage."

So true, so very true.

4 hours ago, mark poulson said:

Achieving a balance between those two forces is what give a lipped crankbait stability. 

Not just lipped crankbaits.  Lipless lures, like your swimbait, still have control surfaces and it is a balance between control surfaces that we are trying to achieve.  Sometimes a vertical line tie allows more tunability, sometimes a horizontal, sometimes it just doesn't matter.

Like I said, deep my friend, deep.  I like that!

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