johnnytheboy Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hi there, wondering if anyone can give me any tips on weighting a glidebait, the thing i'm knocking up is a sort of shad profile but not as deep in the belly, in the aim that i might get it to glide that bit further but not as far out as say a river run manta I know i have to put weight at each end but i was wondering if its better with weight baist to one end, someone once told me weight towards the back for a better glide but i dunno if this is true, I have some good shop bought glidebaits and they seems to fall pretty unform in the water i.e. on a level plane, also any pointer as to where to position the weight at each end of the lure i.e. on a 6 inch lure should i postion it 1 1/4 inch from each end wondering if anyone has any tips?? tightlines john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Johnny, You won't ever get a flat sided bait shaped like the one you are working with to glide anywhere near like a manta, I can promise you that. If you want a very wide gliding bait you will need to switch to something with a cigar shape, flat sided baits don't glide very well. Many european builders will tell you that hardwoods (maple, mahogany, etc.) glide better than soft woods, I haven't found this to be true. The most lively of all woods that I have personally tested is western red cedar. As far as weighting is concerned I would begin your experiment with the weight approximately 1" from each end. You can come closer to the center if the body shape requires it. After weighting attach all of your components and drop the bait into a water filled vessel. The bait should maintain a totally horizontal posture while slowly sinking. The weighting portion of gliders is the most challenging, it can take literally dozens of tests to find something that really works as you would like it to. Don't get hung up on a wide glide tho. Most commercial baits on the market have a very narrow glide path to them and still catch a ton of fish. Also a wide glide although fun to watch doesn't really look that realistic. To me, a darting swimming action provides a more natural presentation. Here is a video link for one of my baits if you are interested in watching it swim. www.eoni.com/~volkman (click on beerbelly.avi to begin download) Good luck. jed www.bikinibaitcompany.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 John, Buy one of my Ty-Jacks it has what you are looking allover it. No, this is what took all my time trying to get the perfect running lure is the weight. So you are on your --- I could not do that to you. Here it is you only need one weight. Put that weight in the center turning point of the bait. So how do you find the center? Take your finger and find where your lure will sit level on our finger, that is the center turning point of your bait. Sorry John, I now have to kill you for telling you that. (Just kidding!) -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Jed, I can get my flat sided glide bait almost all the way back around in a 180*. This is how the weight is in the manta. -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnytheboy Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 hi there, i seen your beerbelly on ebay cracking lure, if i get half as good as that i'll be over the moon, it realy is something special i'm looking for something in between a cylindrical glider and a shad type glider, just something a little quirky and diffrent, the shape i have is similar to a fat old cigar but not as big side profile as a shad, if i was that way inclined i could call it some fancy hybrid lure, but i'm not, so i won't, its just something to fart about with in the winter the lure is mahogany, for no other reason than the old boy had some left over from some DIY project or other, i was wondering when you test the lure do you compensate for the weight of the steel leader, or is testing it in the tank less any compensation sufficent, i heard as well that once the lure has been finished and topcated the action can be totally diffrent if not ruined, is there anyway to compensate for this in testing?? thanks again john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 I have spoken with builders that set their gliders up to sink with the nose slightly up to compensate for the wire leader. I don't do this with my baits, they fall totally horizontal. I have tested perhaps 10 common commercial baits and only a couple of them that I can recall fall nose up. You may find that Corey's method of weighting works fine for you, particularly if you are using mahogany which sinks quite easily becaue of its high density. Other woods such as poplar, pine, cedar, and basswood will require several holes to get the balast you are looking for. You will have to experiment with weighting to see what it is you like. I tried one hole in the center and found the bait to be way too sensitive (wanting to go left and right too easily) for the action I like. Others such as Corey obviously like this type of action, you will have to decide for yourself. I am pretty sure that the Amma Bama baits are weighted in this same way as well. I like a bait to swim left and right with a gentle tap of the rod but I don't like the bait to turn too far off of straight ahead....like about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock unless the bait is really being worked hard. I also don't like alot of roll but many guys design this into their baits, the slammer dropbelly is a good example and from what I have been told the "roll" is what causes alot of musky to "take". Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnytheboy Posted October 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 cheers guys correy i never seen your post hope you don't think i was rude only replying to jed, we must have been posting at the same time, those TY-Jacks are cracking lures, i would buy one the red black and yellow one in the gallery is a great colour what i'm gonna try is making some similar blanks and weighting them diffrent, hopefully get some diffrent results and get too lures with good actions, i have loads of shop bought lures here with all types of actions and i'm catching pretty consistent on my chosen few, some are wide glides some not so wide, others real flanking rolling erratic actions, the main thing is i'm catching consistent on them, i want to make up a few diffrent styles, this glide bait is the first pitstop in whats looking like a long journey once again guys, thanks very much, plenty for me to test out tightlines john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskietom51 Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Nice action on your bait what kind of sinking rate should I look for when I drop it in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskiemarc Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 John: If you do a search for Hughes River you should find a post with an X-Ray of a Hughes River Glider. This x-ray gives you an idea of location and amount of lead used when using cedar. You definitly won't need as much lead with a hardwood just adjust the quantity of lead to get a slow, horizontal sinking bait. Here is a picture of a glider that I build with the info from that post. I'm happy with the way it turned out and the action. I'm still fairly new at this but this site and the guys here are really helpfull and have shortened my learning curve a great deal. Thanks All Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Nice looking bait Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnytheboy Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 marc i did a search for the hughes river bait, i relay can't belive there is that much lead in a lure, its pretty crazy if that split open the state of california would have to be evacuated hopefully the mahogany shouldn't need that much tightlines john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 You better believe it has that much lead in it. That is why I call it the tank! When I made a my Ty-Jack lure that is what I was trying to get out of my bait, everything the Hughes River has subtract the heavy weight the hard to work and low hooking %. Don?t get me wrong I love the Hughes River I know it works, but the things I told you turn me off. I can get my lure to work like the Hughes River and filling like I don?t have a lure behind my line. This allows me to work my lure all day, when I could only work the Hughes only a couple hours. -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I have never tossed a Hughes River, I would like to but I can't bring myself to kick out fifty bucks or more for one of them. The HR baits are very popular though and there must be a reason guys like them. The paint jobs on the baits are excellent and this probably doesn't hurt things. Cedar is a very porous wood and lends itself well to lure-building. With all things being equal (size, shape, etc.), I have found cedar to provide better action than any other wood I have tested. Try it for yourself, make three identical glide baits from cedar, mahogany, and poplar, you will note the cedar glides further, rolls more, and is much more "fishy" looking in the water. I currently don't use cedar though for two reasons, it's too soft and the extreme amount of lead necessary to correct sink rate. I do have a good stash of cedar though and certainly won't "rule it out" for future projects. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnytheboy Posted October 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 surely is a heavy duty lure, you could probably do an armed robbery with it think i'll give cedar a miss if it needs that much weight, at $50 i think i'll give the original a miss as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
