The Search for The Magic Hunter

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Recently the subject of hunting lures came up in a personal conversation.  They seemed to think there was a formula or design strategy to achieve it predictably.  Perhaps, but they didn't choose to share it with me.  Like many things it has been floating around in the back of my mind.  Not a primary focus of thought just one of a million things my subconscious has been working on while I do other things.  This morning I was drinking my morning coffee and watching some mindless drivel on YouTube when it came to me that one of the most common ways of changing the action of a crank bait is to change the center of gravity.  Higher or lower, front to back, why not left to right.  I don't mean you should make a bait lopsided left to right, but rather make it so the primary ballast can shift significantly left to right. It might not be a true hunting pattern If I had mastered true random movement I'd have already claimed that million dollar prize for understanding and advancing the formulas for turbulent flow.  More of a predictable and somewhat controllable wide switching pattern.  As I think of it a little more maybe a dual CG**.  There is generally only one CG, but if one had dual points of high density (like a binary sun).  One maintains the balance of the bait to keep the bottom roughly down, and the other can shift to change the average CG left to right.  The idea of multiple high density points lends itself to a whole separate field of study for crank bait actions.  I only touch on it here as it might help achieve the goal of a bait that is pseudo random, giving the appearance of a "hunting."  

I've thought off some way it could be done with a moving tie point as well, but the issue there is the exposed mechanics to do that.  Reel it through snot grass and the mechanism would be just as gummed up as swivel on your spinnerbaits in a similar location.  

FYI:  My very first crank bait hunts or appears to hunt, and it has a fixed CG cast in resin.  It was purely by accident.  Not by design, but it shows the idea of a moving CG is NOT necessary to get the desired result.  That bait is repeatable, and every one has the same issue.  Its slow roll only.  If you slow roll it then it hunts.  If you burn it back it rolls over on its side.  I know its repeatable, because I've cut half a dozen of that mold and if I make them the same way I get the same result.  My idea was that by using a shifting CG or point density if you prefer that you could force a more predictable roll and recovery that had the appearance of hunting.  

[Vodkaman]

This is my hunting solution posted in April 2017. The theory stands up and the build success rate is 100% with care. Of course, I am not claiming that there are not more solutions out there.

Dave

[Travis]

Hunting cranks in the lure building community has been misapplied/redefined by many.  I see videos of guys "hunters" all the time and they are not hunters in my opinion based on what was being sought out when I first started concentrating on bass in the late 80s.  A true hunter was erratic and did not repeat itself in a reliable manner during that time period.  

What seams to be a common "hunter" today is a bait that has been designed to have a the wide swim/glide bait movement with the the wiggle (fast vibration) or wobble (slow vibration) of traditional cranks. Their pathway can reliably be plotted every single time.

If you were to attach a marker on a hunter and make several hundred/thousand casts you would end up with a a solid line of  a certain width not a sine wave of many described "hunters".  

 

[wchilton]

What you have created in that first build that hunts is a bait that is near some instability in its normal operating mode (slow roll).  At faster speed it "shifts" into a different mode (on it's side).  Being nearly un-stable, it only takes a minor change (tiny water swirl or slight change in speed) to briefly kick it out of its stable mode and then it returns to slow rolling.  I think your idea of shifting ballast can also work.  You just need to make sure that your lure is near enough to some point of instability that the ballast change will have a real effect.  If the bait is super stable (very low CG), it will easily correct itself for minor changes in balance.