Illini Nate Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Does anyone know how to get a plug to travel?? By that I mean aside from the usual wobbling, I woudl like it to kick out left and right as much as possible without blowing out. So I guess what I am tryign to achieve is a S shaped swim path. I have been tryign to figure this out for a while and just havent been able to get it right. I know its possible to do this with a face cut, like the AC plug has but I was hoping to find a way to do it with a lure with a lexan lip. Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Try searching the forums for "hunt", "hunting"...normally used to mean that irregular path that occasionally happens with a bait, generally a balsa with brass thru-wire construction, and more often with shallow square bills. It is kind of the holy grail. If you build 25 baits, maybe (stress maybe) one or two might hunt for center. Lots of posts and threads on this, but do not think there is any one way to make it happen every time you build a bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure--Prof Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 One of the big keys to achieving this type of action is playing with the weight: weighting the lure as light as possible to still allow your crank to dive may get you in that direction, as will raising the center of gravity, or raising the weight vertically within the center of the lure. There are other hydrodynamic influences which will also affect this such as body shape relative to lip width, shape, and angle, etc...so many variables in fact that an exact formula would be difficult for the average luremaker to calculate from scratch. The simplest way to get there however would be to take a standard wood design crankbait and play with the variables one at a time. I'd begin with the weight. And while this is a much sought-after characteristic in cranks on a straight retrieve, IMHO it is much more important in bass fishing how the lure reacts when it deflects upon contact with cover or bottom structure. Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 From what I learned last year,the baits that have a steeper lip angle,and the lip is farther forward on the bait almost even with tow eye or even past it have a better chance of "hunting""searching","wander" whatever you call it.Keeping the tow eye low seems to help also.You may need to add more balast weight to keep from blowing out.Baits that "Hunt" usually are speed sensitive and are on the verge of blowing out.I am still trying to get that action myself on a more consistant basis.Not all baits will do it.Thats the fun part!Look at Lokes,Wiley's,Terminators, those are all very good baits with this action,they have similarities in build. Tom S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 I don't think that he is talking about hunting fellas. I have been able to achieve a S type swimming action from certain Rapala baits by shortening the lip. I personally don't like that type of action. But a baitmaker in my town does and he makes his bait modifications to swim like that. He sells allot of them too. If you do mean the Hunting action, then it is possible to do. There are three variables that make a bait hunt. Like the others said... You cannot get every bait made to hunt. But you can raise the percentage of the baits that you make to have that hunting action. Many thought that it was a brass thru wire bait that would hunt. As far as I know, I am the only baitmaker that makes a thru wire square bill. There are other baits out there that do not use thru wire construction that will hunt. The H&T baits are probably one of the most famous square bills out there and they are not thru wire. The wire being made of brass has nothing to do with it either. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apb Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 By S-shape, you mean like on a saltwater style danny plug? Slow wake on surface and they have a snake like wiggle to them. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 I get that S action on my minnow plugs, I think that's due to the long slender body. I'm not sure if you could get that same action on short fat diver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 You can get it Marty. Take a SR5 Rapala and take the lip out. Cut off 1/8 of an inch from the bottom of the lip and reinstall it. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Nate Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Thanks everyone for all the info. From what was all said the action I am looking for is that "hunting" action. I know its a tough one to do but my best trolling baits seem to be those that hunt. THanks for all the info I will have to try to tinker around with some things to see if I can get it to occur on a more regular basis Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
