Cartwheeling

[Hoosierdaddy]

I make a lure similar to a Smithwick Rogue... or a Rapala original floating minnow.. My product is a little beefier than these examples. I designed my lures to give me alot of tail waggle as I want to troll them and I want them to have alot of presesnce or thump in the water. For this the work nicely and as hard as I have tried I cannot find another brand name designed in anyones million dollar corporate lab that outperforms them. Here is the problem... when casted they cartwheel. This has been identified by Skeeter to be one of the three no-nos o lure design. I dont cast them much but occassionally I due like to pitch them toward the rocks.

How can I eliminate the cartwheeling to make this lure a little better or more versitile? Here is a picture of how the belly is weighted as I am quite sure I will need to shift the center of gravity in some way. The weighting is about half way down this page if you scroll downward.

http://home.mchsi.com/~djaroscak/woodblank.html

[Vodkaman]

Because you are talking about a lot of waggle, I will assume you are looking at a lot of lip. The lip slot is steep, necessary for the waggle, but, aerodynamically a nightmare. All the attributes that make a good lure action in the water ie turbulence, cause major problems in the air ie turbulence.

I've had the same problem, as I like lures to waggle. Moving the weight rearwards helps, but messes up all your balance, if that is important to you. Also, by moving the weight rearwards, the pivot point of the waggle moves rearwards, giving the effect of the lure shaking its head rather than wagging its tail.

I solved, or should I say, reduced the problem by making the front lip hinged. The lip follows the airflow rather than fighting against it, thus dramatically reducing the turbulence. Once in the water, the pressures immediately snap the lip into its operating position.

I increased my casting distance from 32m to 45m, with a 70mm length, round body, balsa lure, weight 18g, 25mm fan shaped lip at 70deg, centre weighted.

[Hoosierdaddy]

YOU MADE THE LIP HINGED!!!! HOLLY CRAPPOLA!!!... How did you accomplish that feat?

[BobP]

I think if you shift ballast rearward to improve casting, you'll kill the action. Many plastic jerkbaits baits have ballast that shifts to the tail for casting and then falls into a lower forward belly cavity on the retrieve. You can do that in wood if you're willing to engineer the proper ballast cavity. If it were me, I'd just be happy to have a great trolling lure. There are baits where long castability is irrelevant, e.g., a D-Bait. Others catch bass like crazy but cast like crap, e.g., a #5 Rapala Shadrap. There's no free lunch, but neither are there any no-no's. Design a bait to perform to the max in a specific fishing situation, recognizing that every design choice must be weighed against a tradeoff of some kind.

[Hoosierdaddy]

Thats kinda what I was thinking too Bob. I really enjoy using them and they are in more demand than I want from the locals who have seen them in action. I guess I was just looking for a way to build any even better mousetrap. They have replaced every Smithwick rogue in my box which is what I used to rely on before I began making my own. Mine actually cast better than Smithwicks anyway. Mostly because they are heavier but even on a windless day.. Rogues are a nightmare

Thanks for the help fellas

[Nathan]

Hoosier,

I pour my lead into my baits,But here is what I would try.What everyone has said about shifting too much weight rearword is right..But..try drilling a 3/16th hole at the very back of the bait..Don't make it so deep it interfears with your rear hook hanger..and pour smoe lead in it.Some times a small amount of weight placed that far back can eliminate your tumbling without effecting the action too much..Nathan

[Vodkaman]

BobP. I totally agree. The design is always going to be a compromise and as fishing is the purpose of the whole excercise, then the fishing attributes have to come first.

I will keep searching for a solution to both though. The hinge may not be it due to its comparative fragility.

Hoosierdaddy, did you get my PM.

[Hoosierdaddy]

I just e-mailed you. Sorry I didn't see your PM at first Vodkaman.. Good thing you drew my attention to it.

[Lure--Prof]

Hoos, man, you have a lure that works that well, I would try Nathan's trick, and if it doesn't change the action one iota, then great! If it does, it didn't hurt to try, and if it only changes it a tad, it's still a keeper to try when a primo casting situation presents itself. I would also experiment a bunch with different casting set-ups and techniques with your original Killer, which does happen to cast better than a Rogue, which, has only won about as much money bass fishing as anything out there. A great fish-catcher is absolutely worth a bit of casting compromise.

Dean