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lure bib configuration
Getting a really wide action on a shallow running bait is tricky because of the competing forces that cause a crank to wobble and dive. Here are few tips to try:
The bib length should be short. How short? It depends to a fair extent on the size and shape of your bait. Experimentation is the key.
The bib should be angled so that it sits about 65-75 degrees from being at right angles to the longitudinal axis. In other words, not horizontal, closer to (but not) vertical. This affects angle of attack more than dive depth, but if you are casting rather than trolling will have an effect.
As well as being short, the bib should be wide. This will help acheive the wider action. Shape and overall area of the bib exposed to oncoming water are both important. The wider the bib the wider the action (to a point), but making the bib wider will increase the area, resulting in a deeper diving lure, so it's a compromise.
Lure action is maximised by minimising the density of the lure. Use the lightest timber or resin you can get, and don't insert lead into the body (or at least experiment to find the minimum amount of lead required to get the thing running properly). I don't put lead into shallow running cranks at all. If you do insert lead be sure to get it about the fulcum of the lure action. Put the weight too far forward or too far back and you'll reduce the action of the lure significantly.
Depending on your target species you might consider fitting lighter gauge hooks and/or rings to reduce overall weight. This will help both reduce diving depth and increase action. Incidentally, adding heavier hooks and rings can be used as an offset for taking lead out of the crank body if you just can't get it to swim properly otherwise. If, on balance, you've still reduced the overall weight of the lure then you're in front.
Finally, there are some things you can do when you're actually using your cranks. The action of topwater and shallow running lures can be helped along significantly with a bit of judicious rod tip twitching, and diving depth can be reduced by keeping the rod tip high and the retrieve speed low.
I've often though of making a suspending or slow sinking version of Arbogast's jitterbug for this very purpose, but haven't ever got around to it. Has anyone had any success with this idea?
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