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Posts: 2378
| Saw that Ranger stuck one with a weighted-to-suspend Jake. How are you weighting these baits? Are you using the oil trick that I have heard about? I would like to wait one of my jakes this winter. Any suggestions?
Also, how can I test it without access to open water?
Thanks -
Edited by BALDY 11/6/2003 7:19 AM
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | put an egg sinker on the split ring.
Hulbert
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Posts: 2378
| Mike H -
That was a thought I had, but thought maybe there was a little fancier way to do it. Thanks.
I guess that may be my best bet. I always get nervous making any permanent changes to any of my baits. |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | Don't make permanate changes, then you will be screwed when you want to use that bait in a different situation.
I carry a lot of different size of egg sinkers with me, hook them on the baits and just like that you have a weighted bait, when you are done, take it off and you are back to the original bait.
This works well for me, and remember, fish don't need a fancy weight job.
Hulbert
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Posts: 3926
| I don't use sinkers. I drill a very small hole in the bottom of the lure, just in front of the middle hook. Then, I add the leader I will use with the bait. Next, I go to the big sink in the basement and fill her up. I submerge the lure, turn it upside down and jiggle it so small bubbles of air come up, showing there is water entering the central cavity. I turn it over and see how she floats. I keep doing this until the back of the lure just barely breaks the water surface. Then I plug the hole with a dab of tub and tile caulking, and later paint over it a few times with nail polish.
If the lure doesn't act the way I like, I could drill the hole again and mess with it some more. But I love the action I've achieved with all the lures. One of the Grandmas scored me a 43" fish about 10 days ago, and I scored a 42" on the suspending Jake last night. I have done two 10" Jakes, two 7.5" Grandmas and a Little Earnie. I made one Jake into a slow sinker so I can rake the depths. Both Grandmas suspend but they behave very differently in the water. One Grandma does amazing stuff, like turning completely over, a full 360 degrees, within a series of mild twitches. Both Grandmas often shoot out to the left or right a few feet too, like gliders. All this with mild to firm twitchs, so the baits are actually moving pretty slowly back to the boat. I still have 10" Jakes and 7.7" Grandmas I have not modified, so I'm covered there.
It's been fun playing with the baits. All this is copying what I saw MuskyE do to one of his big Jakes, I learned a lot fishing with that guy a few times this last season. |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | Float them in the bathtub. Remember to attach the type of leader you will be using because it adds weight to the front. Also colder water is denser (lures will float higher) than warm water so try to duplicate the temp you expect to be fishing in. A coarse file will shave off lead if you need to lighten it up a little bit but the next size smaller does not keep it down. |
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Posts: 1939
Location: Black Creek, WI | With wood cranks you can just drill and tap egg sinkers where needed. If you like this technique... you can "foam" your hollow plastic cranks and do the same thing. Lastly, you can stack on a pile of Storm Suspend Strips. As long as you keep the bait balanced... you are usually OK. Thus, you can test them in your kitchen sink, bathtub, toilet, whatever.
You'd be amazed what you can get a crankbait to do with some strategic weight placement!!!! |
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | Sounds good Jason........but do they actually CATCH fish? |
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Posts: 3926
| I boated 3 more fish on the weighted-to-suspend Jake this evening. All in the mid-30"s, but plump. |
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Posts: 1939
Location: Black Creek, WI | Ha......... Ha........ HA! Very funny Mr. Reiter.
Yes, those weighted cranks catch fish. I'm convinced that they trigger more strikes than conventional lures too. Of course... not all those strikes connect (How do they miss a big bait just hangin' there!!!!) and with my bad luck... many of the fish that do catch the lure don't stick.... but it sure is more fun than having no action at all (heh heh).
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| One easy way to weight your baits without altering the bait at all is to use snap weights that simply clip onto your line and the weights are interchangeable. This technique is used here in the eastern part of the country a lot. Makes it very easy to add two, three ounces or up to a pound to your baits and get them to run much deeper. I have also had good luck with dipsy divers and down riggers but this tends to get a bit more complex. These techniques obviously would only be applicable in a trolling situation however. |
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Weighting Cranks