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Posts: 2024
| What makes a good creeper, good? I'm not really looking for, "Oh, my favorite is this one," "My vote for X Brand," etc. just want to know more about construction details you might look for. Wings with or without holes? A spread or no spread hook design? Anything.
I also have another question, is their a purpose behind the kind of cupped backs on some creepers (i.e. Le Lure, Slamm'r vs. the round body of a BS Willy)? Thanks! | |
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Posts: 354
| Different body styles tend to efffect the way the bait pushes through the water. Some seem to allow the wings to work better. The whole key to me with good creepers is the wings. Wick's and some of the custom Rylures have stainless steel wings made of a lighter gauge steel which allow for better tuning and a very deep blooping sound. I also prefer the spreaders. Many people don't care for them because of the problems they pose once the fish is netted. I prefer to catch the fish first and worry about that second. The Wick Creepers and some of custom Rylures also have slightly larger wings in comparison to other factory brands. | |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | I have been using the BS Willy jointed creepers. I like them in that you can speed them up and not roll them over unlike my Hi-Finn hawg Buster (to a certain speed). It is a cool to see a fish behind your lure and you can speed it up to provoke a strike.
I am not certain about speader hooks or holes in the wings. | |
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Posts: 2361
| The main design component on creepers is that they not roll over, or plow, and I think that making the top lighter and lowering the center of gravity was the original purpose for the cupped back and then maker A copied maker B etc.
The early hi fin creeper was a terrible knock off and frequently did both. I had a couple and both were poor runners, but, I managed to break off on a very large Chippewa flowage fish with one so...they caught fish too.
As for design components that might fail or succeed, hi center of gravity will fail, wings set back to far will fail, wings set foward to far will fail, a jointed tail section is actually somewhat of a stabilizer for the creeper imo. Best jointed one I have seen imo was the early bauer jointed model which was just a little on the smaller side, but still works good. Heavier wings are generally good in that they are knocked out of tune less often than the lightweight, handmade wings of some early bait maker's creeper designs.
Most on the market today do not have a large problem with either.
The old le beouf creeper flattened the body of the Heddon crazy crawler and effectively improved it. This older creeper when properly tuned can actually run almost completely out of the water in calm water, at a pretty good rate of speed.
Most of the creepers today that I have seen run good, and then it becomes a question of what sound people like.
I like a bloop bloop bloop occassionally ending in a very loud KABOOSH!!!!!!!
Edited by firstsixfeet 6/24/2006 9:52 PM
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Posts: 25
Location: Roseville, MN | In my opinion:
1.) Wings which are durable yet can be tuned if the need arises.
2.) Consistant performance on every cast.
2.) Lure body is engineered so that the belly hook(s) will not foul on the wings.
3.) A thru-wire system which does not allow the lure body to rotate around the wire.
The "best" sounding creeper is strictly a matter of personal preference or a matter of what historically works best on your lakes. While I prefer a deeper-pitched wing plop, and wings that make a distinct cutting sound when they slice into the water, some prefer a more subtle sound, and a more frantic skittering action.
But, if you really want to learn about creepers and what makes a good one, go out and buy one of the better commercially made ones, and really commit to messing around with the pitch and cup of the wings, or take the wings off and remount them more forward or further back, higher or lower on the body and more open or more closed. After a few experiments, I think you'll find more meaningful answers to your question, than anything we can offer here.
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Components of a good Creeper