|
|
Posts: 226
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | I love the 208 crane bait and have probably 6-8 in my garage that have bills that were glued in crooked and no matter how much you bend the line tie, the bait will not run true. I know cranes are hand made and might not be around forever so I want to figure out some way to make them usable. Has anyone tried heating up and bending bills, or shaving down the sides to help straighten them out? Any ideas would be appreciated |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1482
Location: Brighton CO. | I feel your pain, some you can get by if you use them as twitch bait but as soon as you reel them straight your screwed. I've sent them back to the vendor only for them to come back and say there's nothing wrong with this lure, here some free leaders.
We have seen some once great lures go down in reputation due to dud's getting thru. Sounds like You done all the right things but you can't polish turd. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 576
Location: deephaven mn | just listened to a podcast a couple weeks ago i think it was slammer amnd greg thomas they talked about just that.. taking a file or a knife and cutting a little off the bill as a better way to tune a bait |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1260
Location: Walker, MN | You can shave a lexan lip with any type of bench sander, works great. Make sure you TAKE THE HOOKS OFF FIRST! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1743
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | Bill of slammer tackle had a video about tuning baits by shaving the lip. I bought the deburring tool he used in his video.
https://youtu.be/qSq4RRkq7zc?si=5kYOB-A85blyfLbt |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2295
Location: SE, WI. | I believe these baits are Balsa wood. Balsa baits have great action. Catch lots of fish because of the balsa…….Problem is, balsa absorbs water pretty quickly. Lips seem to deteriorate first, get punky, hence the lip and tracking problem. The wood needs to be sealed good otherwise running problems occur. Lip placement needs to be spot on otherwise balsa can be very fickle to work with. Possibly try a little lead wire on hooks to help balance bottom of lure, but will alter running action. I’ve heated up plenty of lips on several different manufacturers baits. It’s a tricky maneuver, but only on deep divers. You get a little less depth, but you can increase the vibes, bring action of lure to greater heights and bring water displacement to new levels. Cranes have caught many of musky and other fish. Very popular lure back in the day. I’ve had several problems with Crane lips. Sent a few back to maker with zero satisfaction. Maybe it’s time to move on! Plenty of great cranks out there! JD |
|
| |
