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Posts: 4266
| I recently bought some 5" bodies that are kind of shad-shaped, and at first I was going to try to make small gliders. After a couple of weight attempts that got an almost perfect sink rate, they didn't glide when put to the test. I've decided to make them into neutrally buoyant crankbaits with square lips. I've got the lips, but I don't have any idea what the groundrules are for positioning diving lips. I've looked at Cranes and other square-lipped cranks, but before I do any cutting, I'd like some input from you guys as far as what angle is best, and how much lip do you put in the lure and how much stays out. I know the basics of longer lips creating more of a diving plane, but what is the minimum that they must protrude in order to cause enough resistance to make the lure vibrate and dive?
The bodies are 3/4" thick and are made out of kiln dried maple.
Thanks in advance guys.
Beaver |
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Posts: 1529
| try 45 degress. . saw cut approx 1/2inward with approx 3/4 out. unweighted will give you approx 5/7 feet trolling at 3.8-4.5mph
Edited by woodieb8 8/31/2008 5:54 AM
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Posts: 20212
Location: oswego, il | The more vertical the lip, the more frequent or tighter the side to side wobble and vibration. The bait will come in straighter on the twitch with more wobble. The less you go vertical, the wider and less frequent the wobble. On a twitch it will be much more erratic but may not crank in without blowing out. My example is pretty much apples to apples as far as same lip but can variate greatly with size and the shape of a lip. |
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Posts: 4266
| Thanks guys.
Pretty much what I was thinking. Dug out an old 45 degree triangle, and ran a straight line from line tie to rear hook eye and laid down some lines and then eye-balled which one looked to be pretty much what I was looking for. Something along the lines of some old 6" shallow Bagleys that I had laying around. Definitely want the tight vibration, and the 45 seems to give it a good look. I have enough that I can get some wider wobblers, but I'm going to use round lips for those.
If anybody else has anything to add, I'd appreciate it. For instance ........ things that you definitely DON'T want to do. Or minimum and maximum that the lip should stick out. What advantages putting a little weight in the belly has?
Just what I needed.....more lures!
Thanks again.
Beav |
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Posts: 226
Location: W. PA. | Beav, I've been working on both 5" and 6" shad type crankbaits for a few months now and have got them pretty much where I want them. I had a couple thoughts from reading your post. First thing is that the lip position has almost as much to do with the dive and action of the lure as lip angle, putting the lip too far back seems to deaden the action. What I did was sacrifice one of my blanks and cut a few different slots in it and took it to the pond for a test run. This also worked well for trying different sizes/styles of lips. The other thing I did to this same lure was to take a couple small (0.072x3/4") eyes and screw them in for line ties, one up toward the nose and one down further toward the lip. This all worked out very well, I spent about an hour at my pond trying different configurations until I got it where I wanted it.
The second thing was about the weight. My 5" shad will work without any belly weight but putting a little in before the front hook eye seems to stabilize it and let it run better at higher speeds. The 6" one has a larger profile (deeper belly) and will float on its side without any weight, the hooks are not enough to keep it upright, it needs a little belly weight to work at all.
One other thing I thought I would mention is about securing the lip. Before I epoxy them in I dry fit and use an awl to scribe a line around the top and bottom where the lip meets the lure, then I drill two holes beside each other between the lines to give the epoxy something to hold to and then sand or file the area in the lines to scuff the lip up a bit for better adhesion. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps. |
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Posts: 4266
| Thank-you. All very helpful.
I'm glad that you mentioned sacrificing a blank, because that is what I planned to do. I figure that I better make sure that what I have planned is going to work before I start spraying paint and drilling holes.
Much appreciated.
Beaver |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | I would be careful on how much lead you add. Usually the more weight you have the les action you obtain at slower speeds. Think of a countdown Depthraider if you will. Gotta reel it fast to get it to wiggle. |
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Posts: 50
| More weight in a lure will make it need a wider lip to get a good action . |
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