Hoosier_Hawgz Posted May 15, 2023 Report Share Posted May 15, 2023 So I drew most of my inspiration for this one from one of Marling Baits’ most recent videos. I realized that I have a hole in my tackle box that would be easy for me to fill, that being an ultralight glide bait that I could throw with a spinning rod. So with a chunk of off-cut Poplar I drew up some lines and got to sanding with the Dremel. The pictures below are where the bait is at now, and will be updating this thread as I continue to work on it. If anybody has any ideas/thoughts to implement in this bait I would love to hear them as the build goes on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogervang Posted May 15, 2023 Report Share Posted May 15, 2023 That's going to be one good looking thin bait. Hoosier_Hawgz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted May 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2023 11 hours ago, Rogervang said: That's going to be one good looking thin bait. Thank you sir, that’s what I’m hoping for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Epp Posted May 17, 2023 Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 I'm still pretty new to the bog bait world, and have spent a lot of time in the ultralight world. 2 of the first glides I made were under 2 inches, so seeing an "ultralight" that's 5 inches is a perspective shift! Great start though! Are you planning to add a joint or leave it solid body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted May 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2023 17 hours ago, Big Epp said: I'm still pretty new to the bog bait world, and have spent a lot of time in the ultralight world. 2 of the first glides I made were under 2 inches, so seeing an "ultralight" that's 5 inches is a perspective shift! Great start though! Are you planning to add a joint or leave it solid body? Oh man I never thought about it from that point of view. Haha I can imagine that it is a bit of a culture shock to see a 5” “ultralight”. And thank you for the kind words! I will be adding a joint. As a matter of fact I kind of put the cart before the horse and cut the joint before I even started shaping the body, but with a little super glue and some pressure it’s right as rain! Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted May 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2023 Just a small update- I’ve got the body shaped just about how I want it. It’s probably 95% of the way there with some small spots here or there to knock down. Next up I’m going to be working on the face/gill details, and I think I’ll be using a bigeye chub for reference. The profile of this thing has me excited already! SoCalBassBum and Big Epp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 5, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2023 I finally got around to carving the face details on this. On the one side I was just using a box cutter, but I couldn’t quite get the gill detail that I was looking for. I used a carving knife for the other side, got alot finer lines, and am much happier with that. The fin details are up next then it’s fitting them all on! Big Epp and flaswimbaiter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Epp Posted June 7, 2023 Report Share Posted June 7, 2023 Lookin great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2023 On 6/6/2023 at 9:24 PM, Big Epp said: Lookin great! Thank you sir! I had planned on taking my time with this one but I was suddenly “inspired” by the missus to give this one to a friend for Father’s Day. So I’ve been trying to get in as much detail as I can as quickly as I can! Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Epp Posted June 8, 2023 Report Share Posted June 8, 2023 Very nice. Sometimes I need a little kick in the pants to make progress as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2023 And just like that it’s ready for the joint cut and hardware to be installed! PSA- I used popsicle sticks for the dorsal and pectoral fins, and I don’t recommend going that route if you can avoid it. They’re brittle and extremely hard to carve/shape. The only reason I kept it on mine is because I’m hard-headed and was determined to make it work. Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2023 I’ve learned three things this morning. #1. Pay close attention to how far my drill bit is traveling from the bottom of the bait. #2. Trying to drill through a tungsten weight that’s inserted into the bait is not a good idea. #3. Possibly the most important- Even though I try to be a perfectionist and hate these mistakes, super glue should be able to fix them fairly easily. Big Epp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2023 So I’ll be completely honest. This bait has been and is currently kicking my behind. It’s thin and tall, which made it hard to get enough weight in it to sink while still staying close to the bottom of it. I thought it would be best to place the weight as close to the joint as possible, but that made it sink folded at the joint and the glide was super erratic. Like would spin a complete 360 vertically on a twitch kind of erratic. Another problem I was having is that after sealing the wood by soaking it in Minwax polyurethane wood sealer for a total of 5.5 hours, my joint would stick on one side after getting wet. The joint problem was an easy fix. I sanded the back half down with 220 grit, then finished it off with 600 to get it smooth. The weighting issue is a different beast entirely. For the front half I’ve now drilled out 1 of the 2 weights near the joint and glued in a piece of wood sanded to fit the hole to add buoyancy. I’ve also installed weight under the chin to even out the weight distribution. For the back half I’ve drilled out 2/3 holes and inserted wood instead, and added weight closer to the tail. Since it’s wooden and for a friend I’m not going to give up on it, but it has definitely been the most trying bait I’ve made yet. danthefisherman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted June 26, 2023 Report Share Posted June 26, 2023 Keep at it! Micro glides are a pain to tune properly…believe me, I know. Here is one of mine: https://swimbaitunderground.com/forums/index.php?/topic/82189-bite-sized-shad/ You can see that I intentionally built my little shad with a bulky profile. This counterbalances the hardware and lets me get more ballast weight into the bait (which is still peanuts compared to a traditional swimbait). Small glides like this inherently do not “glide” very far, but I have found that too fast of a sink rate can really kill the distance. Looking at your bait I would say that the joint design is allowing too much freedom of motion (hence the 360’s). Smaller baits are a lot more darty and will want to “fold in” on themselves more readily. Adding weight to the head or tail tends to mitigate this, which I see you have done a good job trying. Otherwise there did not much more I wouldn’t think to attempt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier_Hawgz Posted June 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2023 5 hours ago, danthefisherman said: Keep at it! Micro glides are a pain to tune properly…believe me, I know. Here is one of mine: https://swimbaitunderground.com/forums/index.php?/topic/82189-bite-sized-shad/ You can see that I intentionally built my little shad with a bulky profile. This counterbalances the hardware and lets me get more ballast weight into the bait (which is still peanuts compared to a traditional swimbait). Small glides like this inherently do not “glide” very far, but I have found that too fast of a sink rate can really kill the distance. Looking at your bait I would say that the joint design is allowing too much freedom of motion (hence the 360’s). Smaller baits are a lot more darty and will want to “fold in” on themselves more readily. Adding weight to the head or tail tends to mitigate this, which I see you have done a good job trying. Otherwise there did not much more I wouldn’t think to attempt. Thank you for weighing in on this! I’ve read through your shad build before but I now I need to go back through it and pay close attention to how you were weighing it. I’ll take any help I can get to help refine mine. What you’re saying about the joint is intriguing. You might be absolutely right and I’m considering how to tighten up the joint, but I just want to clarify to make sure we’re on the same page. When I say it wants to 360 I mean in a spiral motion, back over belly, typically counter clockwise if you’re looking at the head of the bait as it comes through the water. Is it still a possible joint issue since this is what’s happening? I was thinking it might be a weight location issue but I’m up for trying anything. If it ends up I can’t get it to swim/twitch nicely on every cast, then my buddy may be getting a patent-pending “Gymnast Chub”! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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