Starting a new build

[Hrenthegreat]

Hey guys! 

I’m coming into swim baiting from fly fishing, and as such I figured if I can tie my own flies, I should be able to build my own baits. That being said, I have some questions before I start taking chunks out of wood. To give a little idea of what I’m looking at doing, I figured The easiest place to start would be a glide bait, and watching videos of 175s, S-wavers, mothers, and the like, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the slow back and forth rock of a big carp as it cruises. Luckily for me, all my bass lakes and ponds are RIFE with these guys, and as such I think a 6-7” carp glide would be a good place to start. With that in mind: 

1. Any specific angles I should cut the joints at to get the smoothest glide out of the bait? I’d love to get a wide, smooth glide that works when retrieved at an absolute crawl....any tips on how to make sure I can get this effect?

2. Any sense in tossing some big rattles in this bait? A a lot of my water is 2’ clarity, sometimes less in 2 specific lakes I had in mind so is it worth throwing those in there to give them big girls something else to key into?

3. Is there any trick to weighting these guys? Physics says that the more weight I put near the head, the harder it will be to get that lazy zig-zag out of the bait, but more weight also means more impetus for longer glides on the twitch pause. So basically: better swimming when the lead is in the head, or just equally distribute it and quit over-thinking?

Thanks for the help guys! Can’t wait to get started and test my hand out at some wood carving!

 

Connor Hren

[danthefisherman]

Welcome to the big bait building game! On the contrary, a glide is probably one of the hardest baits to start out with. Carving one might seem simple as they normally only have one joint, but the reel challenge comes in balancing and fine tuning it to have a controlled and consistent action. Personally I think a multi joint swimmer or wake would be much easier to make as your first, but it's you might just get lucky with a good glide and you can always try converting the baits later on anyways. Regardless of what type of bait you start out with, you'll learn a ton so be sure to take notes! Below are a few of my personal opinions on glides:

1. In general I've found that a tighter joint gives the bait a wider and more methodical swim (i.e. gancraft jointed claw). This type of joint is good for "open water glides" that you intend to fish mostly with a steady retrieve. Working the rod will cause the bait to dart around erratically because the tight joint restricts the bait's motion. A wider joint typically allows the bait to cut side to side easier and faster which is ideal if you like working your bait to get a reaction strike. These "target glides" may not cover as much water per glide, but they often have better ballance and are good for fishing structure because you can work them slower.

2. Incorporating rattles is actually something I've been wanting to try for a long time. Most guys will say there's no need with the amount of water displacement and commotion a big bait has, but it wouldn't hurt to do something different! Keep us updated if you try it please

3. If there is a secret formula to ballasting glides, I have yet to figure it out. I've heard just about everything and tried just about everything and the most I can say is pay more attention to the profile of your bait if anything. Generally most of a bait's volume is closer to the head, but the exact location of its "balancing point" will vary from bait to bait. The more weight you can locate at this balancing point the easier it will cut from side to side but the more you sacrifice in terms of balance. The more weight you add to either end of the bait the harder it will be to make it cut but you might get better ballance that way. The trick is to find that in between sweet spot where you get maximum balance while retaining good action. You can learn things in general about weight placement from other baits, but each bait is different so trial and error is inevitable.

Tight lines and good luck!

[Jinxd12]

Great post @danthefisherman these are definitely things to take note of, and incorporate into your baits. Just assembled my 1st one and its super fun to figure it out as you go. Awesome guys with tons of knowledge here!

[DoomDiver]

My understanding (unfortunately not by experimentation... yet) is that placing weights create different moments of inertia. Typically the lure will try to rotate the lighter ends where there is no weight, around the points where you have put the weight. For example, in a two piece swimbai, loading all the weight in the head and tail will cause those points to stay relatively still while the joint in the middle will wiggle back and forth intensely. The opposite, with all of the mass at the center of the swimbait around the joint, will cause the head and tail to move the most and the center of the bait to move the least. All of the weight evenly distributed would cause the lure to pivot around the center of mass (I think of each section of the lure) but would not be moving as erratically as a lure with no weight.