Bite-Sized Shad

[danthefisherman]

3 hours ago, morgantm16 said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there isn't much need to tweak any more prototypes if it's catching them like that.  It's already got something going on that they like, take the win on the first proto.  Rarely happens, but sometimes you land on the best version on the first try haha! Just move on to a topwater or crankdown off that body and and start selling us the glides already because I'm with Roger and need one bad.

Thank you sir! There are always those nagging thoughts on maybe I could make the bait better if I did this or that, but I find it hard to argue with what all these fish are telling me.

I'll need to get swim footage one of these days, but the fish keep distracting me haha. The bait definitely doesn't fish like a traditional glide...it's more of a glide/twitch hybrid (I call it a glitch bait) that is super responsive as I intended it to be. I've been having a lot of fun flipping it around cover or skinny water on traditional tackle, but it can be easily overpowered if I try to fish it like a bigger glide bait. Even so, the ability to get it to roll occasionally and throw off some flash has actually seemed to help with getting bit especially in those low-vis situations.

[morgantm16]

I completely understand Dan! I like to tinker and always looking for ways to make things better.  I can think of two instances on bait designs though that the first design produced the best.  The things I changed thinking it would improved the bait may have made had the desired effect that I wanted myself, but didn't produce as good as the original design did and after multiple prototypes and more time and money invested into the idea, I went back to the first design I started with because it's what teh fish wanted haha! Looks like the fish have spoken to me!

From the sounds of it, it sounds a lot like the Golden Hellion I have. Super responsive bait, does really well on twitches and that seems to be its niche or area it shines.  I don't have a ton of time on the bait, but in my experience with it, you can't fish it with the same technique as a larger glide.  Who knows, maybe I just need more time on it to learn more about what I can do with it, but its a very responsive bait.

[danthefisherman]

3 hours ago, morgantm16 said:

I completely understand Dan! I like to tinker and always looking for ways to make things better.  I can think of two instances on bait designs though that the first design produced the best.  The things I changed thinking it would improved the bait may have made had the desired effect that I wanted myself, but didn't produce as good as the original design did and after multiple prototypes and more time and money invested into the idea, I went back to the first design I started with because it's what teh fish wanted haha! Looks like the fish have spoken to me!

From the sounds of it, it sounds a lot like the Golden Hellion I have. Super responsive bait, does really well on twitches and that seems to be its niche or area it shines.  I don't have a ton of time on the bait, but in my experience with it, you can't fish it with the same technique as a larger glide.  Who knows, maybe I just need more time on it to learn more about what I can do with it, but its a very responsive bait.

Sounds about right...I just hope I'll be able to replicate this thing with subsequent attempts.

I believe the Golden is 4.75" long, so take that and scale it down to about 90% and you have an idea of what this one is. I imagine the two fish similarly, but I've never fished one of Ryan's baits before.

[morgantm16]

2 hours ago, danthefisherman said:

Sounds about right...I just hope I'll be able to replicate this thing with subsequent attempts.

I believe the Golden is 4.75" long, so take that and scale it down to about 90% and you have an idea of what this one is. I imagine the two fish similarly, but I've never fished one of Ryan's baits before.

I have that hellion from him thats pink that i think will kill smallies.  I think your bait would too, soooo if you need a tester on a smallmouth lake, i have you covered there haha!  Then I got a gremlin blank from him that i threw a gill pattern on for the Ouachita bream bed bite. Both are really responsive baits.  I'd put them both in that snappy action category, but there gremlin isn't quite as snappy with the slight size increase. If yours is like the hellion, is almost like having like a walking bait like a spook that is subsurface.

[danthefisherman]

Little update: Took the shad out to the river and got onto a good (for me) bite. Caught a handful of decent bass and a few overachieving dinks before heartbreak happened.

Out at the pond, the weather conditions were setting up nicely for a good bite with the bass pushing shiner up shallow. The last fish I caught was a respectable bullhead...and then my line snapped on a cast and my lucky bait sank to the bottom of the pond.

Numerous rescue missions were unsuccessful, and I haven't been able to buy a bite since. The good news? I've been forced to finally finish up a master and mold the thing. This has become my top confidence bait to get bit, even over conventional tackle, and I don't like to leave the house without one anymore. Now I'm just waiting on an order of screw eyes to arrive before I can pour my first blank.

[Rogervang]

I'll send as many screws eyes you need  looking good man. About time you did the mold haha that cat fish though. You caught a 10lber bass for a sec.  Haha jokes aside, great looking bait and killer fish producer so far. 

[azsouth]

Well maybe while your gearing up for production you can think about the other people that are feening for this bait!!!

I have .072 and .092 screws if you need some.

[danthefisherman]

1 hour ago, azsouth said:

Well maybe while your gearing up for production you can think about the other people that are feening for this bait!!!

I have .072 and .092 screws if you need some.

This baby takes 0.062 

[azfisher]

I have those in 3/4 inch, plenty to spare. Happy to send you a dozen or two to get you going, LMK

[danthefisherman]

19 minutes ago, azfisher said:

I have those in 3/4 inch, plenty to spare. Happy to send you a dozen or two to get you going, LMK

Thanks Will! I have 500 screws on order that shipped yesterday USPS Priority, so I should be set for a while. Your gesture is much appreciated though, happy building!

[ZachThomas]

I have been waiting for this moment. I want to buy one of these so bad. The river and lake fish have been keying in on threadfins and shiners. 

[LO_804]

I can’t wait to buy one, man. Please let us know how to do so whenever you’re ready!!

[danthefisherman]

Screw eyes came in and I've already poured a few test blanks. With the first two blanks I chose to experiment with upping the MB ratio. This allowed me to add more ballast and increase stability, but the baits just weren't as responsive as I liked and it was hard to get them to dart erratically. I put a lip in one of the blanks to fish on the river and got munched by this raggedy bass as I ran it along a tree.

The crankdown could use some work as the action is too tight and finicky for my liking. I'm thinking either the lip is the wrong shape or I had it installed at too flat of an angle in relation to the bait.

Today I poured another blank glide/twitch bait with the same (I think) resin ratio as my first proto. It still isn't quite the same as the bait I lost, but it performs much better than the experimental blanks. We'll see if I will be able to fine tune it to be like that first proto and dial in my process to be able to duplicate my efforts.

[Volfan]

Talk to me Goose… how’s it going?

 

@danthefisherman

[danthefisherman]

1 hour ago, Volfan said:

Talk to me Goose… how’s it going?

 

@danthefisherman

I've been testing different prototypes and have caught a few fish on them, but I'm still not quite at the level of that first prototype. Actually I just finished pouring another blank with a different resin ratio that allowed me to get closer to the original's ballast orientation. Testing in the bathtub yielded promising results, but I need to take it out to the pond to see for sure.