Here's my rendition of a shakin bait. Similar to Partycrashers, this one is done using a 1/2 ounce snootie mold cavity and was done as Marc suggested....just lay the blade in where you want it and close the mold pinching the blade so you can pour. Yup, had flash too but it was a non-issue really. Getting one of these in your hand they just don't look right but in the water....well now that's a different colored horse altogether.
The first thing I did to get the blades where I wanted them was to trim off the forward portion of the blade blank. I cut and fit, cut and fit until I got one that worked in a casting. Actually I did the cutting on one blank and then copied that to cast. I have a dandy pattern blank now.
This was my first attempt at the air brush since it decided to become my enemy a year ago. I need to locate the fine head and things will get better but all in all I am happy. I just wanted some color on a few of these for Tuesday's run to the river.
I'm ahead of ya'll here. I took an un-painted bait with rings and hooks over to the lake where I could stand on a low water bridge and drop this critter straight down in the drink to watch its action. I compared it to a standard 1/2 ounce Sonar from Heddon, a 1/2 ounce Do-It ZV Vibrating lure and a 1/2 ounce Shad Blade from Do-It. The Heddon bait had rings added along with identical hooks to the other three baits so things would be fair. The Heddon and ZV had the most radical action of the 4 and were basically identical. This bait with the snootie head has quite a bit of forward weight and likes to hang nose down even when clipped to the forward line hole. When jigged it chased a fairly tight circle, about 1/2 the diameter of the other three lures. After removing the ring and forward hook the circle opened up slightly. I didn't have any line hanging from the rear hook on the drop but I always fish this sort of bait on a tight-line drop and rarely see the rear hook foul in the line. A loose drop or free fall might be showing otherwise but I never checked. I think I mentioned somewhere in all this chatter about these modified baits that I don't fish the bottom with any sonar-type bait, preferring to hold the bait about 6 inches to a foot off the bottom at the bottom of my drop. 90% of my hits come just as the bait comes to a rest at the end of the drop. I fish these using 4/10 pound braid or 6 pound Nanofil lines. I really prefer casting equipment for fishing these too.
I showed some of the baits un-painted to a fishing buddy and he just about flipped when he saw them. I need to see what these do in current. The big river has dropped intro the low 50's for water temperature and with the chill we've been plagued with of late the water will give up some more heat. The best fishing of the year is right at hand and for once we have water levels that might allow us some actual enjoyment.
Waldo equipment at ready.....check.
Crappie equipment at ready...check.
Mo's busy shooting at the flying liver so I guess I have to find someone else to get out with.
