Chris

It depends on what I am trying to do and what kind of stuff I am fishing. If I am fishing zones like 10' or 15' areas because it is an edge of a break or end of a point. I would say a DT is a good option. If I was fishing down a laydown tree that dips into the 10'-15' range I wouldn't use a DT, I would use a fat free shad or something with the same nose down posture. If I was fishing the end of the tree I would fish the DT. If I was fishing a long tapering point I would fish a norman bait or something with the same posture.

I use a zipper paddle tail that I make myself I got the mold at lurecraft. I have been using it for years and still works well. The tail has a lot of material to it so it thumps, the bait is 4" and beefy.

Part of it is the wire bend, The wire used be it stainless steel, spring steel or piano depending and density of it and gage, the weight balance, the blades and shape thickness, kind of material, and weight and spacing of the blades, the umbrella skirt that helps with balance also Piano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano strings. It is made from tempered high-carbon steel, also known as spring steel, which replaced iron as the material starting in 1834.

I make all kinds of wood stuff whatcha wanna know

Custom colors in most cases it why some people buy from small manufacturers. Crazy cool looking colors not offered by large or growing companies is another reason. Then there is a shape that maybe someone wants that is out of date from what the masses make that can draw business. When I was heavy in tournament fishing I asked a company for a special run color and was told I had to buy 5 gal worth. I asked why so much and was told that they (not all companies) bought their plastic pre mixed with color. Other companies per thousand per style per color. Your niche is per 50-100 for a small company at a premium price for the service. You can also pilot test the color for your other customers and add it to your list of other colors if applicable. As said the problem is when everyone is selling the same baits it is a rush to bottom and low man wins. When these same kind of people are asking you to buy other molds it is because your price is lower than others for your other baits. They want a certain bait they have been buying from someone else cheap. If the mold plays into the direction you want to go I would buy or make it provided there was enough interest in it. Worse case you trade it on facebook, here or sell on ebay.

What i do is buy the small round and strip off the width i want and mix it with the pulled and cut stuff. Meet Mr. Fluffy

http://www.ozarktackle.com/clearance.html

Army 16T/14T 1993-1998

https://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/category/limba.html you can click around this sight

Well, you loose depth because of stretch in the line, bow in the line or line drag. You loose depth because of drag slipping and sometimes you loose depth because your bait for whatever reason doesn't track the same path each cast. Most baits the depth printed on the package is based upon 10lb line. The problem with this from one manufacturer to another the diameter might differ. Something else to consider the entire line might be different diameters at different points in the total spool because of manufacturing process. How much the stuff floats or sinks or shape also change depth. Casting distance is a major factor in depth because it provides the running room needed to achieve depth. The pitch angle of the bill, width of the bill, shape of the bait, pull point, and how much it floats will effect at what point it will reach depth. When I wrote all this stuff I kinda left color alone if I recall correctly. I was putting more focus on vibration and what the bait was actually doing in the water. I find it to be more important for somebody new to learn cranking. For example most plastic crankbaits where the bill looks like it is sticking out flat from the nose of the bait stops swimming the more the bait lays flat. A well built wood bait doesn't stop swimming or vibrating. A bait where the front of the bill is turned down like a bill norman bait will continue to swim and vibrate the whole cast but will take longer to reach depth. I point this out because where you position your boat will or should differ depending on what kind of bait your throwing based on what point the lure reaches max depth and are effectively vibrating or swimming when you need them to be. What the bait is made of matters at times believe it or not but not in the way you might think. #1 you can pack more weight in wood than plastic and still have an effective bait. #2 when your crankbait bill strikes an object the body of your crankbait acts like a speaker to transmit sound. Balsa, poplar, pine, cedar, plastic, all make different noises when you strike an object. Some because of density will project a louder or sharper noise than others. By the same token some noises sound more natural than others and bill shape plays into it too. I say this because the more flat the front of the bill is the more area is striking an object. As far as loud colors that work right now in fall through winter is parrot color pattern. It is olive green back tan sides fluro orange nose orange belly stripe. Why? This time of the year shad are feeding heavy on algae rocks. Between the cold water and irritating their nose feeding it turns orange red color. I will also add your bluegill and warmouth tend to be dark this time of year almost black..just say'n. Early in the season spring and fall at times bass feed on crappie splatterback works because it kinda looks like a crappie. (bass also love bass) If you pay attention to your shad sometimes you will find an odd shad with the same splatter pattern. You might also find a few that are lighter color khaki is a great color to match for that. Early ice out the first to move up is bluegill in most areas. Your crawfish patterns and bluegill patterns tend to do well. All summer long this year I have been fishing shad colors mainly because the places I fish have them. The dirtier the water or how much light in the sky the more fluro I go. Most of my baits has fluorescents in the color scheme but the more chocolate mud the water is the more I gravitate towards more solid fluorescents. Size of the bait also goes up the more stained the water. I hope this helps

BTW wood lure builders _O_ <-this is the cure to blow outs

The idea is that the clear body will give off a ghost shad appearance with less detail to give away that it is fake. Much the same as a clear flash spinnerbait skirt would. A lot of guys use them in heavy pressured situations. Gear ratio depends on you. I know what works for me...If I am fishing a deep diving lure I like a slower reel because it forces me to slow down. The advantage to this is for me is that I get the most depth out of my cast per foot reeled in. So make my cast and crank it back 20 cranks with a lower gear reel compared to a higher geared reel at 20 cranks my bait has traveled less distance and gained more depth than the higher gear reel. Why because I put more force on the bait to travel to me then just enough force to make it dive and continue to dive. The idea of reel fast to get the bait down then slow down is meant for old lures that the diving bill is not pointed down to grab water in the first place. They had a belly weight with a straight bill and laid flat on the surface of the water. So to get the bait in position to dive you needed to put twerk on the bait to point the bill down for it to dive otherwise the bait would skip awhile before digging to dive. This isn't needed these days. As far as depth and speed when the bait reaches the area depth you wish to fish do whatever dance brought ya success but with a slower retrieve it is easier to work a lure through sticky cover. square bills it depends on what your trying to do to be honest and how the square bill is designed. If you like speed and deflection it is easier to do with high speed gear than a low gear trying to run fast. Bait design also plays a part in speed because some lures depending on design have a max speed...some more than others. When it gets to that speed it will blow out and travel to the surface. Wide action square bills will tighten up with speed also lure body "shape" comes more into play in how the lure reacts to the faster current flow over the bill and body. _O_ <-- this is the "O" if you understand the "O" your ninja if you can control the "O" you are worthy. The bottom line is the bottom of the lake your lure running at normal speed should be at the bottom of the "O". The top of the o is the surface of the water. With a square bill set at a 45 degree the faster the lure runs the more unstable it becomes and will travel up the O. Some baits are designed to do this others are more stable and stay at the bottom. The blow out happens when it reaches the top of the O the surface. Other lures travel left and right along the bottom line by design shape and how it is weighted. If you understand how to control the O then it is magic because the bait will travel anywhere within the O and never reach the top to blow out. Also each cast the bait never travels the same way twice it acts like a baitfish. This was one of the main reasons why people used wood square bill lures...like the BIG----O.

It depends some places fish could really care less some like you said haul booty. A lot depends on fishing pressure time of the year like early spring when the first come up as apposed to late summer. Also how clear the water is something to consider. If given a choice I like a lead deep tone rattle. I not a fan of loud rattles even in "rattletrap" style lures. Oddly I do like bb rattles in anything I use as a jerk bait style fishing...to include topwater lures fished the same way. Anything with a rhythm I like deep tone or none.

A round lip when it hits a fence post sitting vertical in the water will hit and travel close to the object when it swims around it and right itself close to the face side of the fence post. So when the fish are sitting on the face side close to the post and not active this is the lip style that will cause a reaction depending on where and how the fish is positioned. It is like poof here I am now watch me go! If this does not work 1 kick out point called a square bill will travel and hit the same fence post and the front flat part of the square will ram the post and work its way to the edge and kick out when it hits the point of the right or left side of the lip. (depending on which side of the fence you casting on) This bait will travel farther away from the fence post before it rights itself. A coffin lip will have 2 kick out points which work the same as a square but when the lip reaches the second kick out point it forces the bait to travel farther away from the fence post before it rights itself. <--these other two style lips can also be considered reaction style lips because they cause the bait to react violently to the fence post and forcing the bait to change directions before correcting itself because of speed. In other words the faster the bait travels when it hits the post the more they will react to the object. I hope that helps

Part of the deal is ease of use which is why lures come and go. I remember when skipping a tube under a dock was a great way to catch fish developed in the Ozarks. Bass fishermen learned the how this was done and did well with it some even won a tournament or two. At the time I was working at a tackle shop and we had the flying lure on the peg. I know on here that topic comes out from time to time. It wasn't until that product was pushed on tv that guys would come in asking for it. For me it wasn't my lure of choice but I can understand where the guy was coming from..point being not everyone is good at all things and it takes a teacher and practice to bridge that gap. You can take the long road or short some lures are easier to use and some take that flick of the wrist. It is the lures and different styles or techniques that make fishing fun and rewarding otherwise people would loose interest and just skip rocks. So please enjoy the fellowship of fishing teach the young and old and protect the resource and keep only what you need and turn loose the rest for the next guy.

Have you ever been in a jungle trying to find a mosquito? It is hard huh, but if you know where to look it can be fun whacking them. This can apply to many lakes and rivers around the country but if you want to figure out the O you might want to listen a little. The bottom of many lakes around the country because vegetation control or they are just old tend to develop a soft mud or peat moss bottom. Plastic worms work less, spinner baits, crank baits, larger fish tend to hang out deeper in cover to avoid fishermen. Also lures and techniques have evolved to a point that a good lure hitting muck isn't going to cut it anymore. You can shake that drop shot as much as you want but because your weight hit muck nothing made the fish turn and look. Your bait didn't make enough noise or displace enough water or send a signal out there that you where even there. If you like top water you can use whatever you like but it better be cedar... double prop is plan B. Why? It sits different in the water more important it sits lower in the water than a balsa lure or plastic for that matter. Some guys fished the edge of grass or over it with a smithwick devils horse the reason was it worked. Most of the locals used lures like a Jerkin Sam, Johnny Rattler, (awesome redfish bait also) if you where walking schoolers it was a smithwick toothpick chrome notice I didn't say rebel pop R, spook those lures that's the pro's and the fishing world trying to catch up. I am not saying they are bad lures but at the O there are better lures that the pro's and locals use and still use. Some lures work no matter what but your dealing with pressured fish at the O. That quick action rolling skipping walking action drives them nuts. Old school locals fish spinner baits with huge willow leaf blades for two reasons. First, you want to make it look like a shiner second is that large blade will overpower your weight and make the skirt shake and come alive... bend the upper part of the arm down a little so that the bait lays like a shiner would as it is running. This flares the skirt so it don't look like or run like crap. It is a different fish at the O because if it isn't alive or act like it your just another form of danger. Other lake bass in other states are a lot dumber and you can get away with stuff. That was why some companies made lures that have the title Okeechobee this and that because they work on (Florida Bass). Other parts of the country a large Indiana blade works for shad. Speed is not your friend with an large blade spinner bait but clanking the blades together is. Your bait and vertical cover MUST make contact or where you think a bass might be sharp jerk the rod to smack the blades together. Your trying to change the rhythm of the blades and draw attention to signal diner is served. With anything soft plastic you got to have rattles and racket if your trying to hit bottom. You can use whatever you want but that hard tungsten weight hitting a soft muck bottom don't make squat for noise to draw attention....weights with rattles in them and baits or Carolina rig do work well also remember that bead behind your weight. (if you snug the weight next to your bait what is going to make noise to draw fish to your bait?) Later years gatortail and paddletail where the norm when flipping or a fat butt tube. In some cases the big bulky paddle took the place of the swimming technique of a crème worm. Mr megabucks and Roland made a killing fishing a gator tail worm incase you didn't know. Jim Bitter was scoring with a rogue jerkbait and rattletrap....I know what your thinking..but KVD..Big O is different locals used a cedar rogue and weighted it when needed. Partly because it is a better material than plastic you can alter it and if you shaped the nose right it had moved a great distance in any direction. It was the original slug O. So unless you hit them on the head and make them react most just move away from danger or never know your there. Some guys for years troll large mister twister sassy shads. (Green black back) This was well before the push that they have now. (remember zone fishing not bottom bouncing?) This was back 30 years or better. Guys now are just slow to the party. If you are going to use a straight tail worm old school guys use a creme worm in either black and blue or natural. What you need to understand is that OLD SCHOOL guys don't fish them like you do now...not in soft bottom lakes. If you remember when that worm came out there wasn't a twist tail or curl tail or gator tail worms. There was just his and if you want to make the lure act alive you FISHED it like a banjo minnow. You know like Tom Mann said "I wish I invented it" could it be that locals in Florida where doing the same action since the invention of the worm? If the water had some color to it you fished it working your wrist more erratically as you pulled the worm which gave off more pressure waves. His favorite color was motor oil btw he invented it and adding scent to lures. Today we use dip it dye to give your lure the same UV light reflection that the chartreuse in motor oil gives you. So now every lure can have that great color and scent. BTW motor oil was his #1 color hands down. Fishing is what it is today because people invented products because they didn't have the money to buy the new fangled thing overpriced from other countries. Also understand that it is the copy that dilute why they where invented in the first place. I am not saying by no means that other baits will work in other situations but when it comes to the Big O or Tenn tuffy, or other lures with names or places attached THERE is a reason and many times you better be fishing it if the soft bottom shallow water applies. Hard lake bottom deflect off the bottom which adds pressure waves or objects which deflect your bait which trigger bites. If your fishing zones use a countdown the lure be it swim baits or vibrating baits or crank the DOWN TO (DT) baits to that depth. Many are taking one style bait and applying it to every style of fishing or lake conditions. Some lakes and fish are different and the Big O is different. The flat thin crankbait lip style that rapala makes is for mainly tripping over cover and hydrilla but if you position your boat correctly where the front of the lip lays flat it is the best swim bait for striking vertical cover. You have two baits in one and it is one of the baits Rick Clunn would kill fish on in standing timber BTW it was a wood bait. You have a hard time doing it with a plastic bait because it takes longer to make flat which is the position where it is most weedless. Also you loose vibration and have a hard time feeling the strike with plastic. If you make it out of cedar for example you can weight it to suspend and hover in the strike zone. Welcome to the world of oz.. omega of lures sincerely, Christopher Dana Sink (Son of DT Sink III)

A countdown lure will cover any depth. I have a heavy sinking crankbait that I use for that situation but there are other options. The key is depth control and location. I was prefishing a tournament and located fish at a depth I couldn't reach. So I went home and carved a lure that would. I have also found fish in areas where I don't have enough running room (casting room) to get the bait down to them and still be effective. This kind of lure fits the bill.

cedar, balsa, basswood, poplar, rubber tree, plan B anything you can get your hands on that floats

It depends on the dock or how big the dock is and what it has to offer if it is worth fishing at all. Some docks are near boat ramps which could mean that there might be a depression at the boat launch where boats have dug the bottom and bass hang out. Other docks might come out far enough or near enough to a drop off or other change in depth that's worth fishing. Sometimes the dock itself is worth fishing. Bass like corners, pilings, overhead cover, hard to reach areas, edges, transitions, It just depends.

What it is, is that someone upgraded the old slip skirt rig. It came about from guys who like pitching jigs but hated picking weeds. Because of the way it is designed the hook eye and weed guard don't collect or hang on slop or weeds because it don't have one. So in jungle slop your bait reaches the bottom or some open tunnels under the top layer. The skirt adds bulk and displaces water while also adding more action to your offering when the skirt flared when it reached the bottom. Another old rig is shaped the same but it had a hole and hook attached to the head. The idea was to thread the head and tie the end to a split ring. You then took the split ring and put it over the hook then add the trailer. I don't know if it took off or was a great invention or not but it just shows that someone liked the idea enough to make a spin off. To answer the question of use what when it depends on how thick the cover is and what your trying to do. If conditions dictate that I need something big and bulky because of either fishing pressure or water conditions with enough rattles to wake the dead this is a good option.

I think this is what your talking about? 1. Angry man catches no fish. 2. Easier to feed them than to fool them. 3. If you want to catch fish you must think like a fish. 4. Big fish see your flaws. 5. Perfect casts produce perfect fish. 6. Remember they are just little green fish. 7. Fish the fish not what you want to fish.

Most of the time I use pork chunk sometimes plastic it just depends on what effect I am looking for. For example I take a pork trailer and take a knife and cut a wedge in the fatty side nose portion of the chunk. I also make a cut or two the width of the chunk. (nose hooked fatty side down) What it does is on the fall the chunk will flap like a paddletail worm. Sometimes I take the plastic version of a pork chunk and thread it on the hook instead of nose hooking it. (chunk side up) This gives you a nice flat surface for skipping the bait and it also glides different directions on each fall, if it is deep enough and weighted right it will spiral on the fall. It also shortens the bait for those pesky fish that are finicky.

I use either a strike king flip-n-spin or a zorro short arm both have weed guards.

They do it because others are there and they don't want someone taking their meal....It also tells you that if you give the spot some time to cool off you might be able to pick off a few more in the same area.