drifter believer musky crank

[Josh VanderMeer]

i decided for my second crank bait that i was gonna make was going to be a musky bait ... since there so expensive

i chose to copy the drifter believer as a my model to copy

mine is made out of spruce and it is just under 8inches

i am only going to put one eye hole to tie my line on so which one of the two on the original version is  the deepest diving, the one closest to the eye or the one furthest?

also, what is the best spot on the lure to put the weight? and how much weight is suitable for this bait?

[BIG M]

I don't make musky baits, but the same rules apply to all cranks.   Just by looking at your carved bait I'm afraid your in for a failure there.  You should first make all you center points for weight and line tie and hangers before you carve.  You are going to have a tough time getting all of those components perfectly centered in that bait.

Spruce has high density so I would start with 3/4-1oz of weight in the lowest part of the belly and see how it floats.  

Diving depth, not very deep with that lip angle, it's to steep.  Should give you a good shallow wiggle though.

I would put the line tie close to the head of the bait to help with strength.

I'm not trying to be negative here really, I think you picked a very difficult bait to try and copy.  I hope it works, please let me know.

[Guest whittler]

Josh

I have to admire your carving skills but like Marty said you picked a tough bait to start. Alignment is critical and drilling for hardware is best done while the blank is still square but since its already carved it will make weighting a little eaiser. Take some lead and tape it to the belly then just add or subtract weight and change position untill you get it to float the way you want. Once proper weighting is established then you can drill and insert them plus it makes the next bait much eaiser. Don't forget to count the weight of your hardware along with the rest.

[Josh VanderMeer]

ya i wish i would have picked an easier bait but im gonna finish this one n e ways.

im gonna fool around with it a bit and then ill show  u guys the final product ... im gonna test it out in the creek behind our house to see if the action is wat its supposed to be

[BIG M]

Josh, get a small note book and keep notes on the steps you use to build that bait.   It will help in building baits in the future.