Big hammer ring hammer rolling?

[beardown34]

Hey all, I'm trying to get more experience with soft plastic swimbaits and wanted to ask if this is normal. 

 

Today I tried out a Big Hammer Ring Hammer texas rigged on a 1/4oz swimbait hook with a screwlock. The tail definitely paddles pretty vigorously, but I noticed as I swam the bait closer to me that the head/front of the bait was also rolling back and forth, pretty aggressively. I think the correct term is the whole bait was "hunting" -- kinda like how the whole bait (head and tail) will rock back and forth on a chatterbait.

 

Is that supposed to happen? I guess I thought just the tail would paddle back and forth, but the head would travel essentially in a straight line.

 

I don't recall noticing the head rolling when throwing a Keitech Swing Impact.

 

Does it matter if the keel weight is lighter or heavier, in terms of causing the head to roll and not just the paddletail? Maybe I only rigged the Swing Impacts on 1/8oz hooks.

 

Or does the "big hammer" tail just cause such a violent roll, compared to the more subtle tail of the swing impact?

 

[uncustered]

The term "hunting" is usually applied to a crank bait that varies side to side through it's retrieve, usually caused by changing the retrieve speed.

 

The "rolling" you are seeing is a typical action of a soft plastic swim bait on a weighted hook. It is good as it causes the sides to flash and shows contrast between the top color and the belly.

[RoLo]

 

I've used the Big Hammer for bass & pike and know what you're referring to.

The expression "Nose-Hunting" is generally applied to hard baits and is not a negative trait.

However, with respect to soft baits like the Big Hammer, lateral waddle is often referred to

as the 'Tail Wagging The Dog', which is a negative trait. The most desirable property

of the Big Hammer is its perceptible throbbing, the trade-off being some lateral thrust

(the deal-breaker for me though, was separation between Big Hammer laminations).

 

"Rollover" is very different than lateral waddle, it's more serious and it's not tolerable (it twists line).

The easiest way to eliminate rollover is to use a keel-weighted hook, and increase the weight

until 'rollover' is prevented. You can lower the weight necessary to squelch rollover,

by increasing the size of the hook. A larger hook increases the distance between the keel weight

and rigged bait, which takes more centrifugal force to rollover the weight.

 

Roger

[WRB]

The Big Hammer is designed for a fished jig, doesn't work good with a keel weighted hook. Head moving side to side is a natural swimming action for good swimbaits like Hudds, snaking or rolling isn't good.

Tom

[RoLo]

26 minutes ago, WRB said:

The Big Hammer is designed for a fished jig, doesn't work good with a keel weighted hook.  

 

 

 

                                          Surely You Jest

 

Roger

[WRB]

3 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

 

 

                                            Surely You Jest

 

 

Roger

Touché 

[beardown34]

The wealth of knowledge on here is insane. Thanks guys. 

 

RoLo -- the issue of "tail wagging the dog" exactly describes what I'm seeing. Thanks for explaining that. I haven't seen any rolling. However, I am using the 4.5" version with a 3/0 hook (1/8oz). I will try upgrading to a 5/0 hook and see if it reduces the lateral waddle. 

 

Is this phenomenon seen with the Swing Impacts? And if not, do you presume it's because the paddletail is smaller and less aggressive? From that I recall, the Swing Impact produces a pretty fine left/right vibration of the tail, but the head doesn't move a whole lot.

 

WRB -- fished on a jig -- you mean like a swimjig? or just a plain old jig head? I've tried it on a 1/4oz war eagle jig head, and the whole thing (head included) wobbled pretty vigrously. 

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, beardown34 said:

The wealth of knowledge on here is insane. Thanks guys. 

 

RoLo -- the issue of "tail wagging the dog" exactly describes what I'm seeing. Thanks for explaining that. I haven't seen any rolling. However, I am using the 4.5" version with a 3/0 hook (1/8oz). I will try upgrading to a 5/0 hook and see if it reduces the lateral waddle. 

 

Is this phenomenon seen with the Swing Impacts? And if not, do you presume it's because the paddletail is smaller and less aggressive? From that I recall, the Swing Impact produces a pretty fine left/right vibration of the tail, but the head doesn't move a whole lot.

 

 

 

Baitfish swim effortlessly through the water, and lures with exaggerated head-faking

appear unnatural. Many paddle-tail swimbaits display excessive "tail wagging the dog",

but ideally you want most of the action in the tail, not in the head.

The following soft swimbaits provide a strong throb with minimum head waddle:

> Gambler Big EZ

> Keitech Swim Impact Fat

> Basstrix Paddletail

 

Roger

[WRB]

1 hour ago, beardown34 said:

The wealth of knowledge on here is insane. Thanks guys. 

 

RoLo -- the issue of "tail wagging the dog" exactly describes what I'm seeing. Thanks for explaining that. I haven't seen any rolling. However, I am using the 4.5" version with a 3/0 hook (1/8oz). I will try upgrading to a 5/0 hook and see if it reduces the lateral waddle. 

 

Is this phenomenon seen with the Swing Impacts? And if not, do you presume it's because the paddletail is smaller and less aggressive? From that I recall, the Swing Impact produces a pretty fine left/right vibration of the tail, but the head doesn't move a whole lot.

 

WRB -- fished on a jig -- you mean like a swimjig? or just a plain old jig head? I've tried it on a 1/4oz war eagle jig head, and the whole thing (head included) wobbled pretty vigrously. 

Owner Ultrahead Inshore jig or Dirty Jigs swimbait jig, lots of swimbait jigs in 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 etc.

Tom