Hunting crankbaits

[nighthawk25]

So I made a few flatside balsa crankbaits. I finally got to test them tonight. One of the three wiggles and is tuned pretty good. The other 2 don't wiggle as much but the shoot left then right. They still dive decent and track pretty much straight.

 

What does it mean when crankbaits hunt? These are the first balsa lures I made and I'm pretty happy with them so far. Just have to paint them up now..

[Baitmaker]

There are several factors involved in the action of a crankbait. It's really hard to give you any answers or tips without seeing what you are dealing with. Maybe you can post some pictures showing your baits and it will open things up for discussion. 

[smalljaw67]

When a crankbait has a searching or "hunting" action it means it will randomly move off of its course while reeling. As Baitmaker said, it is hard to tell you what adjustments to make or anything because there are so many different variables to wood cranks that it is almost impossible to pin point without actually feeling the wood. The one thing I can tell you is that the ballast weight is extremely important. This is why a good balsa crank, like the PH Customs or WEC cranks, are so expensive, it is very hard to get the exact same action in each crankbait. Wood density along with other variations can make for some slightly different actions, this is why you hear stories of guys buying 20 baits of the same lure and only 4 or 5 end up being "good" in that it has the little extra something special that makes fish really hit it more than the other baits.

[nighthawk25]

I tried uploading a picture but it doesn't go through.

They are 3" flatside crankbaits, 1 with a squarebill and 2 with rounded bills. 1 of the rounded bills has a nice wobble and wiggle while the other 2 don't have as much wobble but they shoot off side to side when I reel them in. 

[riverbasser]

Hunting is a term that might be old but has definately gained popularity recently to the point that manufactures are using it in there description.  I only have one crank that I would describe to have a hunting action like small jaw said it has an erratic action. It will run normal and then cut one way or the other without me doing anything different. The crank is a bomber 5A. 

 

That crank does catch me fish but I can never tell if its going to reach its depth I do prefer a crank to run true and dig into the bottom.

 

I have no idea how you could build one to have that action with any precision since it will probably end up being way off balance and be unusable. Its normally do to some small imperfection and would be hard to duplicate IMO

[BobP]

Hunting is when a crankbait runs off of its straight line retrieve for a few beats in one direction, then corrects itself straight again, then runs off a few beats in the opposite direction.  If the bait turns on its side and planes off to one side, that isn't hunting.  Real hunting baits should hunt at any speed including moderately slow to as fast as you can reel them.