Bill shaving

[Rick Howard]

Nope not the a fella manscaping.  I'm talking about crank baits.  Can I shave the bill of a bait to reduce the depth it runs at?  Will it change the wobble to much?  Nope not going to use heavier line or crank it slower.  I want to turn a DT 14 into a 12ish.  Maybe a 10 into an 8.

 

Thanks in advance.

[WRB]

DD 14 doesn't run much deeper than 10' to 12' using 10# to 12# mono.

Shavering the bill usually means shortening the front edge of the bills flat surface. Sounds like you want to shorten the bills length. Never have tried this with a DD14, you could carefully cut off 1/8" to 1/4" into a square bill and see if that gets the results you want. I will go measure a DD 14 to see what is possible.

Tom

PS, 5/16" would be max to the bill reinforcement rib.

[islandbass]

They are the size and shape they are for a reason.  Shaving it or making changes might alter its wiggling characteristics so the question is would you be willing to sacrifice one and tinker with it.  If it were me, that answer would be yes.  Good luck and keep us posted.

[Munkin]

Use mono that is heavier or the easiest thing to do is just hold the rod tip higher. 

 

Allen 

[Catt]

You could probably "theoretical" get 12ish but probably not more.

 

Be careful that you keep the profile the same, go slow, & report back with results.

 

During the mid-70s I played around with sanding the bills thinner & the bodies on balsa baits

[Rick Howard]

Thank you fellas.

 

 Some explanation:  Only two setups in my boat that will run this bait. One has 15lb mono and the other 25lb mono.  The 25lb hoistsem out the stick with a jig also.  I'm not going to buy extra rods and line to swap out but I will have a bunch of cranks that run at different depths.  This way I can put the peices together on the fly.  I go fishing with only half a plan.  The rest comes together as I go.  

 

I have 4 setups. 

Casting 1: 7' Medium fast 12lb mono (tough to throw anything bigger than a 10) 

Casting 2: 7' med/heavy fast 15lb mono

Casting 3: 7'3" heavy fast 25lb mono

Spinning: 6'6" 8lb mono

 

I don't mind changing baits a few times till I dial in.  I only carry one color crank but I have DT 4,6,10,14,16.  I find the depth and if they are short striking I change up me speed but have to keep the depth.  That often gets me bit.  If I can make shift a 8 and a 12 I will cover the range a bit easier.  The fish I've been on seem to like it a bit faster and just above the bottom.  Burn it by there cover and it's almost guaranteed!  

 

When I get around to tinkering I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[HookRz]

I don't know about cranks but I was cutting and altering the lip on Rapala jointed J13 floating minnows 35 years ago to create what are now called wake baits. Now that I think back I should have applied fo a patent! 

[fishwizzard]

Could you add a bit of weight to a DT6 to get it down to 8'?  I have some Vision 110 knockoffs that I have added suspend dots to in order to get them to slow sink and it works reasonably well.  

[A-Jay]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 4:22 PM, Rick Howard said:

Nope not the a fella manscaping.  I'm talking about crank baits.  Can I shave the bill of a bait to reduce the depth it runs at?  Will it change the wobble to much?  Nope not going to use heavier line or crank it slower.  I want to turn a DT 14 into a 12ish.  Maybe a 10 into an 8.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

43 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

Could you add a bit of weight to a DT6 to get it down to 8'?  I have some Vision 110 knockoffs that I have added suspend dots to in order to get them to slow sink and it works reasonably well.  

I agree with @fishwizzard you may be more successful approaching this from the opposite direction.

Instead of carving up baits with a decent chance of jacking them up, I'd recommend adding weight to baits that run a bit shallower in order to get them down a little bit deeper.  

Storm SuspenDots & SuspenStrips have been helping anglers effectively sink & suspend baits for a long time. 

Really does work.  Can & does often make an 'average' bait into one of those rare, chipped, scratched & paint stripped off 'treasures' that you'll find yourself reaching for over & over. 

A-Jay

http://www.rapala.com/storm/hard-baits/suspendots-and-suspenstrips/

[scaleface]

I made crankbaits and had to shave the lips on all of them . I had some neat results where the  lures would kick out and some that didnt work at all . I used a dremel tool with sanding drum . 

[WRB]

DT 14, not DD 14, my mistake and haven't fished the DT 14. Don't believe the advertised diving depths between DT10 and DT 14 as actual depths. Add the Norman DD14, I know this lure will run 10' to 12' with 15 lb mono, good crank bait available in a wide range of colors.

Tom

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

DT 14, not DD 14, my mistake and haven't fished the DT 14. Don't believe the advertised diving depths between DT10 and DT 14 as actual depths. Add the Norman DD14, I know this lure will run 10' to 12' with 15 lb mono, good crank bait available in a wide range of colors.

Tom

I've been out of the crankbait world for a awhile but if I'm not mistaken, the the rapala dt series (stands for dives to) follows the same convention. So DT 6 means rapala is saying this CB will/should dive to 6' when using 10# monofilament. That's what rapala says and with 10# it seemed to hit that mark somewhere in the second third of the cast, if you can imagine a long and gradual parabola and steady retrieve.  

 

I love most rapala lures and using crankbaits in general but have been trying to gain more experience with jigs and soft plastics lately. 

[Rick Howard]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

DT 14, not DD 14, my mistake and haven't fished the DT 14. Don't believe the advertised diving depths between DT10 and DT 14 as actual depths. Add the Norman DD14, I know this lure will run 10' to 12' with 15 lb mono, good crank bait available in a wide range of colors.

Tom

I don't go be the advertised depth.  I swim them until I hit bottom and adjust accordingly. 

 

4 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Could you add a bit of weight to a DT6 to get it down to 8'?  I have some Vision 110 knockoffs that I have added suspend dots to in order to get them to slow sink and it works reasonably well.  

I didn't know such a thing existed.  I think I might have some lead tape laying around too! 

3 minutes ago, islandbass said:

I've been out of the crankbait world for a awhile but if I'm not mistaken, the the rapala dt series (stands for dives to) follows the same convention. So DT 6 means rapala is saying this CB will/should dive to 6' when using 10# monofilament.  

 

I love most rapala lures and using crankbaits in general but have been trying to gain more experience with jigs and soft plastics lately. 

Jigs, t-rigs, and spinners are main ammo for me.  But this time of year I take advantage of the dying weeds and the fall feeding with cranks too.  Jerks and tube jigs also.  I keep my fishing pretty simple. Not a ton of tackle or baits but tons of fun!   

[HookRz]

6 hours ago, HookRz said:

I don't know about cranks but I was cutting and altering the lip on Rapala jointed J13 floating minnows 35 years ago to create what are now called wake baits. Now that I think back I should have applied fo a patent! 

Kinda strange replying to my own post, but the bait described  is still my number one throw walleye bait that I fish after dark. I toss it off Lake Erie beaches at night  on Lake Erie beaches in the Spring when the water is flat. Usually hookup with big Smallmouth, and occasionally steelhead and Brown trout. It's a bad boy! 

[Rick Howard]

Had a 5xd to experiment with.  Haven't had much spare time but I ground the bill down about an 1/8".  I followed the contour of the bill and it seems to swim fine.  I plan to fish it tomorrow if the weather holds off.

[scaleface]

On 9/23/2017 at 6:27 AM, HookRz said:

I was cutting and altering the lip on Rapala jointed J13 floating minnows 35 years ago to create what are now called wake baits.

A little off topic  but I  used Pico Pops as wake baits .  Get the speed just right and they dove about an inch deep with a subtle wiggle .

[Comfortably Numb]

You can safely shave 1/8" off a DT14 and it will go about 2' shallower. As said earlier I would raise or lower the rod tip to dial in specific depths. I have never found a deep crank that runs near what it claims unless trolled. I would suspect with the heavy mono you are using they will go significantly shallower than specified.

[primetime]

I have tried changing bills on lures to make them into wake baits or have a different action. Tried shaving, Melting with a lighter, and I ruined every one I tried.

 

I decided to just buy the lures that had the action I wanted, I think you have to be good with Moderation & patience, 2 traits I struggle with. I always found that once I changed the bill shape, then I would have to change hooks, rings, and it would never be right again and end up in the junk.

 

For changing depth, I just change line diameter, or maybe add a suspend strip or belly weight. Some of the better quality lines have smaller diameters, so If I want to get a crankbait deeper, I try to get a thinner line and you can usually do it without having to go with a line that is weaker.

[Rick Howard]

I like to tinker.  The 5xd worked just fine this morning.  I will buy a few more dt's and alter them the same way I did the 5xd.  It will just help me cover the sweet spot a little easier to have those in-between.  

 

I will I'll pick up the sespending dots also.