# HJ's



## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

After fishing with these suspending baits for couple hours, I have come to the realization you are all right. They need tuned. I went to Gander looking for some mini split shot to tune these babies. This young man who was helping, told me I was fishing them all wrong. "You gotta keep cranking them!" I said, "they keep floating, they dont suspend when I stop." He said, "you have to keep cranking them!" I asked "Why are they called suspended cranks then?" He said.."just what they are called" "oh" Silly me. Tomorrow I'll try playing with them.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Dovans said:


> After fishing with these suspending baits for couple hours, I have come to the realization you are all right. They need tuned. I went to Gander looking for some mini split shot to tune these babies. This young man who was helping, told me I was fishing them all wrong. "You gotta keep cranking them!" I said, "they keep floating, they dont suspend when I stop." He said, "you have to keep cranking them!" I asked "Why are they called suspended cranks then?" He said.."just what they are called" "oh" Silly me. Tomorrow I'll try playing with them.


"just what they are called" LOL, sad thing is he's probably right! (since none of them seem to truly suspend)

And go to R&R and pick up some "suspend dots" (might want to call first to make sure they're in stock). - They will make tuning HJ's sooooo much easier.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Or you could just buy some rogues and save yourself the tuning hassle.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

crittergitter said:


> Or you could just buy some rogues and save yourself the tuning hassle.


Nobody (except R&R) carries the full line of suspending rouges though...Cant wait till Cabelas comes to town, i swear im going to cry...


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## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

i find rogues and xraps work best out of the box


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Maybe they were just "suspended" from school or something?? Hmm.. Suspending... What a mystery!


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Even once you start tuning baits you will find that suspending is hard to get right. You can go from one body of water to the next and get different results even though the weight you added did not change. One of the big differences is that you can make subtle adjustments to a "suspending" bait to make it suspend. A floater takes a ton of weight to get it to stay under the water. The deeper the water and the longer the pause the more important truly suspending is (in my opinion). These baits are so mass produced that the Quality measures would make the baits much more expensive. Besides getting it just right is fun! Losing a tuned one, however, is not


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## allbraid (Jan 14, 2012)

I agree the XRaps work great out of the box and are by far the best casting of the stick baits. The huskys do need a little tunning. I use a lead strip made by Storm, they are a small rectangle of lead with and adhesive back that can be added and removed as needed. Lots of fun tuneing these baits when Im not fishing.


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## elkhtr (Oct 23, 2006)

One thing to keep in mind is that the density of water changes as it gets colder. Water is at its most dense at 39 degrees, so when you "tune" a bait, keep that in mind. Most bass fishin experts agree when using "jerk" baits in cold water for bass, its better for the bait to sink slightly rather than float on the pause. Neutral is best of course, but better to err on the very slight sink.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

elkhtr said:


> Most bass fishin experts agree when using "jerk" baits in cold water for bass, its better for the bait to sink slightly rather than float on the pause. Neutral is best of course, but better to err on the very slight sink.


Interesting, the In-fisherman guys, who more-or-less pioneered tuning suspending baits always swore never to let a bait sink, and that it was always best to have a slight rise then fall. Infact i recall them going so far as to say that if it (suspending bait) sunk to send it back because it was junk.


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## jason_0545 (Aug 3, 2011)

the dicks sporting goods by me got some of their new stuff in and they got a buncha matzuo cranks and i got a suspending crank bait to try out and i havent gotten to properly see what it does but seems like it sinks slowly at pause only 3.00 maybe worth checking out depending on what you beleive


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

Do you guys usually put the weith in the middle of the belly area for best results?


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Redhunter1012 said:


> Do you guys usually put the weith in the middle of the belly area for best results?


Some of them tend to float so bad that you need alot of weight, personally I tend to disperse all the weight equally throughout the body rather then clump it all up in the middle. Can be time consuming to get it to suspend perfectly level but I just hate the sight of all that lead/weight globbed in the middle - I also take a paint pen and color the weight red to mimic blood.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

acklac7 said:


> Some of them tend to float so bad that you need alot of weight, personally I tend to disperse all the weight equally throughout the body rather then clump it all up in the middle. Can be time consuming to get it to suspend perfectly level but I just hate the sight of all that lead/weight globbed in the middle - I also take a paint pen and color the weight red to mimic blood.


 I really like the idea of painting the tape or wire. Like you i dont like the bulkiness of all the weight in one spot.. I wrap the tape or wire a little around the shank of each hook. I also always make sure my crank sits level in water as its suspending, and add weight were needed on bait to make sit level and suspend...

Oh and ive noticed i would rather have my lure slowly float then slowly fall. Seems like i get hit more. and when ur lure sinks it can settle on the bottem and have a better chance of hanging up ur lure.

And dont tune all of those hj's theres plenty of nites when that raising bait will out produce a suspending bait, ive even had it happen recently in the cold water.. Just depends on mood of the fish!


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

A problem I am having, (least I think it is) My baits are not hitting the bottom. They are suppose run at least 4 feet, and I dont think they are. I am wondering if it is becasue I am using 20 lb braid. It is suppose to be the same diam. of 6lb test. My goodness, those Smithwicks, take a lot of lead strips.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Dovans said:


> A problem I am having, (least I think it is) My baits are not hitting the bottom. They are suppose run at least 4 feet, and I dont think they are. I am wondering if it is becasue I am using 20 lb braid. It is suppose to be the same diam. of 6lb test. My goodness, those Smithwicks, take a lot of lead strips.


I've always been told that cranks/sticks will dive deeper with braid, no matter the diameter. Heck all I ever use is 10lb braid (2lb diameter(?)) for my crank/stickbait rods.


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## NewbreedFishing (Apr 15, 2004)

the lucky craft 100 pointers suspend perfectly. they dont rise


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## percidaeben (Jan 15, 2010)

Yea a slight rise really is not all that bad.If you have ever observed an injured or exhausted minnow in the water they twitch forward,then in their pause they will rise.


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## Lynxis (Sep 21, 2009)

nothin like a good old fashioned!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Dovans said:


> A problem I am having, (least I think it is) My baits are not hitting the bottom. They are suppose run at least 4 feet, and I dont think they are. I am wondering if it is becasue I am using 20 lb braid. It is suppose to be the same diam. of 6lb test. My goodness, those Smithwicks, take a lot of lead strips.


 Thicker the diameter of line the shallower the bait will run, the thinner it is the deeper it will run. Also speed makes a big difference in how deep ur lure will dive. Since you dont want to run them fast this time of yr. what you do when you first cast out,and your lure hits the water is real your lure down with a few hard cranks of your real or a few hard jerks to get the lure down. Then start working ur lure back at the slower retrieve.

I use 8lb stren magnithen (mono with about 6lb dia.) and when useing a hj #12 my lure tics in about 4 fow, and with the suspending smithwick i seem to run a little deeper.


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## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Thicker the diameter of line the shallower the bait will run, the thinner it is the deeper it will run. Also speed makes a big difference in how deep ur lure will dive. Since you dont want to run them fast this time of yr. what you do when you first cast out,and your lure hits the water is real your lure down with a few hard cranks of your real or a few hard jerks to get the lure down. Then start working ur lure back at the slower retrieve.
> 
> I use 8lb stren magnithen (mono with about 6lb dia.) and when useing a hj #12 my lure tics in about 4 fow, and with the suspending smithwick i seem to run a little deeper.


fishing the same depths throwing 10lb power pro braid with 2 lb dia. i tap bottom with the xrap10's and dig at times with the smithwicks.


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

NewbreedFishing said:


> the lucky craft 100 pointers suspend perfectly. they dont rise


Those don't catch fish. Especially the ones with the little scales. Either do the flash minnow 110's.

Technically, suspending lures only suspend at a single very precise temperature. Which means NONE of them are true suspenders. And trying to make a suspending wood lure is a pain in the arse, especially if you care about how the bottom of it looks, lol.

p.s. everyday when I drive by the alrosa on my way to work, I think of your sig. RIP DBD


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

JamesT said:


> Those don't catch fish. Especially the ones with the little scales. Either do the flash minnow 110's.


LOL

But yea, I have to agree almost every Lucky craft pointer i have ever bought suspended nearly flawlessly, once Cabelas comes to town and I can pick them up on the regular I will use them much more often.


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

BTW Lucky Craft does make a wooden pointer. But its only available in Japan (or on ebay).


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

to make sure you crank is getting to its max depth it has to run straight. if its running to one side or the other you can loose alot of diving depth. just adjust the nose ring to the direction you want the bait to go in.

in in talking diving depth on jerks. anyone ever try the suspending xrap shads for eyes. Ive got one of each size and they have a nice tight wiggle in the water. the smaller one only get to about 3 ft, but the bigger one gets to about 7ft im guessing, could be a geat lure for deeper fish but I haven't had the right situation to use it yet.

another one that looks like a nice deep water jerk would be the ima flit supposed to run 6-8ft. but they are 17.50 so I havent gone that route yet

Im also looking forward to trying the RC stick the 110 knock off.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

''to make sure you crank is getting to its max depth it has to run straight. if its running to one side or the other you can loose alot of diving depth. just adjust the nose ring to the direction you want the bait to go in.''

Thanks joshy forgot to add that, and ran across the same problem last nite.. Before i throw any crank i toss it out about ten ft and make sure its running tru


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