# First completed jerkbait and crankbait



## Reel Science (Apr 8, 2004)

I finally finished my first jerkbait and crankbait. I wanted a big jerkbait (and I probably went overboard), and a crankbait that I could cast and rip in relatively shallow water (actually a twitch bait, I guess). The jerkbait is around 11" long made out of cherry, and the crankbait is around 9" long made out of poplar. I sealed both before painting and put them in the bathtub to weight them to neutrally bouyant. They both held their position in the water column when I pushed them under once I got the weighting right. After painting and clear coats it looks like the jerkbait is just about right and the crankbait is barely on the heavy/slow sinking side. I will be casting them and working them for the first time on the next trip out. Hopefully I didn't go too small on the crankbait lip, but I really don't want it to dive more than a few feet and I want to impart the action with the rod instead of having a big lip digging. In hind sight I should have left the bill bigger and sanded it down if it was too big. I have no idea what to expect out of the jerkbait. I guess I was kind of shooting for something like a bobby, but it's wider and bigger than most bobbies so we'll see what it does. Even though it is neutrally buoyant it still weighs a whopping 9.5 ounces without the three size 5 gamakatsu's. The other thing I'd change on both baits in hind sight is the position of the middle hook. I was so worried about keeping it away from the back hook that I got it too close to the front hook on both baits. It's amazing what you can get hung up on and not see something obvious. In the end, if the front two hooks hang up on each other I'll end up taking the front hook off and hoping that the middle hook and back hook are enough to get hook-ups. I guess I can always re-drill and move the hook locations if the action of either is worth salvaging. These were also my first attempts at in-set eyes, and I love the look of it. On the crankbait I made the mistake of just clear-coating it as is, compared to the jerkbait that I filled the eye sockets with enviro-tex and let it harden before I coated the whole bait. I really like the look of the jerkbait eyes. I think in the future that I'll put on the base eye, fill the socket with clear coat, then put the pupil on the clear coat, and then coat the whole bait to give the eye more of an appearance of depth. I also used mesh for a scaled effect for the first time. It's a large mesh, but it looks OK. I only used it for the bars on the crankbait. On the jerkbait I painted an iridescent green on top of the fluorescent green and yellow. Other than where I put it on too heavy and it ran a little on the side it looks pretty cool in the sun. It kind of gives it a holographic look. Here are some pics.

Travis


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## LimitOut (Sep 28, 2009)

That jerk bait looks like a winner! Do you make them small enough for catching smallies?


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## LimitOut (Sep 28, 2009)

I thought i was good with reels, but that ain't squat compared to your expertise on lures! Good job dude. Is the action what you were shooting for?


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## g1pper24 (Aug 21, 2009)

Both of those baits look awesome with the paint schemes. i hope you get some good action out of them.


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## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

Nice baits! Big Baits = Big Fish. I really like the bright colors. The colors got me to thinking that I should do more with bright colors.


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## Reel Science (Apr 8, 2004)

Here's how it all worked out. The jerkbait needs lots of help. It looks much better than it runs. Worked VERY slow it might be OK, but with too much resistance it wants to come out of the water. I really thought that the broad back and nose would push it down like a crankbait, but it turns out that the under-cut throat pushes it straight up. I am thinking about fashioning a metal tail, similar to a bobby, to help push the tail up and the nose down. If that doesn't work I might play around with additional weighting to weight down the nose. Otherwise it will be a pretty paper weight or decoration. The crankbait, on the other hand, was real close to what I wanted. I was able to rip it and make it dart around. It was neutrally buoyant before I painted it, but after adding all the clear coat it sinks pretty fast. It was fine while it was being worked, but it sinks on a pause. The up-side is that is shakes as it sinks. The lip is small like I wanted, but too small. I'll probably make the next one with a bigger bill. I'm trying to walk a fine line between the bill giving the lure action but not making it dive too deep or pull too hard.
We had a great weekend at St. Clair. 3 of us casted anchor bay Sat. and Sun. and landed 11 fish with 5 between 40 and 43". I caught 3 on the crankbait, my first 3 on homemade lures. The biggest two were 40 and 42". The 42 was lean and the 40 was really fat. The picture doesn't do its gut justice. The kicker was that I got to watch the 40 charge the bait and literally eat it right at the boat. Pictures of the two fish are below.

Travis


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Excellent man! Way to go!


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## musky2much (Mar 30, 2006)

Nice baits Travis and congrats on the fish!
Cliff
www.alleycatlures.com


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## Reel Science (Apr 8, 2004)

I finally got some video clips of my muskie edited. Last year I bought a relatively cheap Oregon Scientific video camera. It's self-contained and waterproof. I mounted it on my hat for recording muskie fishing trips. Of course it's limited to recording where my hat is pointing, and the audio is horrible since it's in a waterproof housing. Other than that it records some pretty cool stuff when you're fishing clear water. I posted two videos on a web page. They are short clips, but I didn't reduce the quality much so they are big files (20 to 30 MB). The audio is muted because of the previously mentioned poor quality. Here is the clip of the 40 inch fish that I caught on the crankbait posted earlier in this thread:

http://www.hartmanfishing.com/muskievideo2.html

Here is a clip of a 42" fish on a hellhound earlier this year:

http://www.hartmanfishing.com/muskievideo1.html

The clips take a while to load unless you have a really fast connection, but I think that you'll enjoy them if you take the time to view them. Both are hits right at the boat and all the ensuing thrashing around. I'm just now learning how to edit video, so I'm sure that once I learn a few tricks I'll be able to post smaller, faster loading clips.

Travis


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

Great video! Nothing like seeing a nice musky thrashing around with one of your own baits in his teeth!


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## Pikopath (Jan 18, 2009)

Extremely cool video!! Love seeing the agressive takes captured on camera.
What camera do you use? I use an Archos myself, but unfortunately I decided to make a couple of more casts before I put on the hat the day I got my 50" pike, and it ate by my feet, oh well, cant win them all...
Keep both the baits and the videos comming!

Michael


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## Reel Science (Apr 8, 2004)

Here is the product page for the camera that I have:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/cat-Outdoor-sub-Action-Cams-prod-ATC3K-Waterproof-Action-Cam.html

I bought it from an online retailer for right around $100.

The biggest drawback is that it does not have an LCD...you can't see the video until you download it. It looks like they have a new one that's basically the same, but with the addition of a small LCD:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/ca...of-Action-Camera-with-Onboard-LCD-Screen.html

I really wanted the Archos, but the price of the Oregon Scientific along with it all being self contained persuaded me to hold off on the Archos. I hope to end up with one at some point.

Travis


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Watching that beast chomp down on one of your baits is too cool! Thanks for sharing. That's as good as it gets!!!


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## Toolman (Jun 8, 2004)

Cool videos Travis! 

Tim


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