October 30, 2018

Lipless Crankbait

STL files for this design are available on Printables and can be found HERE.

This is another lipless rattletrap type crankbait I am currently working on. It’s like the last one I designed but with a little more detail and fancier body shape.

This one was designed mainly in Onshape but I added a few details in Solidworks because I find it easier to work in.

I tried to design the body a little wider than a normal rattletrap in hopes that it act like a lip and dive a little deeper. (Whether it’s going to work has yet to be determined.)

The inside body is pretty standard… hollow front for weight and a separate hollow rear section for the rattle.

I scaled this one in a few different sizes to test out.

He is the first standard sized one that just finished printing.

I’m still playing with the weights but I started with 22 BB’s up front and 8 for the rattle.

It seems to balance pretty level so far. (it might need a tad bit more weight up front though once the hooks are added.)

The first assembled lure ready for testing.

For the medium sized ones I use a combination of BB’s and tire wheel weights.

On the large one I used strictly wheel weights just to see if it had a different rattle to it.

Here are from the top down are the Standard, Medium, and Large lures ready to test. I briefly tested them from shore but didn’t really get a good feel for them.  They seemed to swim straight but the river I tested them in was very swollen so it was fast, muddy, and full a debris. I ended up losing the standard size one after only a few tries (line broke on a cast) and the larger two sizes ended up being much heavier than I’m normally use.  I need to go back out at a calmer location to retest them before I continue to see if changes need to be made.

I tried the ultralight version too just for fun.  It’s pretty small so I only used a few BB’s.

Here’s the assembled lure. It kind of lost some detail during printing. ( I should have switched to a .25 nozzle)  I did test this one out but it really didn’t swim correctly. I need to see if I can add a little more weight up front, either that or lose the rattle weights in the rear as I don’t thing it was balanced well enough.

Here’s the finished painted lure. This one was painted in a bullgill pattern.

I did this one in a shad pattern that I’ve had a lot of luck with.  I tried a different finishing process on this one. I coated the printed lure with epoxy first just to see if it would smooth things out easier than using spot gazing putty.  I still had to sand it before painting but it worked out ok although it’s not as smooth.

Fish ON!…. its a little dink but the lure works anyway.

Johnny Roaches like it too.

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