silencing crankbaits

[AKFerzy7]

Has anyone found a good way to silence a H2O express CRS? Would you rather remove the rattles or super glue them in place?

[ReelDoc]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AKFerzy7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Has anyone found a good way to silence a H2O express CRS? Would you rather remove the rattles or super glue them in place?</TD></TR></TABLE>
This may be a silly question, but why would you want to do that??? Inquiring minds want to know.

[AKFerzy7]

In clear water/high pressure/post spawn situations a silent crankbait will almost always out perform a rattling version. Kinda why all the rage for balsa lures. My go to lure in clear water is a ghost minnow lucky craft 1.5. without rattles. Academy makes the CRS which is identical to the RC except with rattles but its 10 dollars cheaper than the lucky craft. I dont have an Academy store around here so I don't want to destroy too many of the cranks I have.

[ace of blades]

I have seen people drill a small hole and dump the rattles, and fill the hole with epoxy. The ones I saw still ran true.

It is also true that a non-rattling crank will outperform a rattle in the clear.

Plus, everyone throws rattling cranks now, so doing something different can also be a boost.

[Mark Perry]

Some good advice given. i would find the smallest drill bit you can find and then procure a small syringe/needle set up and drill the hole just in front or behind the front hook. After that you want to tilt the bait down a bit in the front so that the BBs are settled right above the front hook and push a bit of glue/epoxy through the syringe. Wait for it to set the fill the hole over with epoxy or whatever you prefer to make it watertight. Some guys use a bigger bit and remove the BBs altogether but then you affect the weight. This is also a good way to add more weight should you want to make a susupending bait.
It will take a couple of baits to get the hang of it. Just go slow and only make one change at a time.

[Legend Chris]

Get a dremel and cut one in half(sacrifice), that way you know how there are inside. The follow the steps that Mark explained...

[tailchaser]

i wonder if that expanding foam stuff would work?? just fill the whole thing.. it would only take a drop or two and it seems like it would not affect the weight of the bait much... might make it float better too...

[whittler]

I'm with Triton Chris on this, see what is on the inside before you cut or drill. I do not have one of those baits cut open, if you needed a picture,. but I do have a lot of others. It is about the only way, other than pure luck, that you can maintain the balance of the lure.

[Flecksbaits]

On the H2O baits, there are 2 single rattles. The first is a large rattle just behind the front hook. The second is a smaller bb just behind the bill, below the eye. By looking at it, taking the entire rattle out would require some large holes and one just behind the bill. I have never tried it, but the expandinding foam idea may work. You would be able to drill a tiny hole and it would take very little to fill the chambers. Just my $.02. Definately experiment on the H2O rather than the LC.

[reeldeal]

Shhhhhhh guys! By the way spray foam works, but you need to do several baits at one time because after you start using one can it is history, you can't save it for later.

[blackjack]

Guys those rattles in the CRS baits serve a dual purpose, They produce sound and they also are ballast weights. If you start messing with them you will definetly screw up the action on that bait. If you really have your heart on silencing them. Heres a little trade secret. Drill 2 small holes into both chambers where the weights are located. Place the belly hook hanger in a vice so that the bait is in the position it would be in while it is being fished(nose down attitude.) Get some of the foam insulation that comes in a can(not the cheapo water soluable stuff either). The insulation comes with a dispensing straw, install the straw into the nozzle on the can, spray the foam into each one of the chambers utilizing one of the holes that you drilled. When the foam comes out of the other hole. you are done. Let the bait cure for 24 hours. I do this after I have stripped all the paint off of a bait. Then I fill the holes with epoxy and paint them just like any other bait. I guess that you could do this with a transparent bait but I would not try it on a bait that is painted a solid color because you really need to see where you are drilling or your are gonna mess the bait up. I have done this same procedure with Norman,Bandit, and almost every other plastic bait manufactures' baits and it is a great trick when the fish are skittish but still in shallow water. Hope this helps ya out!!

[PII Magnum]

I really like this idea but how big of a hole do you have to drill to get the tip into the hole.

[motomania]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by whoza_daddy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I really like this idea but how big of a hole do you have to drill to get the tip into the hole.</TD></TR></TABLE>
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That hole would be a bit large for my taste. And I always get that insulkating foam all over. Anything it touches, seems to be stuck.
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First thing I do, is depending on what bait/brand I'm drilling into; find a transparent color of the exact bait. If I don't own one, I look on tacklewarehouse.com or landbigfish.com or one of those sites with good pictures of the baits. You can usually see the rattle chambers in the pix, and get a general idea where they are at.
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Now, holding the bait in the position it runs through the water, I use a .0400 size drill bit, and drill verticall through the bottom, to the rattle chamber I'm working with. I then take a piece of clear tape, and tape over the hole. Then using a tiny syringe, I poke through the tape, and inject liquid super glue (NOT gel-too thick for syringe, and NOT fast drying, you want a little time to work with it) into the rattle chamber. The tape slows most of the glue, from leaking back out. Put another piece of tape over the tiny hole you poked through the first piece of tape to inject the glue; this keeps the glue from coming back out. Then give the bait a rattle back and forth/to-and-fro; or whatever it takes, to get super glue on the rattles. Then position the bait in a resting place, exactly as it would suspend/travel through the water. The rattles will settle in the bait where they are supposed too. And make sure the tape on the hole, ha a good seal to keep the glue from leaking back out.
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Come back a few hours later. Give the bait a shake, if it rattles; repeat the above procedure, with a bit more glue.
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Once the rattles are secure and the glue is dry. Take a toohpick, stick it in to the hole; until it is a tight fit. (you may need several styles/sizes of toothpicks on hand) Snap off the toothpick, flush with the bait body. You may need to take an Xacto knife and cut the excess smooth. Then, when you're happy with the toothpick position, drip the liquid super glue slowwwly onto the toohpick dot on the belly of the bait. The toothpick will soak up the liquid super glue.
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I usually come back a few hours later, and give it a few more drips, to make sure the toothpick is soaked with super glue. This will form a nice water tight seal.
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If you cap the syringe, and seal it up quickly in a ziploc, or somethng similar. You can actually reuse it. I've had syringes sit over a week, and was able to use them again without the super glue drying up in 'em.
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Don't just randomly start drilling into a bait without a good idea where the rattles are. You may end putting a lot of unnecessary holes in it.
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As an example. The River2sea Dep 65 has a main body rattle; then it has a bunch of tiny plastic pieces, rattling around in a chamber under the chin of the bait. While the #4 Shad Raps, have 3 seperate chambers, only in the belly; in front, and behind the bottom hook.
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This all may sound like a pain, but once you do it a few times; it's really quite easy. And the only indication of anything being done to the bait, is a tiny pinhole dot on the belly. But you can use some touchup paint or something to cover it up.
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Sorry this is so long; its just the best, easiest and cleanest way to silence crankbait rattles.
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Also, if you want to make floating baits suspend. Use the same procedure above, but a slightly larger drill bit, to accomodate the diameter of those bait weights.
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http://www.basspro.com/webapp/...sults
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To determine the correct amount of ballast, just tape some little pieces of the weights on the bait first in the sink or tub.


Modified by motomania at 4:27 PM 11/14/2009