Silence of the Cranks

I've been reading how the pro anglers have been silencing their crankbait rattle by drilling a hole and using silicone as an adhesive to keep the rattles still.  I've been searching for detailed instructions on how to do this but have come up empty.  I actually cannot believe no one has written something about it since this seems common.  The procedures seems simple enough but I wanted details on where to drill the hole.  Anyway, here is how I did it.  If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve on it please do.

I selected an old crankbait that I almost never use.  This is a Matzuo crankbait which dives to about 8-10 feet.  When I get this procedure down and tested, I'm going to have a rattle and a silent version of the same crank bait so I could switch back and forth.  Silent cranks are often effective on highly pressured fish.  Lots of pro anglers switch between rattle and quiet cranks when the other stops working. 

1) I took the treble hooks off the crankbait and located where the chamber is by shaking the lure and feeling where the most vibration is occurring.  In this case, it seemed to come a little less than half way between the front and trailer hook eyes.  Mark the drill point with a Sharpie.

2) I put the lure in a small vise.  I put a block of wood in the bottom of the vise to keep the lure body from falling through.  The vise is actually clamping down on the wood block rather than the lure body.  The lure body is actually held in place by the wood wedges that I had handy.  I just slid these wedges on either side until it held the lure firmly with no play.

2) I selected a 7/64" drill bit.  I took the drill bit and put a dimple where I wanted to drill.  I did this by pressing the drill bit into the spot I wanted to drill and then turning the bit with my other hand.  Since in this case the plastic underneath the paint appears to be clear.  I chucked the drill bit in a hand drill and drilled the hole.

3) I took the lure body out of the vise to see if I could see the BB's.  The BB's could be seen if held a certain way.  Then I re-secured the lure body in the vise.

4) The pros say they used heated silicone on their silenced lures.  So I used standard kitchen and bathroom silicone and warmed it up in a hot water bath.  The reason for heating the silicone is to soften it so it would flow more easily.  I used hot water from the tap, which is about 110 degF.  If I were to do it again, I would put the water on a stove and heat the water to about 150 degF.  The silicone did seem to flow easier, but I think if it were heated more it would flow a lot better.

5) I then squeezed a small amount of silicone (about the size of a pea) into the hole and worked it in with a tooth pick.  I took the lure out of the vise and shook it to disperse the silicone and get the BBs coated.  I heard the rattling decrease to a mere muffle.

6) I then whacked the lure against the workbench to seat the BBs on the bottom of the rattle chamber.  I gently shook the lure and it was silent. 

7) I filled the hole up with some more silicone and set the lure back on the vise right side up, to keep the BBs on the bottom of the rattle chamber, and let the silicone set overnight.  I used silicone instead of epoxy because it was handy, its supposed to be waterproof, it matches the lures underbelly, and I was too lazy to mix up some epoxy.

UPDATE:  The hole really has to be filled with epoxy, or something durable.  The hooks from other lures poked a hole right through the silicone.  To minimize the mess of smearing epoxy all over your bait, I would advise to tape the lure before drilling the hole.  This way, the silicone and epoxy will stick where it needs to and not stick to the outside of the bait.  After the epoxy has firmed up some, remove the tape.  The thickness of the tape may also help with the epoxy "shrinking" into the hole.  I got a divit in the epoxy and I think this was caused either by the air cooling off inside the rattle chamber after I had handled the crankbait, or the walls of the bait relaxing after being pinched.  The epoxy sagged into the hole.  I followed up by putting on gap filling cyanoacrylate.

About Treble Hooks

I found out the hard way that the treble hooks that come with your lures aren’t really good enough to hold a fish.  A good way to test the hook’s ability to hook and keep a fish is to run your finger down all sides of the lure and see the hooks catch your finger.  If you want the best chance to boat/land fish you’ll have to replace the stock treble hooks with better ones.  But what makes a good hook?

One could improve hooking ability by merely using a bigger treble hook.  By using a larger hook size the gap between the point and shank is wider and increases the hooking probability.  Longer shanks also improve the hook up by decreasing the angle of the hook when it rolls away.  The straighter the point is, the easier it will penetrate.   The disadvantage of a long shank is when it is used in tandem on the short body of a crankbait.  The front and trailer treble hooks will come in contact and become entangled during the cast, or being retrieved.   A short shank model will prevent this fouling from happening.  For longer stickbaits, Zara Spooks, etc., a long shank treble hook can be used to hook fish which slap at the bait.

There are different shapes of hooks.  Probably the most used shape is the Round Bend treble hook.  These hooks tend to roll away when applying pressure at the point, making the hook point end up going in at an angle, requiring more force to drive the hook in.  These hooks need to be very sharp to hook in to fish.   Also, since this angle will also promote bending the hook, the hook must be strong as well.  Since a weaker hook bends, the bending action will increase the point angle preventing further penetration.

Another hook shape is the Wide Gap which has the points turned inward to maintain its hook size designation.  These hook shapes are found in the Mustad Triple Grip, Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap (EWG), and the Bill Lewis Set-Lok line of treble hooks.  At first glance, it would seem the points would not catch as much as a Round Bend hook since they are turned inwards.  However, these hooks minimize the point angle when pressure is applied to the point.  As the hook rolls itself away from your finger the hook point is set up making it easier for the hook to penetrate.  The hook point is going in straighter, minimizing the required force to drive the hook and bending.

VMC Sure-Set treble hooks have one long hook which acts as a stinger hook.  These hooks are stock hooks on some Rapala lures.  That said, this variety of hook could really only be used as a trailer hook on a crankbait unless it has a long bill.  This hook can be very effective on short striking fish.

Hook strength plays a large part in how well a treble hook works.  Basically, the stronger the hook, the stiffer it is, the deeper the point goes.  If the hook flexes at all, that means the point is not driving itself deeper.  The penetration angle also changes.  With this angle becoming larger, this makes it even harder to drive the hook point.

So, what does this all mean?  Well, on the market there are several choices.  I'll talk about my top 3 choices.

1)      Mustad KVD Elite Series – I really like this hook!  This treble combines all the advantages that a crankbait treble hook should have; the extra wide triple grip design, extra short shank, and 1x strong.  The shank length is ideal to use on short body crankbaits.  This allows using a larger hook size to increase the likelihood to hook up.  The point geometry favors a straighter penetration.  The wire the hook is made from is thicker making it stiffer to drive the hook point.  This is a great hook to use on crankbaits.  Because of its shortness, it probably would not be the optimum choice for poppers, jerk baits, or longer bodied hard baits.  I would probably opt for a standard length shank to increase the probability of hooking up on a fish which slaps at the bait.

2)      Mustad Triple Grip / Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap – These are the hooks I would use for top water baits, and hardbaits with a long body to prevent hook tangling.  These hooks feature the geometric advantage of having the points turned inward which positively affects the penetration potential.  These come in the standard shank length enabling these hooks to “reach out” at slashing fish.

3)      Gamakatsu Short Shank – This treble features the Round Bend design and the patented Magic Eye.  The wedged top of the Magic Eye makes it easier to install the hooks on split rings by pushing it between the split rings.  No pliers needed.  The shank is not as short as the Mustad KVD, however the strength is there and Gamakatsu is renowned for its sharp hooks.  This is the hook I would use if I couldn’t get the KVD.

Honorable mention: The VMC SureSet treble hooks have a great concept of combining the advantages of a worm hook with a treble hook.  However, since its use is limited, these would be great as trailer hooks to snag short striking fish.