Help Tuning

[fwp]

I'v got some deep running reef-runners and a couple of them don't run true. They come right up out of the water. Tried bending the bill but to no avail, the bill seems to thick. Any help would be appreciated. Oh yea I have been tying them on with the rapala knot. Thanks

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FWP Guide Service
Fishin With Phil
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Vermilion and Rainy Lake
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[Mike Walerak]

They make a speacial tool to tune the reef runners. Not sure what it is called but they have them at cabelas. I lost mine after about 2 hours, so what I do now is put one of the pliers on the eye and the other on the side of the bill. Just give it a light sqeeze until the eye moves a little.
Reef runners are touchy.
mw

[This message has been edited by Mike Walerak (edited 08-28-2004).]

[Borch]

Reef runners are one of the toughest to tune. But my first question is are you bending the eyelet on the bill or the bill itself? Leave the bill alone and bend the eyelet slightly in the opposite direction it is running now with a pliers. When you run them above 2.5 mph they will kick out. They are not good lures for speedtrolling. The kick out actually acts as a triggering mechanism and is one of the reasons the lure is liked by a lot of trollers.

Borch

[Jim Hudson]

I experienced the same problems with the Deep Diving Reef Runners and Rips Shads, even when trolled around 2mph you can get kick out. I have found just minor touches with a tuning tool will work well to keep the lure running true, but you have to check it again after you land a fish as it seems even the fish will knock it out of tune if it fights hard enough. Another thing to do,is when trolling and your are first letting out the lure, do this with the minimal amount of line tension as possible when the lure is close to the boat. This will allow the lure to work and start to dive but not as erratic to allow for an extreme kick out. It's hard to explain, but it works for me, especially with the Deep Diving Reef Runners as they are most likely to kick out. But as both others have posted FWP, use a pair of pliers or buy a tuning tool and tune the lure to your liking.