Squirely burt

[Kevin O'Keeffe]

We do all this balancing and then they generally leak and the water ingress changes the action just when you start catching :o)

Seal all entry points - hook holders, line attatch eye etc.

[Andy Tighe]

We do all this balancing and then they generally leak and the water ingress changes the action just when you start catching :o)

Seal all entry points - hook holders, line attatch eye etc.

Yeah spot on, forgot to say i put a blob of araldite around hook hangers etc before drilling and weighting

[JonahJones]

We do all this balancing and then they generally leak and the water ingress changes the action just when you start catching :o)

Seal all entry points - hook holders, line attatch eye etc.

Yeah spot on, forgot to say i put a blob of araldite around hook hangers etc before drilling and weighting

Yep, did that, Ade & Paul also mention it in the vid.

Good point from Kevin as they seem to be like a sieve.

[Flyfishin1]

Just back and had a look at the lures the nearly float and Im sure they would need lead I'd doubt the would even go down to 5ft! they had airholes in the hook hangers I put Superglue on them.. Just wondering could I stick on Flat lead (what they use on roofs) on the head of it and just expoxy it? or would that not be a good idea?

[jonsykes]

That's how people did it before they found out how & where to drill and insert lead. Glue lead on the underside of the head.

[Andy Tighe]

Just back and had a look at the lures the nearly float and Im sure they would need lead I'd doubt the would even go down to 5ft! they had airholes in the hook hangers I put Superglue on them.. Just wondering could I stick on Flat lead (what they use on roofs) on the head of it and just expoxy it? or would that not be a good idea?

All depends on what you want them to look like as you are adding somewhere near an ounce of lead ,i drill them and add lead until they are sitting almost vertical or thereabouts,the more tail showing the faster they will back up to the surface,youre best off with a bucket/tank to do the balancing in,but dont forget to add trace,hooks split rings etc

[Flyfishin1]

cheers,

What would be better? I dont wanna f#ck up the drilling part I was looking at this article from River piker http://riverpiker.blogspot.ie/2014/08/r ... burts.html
I was testing them in a small pond near me!

[jonsykes]

Riverpiker Paul & his glamorous assistant Ade used to post up videos about glueing on lead with araldite.

[Flyfishin1]

Have been looking through can't find videos of them would like to see how they do it..
cheers

[jonsykes]

Defo seen them on YouTube, but it's a while back - think it was Paul on his own. Why not try the lead coil first?

[davelumb]

Try clipping a small leger weight to the front hook hanger.

[Flyfishin1]

Try clipping a small leger weight to the front hook hanger.

Cheers Dave,

How would I go about putting in on the hanger? would it affect movement?
Cheers.

[davelumb]

On the split ring or with a clip.

[Kevin O'Keeffe]

Or use solder or fuse wire wrapped around hook or hanger.
Always pays to carry a bit in your lure box IMO.

Don't ignore leaving a floating Sq burt on the surface in a bit of a ripple..... the tail flips in the ripple and they catch even with no retrieve. First found out when I had the rod under my arm and was on the phone!

[Piker Nick]

I usually drill around a 4mm hole about 1/2" an inch from the centre of the fwd treble loop. Which will be between two baffles. I tend to use shotgun shot. Add shot, then a bit of tape over the hole to hold shot in when checking the balance in water. Once done then plug hole with resin.

[CharlieChalk]

Never had a fish on one.... awful lure

[Steve Dennington]

Never had a fish on one.... awful lure

I used to think the same, but the sheer number of very good lure anglers that rated them highly convinced me that my lack of success with the Burt was down to me, not the lure, and so it proved.

Once I got to grips with how to modify and fish the Burt I changed my mind completely, and there's always at least one in the box these days

[Flyfishin1]

I love my burts.. I've only done one modified because When winter hits I'll be adding a larger weight for it to get down.. Can't do it now since everywhere had weeds! around 1 week ago fishing I threw 5 or 6 different lures in this stretch of river, Buster jerks ETC.. I threw on the squirrely burt casted near the opposite bank like I was before.. Jerking the burt on and It was coming close to the bank and Stopped the lure and bang a lovely wee jack pike.. I've noticed that the fish tend to hit it on the pause especially when the current is moving the lure Cracking lures I'll be getting more winter time!

[Old School Piker]

I had a few Burt's and could catch nowt on them. Read Dave's article and watched Riverpiker's videos and revisited them. Glad I did. A well tuned Burt is a thing of wonder, and for me seems to sort out the better fish!!!

[Mark Phillips]

Try clipping a small leger weight to the front hook hanger.

that's what I've always done with Burts. I can see no sense in drilling, filling and farting around with them when I can achieve what I want by adding a weight externally...

[Richard Grave]

Never managed to get a critically balanced one (weighted suspended with nose down) or a sinker down anywhere near 15 ft myself 8 ft is pushing it in my experience , maybe down to the size of braid I use (always at least 65lb)

[piker60]

lol it's like something I'd do! The Burt I got was a weighted version im away from home at the moment, how are they like out of the box fishing wise? How far will they go down? Cheers

What are they like "out of the Box".................CRAP............lousy QC.........good lure but odds are overwhelming that you'll have to tinker.

Just about sums it up. But they do work straight out the box.

[Steve Dennington]

Just about sums it up. But they do work straight out the box.

Most will work, to varying degrees, straight out of the box. I have just one (out of 20+ that I've owned over the years) that worked perfectly, with no tinkering required. Others were not quite right and needed some adjustment. However, two or three of mine just would not dive at all (weighted versions), they just skated sideways across the surface on their sides. Now I'm sure if you were really determined those lures would eventually have caught a fish, but prior to adding ballast they certainly didn't work anything like they were supposed to.

[piker60]

That's fair comment. The build quality is not that good. They leak, which obviously alters their buoyancy, and there seem little standardisation. I've had/got quite a few, and had them some time, so maybe I've just been lucky.

[thueske]

I am looking to buy a squirelly burt, but am not sure to go for a weighted one or a standard one.
I want to use it in water of max 2m depth. Any tips? Do you have to fish the unweighted fast to get it under water?

[Daniel]

I am looking to buy a squirelly burt, but am not sure to go for a weighted one or a standard one.
I want to use it in water of max 2m depth. Any tips? Do you have to fish the unweighted fast to get it under water?

At this time of year get the weighted version, its easier to adjust the weighting to make it suspend or slowly rise.

[thueske]

I am not planning to use it as a winter lure, more as a lure for fishing in the shallow in the spring. The pike will be into the weeds on a local canal, and depths vary from 1-2m.
I fish mostly jerkbaits there going 0,5-1m deep, above the weeds. Not sure how deep the weighted or unweighted burt will go when fished slow or fast.

[davelumb]

You have to keep an unweighted Burt moving fairly fast to keep it underwater. However...

They can be used as pseudo-popper surface lures. Or Squirrley versions crawled across the top as silent propbaits. Also they are good for working into clear pockets in weed - crawl slowly to the pocket, pop and dive it down on the spot and let it float back up then rest it. Repeat.

Even worked fast two feet, or maybe three if you work them hard, is about as deep as a floater will get.

Weighted Burts in shallow weedy spots can get too deep without care.

If you are used to gliding style slow-sinking/suspending jerkbaits you might have to rethink what lures are 'supposed' to do when fishing Burts. They can't always be fished on autopilot. But they can be controlled precisely with practice.

[thueske]

Thanks for the reply. I will order a weighted one, tune it and give it a go.

[Daniel]

Thanks for the reply. I will order a weighted one, tune it and give it a go.

Do nothing to it until you've actually tried it. Once in a blue moon, possibly even less frequently in this case, they make a good one that does just what you want it to straight out of the box!