Whole in the Water
Well-Known Member
They probably catch more fisherman than fish me thinks!
Shark cannon balls
- Thread starter kevind
- Start date
A gulf ball may have dimples but it is still a sphere. The golf ball is not shaped like a cylinder or a disk. If a gulf ball had less air resistance shaped like a disk or a rod, they would make them that way. As someone else on the forum once pointed out, If you take a piece of tin foil and throw it, it hits a lot of air resistance and gets push back and slows down and does not go very far. If you crunch it down into a tight ball and throw it into the resistance of the air it goes a lot farther as it is just more efficient to overcome the air density or in the case of rigger weights, water resistance. That said the dimples on a ball can greatly increase its efficiency.
What happens with these long and flat weights is that in current, especially cross current to the direction of travel, the weight gets pushed by the cross current asymmetrically and turns somewhat to various degrees so that it presents a wider surface to the water it is being dragged into. Unless you have the need to side plane, I understand the sphere is more efficient overall.
To my way of thinking there are two reason to put a fin on a ball or make it elongated, One is to use the slightly curved fin to side plane the ball out away from the boat.
The other in theory with a short strong and straight fin or elongated ball is to resist the ball spinning on the swivel and increasing wear on that component of the terminal gear. In reality in my view the fin gets acted upon by a number of forces and tend to move back and forth and still puts wear on the swivel and perhaps less even wear than if it just spun slowly and evenly. The fins are almost never perfectly straight especially after it has spent much time on the boat. I think Scotty played around with a small plastic fin that went not on the ball but just above it on the terminal gear/cable, I think the theory was it could helped the cable resist the ball turning the cable and increasing cable metal fatigue by keeping the wear on the ball swivel below the little fin but not sure.
What happens with these long and flat weights is that in current, especially cross current to the direction of travel, the weight gets pushed by the cross current asymmetrically and turns somewhat to various degrees so that it presents a wider surface to the water it is being dragged into. Unless you have the need to side plane, I understand the sphere is more efficient overall.
To my way of thinking there are two reason to put a fin on a ball or make it elongated, One is to use the slightly curved fin to side plane the ball out away from the boat.
The other in theory with a short strong and straight fin or elongated ball is to resist the ball spinning on the swivel and increasing wear on that component of the terminal gear. In reality in my view the fin gets acted upon by a number of forces and tend to move back and forth and still puts wear on the swivel and perhaps less even wear than if it just spun slowly and evenly. The fins are almost never perfectly straight especially after it has spent much time on the boat. I think Scotty played around with a small plastic fin that went not on the ball but just above it on the terminal gear/cable, I think the theory was it could helped the cable resist the ball turning the cable and increasing cable metal fatigue by keeping the wear on the ball swivel below the little fin but not sure.
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Salmon Seeker
Crew Member
just ask google what the most aerodynamic shape is. The answer is the teardrop.
Here is a quote from an engineer:
"Different shapes are aerodynamic for different purposes. For example shapes that are best for sub-sonic speeds are not the same shapes that are good at super sonic speeds. Shapes that are good at traveling in a straight line don't do well if the have to turn. It also depends on if when you say 'aerodynamic' you are just looking for low drag, or if you want lift (or down force) as well, because more lift comes with more drag. So overall, there is no "most aerodynamic shape"; the most suitable shape needs to be selected for the application".
Salmon Seeker
Crew Member
Yes, of course, we are vastly over-simplifying here. This is a sport fishing forum! The real point is - who cares. The round balls work just fine and the predictable blowback is a useful indicator of speed vs water.
advTHXance
Well-Known Member
Aerodynamics arent quite the same as hydrodynamics, not sure if it makes much difference in this application
hippaisland
Well-Known Member
I’ve said it before... been running 20’s on 1106’s for years... no issues. Is it quick? No... but I’ve never lost a fish because of it. Can’t imagine fishing 15’s anymore if there’s a flasher going down.
