These are my first three plugs, carved this afternoon from a toilet plunger handle. It was a great way to avoid shoveling. Hope this is the first of many.... And I hope there is a lathe under the Christmas tree!!!! 5", 6" and 7" long. Now I have to figure out how to weight them and all of that good stuff. Will the 7" popper roll?

I'll get this posting thing figured out sooner or later...

those will be good for fishing crappy weather:laughs:
how are ya gonna weight them? if you are gonna use shot then weight em in the ass on the bottom-two should do it. that plus the belly hook will keep it straight

Not sure about weighting them. This is all "uncharted water" for me. Your suggestion is really appreciated! What about the top one? What makes them good plugs for crappy weather?

Hey Steelhead---- nice,really nice for hand carved plugs. Great symmetry.
Ut oh, looks like another addiction headed ur way!
My wife wants to commit me to a striper addiction institution---
I say no,no PLEASE let it be an outpatient clinic so i can still fish!
:grins:

plunger-crappy weather-get it???
when I weight my polaris poppers I put four shot in the ass about an inch up, this gives it that nice castability, and a shot in front of the belly hook to balance it out. for the straight poppers just drill a couple holes on the bottom for the weights, and one for the belly hook-keep them lined up. make sure there will be a tight fit on the shot, then plug em in and cover over with wood putty (and make sure the wood putty is the kind that dries). sand and paint the next day

Who cares where the wood came from, the shapes look good.You just want to make sure you seal the wood,or it will turn to sh!t fast:p .60 % linseed oil/40% mineral spirits will do the trick, then some binz, paint and clear coat.Welcome to the madness :) johnny "the Ratt Boy"

what he said, make sure you seal them and let them dry for a day or two-after you drill them but before you weight them.

Justplugit & Pisrfcstr, been addicted to sw shorefishing for a while now. This is only going to make it worse.... The wife is delighted.... I keep telling her, hey, at least you know where I am when I disappear for hours on end! Pisrfcstr, does that mean Plum Island by chance? Love fishing the southern end of the island and Cranes Beach.

Blackeye, thanks for the help on weights! Another question. I don't have the capability fo thu drilling for thru wiring at this point, so I'll be using screws. Any suggestoins for type, diameter, etc? Same with hooks? Size, manfacturer, etc.?

Hope to spend some time this week with Saltyric checking out turning a few on his lathe.

PI=Plum Island, where I started this addiction to sand , surf and fish:D .Spent countless hours there, these days I spend most of my time fishing the cape and Rhode Island( late in the fall).Have fun with the plugs, wait till you get fish on 'em, there's nothing better:) johnny "the Ratt Boy"

I like em' Steelhead, Thanks for posting!

I haven't used screw eyes before but a few guys here do. If you do a search u can find loads of info here.

If you want them to last, use some devcon 30 min. epoxy on the screw eyes. then after you paint them, brush more epoxy for a clear coat. really dab it on where the screw eyes go into the wood and you should be able to tie one end to a tree and hang from the other end. Mahogany is really dense and if you weight it with 2 shots, your going to get a sinker. I dont think there is anythng wrong with a sinking popper, but if you want a floater use some pine dowels.

D***n!! NOw I'm going to have to cut up the other one!!!

BIG swimmer=snow shovel handle :D johnny "tRB"

I got a huge problem with using screw eyes on plugs....gotta be thru wired if I am gonna use them! Can't imagine landing anything other than schoolies with a plug that sports screw eyes!:doh: :hs: :laugha:

those things will work for sure. that sort of looks like mahogany so itll hold those screws fine, put a dab of epoxy on them will hold even better. i got no prob with screw eyes, just get the good ones. those will catch.

Thanks Christian. T really enjoy looking at your work. Your enthusiam is contagious! The wood's mahogany. Checking out screw eyes on the internet. Any suggestions for local sources. I'm live in the Boston ares.

Now I have to build a rod to toss these plugs.....
Hmmm...

salty got screw eyes, click his link. no places near boston i know of.:)

Originally posted by BigFish
I got a huge problem with using screw eyes on plugs....gotta be thru wired if I am gonna use them! Can't imagine landing anything other than schoolies with a plug that sports screw eyes!:doh: :hs: :laugha:

You would have confidence in them if you made the plug yourself and knew it was done right. Screw-eyed poppers can land 40 pounders no problem all day long.

I found this when I did a search of the site. It was posted by a guy named Guzz back in June, 2002.

"i use screw eyes pretty much excluesively.have not had any problems with them pulling out thus far.here is how i set them.first off,i would suggest only using stainless steel screw eyes.they are way stronger than the nickel plated crap.i counter sink the plug with an aul,or a nail,then drill a pilot hole.i think i use a 1/16" bit for the pilot hole.i then counter bore the pilot hole.i drill it at least twice the width,and half the depth of the screw eye used.for saltwater plugs i mostly use one inch .072 diameter screw eyes.but if you really want to make sure they don't budge,you can use the one and a half inch .092 diameter screw eyes.i then fill the hole with 5 minute epoxy.you don't have much working time with this stuff so if your doing several plugs i'd keep it to two,or three screw eyes at a time max.when the mix is still wet,insert the screw eye.once it has set up,i mix another batch of 5 minute epoxy up and dab some around the area where the screw eye,and the wood meet.when the screw eyes are set in this fashion,you have half of the threads epoxied,and embedded in the plug.and the other half of the screw eye incased in it's own plug of epoxy."

Since I don't have the tools yet to thru wire, I'm going to try this technique out and see how it works on the plugs I carve. Only 5 months till "spring"!!!!

Slipknot, do you use screw eyes on some of your plugs? It looks like oncertainkinds of plugs where the eye at rhew front and the trailing hook are offset, this would be about the only way to do it unless you are really good with a drill press and had jigs made or something like that.

Hope your toilet doesn't plug up. You will have to hold that rubber cup part with you bare hand. Welcome aboard!

I have some Guzz poppers, he is the man when it comes to screw eyed plugs. I know a way to improve on what guzz does even better but may not need to.

My plugs are thru wired.
I can easily drill an offset hole. #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& just recently explained how to do it on a drill press and I do mine with the lathe no problem at all.

guzz makes em super perdy.:D i need one. guzz....?:buds: :)

Slipknot, Did a search and found your description of drilling. Very helpful. I'm making a notebook of all of these tips! Sounds like it is a similar process on a drill press. I'll find #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&'s description in a bit, I'm sure.

Okay. For hardware, a closed eye on the head of the plug. The belly hook (S) and the trailing hook, open or closed? With open can you put the treble directly on the the screw and then pinch the eye closaed or is it better to do a closed eye with an o-ring, which then the hook goes on? Less hook torque with the o-ring set up?

I have some of Guzz`s work....art work that catches and no problem with the screw eyes the way he constucts.

Mike

"Ok youze guys here's how to do it super easy. I didn't tell you this....it's a #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& secret process

Take ya drill press....Bolt a pice of wood to the table, drill a 1/4" hole in it...drop a dowel center into the hole... Now set the table height with a plug standing vertical under the long drill bit. Take the drill bit out and put in a piece of welding wire in the drill chuck that equals the length of the drillbit and the plug. Use the piece of wire to center over the dowel center. You're front to back doesn't need to be set just the side to side which is easily done with the wire. Now take out the wire and put the drill bit back in. Take a center punch/awl and mark the back of the tail of the plug center. Plop the body down on top of the dowel center and drill down from the top in the off center position. Then flip the plug and plop it down with the drilled hole sitting on the dowel center, drill it that way now. They WILL meet in the middle if you have a decent spindle speed and let the bit do the work. 2 strokes and done."

here ya go steelhead

Thanks Slipknot! It's going in my notebook of tips and how to's...

Hey :laughs:

That only works on booger plugs :happy: :happy: :happy: