Slipknot, Cape Sam, Tagger, et al...........After 10 years away, you guys got me back into my workshop. Thanks.

NICE!

That's SICK!!! Can you give some dimensions, etc.? Looks like you did it freehand.

Cool stuff!

Nice looking lure. What wood?sinking, floating?

Very nice.

sweet!

Awesome stuff.:hihi: :kewl:

Holy S$%#^.. back in the wood shop where you belong,, what a waste,,,now you gotta make up for the down time .. Very interesting shape.. does it have a name ? is it a knock off of something eles ? great work ..

Awesome Banana Boat! :heybaby:

.. Very interesting shape.. does it have a name ? is it a knock off of something eles ? ..

It is a "Frech Banana". Jack Frech published a series of plug building articles @1975 (reprinted @ 1989) in " The Fisherman" magazine. This a copy of his final plug. It is pine, 7 1/2" long, heavily loaded, and floats upright even with the surface, sort of a planer-style plug, not unlike the modern sluggo design. I have no idea how well it fishes, and his weighting instructions seemed too much, so I'm not even sure I've got it right. With a bandsaw, spokeshave, and rasp it is not too difficult to build, though some sort of carver's vise/jig is helpful. I think you could also do away with the hand tools and shape it after bandsawing with a rotary sander instead. If anyone has ever fished one of the originals (NIB maybe?), please pm me I'd appreciate any info that would help fine tune the weighting. Thanks.

http://highhillstriperclub.com/articles_darters.htm Had this article on him.. Don't really know much about him .. thats a pretty neat design ..

very nice pc o fruit...great job...some day I'll pull out all those print's and give them a good lookin over..scuttlebutt has it when those were printed that they changed some of the dimention's to throw people off as to how the real ones were made....throwing a stick in the spoke's of remake's sort of speak......now I don't know to trust them or not.

No eyes George?

i've missed your posts, flap. weclome back.
_Z_

http://highhillstriperclub.com/articles_darters.htm Had this article on him.. Don't really know much about him .. thats a pretty neat design ..

I like the name.

EXCELLANT!
ifthat's not a mullet banana, I don't know what is :btu:

I have one like that wit a metal lip.I have seen an had some that a Old NJ builder billy West did that where similar also.its funny the one i have is painted in a similar color.i rarely (never)fish it cause it does not fit in my bag.its no dougt a copy offa the frech article.

i've missed your posts, flap. weclome back.
_Z_

Ditto :hihi:

Ditto :hihi:
Me too.

Hi Everyone, I am new to StriperTalk and am looking forward to contributing as I can to the community. At present, however, I am in need of a little help!

It is my friend's birthday this Saturday- he's helped me to learn about how to fish the surf and the bays and to make my own equipment.

I want to give back in some way and came across these pictures of the Frech banana plug- they look alot like one of the plugs my friend had made long ago under the tutelage of HIS mentor. I was thinking it would be a great present to give him the formal schematic for this plug, especially considering that he lost this very plug that he had made as a kid (snapped off at night in late October and he went swimming for it in some heavy surf and couldn't come up with it, by way of illustrating that this was something of real value to him).

If anyone can help direct me to the right place, I would be grateful indeed! I know from researching it that the Fisherman published Frech's articles in 1988, but I haven't had luck so far finding a copy.

Many thanks for your help!

Just PM me your address and I'll send it along with some corrections you will need. I won't be able to mail it until tomorrow, however.

:spin: :wiggle:

Just PM me your address and I'll send it along with some corrections you will need. I won't be able to mail it until tomorrow, however.

:claps: :claps: :claps:
You the man!!!

no bananas on my boat...:laugha:

no bananas on my boat...:laugha:

no! but there are a couple of fruits.

Hey George,
How did you make out with the Jack Frech Banana plug?
Did you ever fish it with any results?
I just found all my 15 articles from Jack and thought I would also post a
few of his plugs! Hope you enjoy a nice used one with glass eyes and a New decal eye that has never hit the water.
VB

Anyone have all the articles on a computer ?
I'd love to have them in digital format.

Bill

Anyone have all the articles on a computer ?
I'd love to have them in digital format.

Bill

I have them in a pdf format but they are 10,000 KB, it is a huge file. If you can accept something that large, pm me your email.

Tom

LOL, I think this was the first plug I posted on this site. They work very well, once you get the weight right.

Anyone have all the articles on a computer ?
I'd love to have them in digital format.

Bill

If you are serious about building one, there are several errors in the article. The top "exact" profile is lopsided, only copy one half of it or your plug will be too. None of the profiles are full scale, you'll need to size them up. The rear belly hook is mislabeled in the 1988 article as being four inches back, it should be five (and was in the 1975 article), I think. With regards to weighting, the best authority I found on the original says it should float level with water 1/2 way up the front and rear slopes. The best one I've built, however, floats a shade higher ( level is even with the line tie and rear screw eye) and tends to keep it's tail just above the water when it is retrieved with 1 foot rod tip twitches. They are ALOT of fun to fish by day, the strikes are tremendous. I haven't done much with them by night.....yet.

I still have a bunch half done.And also have a bunch Al Bentson gave me that i still have to finish up.Ahhh one of these days i will LOL

Also forgot ,George the one you gave me is comming up to R.I. to be fished hard at the plugbash.:thanks:

What is the correct weight?
VB

cool plug nice fish too:jump:

What is the correct weight?
VB

Around 4-4.5 oz if weighted as in the article, but since small changes in body shape have a large volume effect, some of mine end up weighing closer to 3 oz, when adjusted to float correctly.