I's been awefull quiet in here as of late so I'll post a few more darters that I just finished, I've got 3 sizes of bottles and some cowboys waiting on paint..

These darters are the process of alot of trial and error, the prototype fished well last fall, so here they are...

These are of a wider body style than the ones I posted earlier, made of mahogany, unweighted, single belly hook is a VMC 4/0 6X gladiator, swiveled by a Kroc 500lb SS swivel...Tail hook is a 6/0 VMC siwash..


I tried maple, cedar ,mahogany and birch,all with and with out weights, as well as different hook sizes and locations, the mahogany gave the best action to casatbility ratio,I gave them a test last Saturday at Cashan park in the rip running off the old boat launch, but the only thing available that was interesed were the seagulls!

Those are awesome.....we must talk :hee:

I feel like punishing myself this year so I'm going to try making darters!

Joe- those are real nice. Do you have any issues with the open grain of mahogany?

I feel like punishing myself this year so I'm going to try making darters!

Joe- those are real nice. Do you have any issues with the open grain of mahogany?

No issues, the mahogany turns,finishes and seals well,the Cedar ones were pretty sweet as well,l just .50 ounces lighter,and a little livelier, and only swam down about 2' but very nice..it was hard to judge how deep the mahogany swam, but they swam deep enough to lodge into the rocks(twice) at the end of the ramp..:mad:

I am curious as to how they swim with that eye loop up on the plane?

I can see how they might really dive and hold in a rip situation but how are they in shallow moderately running water?

Did you arrange them like they are for a specific situation?

Nice workmanship.

I am curious as to how they swim with that eye loop up on the plane?

I can see how they might really dive and hold in a rip situation but how are they in shallow moderately running water?

Did you arrange them like they are for a specific situation?

Nice workmanship.

AHHH, the eye loop is critical, actualy, on a very slow retrieve I can get them to stay on top or just sub surface, because of the location of the pull eye, it is not necessary to sweep the rod tip to get them to dive, simply crank...I believe the fatter body has alot to do with it, the slimmer , more traditional models do not do as well with the eye loop as high up on the plane.... in the picture there a re a few that are actualy mistakes, as you can see, the dive plane extends just beyond the hook hole. and the second cut is higher on the back, those ones, were more suited for the fast water and were still OK in the slower water, but dug real deep in the rip....BTW, the ones I tried with the nose loop closer to the front of the plug displayed a tendency to roll out, something the higher loop does not do....

I dont see one mistake in the whole bunch,,,,

Very nice work,,,,,

Great work, dartahs were my fav plug this year.. :btu:

AHHH, the eye loop is critical, actualy, on a very slow retrieve I can get them to stay on top or just sub surface, because of the location of the pull eye, it is not necessary to sweep the rod tip to get them to dive, simply crank...I believe the fatter body has alot to do with it, the slimmer , more traditional models do not do as well with the eye loop as high up on the plane.... in the picture there a re a few that are actualy mistakes, as you can see, the dive plane extends just beyond the hook hole. and the second cut is higher on the back, those ones, were more suited for the fast water and were still OK in the slower water, but dug real deep in the rip....BTW, the ones I tried with the nose loop closer to the front of the plug displayed a tendency to roll out, something the higher loop does not do....

Cool, thanks for the info and again nice work!

Interesting stuff.

Joe - I hope you can have one handy for plugfest North Shore. I am still having a devil of a time getting a dahta right. We have to talk. Beautiful work and perfect color.:kewl:

Very nice Joe. I want to try making some Darters this winter myself.
Yours are a piece of art.
Al,

Joe - I hope you can have one handy for plugfest North Shore. I am still having a devil of a time getting a dahta right. We have to talk. Beautiful work and perfect color.:kewl:


you betcha...I'll have one for ya.

NICE WORK...............:uhuh:

very interresting line tie .. Did you try it in heavy current ? ... Very Curious how birch did as a darter .. was going to try it ,, maybe you can spare me the agony .. Hard maple is very lively ,,,good weight ,, cast great ... splits if you fart ... Thanks for posting pics and any heads up info .. :btu:

Interesting info on the darters,,, I swam 6 variations of a darter I have been working on,,,,, Long way to go still,,, Hope to have a consistent plug to fish with next fall,,,,

beauties man! :bgi:

Those are some perty dhatas!!:btu:

I hope that you realize that when I don't write anything that I am truly speachless. My God, what great work you do...

This is my darter. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My darter is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My darter, without me, is useless. Without my darter, I am useless. I must cast my darter true. I must cast straighter than my enemy who is trying to crowd me. I must hook up before he hooks up. I WILL...
My darter and myself know that what counts in fishing is not the casts we take, the noise of our drag, nor the footprints we make. We know that it is the slam that counts. WE WILL SLAM...
My darter is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its swivels and its 6x hooks. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my darter clean and ready. We will become part of each other. WE WILL...
Before God, I swear this creed. My darter and myself are the defenders of this rip. We are the masters of our prey. WE ARE THE SAVIORS OF MY LIFE.

Hey Vic ,,, ya scaring me .. :err:

Uh,.....OK.......Maybe I won't try darters just yet:err:

This is My Darter, This is My Gun, This is for Fishing , This is for Fun....

This is my darter. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My darter is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My darter, without me, is useless. Without my darter, I am useless. I must cast my darter true. I must cast straighter than my enemy who is trying to crowd me. I must hook up before he hooks up. I WILL...
My darter and myself know that what counts in fishing is not the casts we take, the noise of our drag, nor the footprints we make. We know that it is the slam that counts. WE WILL SLAM...
My darter is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its swivels and its 6x hooks. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my darter clean and ready. We will become part of each other. WE WILL...
Before God, I swear this creed. My darter and myself are the defenders of this rip. We are the masters of our prey. WE ARE THE SAVIORS OF MY LIFE.

I've got a bigger darter than you do na na nanana!Well not bigger than you Victor.:rotfl:

did you use white birch or red birch ?
I always hear guys are using birch but red birch seems too heavy

very interresting line tie .. Did you try it in heavy current ? ... Very Curious how birch did as a darter .. was going to try it ,, maybe you can spare me the agony .. Hard maple is very lively ,,,good weight ,, cast great ... splits if you fart ... Thanks for posting pics and any heads up info .. :btu:

I wouldnt have called it heavy current, I guess it's a realative term, maybe 2 knots, they dug deep on a faster retrieve in the faster water... more testing is in order for sure, what you said about the mnaple is all very true, my reason for the mahogany was for several reasons, 1st as you stated, maple is a major PITA to seal, I thought I could solve the splitting issue by "super " sealing, I heated the wood to abpout 80 degrees and dropped it into the BLO overnight.... they sank, they sucked! and with out a good seal,we all know the score....

the birch was good, about the same as the mahogany weight wise, action wise the same,I made it from a few logs of white birch that had been delivered in my fire wood, so my supply was limited, I have a ton of mahogany left from some furnature and a deck I built, so it was a great choice of convience, it finishes well, seals well and plays well with water....

This summer will be the first full summer fishing those wide body darters, so by next fall, I'll have a good idea if I have stumbled onto something... for now it's just time to have some fun...

Here's the prototype, I fished with last fall that these( the purty ones in this post) were modled after, finished with rattle cans and varnish, they worked well enough to warrant making some a little more boutique like, I fished, the main river, mouth of the river ( last of the outgoing) and the beach front, these prototypes were birch, I only have one left, the other swam off attached to a bluefish....