My sincere thanks to all of you who made Plugfest 08 happen. You folks did an awesome job putting this together, an amazing event!

This was my first Plugfest, and I had a awesome time. Now I really miss not having gone before.

Super group of folks, good food & atmosphere, and I learned a lot about the craft of plugbuilding. Next year I bring some of my own plugs to trade/swap/etc. You folks are a real inspiration. So many talented builders, so many techniques and unique styles! Truly impressive.

Hope I'll see some of you again soon, spring run is almost here!

- Togue

Yep, good to see the regular motley crowd, and put faces to some others new to me!
Highlight for me was finally understanding how the offset plug was turned. Thanks PNG! Close second was the dipping/marbelized paint finish, which was explained to me by Angler229? I think, and then demonstated by Ed.
Lotta work to make it happen, Mike, (he had to scrape the road and parking area last night) Barb and Felicia for setting up til 11 o'clock last night, TT, Slip, VB, and anyone I left out. Thank you

Newly acquired pluggage already hung up, and wood supply stored to dry.

Canalman, that jointed Mack was just outstanding.

It was great! It's over! I'm exhausted! I'm going to bed :tooth: !

Seriously - thanks to everyone for coming, I'm gonna play with my kid for a little bit and go to sleep :shocked:

Legos?:jump:

Thanks to all who made it happen. Slip, Mike and family, John, and all the behind the scenes people. Great seeing the new faces and the old ones as well. Thanks Chum for the plug, Ross for the display case, Victor for the beautiful old plug, and all the others that I got in trades. Some really nice stuff being produced. Great bunch of people to spend the afternoon with. Congrats to Dave for winning, again.

Peter shut your lights off you fruitcake:smash:

Thanks to everyone who helped put this on. It was good to spend the day with great people. Larry thanks for the demo on airbrushing especially the scale part. PNG now I can spend hours learning the new skill of off center turning.

Professor your metal working skills never cease to amaze. Rockfish now I have to spend hours trying to make foil covered plugs.

Special congratulations to johnny ducketts for Ho'ing his First Plug!!!

Again thanks to all who put it on.

had a great time again this year...thanks for everyone who put this together:btu::claps:thanks for all the help today and in the past from everyone...I learn more every year:D..great seeing everyone from n.y and n.j....and the kids tradeing plugs:laughs:...good time

An absolute blast. Great people, great food, great demos. Thanks to John R for a great site and function. Mike, Barb and Felicia for the hard work you had to do to prepare the lot and the supplies. Bruce for the venue and the hardwork to get this going. Larry for the airbrush demo. Chris for the offset demo. Ed for the swirly marbled dipping demo. And to everyone else for the beautiful plugs to admire. Look forward to seeing you at the RI show and in the surf.

Looks like I missed a Great Time!
But getting over the FLU NASTY FLU and didn't want to infect anyone.
Thanks for the pic's
I did manage to get to Penn parts store NO :spam:to get some 704 goodies I swear i didn't even breath in there, if you get sick it will build up your immune system
LINK SR

Thats why you are "Missing Link"....conspicuously absent...we missed you!:)

Thanks, John R

Thank you all, This was my first one, I learned a ton, met some great new people and had a blast.

Thanks mike for all your hard work,
and Again thank you For the plug Rockfish :)
And Also thanks to mr striper, and biteme for bringing me along.

Plugfest ,,, Great way to shake off the winter nasty's... I always walk away from plugfest inspired .. I was totally amazed today by plugfest contest entries and old fart swap Chumbucket plug . I didn't think the bar could go any hire .. once again I was wrong . Thanks all that put this together.. thanks to the Thomas family ,, John R ,, Throwing Timber, and special thanks to Slipknot .. Only thing I missed today was Mac .. I wish I had a buck for eveytime somebody asked me "Where's Mac ?"

Ed....thanks for the use of your spray booth! Much appreciated!

I just got home and unpacked
Great time, great food and even greater people :D

Glad you all could make it, you guys are what makes plugfest a fest :btu:

Best plugfest ever - thanks to all who put the time and effort into making it happen.

Thank JohnR and all the supporting cast for throwing this event. It was great to see everyone's work, there is some truly top notch craftsmanship out there, and it inspires me to keep working to improve on my building. Also it was really nice to talk to a number of people and put names to faces. Finally the demos particularly the offcenter turning and Salty's tailwraps were fantastic. Nightfighter it could have been me that explained the swirl paint, I remember talking to someone about it but can't remember who.

I thought this was Scott -- TIM S ???

Thanks to all for their hard work. You guys made the drive down worth the trip. Good to meet so many of you. Awesome pluggage and demos. I hope to be at many more.:bounce::bounce::bounce:

I thought this was Scott -- TIM S ???

Now that was funny...:cheers:

Also thanks for Dr. Fish for putting together the pick up and delivery of the wood. Great job. I appreciate it.

Also thanks for Dr. Fish for putting together the pick up and delivery of the wood. Great job. I appreciate it.


Yes, forgot to thank the good doctor on behalf of Saltyric and myself!
Nice stuff!

This was my first plug-fest and I was amazed at the ingenuity and workmanship of the plugs I saw there. Thank you all that set the show up. The tidbits and tips I picked up there should stay fresh enough at least for a couple more hours better get'em on paper. Again thanks to all for a great time.

if I remember it was george(numbskull ) who posted how to dip paint plugs:btu:we all learn from each other:claps:..

Guys,
It was great to meet everyone. Tons of info learned. I was so anxious to try all the new tips/trips but only lasted about 20 minutes in the workshop before giving in and having to go to bed. Thanks to John R, Mike and family, and anyone else that I may have missed. It was great to get a bunch of likeminded twisted plug building individuals into the same room. I've finally realized that you cnc/machinists are some insanely talented people. All in all I had a blast. Thanks again to everyone. George, thanks for showing me the makings of the banana plug. Will have a video recap for John to post by the end of the week. Thanks to all for the plugs.

Much Respect and Gratitude,
-Wahlie (Chris)

Today was great. Nice to see everyone again. Thanks to all who demonstrated and brought their plugs. I learned several new things today. Already looking forward to next time.

Eric

Had a good time. Nice to see everyone again. Learned some new tricks today.

Home safe and sound. Long day. You have to be beat. I am and I only drove 15 minutes.

Thanks everyone, Finally was able to put faces to names. Great plugs, Great demo's, Great people. Life is good!:bgi:

Thanks everyone, great time seeing you guys again. Just got back to Jersey with my Jeep dragging under the weight of AWC, AYC and enough plugs to last awhile!
Great job!

Thanks to all for the great day. The Boss, Slip, Mike and clan. I had just an awesome time. You New Jersey and New York guys are manly men, driving like that. Thank you, too, it's always great to see you. I'm still tired, and I only drove an hour.
Inspired, isn't the word. Plug shock and awe. :shocked:

thanks to all for this great event. plugs plugs and more plugs JUST BEAUTIFUL!

What a great time! Definitely worth the drive! Inspiration meter is back up to full now! Time to make the donuts!!

Thank you to all who put this together. Awesome day and even better people. I am jealous of all the outstanding pluggage. I have to get the wife to let me start making my own. Thier is nothing you can say about the Thomas' that haven't been said.

This was my first plugfest and it sure won't be my last. Thanks to everyone who made this happen, Mike, John R, TT, etc... Thanks ProfessorM for letting me pick your brain and being very generous with your knowledge. Numbskull I really appreciatte the x-rays and also the pointers you gave me. Orlando and Angler thanks for the painting tips, you guys do an amazing job with spray cans! BigFish, that was great of you to do the paint demo, I'll see you at the RISSA show. I was so inspired by the work you guys do it's incredible, I'll be turning all day today just trying to catch up with you guys!!! Well thanks agian all and great to meet all of you.

Plugfest gets better every year and still keeps its friendly, laid-back attitude from the beginnings thanks to Slipknot - Bruce May who started this whole thing a few years back and John R our striped-bass host who runs a great website always generous and striper fishing community minded.
So many great Plugbuilders and striper fishermen in attendance and how-to demonstrations I am always impressed how it all gets done with the hard work from everyone involved. Thank You:
Mike CC tackle
Vineyardblues
Prof. Moriarty
Throwing Timber
Nightfighter
Rockfish9
Flaptail
Saltydog
Charleston
Arne P.
Eastend Lu
Tagger
Woodbuster
PNG
...nice seeing:
Striperknight
SquidhoundJones
Tobias
Canalman
stiff-tip
...can't forget John 'Habs' Haberek who I met for the first time at the second plugfest at Slipknot's, lets hoist a blueberry lager to Habs.
and anyone else I neglected to mention.congrats to the winners and nice talking plugs with everyone.
Chumbucket :buds:

SAME HERE. THANK YOU ALL, with out you guys I never would have taken so much interest, an had so much JOY in building plugs,thanks again :wave:
GOOD LUCK GOOD PLUGGIN:cheers:

Thanks everyone that was a fun day huh :cheers2:

Thanks to everyone who came to this event. I Hope you all had a great time and each walked away with a little more knowledge than when you arrived.
I know my head is spinning about the sealer experiment !!
PlugFest grown so much from slips garage to middleboro.
I think it's time to plan on a bigger place to have it for next year. some place with a minimum of 3,500sf hall

For the time I was there it was great. Thanks first to Backbeach Jake after my ? Fri. I convinced my better ahlf to go with me. Fred the couple of times I was going to speak to you, you were in the middle of trading and I got a call and had to leave early to pick up one of the kids in Plymouth(wasn't expectig that). The builders there gave me a lot of inspiration, colors, finishes,etc. I can't wait to finish redoing the shop. Thanks to Scott/TimS both of us were amazed by the paint we talked about the colors for most of the ride home. I loss I couldn't stay for the paint and turning seminars. That was one of the reasons for going. This was my first but not my last Plugfest.

Geeze 'Coach, you shoulda tackled me. I had a plug for you. Wanted to talk homey stuff. Going to NT to "check the mail" Saturday, weather permitting, gimme a wave from your porch.

As a returning member from the infancy days, I was glad to finally meet some of the folks I have been conversing with over the years. The Plug fest was first class and top notch. I am also returning to plug making after a long hyatus and was happy to see how the skill is growing in popularity again. Back in the day, there were so many plug builders selling their stuff on the beach you'd go broke after cashing in the fish if you bought from every one. Then the art all but disappeared for a while with the exception of a few skilled die hards.
Now we are seeing kids take an interest, can't wait to see what some of these youngsters put out a few years from now
Great time, awesome talent, and some pretty darn good chow too.

VENISON CHILI :hee:

That was good chili (mild for me) but nearly burnt Slips tounge.:laugha:

Wow. My first winter plugfest. There was a lot of knowledge in that room yesterday. I know a lot of you guys from past years and the other site, and I could tell some people looked at my name tag :confused: . I'm not online a ton, I hope to change that. I wish I could have talked to everyone, I know I missed some names for sure.
I had time to digest most of it on my 7 hour drive home last night :spin: . There is nothing like this over in my area (rochester, NY), and every time I return home from a new england trip I'm jealous. This is a great group of guys and gals all with the same interest. Everybody's willing to help, share, donate, teach,....you name it, and the stories,...... :claps:. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes, and everyone who fed us too. I am not really a winter builder, but Sat. lit a spark. I really had a great time. Hope to see you all, and contribute online more here.

Hi John glad you came always good to see you and your great looking plugs.

Lu,... I love your work, and talking shop with you. I really want to get down to your neck, and check it out. You have some great stories. Great seeing you again, and thanks for everything.

This was a fun event....Often times, when you look forward to something, it often times doesnt live up to expectations, well, plugfest is NOT one of those events, I was drop dead tired ( I only had 3 hours sleep the night before) on my way home, but, I was so jacked that I was wide awake... I got home and my wife says " what the hell happend to your voice" well, as those who spent any time in my vicinity know.. I never shut my yap the whole day.... truely a great day with great people..

Thanks to Mike Thomas and his family for hosting the club. a big thanks to John R for sponsering the site, and thanks to slip Knot for starting this thing back before I had a computer on my desk or had a clue how to use it!

I finaly unpacked the truck yesterday.... I got some mighty fine pluggage, Lu, that bottle darter is INSANE! I cant thank you enough, I've never built one.... YET...

I had some bodies I brought for the demos. Scott (#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&) showed me how to do tail wrap (Big thanks!) on them.

This one I had Ed (Stripercrazy) use for his marble painting demo.
Came out sweet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Bigred20/IM000185.jpg

Thanks to all the guys who did demos. When I learn tricks and tips it makes that long drive worthwhile.
This year I tried to talk with as many people as possible. The name tags really helped that out.

I had time to digest most of it on my 7 hour drive home last night :spin: .

Staties must have been sleeping. Lucky you. Lucky us that you came. Meeting you (and learning from you) was the high point of my day. Stay in touch.

Staties must have been sleeping. Lucky you. Lucky us that you came.

I'm the lucky one!
Did you see that piece of tiger maple Johnny gave me?
His plugs are unique and swim fantastic too!!!
Thanks for making that trip J!

It has always amazed me the generosity and the talent displayed at Plugfest. Where else can you meet strangers from the internet, with strange screen names, in the basement of a building down a long dirt road, talking about plugs, and not get arrested :laughs:. Thanks to everybody who helped put this together :claps:.