Was looking at all the musso plugs and many have a similar taper, just different diameters. I was looking to produce a slim swimmer and I wound up spinning a Wad body out of AYC and cut 1/2" off the nose and installed a pikie 2 lip on it. Swims and casts great, weighs 2.250 and is 7" long. Armed with 2 vmc 2/0's and a 4/0 siwash on the tail. it goes down 1-2' on a modest cast.

You might try this. Take one, move your nose hook a bit forward, upsize your hooks to 3/0's, put a rubber band in the middle, and add weight until it floats level with the water just above the tail, and 2/3 way between the lipslot and top of the head. Will end up near 3 oz. Reel slow. Skinny works well.

Looks good......nice clean shape.

but are you sure thats AYC.....look to dark to be....then again it could be what you're sealing it with

You might try this. Take one, move your nose hook a bit forward, upsize your hooks to 3/0's, put a rubber band in the middle, and add weight until it floats level with the water just above the tail, and 2/3 way between the lipslot and top of the head. Will end up near 3 oz. Reel slow. Skinny works well.

If I put 3/0's on this plug I'll definitely need to push the front hook up towards the lip a little more as they may tangle. Will do some tweaking tonight and report back tomorrow.

your picking this up fast..... awesome job on all of them... looking forward to seeing a few of them at plugfest...

If I put 3/0's on this plug I'll definitely need to push the front hook up towards the lip a little more as they may tangle. Will do some tweaking tonight and report back tomorrow.

spreading the hooks is a good thing.. something that Cape Sams brought to my attention..

Back Beach <------------ Rookie of the Year ..

Musso's Wadd is his big 3oz. needle. This shape he called the Torpedo.;)

Great job on your protos BB.:uhuh:

I spread the hooks a bit and gave it another run this am. I put the 3/0 hooks on and tried it out. The plug now dives a bit deeper and needs a little more retrieve speed to get it going, but it should be good with spinning gear.

The plug now weighs 2.5 oz with the bigger hooks. I'm going to try the plug with a lefty 2 high slot lip and compare it to the pikie 2 that's in there now. I might also try the belly weight to see what happens. Thank god for wood filler.....stay tuned...

Back Beach <------------ Rookie of the Year ..

I agree....

Best part about it is he is taking all advice into consideration, making changes based on what he knows, hears and learns then tests swims right away for results and improvement,,,

Here is my little tid-bit .. Get a small notebook to take notes on each proto, and keep the results all the way to the finished lure.. every time you try something make a detailed entry into your book. Then when you change something and it does not work or you need something to go back and compare it to you will have it,,,, Not to mention it makes you concentrate and remember the changes and results which will improve your plug making knowledge and skills in the long run,,,

Most importantly later in the season once you have had a chance to fish the heck out of that plug it makes it easier to tweak it a little too,,,,

I think you will like the lefty lip on that plug,,,, may even want to try a 2/0 6x for a back treble with the 3/0 in front,,,,

I think you will like the lefty lip on that plug,,,, may even want to try a 2/0 6x for a back treble with the 3/0 in front,,,,

I was thinking along the same lines with regard to the hooks as the 3/0's will be needed to handle a larger fish, but I still want to keep the action. Gonna mess around with the tail too...

What's the biggest difference between the lefty 2 hi slot and pikie lips? I'm guessing the lefty will tighten up the action and make it swim at a slower speed? or not? Still trying to figure out all the lip stuff.

Back Beach <------------ Rookie of the Year ..

You're too nice....actually, doing rods for so long has made the plug learning curve much shorter so far.. with a rod you first determine what its needed for, choose the components, move stuff around, then settle on something. Same goes with plugs as there's a lot of combinations. As for detail the same applies as you want a rod that fishes nice, but looks good as well.
Ultimate test will be how this stuff catches and holds up, thus my eel bucket remains ready to go just in case...a lot of plugs look pretty but don't perform, so I'll be doing everything I can to avoid that dreaded outcome...

I was thinking along the same lines with regard to the hooks as the 3/0's will be needed to handle a larger fish, but I still want to keep the action. Gonna mess around with the tail too...

What's the biggest difference between the lefty 2 hi slot and pikie lips? I'm guessing the lefty will tighten up the action and make it swim at a slower speed? or not? Still trying to figure out all the lip stuff.

Pikie lips are wider, some more roll. The Pikie 3 is pretty much what a lefty 3 would look like, however.

By the way, the lefty 1, 2 and pikie 3 really should be called Musso lips (although masterlure had something very similar before him). How lefty got the credit is strange?

The high slot lip will send the plug deeper. The belly weight will give it more of a pivot point. Musso would have likely put 1/2 oz in that shape (if it is pine).

Buy a 3/8" bung cutter for your drill press and some 5/32 dowels. Great for plugging holes in the wrong places. Water based wood filler crumbles and lifts the paint eventually (in my experience).

By the way, the lefty 1, 2 and pikie 3 really should be called Musso lips (although masterlure had something very similar before him). How lefty got the credit is strange?

Someone stole his "danny" design and called it theirs, then his lips got copied...no wonder he went to molded plastic....

I think I'll just stick to making cabinets

and ho plugs

Buy a 3/8" bung cutter for your drill press and some 5/32 dowels. Great for plugging holes in the wrong places. Water based wood filler crumbles and lifts the paint eventually (in my experience).

Or use a bit of Oatey Epoxy Putty. Also good for filling belly and tail weight holes. Plumbing section of most hardware stores.