Just thought I would reopen the Sunday morning "Plug Chat" thread as we are moving into full building mode on many fronts! Lets get the ball rolling with what your building plans are for this winter and anything else plug related! Get your coffee and put your feet up!:uhuh:

Also lets see how the plugs we built last winter did this season for us!!

I'm going to try and reproduce the stuff I did well with this season:

7" Skinny dannies

8" dannies-super sized with large A-40 style lips in them

7" needles-gag's stlye bodies

Big slopehead divers for the canal.

I also just got a pic of an old beachmaster plug that's 15-20 years old. The body is a traditional surfster body but has a different lip in addition to its weighting scheme. I already turned a bunch of surfster bodies from AYC and am going to build each one a little different and see what happens.

I am going to be working on some Creek Chub reproductions for personal use and maybe a few for swapping! I will be working on some Conrad Sr. swimmers, some A-40's, and some new smaller plugs geared toward freshwater use but will see double duty in the salt as well!:uhuh:

I have to make more pencils

need to make pikies with one belly hook

I will make more slopeheads musso style

I plan to make some jiggy spooks

I'd also like to make an assortment of needles

better get crackin'

trucks broke so I couldn't go fishing last night :(

I don't know if it's ADD or OldTimer's but I have a bunch of idea's but can't remember them:confused:.... Did a bunch more Nike Jr's and like the way they swim, gonna work on the large Nike a little more, swims good but takes too long to dig in! Turned one yesterday with a little larger lip and will also change the weighting.
Also have to perfect my Danny's and A-40's, also going back to a conventional reel and have been working on reel modifications, plus a 10.5 or 11' plugging rod that's not going to kill my arms and back after a day of pluggin!
And replace all the plugs that got Ho'd the last couple of weeks!!

work on my airbrush techniques.
I have several bird and fish mounts in addition to the lures to get going.

Shall we do coffee and talk plugs?? Say...9:00am?:uhuh:

Shall we do coffee and talk plugs?? Say...9:00am?:uhuh:

Sorry, I'm still fishing

So am I.:ss:

I am early but I will get the ball rolling and you guys can jump in! Got your coffee?:gu:

One of my objectives this winter is to turn some smaller swimmers to be used both in freshwater and saltwater from my kayak! :uhuh:

I also want to work on a deep diving swimmer and I will be working on a Lido Flaptail!

I will post a couple of pictures in a moment!:uhuh:

BigFish, OK "I will post a couple of pictures in a moment!" I cant take any longer:fury: it's after 8, an still NO PIC'S:smash:
GOOD LUCK GOOD BUILDIN:uhuh:

chumbucket, CATCH A BIGGIN:nopics:

GOOD LUCK GOOD FISHIN:uhuh:

I gotta finish up the Jitterbugs I started last year. I need to make a few howdies, somebody here has respectfully requested a couple....so I better get working on them.

Wanna try some Nikes this year....still thinking Dartah hell...but I a-scared

I finished these up during the week. The pencil was one of mine I refinished, It's port orford so it was kinda tough to hide the grain. I have a batch of pikies I'll be working on this morning, Just have to paint them. Anyone have any color combos that work good for pikies? I was thinking blue/white

Here are a few Creek Chubs I will use for inspiration! I like the Wag-Tail but after swimming it I think the rear section needs a little more weight as it just kind of "drags" behind the front section instead of actually swimming.........the jointed in the bottom left corner might be one of the sexiest swimming plugs I have ever seen! Gonna copy that one to a "T"! The Wiggler (top left) is the size I am looking for.....it swims a little too "nose down" for my liking as I want it to swim more level and wiggle a bit more than it does. I do not think the hooks Creek Chub used benefit the action on these plugs at all due to the fact that more often than not they are not able to swing freely due to the screw eyes holding them.....thru wire and sivels will help with shorter hooks for sure!

The Pflueger Mustang Minnow is a great looking plug, great profile and size and it swims amazing! Note the great heardware...the lip and the rear hook hardware.....the rear hook hanger has a screw that goes thru it attaching it to the body and the hanger swings 360 degrees as needed. The lip as you would imagine can't be purchased as a replica so I will be knocking off a couple of these for use and raping a couple of "DOGS" for their hardware!

The "Lido Style" Flaptail is the one I made for PlugFest last year and I like it so much I want to make several more to fish for next season!

Ryan those marks don't look like "grain"? They look more like skew "chatter"?? Are your tools sharp??

Ryan here's a great pikie color..... I've done about two dozen plugs the last two weeks, pikie's, Nike Jr's, few poppers to try to restock my bag but my buddy has taken just about all!! ( can't complain, bought me a Chrome Rocket!) . The Nike Jr's have been VERY popular to everyone, which has left me only one in the bag, have four blanks ready to turn today and hope to have done by wed. gonna hide them!!

thanks sarge!
bigfish I use cheap hf tools that don't hold an edge. I make it a point to sharpen them after every 4 or so plugs depending on wood hardness. that popper was from an old batch I did, and I really haven't had a problem since then with grain/chatter. I figured it was the wood I was using...Thanks for the help, I'm definitely gonna sharpen more often. It also happened on the peanut, though it's hard to tell from the picture

Ryan nobody is worse at sharpening than I am I assure you!!!:smash: Thats why I noticed!:rotf2:

Ryan, that can happen from the angle of the skew to the wood as well. If you're "scraping" and not cutting you'll have some tear-out. And your tools will dull quickly. Numbskull recommended a book , "The Practical Wood Turner" by F. Pain. It's a treasure trove.

thanks, I think I have it down now. Usually If I'm not throwing chips I know I need to sharpen. I'll try to find that book at the library.

Looking forward to this. I fished this morning and missed it also. Really enjoyed it last year and like the back and forth. Can't wait to get things cranked up again.

Ryan, that can happen from the angle of the skew to the wood as well. If you're "scraping" and not cutting you'll have some tear-out. And your tools will dull quickly. Numbskull recommended a book , "The Practical Wood Turner" by F. Pain. It's a treasure trove.

Thanks on the book tip! Just ordered mine on Amazon for less than $10 bucks!

work on my airbrush techniques.


Me too!

Missed this too. Mom had to bow out at literally last minute so I had to accompany my 10 year old daughter along with 2 busloads of 65 year old, plus, women to see the Radio City Rockette's xmas extravaganza. Long day. What a dad.:musc: I got some stuff still setting on the spinner that I did last week so next week I'll have some stuff to show. To all that posted they all look great.

Well I started doing some turning this am! Started a couple plugs, working on a few Christmas ornaments as gifts for family and friends......and more on the last pic later!:uhuh:

I am on a mission.

Gary2 Slims and Skinnies this winter.

I have samples and lots of info, but...

wood type-AYC?

weight locations and amounts?

Can anyone advise on these please?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It is still Sunday so here is what I finished last week. An up sized flaptail, it's big:). . I made the hardware and the flaptails. You can see in second pic. I have 2 flaptails made. On the plug is an up sized Moore's style flap like on my original size Lido copy and beside the plug an original Lido shape but up sized. I"ll probably use both styles. I also threaded the thru wire 0-80 and made nuts just to make Capesams shake his head why I am not using the spoke method. :) I just like doing things the hard way.
George I got one in your fav. color:uhuh: and Art's too.

So cool.

I got started on 30 pikie bodies this past week and weekend.

all turned,sanded,scooped,belly holes,lip stolts,thru drilled and eye holes.
now need to break edges and seal

Great stuff guys. The in progress pics give an appreciation into making plugs.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nice box Bruce! Good to see!:uhuh:

I got started on 30 pikie bodies this past week and weekend.

all turned,sanded,scooped,belly holes,lip stolts,thru drilled and eye holes.
now need to break edges and seal

wow, thats some fast work!
What method did you use to do the "scooping"?

beltsander on edge

beltsander on edge

Thanks, they look nice and uniform.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
I also would like to thank the great crew here for all the informative threads especially Prof M and Numby for there great photo's, drawings and those great X-rays!!
So who's out there and anyone working in the cave today? I am, that should piss the wife off..:uhuh:

Dang I have to stop fishin or workin to keep up here.

Need suggestions on how to practice airbrushin, in particular, what is best to thin createx, I've read somewhere it's windex , water till milky?

whats the take?

To practice I recommend cutting some 1 inch dowel stock to practice on! I use Createx and do not thin it at all?

That windex, water mix combo I think you may have confused with the solution many use to clean their air brush.....Simple Green, Windex and water!

To practice I recommend cutting some 1 inch dowel stock to practice on! I use Createx and do not thin it at all?


What air pressure? I have a paasche, badger(s). You're painting is awesome.

WOODY give it about a month. I will be releasing something soon that you have never seen before as Handcarved KITS.

Between 5 and 30 PSI....depends on how thick the color is and if its coverage or detail!

Between 5 and 30 PSI....depends on how thick the color is and if its coverage or detail!

now your being translucent!! I'll practice practice practice.

Got ahold of some pichney plugs and am making some troller Jr's, plus needles and big dannies.
The needles are WRC and Birch. Weight and hook placement is the same, but body diameters are different. Trying to get both floaters and sinkers done with the same body style. Both versions weight 1.75 oz all finished up.

Trollers are AYC. I actually did a few trollers and a couple surface swimmers off the pichney body.

Dannies are similar to the original, but have a slightly different weight and slimmer tail.

those dannies pine mike? I made some of those last year, had an original to look at , and they did not swim like I had hoped but I am going to try some more this winter. I am going to try some of my new, lower on the belly, belly weights on them instead of the Pichney style of weighting and see if that comes out better. Same amount of weight just distributed a little lower on the belly . Kind of how my body is starting to morph into as I climb the age chart. Makes me slow and lazy and that is what I want the plug to do. I'm the perfect blueprint. Are you going with the same Pikie style bent up lip?

those dannies pine mike? I made some of those last year, had an original to look at , and they did not swim like I had hoped but I am going to try some more this winter. I am going to try some of my new, lower on the belly, belly weights on them instead of the Pichney style of weighting and see if that comes out better. Same amount of weight just distributed a little lower on the belly . Kind of how my body is starting to morph into as I climb the age chart. Makes me slow and lazy and that is what I want the plug to do. I'm the perfect blueprint. Are you going with the same Pikie style bent up lip?

Dannies are AYC with a NJ tackle .40 round weight in the belly. The weight sits right at the bottom of the belly, almost flush with the wood surface. Lips are going to be pikie 3 mid slots, which is what the original one I own has in it. I already did a demo plug with this setup and I feel sorry for the fish already...:laugha:

Seriously though, time will tell. I'm tempted to throw the original in the water just to see what it does, but its the only real collectible plug I own. Finished weight of the original is 3.25 and mine are just about the same. I need to put the lips in my vise afterwards and make the folds so they look like the original.

If your needles are the same shape (ie displace the same amount of water) and weigh the same, I think you will find they act the same in the water. As for WRC, be careful it is very allergenic. It also is pretty soft stuff which will scar quickly.

As for the Pichneys, the crucial thing on them seems to be getting the balance right. That long slope into the fat belly makes the plug want to plane rather than dig in. The line tie position, the angle of the lip bend, and level/angle the plug floats at all seem to be issues. I had some trouble with these plugs "skating" rather than swimming when I first tried to replicate them.

I have a beater large Pichney SS if you want to swim one. I also have a bunch of fished BM versions you can try. I did find that the BM versions sometimes weighed nearly 4 oz, so there is a lot of variation in these originals.

I can't stand my shop .. hate it the whole time I'm there.. Microclustermess.. sux,, plus I've knocked my furnace out twice with the dust ..

:biglaugh: sorry eddie it just hit me funny

I have some very cool and unique stuff going here in the BigFish shop! Winter sucks but it lets me release the creative ideas that pop into my head during the season!!:uhuh:

Good morning, Larry.
Haven't started turning yet, but I do have a load of mahogany out in the truck. I like working with that stuff for some perverse reason. I do have to get som ayc . I thinking Conrads , needles, and little dannys this year. But nothing is etched in stone.

Hi Fred! How you doing? I was thinking of hosting some of you builders for a day of building in my shop maybe after the Holidays??? How many of you might be interested in a play date at my house???

Too many plans in my head, too much clutter in the cellar, too many things I should do....... inertia sucks.

Good Morning Larry-

OD Mike and PRBuzz came over and we make some dannies, pencil Poppers yesterday in my shop. OD Mike brought his JET with his Vega replicator so I learned how the replicator works... I am a hand turned guy to date. We used my lathe for the thru wire holes and mikes for the replicator turning...

Start at "One" George! We love to see your work!:uhuh:

Hi BT! Sounds like you guys might have had a great time! How did Phil do?? Any pics of your work??:drool:

Phil manned the drillpress and drilled weight holes, eye holes, and hook locations..
he is slowly getting into the concept of making plugs.. a WIP

I don't turn much during the fishing season if at all! I do alot of painting though! So during the season I get alot of ideas that I want to try and plugs I would like to make or replicate so what I do is keep a notebook with details and sometimes drawings so I remember what I want to do! Sometimes however I can't wait to try some of them so I will take the time to do a few turnings....also if it is something I would like to try immediately with the fish being here at the time!:uhuh:

I need to get a notebook going so i can log the ideas as they occur... they disappear in my mind faster than they appear now that i am 56... LOL

I may need to acquire a duplicator jig for my lathe ... at $200 they price tag seems well worth it.. Does anyone have an unused Vega Midi duplicator hanging around...

I am currently also trying to work on completing some Christmas ornaments I make for gifting to friends and relative to hang on their tree! Thats fun......can post some pics later if you like? Heading out to the shop in a few minutes!

I made some Tiger maple needles that I may temporarily use as Xmas ornaments and then turn into plugs after Xmas... yes please post or PM me your ornament pics... sampled some Dogfish Head IPA (60 min) and some Left hand Stout yesterday while turning... nice way to spend the afternoon with PRBuzz and OD mike

I think I will try some gliders this winter, but I hold off on starting in the shop till after the new year. I think I understand the basic concept wonder about the length to thickness ratio. I worry that they might cast like potato chips.

I like a beer now and again BT but I have a rule...never while I am fishing or working with power tools! Afterwards they taste best! :buds:

I need to get a notebook going so i can log the ideas as they occur... they disappear in my mind faster than they appear now that i am 56... LOL

Suffering from the same problem! Sometimes I stand at the lathe and forget was I was planning to turn:confused:
Thanks to Prof M's drawings of the BM danny I turned two this week and will try w/ two diff. lip locations. Painted some Nike Jr's that were laying around and did a few small needles for friends.

"Over There" in their plug forum, check out the thread "HandCarve Curiousity". OMG!

Good morning everyone, been turning some poppers, not my own design, but anyway, trying to get enough made for myself next year and to trade at plugfest. It is interesting turning without a dulplicator and working so hard trying to get them all the same.

I was thinking of hosting some of you builders for a day of building in my shop maybe after the Holidays??? How many of you might be interested in a play date at my house???



Hey Larry, I would be interested.

I remember a thread a few years back, I believe it involved going to a few different plugbuilders caves to talk & turn plugs, never materialized because of date conflicts.

This sounds like a good time, I would also offer up my shop for a day if people are interested.

Hey Larry, I would be interested.

I remember a thread a few years back, I believe it involved going to a few different plugbuilders caves to talk & turn plugs, never materialized because of date conflicts.

This sounds like a good time, I would also offer up my shop for a day if people are interested.


Hey I'll be there. Where do you live anyways, heh heh heh

Time to dig out rest of the compost and put it in the garden. See ya.

I started a bunch of different stuff this week and haven't gotten to finish anything yet. Thanks Paul for the help with those bm dannys, got the stuff yesterday. Still have to paint some pikies, some polaris style poppers, older bm dannys, some needles, and a foiled spook.
I got as far as foiling the spook with onion bag underneath for a scale effect, I'm afraid that when I etex it, it will get under the foil seams and push up the seams as it drys. Is there a way to prevent this? I was thinking of possibly clear coating, painting, then etex?

I'm battling a f'd up elbow right now so turning is painful and I have to do that for a living so I have to be careful. Most importantly that is my spook fishing elbow so I need to be cautious. I'd be devastated if I could not do that this spring. That being said I did get 10 small darters started yesterday when I had a few minutes to do something for myself. I'd luv to stop by the Lawrence plug works again some day. Can't stress how important it is to document your ideas and your work as it is so easy to forget what the hell you are doing, at least for me anyway.:smash:
Heres where I stand . Birch, maple and a few AYC. I am really starting to enjoy making darters. Fast becoming my favorite plug to make. You have to be pretty precision on your fixtures and your machining and I luv that kind of stuff. I will say this though I have a lot to learn as far as getting them all to be good performers and lots to learn about fishing them but I always have George to bug as far as that goes.

Here's what I worked on this week. Need to epoxy some of them tonight.
Anyone have a GooGoo pattern, would like to have one in the bag!

great looking plugs. I got both small and large goo goo info. I will put up later today. Luv to make goo goo's.

Here is my next project which will take some time but worth it for sure.. I just took home,from work, a Delta drill press I bought on Craig's list that I just reconditioned. Only took me a year but came out great.

Nice darters Paul, One plug I haven't tried to hand carve yet.

Goo goo stuff large
I don't have many goo goo's left , gave most of them away. Here is a pic of the last few I have, and the specs.

Here are the specs on the med. ones. In the pic you can see I used a flat lip on the med. ones compared to the traditional lip used. I had one with the flat lip so I made a few. It makes it more of a surface plug compared to the deeper diver the traditional lip gives it. I have seen the flat lip used on the large ones and med. plugs. You can use the traditional lip on the med. plug which is how most came. These are only 2 of the sizes I use there are a few more sizes but I would use these so that is all I made. You can also put eelskin grooves in them too.

Also you will notice I have some specs on there for belly wgts. and tail wgts. for both plugs. The original came without either but I have experimented with the weights and it does tone down the action which can get a little too wild sometimes IMO so that is why i tried it. I like the action it gives them too. But the originals I have in my collection and what I have see in others were weightless.

Thanks for posting the photo's and drawings...Would love to get a hold of that book!! Good luck with the lathe restoration, I wouldn't mind having something like that for a winter project.:)

My pleasure. Noticed I wrote wrong dim. on large goo goo for rear hook . The length from the front of plug to rear hook is 4.875 not 1.875.

I think I will try some gliders this winter, but I hold off on starting in the shop till after the new year. I think I understand the basic concept wonder about the length to thickness ratio. I worry that they might cast like potato chips.

If you mean gliders as in musky type gliders, they'll cast fine. Should have a decent amount of lead in them. One slug towards the front, the other towards the tail.

Jigman

Here is my next project which will take some time but worth it for sure.. I just took home,from work, a Delta drill press I bought on Craig's list that I just reconditioned. Only took me a year but came out great.

Paul, Have a question for ya on that lathe. Sent pm

It is still Sunday so here is what I finished last week. An up sized flaptail, it's big:). . I made the hardware and the flaptails. You can see in second pic. I have 2 flaptails made. On the plug is an up sized Moore's style flap like on my original size Lido copy and beside the plug an original Lido shape but up sized. I"ll probably use both styles. I also threaded the thru wire 0-80 and made nuts just to make Capesams shake his head why I am not using the spoke method. :) I just like doing things the hard way.
George I got one in your fav. color:uhuh: and Art's too.

after :smash: u three times in the head already I guess the fourth won't knock out that blockage u got stuck in ya upstairs....u need a floor cleaner upper down at the shop at nite? will work fa parts:hee:

I don't do any work so nutin to clean

I always look forward to this thread. This year in addition to all the standard plugs I make I am looking to make a Frech Darter and Frech Banana plug. I have no idea on the plugs as I have never held one in my hands. I want to make these two plugs because I remember when I was a little boy reading the frech plug building articles in the fisherman magazine and then building them with my father. I remember the article on the darter and bannana my father reading it and saying, Riker's can't do these types of things.

I am going to give it a go, if anyone has dimensions that would be much appreciated. Other than that its the standard plugs that I make.

I have been working on a little technique I picked up in a duck call making class i took called friction burning. Its a very simple technique if anyone is interested let me know the results are very cool with a nice old school feel.

George has the info for the banana plug I'm pretty sure. If you get the info on the darter i'd luv that. Neat plugs too.

Bananas are us :)

Bananas are us :)

That is theee lure

Been rearranging the shop lately getting ready for the offseason. This winter I will be descending deeper into the circles of bottle darter hell. Should be quite the journey...

I was thinking of hosting some of you builders for a day of building in my shop maybe after the Holidays??? How many of you might be interested in a play date at my house???


That would be AWESOME Larry!

I got no Chiquita plug

When is this thread going to hit "winter fever pitch"? I have my coffee and will finish my cup, have another and then I am heading out to the shop for the day to work on several projects! So what are you guys working on??:gu:

turning several sizes of darter's so I can get on to the fun part of doing the angles and then on to ruining them in the sealer and then watching them swim upside down as I test them out. I basically will be doing all my turning in the next week or 2 for everything I will be making this winter. Got all the stock cut and ready to go for everything. Of course there will be some short runs of stuff that I forgot but after 2 weeks or so I am pretty much done with turning for the winter. Then on to the other more time consuming aspects.

working on these

:eyes:working on these

I'm still waiting for my shipment of wood to come in. :wall: I have some leftover from last year, and a boatload of red cedar blanks ready to go, but was kind of hoping to get everything done at once. But I'd say my biggest challenge is cleaning up my workspace. I've got a maybe 20' x 12' area to use for my shop, tool storage (I'm a GC and have a lot of stuff!), and family storage, so organizing and making room is becoming increasingly difficult. Maybe I'll post some pictures of the nightmare....I wish I had the money to rent a space.

Hmmmm....Slip! I been a very good boy this year!!!:uhuh:

Still trying to get fishscale right with the airbrush. How do people do it.
Flap found that nice copper netting. I've tried bridal veil and larger wash bags, never turns out nice?

Lower pressure?

Striperman anytime you want to come by for a tutorial lets do it.....glad to help! What size Tulle' are you using?? Bigger is sometimes better....sometimes! I use a few different sizes! Key is to go light with the spray as you do not want it to fill up the holes and tack onto the cloth! I do a light spray on both sides (you get good at knowing how heavy to spray after awhile) then I let it set for only a minute or so before I remove the Tulle'! Mind you some use a jig (box) where you lift the plug into the netting, spray and remove where as I clip my netting on so I get the effect I want!:uhuh: Many different ways to do a good job and everyone has their method that works for them!

don't worry, there are many of you on the list, it is long


Hmmmm....Slip! I been a very good boy this year!!!:uhuh:

:eyes:

Striperman anytime you want to come by for a tutorial lets do it.....glad to help! What size Tulle' are you using?? Bigger is sometimes better....sometimes! I use a few different sizes! Key is to go light with the spray as you do not want it to fill up the holes and tack onto the cloth! I do a light spray on both sides (you get good at knowing how heavy to spray after awhile) then I let it set for only a minute or so before I remove the Tulle'! Mind you some use a jig (box) where you lift the plug into the netting, spray and remove where as I clip my netting on so I get the effect I want!:uhuh: Many different ways to do a good job and everyone has their method that works for them!

Is this a plugfest tutorial?

working on these

Them Pikies are all wrong, they need EAGLES paintjobs :).

Nice stuff guys. I'm still working thru the honey do list that built up during fishing season...You guys will be done before I even get started.

I lost my honey do list so I figure I got lots of spare time to make plugs.

my wife puts my honey do on the "white board" on the fridge.... i suppose I can erase a few items......

Them Pikies are all wrong, they need EAGLES paintjobs :).


To say this on a Sunday is blasphemous.

lets say it on Monday then those plugs should be cowboy plugs:smash:

Well, it only took 18 months, but I promised Benny Raw I'd build him a Masterlure popper..........getting closer.

(the perspective is weird, they're the same size but I moved the front hook back a shade to try and reduce fouling.....as Masterlure did on a later version). The original had a alongside the wire weight in a 1/4" hole that could and does slide anywhere from the tail to the front hook, so weighting will be a guess. Will start out in the tail and go from there.

When is this thread going to hit "winter fever pitch"? I have my coffee and will finish my cup, have another and then I am heading out to the shop for the day to work on several projects! So what are you guys working on??:gu:

Ok I'll bite. :) I'm going to be working on some larger sizes and slightly different shapes of stuff that was working well for me this past year. And more than likely, carve some different weighted versions for different conditions.

Those remind me of something. Are you familiar with the Frech plug?

Those remind me of something. Are you familiar with the Frech plug?

I have indeed seen old pics of Frech's banana plug and it's reincarnations. I like that shape a lot including your version. I believe it was originally an adult bunker imitation? Was / is it meant to be fished hanging just under the surface? (judging by the flat back) Someday I think I will try something similar with my own spin on it.

Besides my peanut bunker, the plugs in the pic I posted have a more slender profile. All are made to sink slowly and act like a glider / jerkbait depending on retrieve.

I suspect you are on to something. Glider baits are not common in saltwater. Bagleys made a big one for a while but it drew little interest.
Frech's banana is sort of a cross between a glider and a weak acting darter.

Recently the Sebiele Shad has caught on. Just a heavy fat glider. The musky guys have been using similar stuff for decades. Opened my eyes, though, when I watched Ernie (Mr Striper) do a job with one on a night I couldn't even draw a hit. If Ernie can catch fish on something, you know it must be damn good.

I recall an excellent thread about gliders 1/2 a dozen years ago by a guy who built lots of them for musky. If I recall, he made the point that the action was dependent on the weight distribution. He described taking a standard ballerina/howdy shape and making a simple glider to learn. They were all set up to sit dead level and to sink slowly or suspend. I think (but may have it backwards) that if you weighted them on each end they would do circles, and if you weighted them dead center they would run straight. By adjusting the distance between the weights you could get the action you wanted. Has that been your experience?

Here is the one and only glider I ever built, about 6 years ago (then got side tracked building bananas and lazyfish). Tested, but never fished it (lacked faith). It has been sitting in a discard box ever since. Between getting schooled by Ernie and seeing what you are doing, gliders may just end up on the to do list this winter. Thanks

don't worry, there are many of you on the list, it is long

:gh: Great plugs Slip

I suspect you are on to something. Glider baits are not common in saltwater. Bagleys made a big one for a while but it drew little interest.
Frech's banana is sort of a cross between a glider and a weak acting darter.

Recently the Sebiele Shad has caught on. Just a heavy fat glider. The musky guys have been using similar stuff for decades. Opened my eyes, though, when I watched Ernie (Mr Striper) do a job with one on a night I couldn't even draw a hit. If Ernie can catch fish on something, you know it must be damn good.

I recall an excellent thread about gliders 1/2 a dozen years ago by a guy who built lots of them for musky. If I recall, he made the point that the action was dependent on the weight distribution. He described taking a standard ballerina/howdy shape and making a simple glider to learn. They were all set up to sit dead level and to sink slowly or suspend. I think (but may have it backwards) that if you weighted them on each end they would do circles, and if you weighted them dead center they would run straight. By adjusting the distance between the weights you could get the action you wanted. Has that been your experience?

Here is the one and only glider I ever built, about 6 years ago (then got side tracked building bananas and lazyfish). Tested, but never fished it (lacked faith). It has been sitting in a discard box ever since. Between getting schooled by Ernie and seeing what you are doing, gliders may just end up on the to do list this winter. Thanks

Thats a beautiful glider right there. (You should never have boxed it! Have faith and fish that bugger :) ) Yes, the smaller ones I usually build have the weight(s) located pretty close to center and close to the bottom edge. I have found I get more 'action' with lighter wood that way. On the larger plugs I have made I do have to move the weights around both forward and backward a bit. The gliders/slider etc are by no means new to the salt, but I agree you don't see as many of them around like the more traditional style plugs.

...I recall an excellent thread about gliders 1/2 a dozen years ago by a guy who built lots of them for musky. If I recall, he made the point that the action was dependent on the weight distribution. He described taking a standard ballerina/howdy shape and making a simple glider to learn. They were all set up to sit dead level and to sink slowly or suspend. I think (but may have it backwards) that if you weighted them on each end they would do circles, and if you weighted them dead center they would run straight. By adjusting the distance between the weights you could get the action you wanted. Has that been your experience?...

Determine how much weight it takes to sink the blank you have. Split into two equal sections. One will go close to the front of the plug, one close to the tail. You have to test float to determine the right locations. When set up right the plug will sink level.

Jigman

I lost my honey do list so I figure I got lots of spare time to make plugs.

Funny:rotf2:
Don't have a dog so I guess the cat ate mine. Just a guess from all the scratches on my arms...

Spent the week procrastinating.
Did turn some poppers.....looking like it will be a popper winter for me.
Few other odds and ends (skin plug and bottle).

Noticed something. Pichney used the Blue Streak as a model for his conrad, slopehead, and original A40 (the later one is thinner). See the photos. The A40 is slightly shorter in the tail and longer in the nose, but the same dimensions in between. The red plug on the bottom is a Blue Streak Jr. It uses the same shape as the Popper, just the nose is shorter.

In the popper thread, Grapes mentioned how good ''all three sizes" of the Blue Streak popper were. Of course I only have the large, so naturally that drove me nuts. But when I noticed that Blue streak didn't bother with a different shape for their Jr atom, I guessed they would have used the same body for their Jr popper. Furthermore, on the xray I could see the large popper was weighted with two 3/4" weights, so it seemed likely that they used one 3/4 weight in the Jr popper.

So I built one, rigged it, and floated it. It floats identical to the large version which makes me think I got it right. What' ya say Steve, close?

As for the smaller one.......well I do have a small reverse squid I could use as a model........I wonder......:uhuh:

Working on just about everything this week, Nikes, Danny's, Goo Goo's, small needles, and an attempt at the Lido Flaptail:wall:. Looks like I'll be doing some old time poppers too, plus can't resist trying anything that the Prof. posts:uhuh: Paul and I are definitely on the same wavelength!
How about we try plug of the week/month on this Sunday thread?

In the popper thread, Grapes mentioned how good ''all three sizes" of the Blue Streak popper were. Of course I only have the large, so naturally that drove me nuts. But when I noticed that Blue streak didn't bother with a different shape for their Jr atom, I guessed they would have used the same body for their Jr popper. Furthermore, on the xray I could see the large popper was weighted with two 3/4" weights, so it seemed likely that they used one 3/4 weight in the Jr popper.

So I built one, rigged it, and floated it. It floats identical to the large version which makes me think I got it right. What' ya say Steve, close?

As for the smaller one.......well I do have a small reverse squid I could use as a model........I wonder......:uhuh:


The med size is 6" long on the nose//1-5/16" dia.....the smallest is 5-1/8" long w/the dia. being 1-1/16 instead of the reg. 1-5/16" the others are...capt'n bill's // bob pond and woolner also made poppers from their swimmer bodies.As did alot of RI builders back in the day....one body..two plugs....I made one plug style I can get 3 different lures from...needle-swimmer an a spook....but it gets boring turning alot of the same at once.

nice stuff. Snook Bait did a lot of those type poppers.

I'm slow

I've been working on these slim style pencils the last couple of nights. Basically just for the canal.

I tend use my pencils like spooks with slow sweeps but with the rod tip still in the air. Skinnier pencils tend to cause less commotion so I'm always looking for a way to slim them down.

The plug is only 1.1" at the widest point and to keep the weight around 3oz I had to compensate by extending the length. It has a flat bottom but only around the belly hook which on the first one I try out is centered. Next I will try to move it an 1/8" from center like a use on most pencils.

Cool idea Eski.

Tail weighted like a pencil?

Can't wait to hear how it moves.
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FINALLY! Tough finding cave time lately, especially when the cave is a 20 minute drive away.

G2 Skinny
These were the test run to check the template and set up.
Pine, not AYC, but that will be next.

is that a G2 slim. If so they are a nice plug to make and fish. You will do good with those. I have not got anything real nice on one yet but a few people I have given them to over the last few years have.


That shape needle, pencil, will do good in the canal Frank.

Cool idea Eski.

Tail weighted like a pencil?

Can't wait to hear how it moves.
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FINALLY! Tough finding cave time lately, especially when the cave is a 20 minute drive away.

G2 Skinny
These were the test run to check the template and set up.
Pine, not AYC, but that will be next.

yup, all tail weight.

The G2 clones look great.

:hidin: Nice stuff. :hidin:

:wave:Matt, I know you are a worse procrastinator than me, by just the slightest of margins, but you must have something to show us.

:hidin: All my stuff is half-baked er done.:wall:
Can't seem to finish anything.
Hopefully I'll have some done to trade with @ Plugfest.

FINALLY! Tough finding cave time lately, especially when the cave is a 20 minute drive away.

G2 Skinny
These were the test run to check the template and set up.
Pine, not AYC, but that will be next.

Up and at 'em men. Junior's hockey game is late today, so I figured I'd wake up with some plug chat.

Shaped 10 AYCs Friday night. :-)

And then broke the trunion mounts on the Delta bandsaw! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Have to wait until next weekend to cut and drill.

Will kill some of the time making a lip slot cutting jig, ala Rockfish or Prof, and a drilling jig ala Jiggy.

Suppose I should order some lips too.

Do I need to hydro orient the skinnies since they don' have any lead in them?
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it is so quick to do and you only have a few plugs, I personally would do it.

Seems dead around here.

Got a few things in the works....

A shallow running bottle, a early Pichney A40, a few popper clones (masterlure and bluestreak). There is more curve to the face of that bottle than the picture shows.

Then I've been fooling with small musso darters (pictured with their big brother for scale). Wood selection has proven trickier than expected.....turns out they were not maple. Got the jigs made, though.

Thanks to Paul's "Book of Secrets" i got some Goo Goo's, Beachmaster Danny's and started on the Conrad Jr's( waiting for someone to get lip's in stock:soon::confused:) this past week. Also some Nike's that need epoxy ( need to do another half dozen since they keep getting ho'ed. Small needle in tiger for a friend. Goo Goo's was an attempt at Masterlure color, but need a little more practice and try one in the blue color scheme.
Also got an early Christmas gift from my buddy for all the plugs I've made him this fall (see pic) and another on the way (QTC frame for my Chrome Rocket :uhuh:)
BTW, anyone know of J.K. Rush (NY) lures 40's-60's. Have seen a few of his plugs and they have possibilities.

Nice work on the MasterLure color!!! Recognized it right away!:uhuh: You do some beautiful work Sarge!

Fish scales are haunting me.

Numbskull-

What was the wood for the early Musso darters.. mahogany or pine?

Numbskull-

What was the wood for the early Musso darters.. mahogany or pine?

I don't know. The 3 oz ones are maple, but it is too heavy for the 1.5 oz 5" plug. Birch would weigh the same. Pine is too light (though might work if weighted right). I doubt Musso used mahogany. They might be basswood, although the stuff I tried came out light. Heavy darters don't swim so you have to get it right.

Numby.. I will check with Steve Musso to see if he can ask his Dad

sarge is that a cts blank? nice!

I have alot of stuff in different stages.. I'm trying to turn a bunch of blanks so I can take a break from turning for a month, really starting to get sick of turning a bunch of the same stuff without a dupe.

Made a eel skin conrad Jr. and I'm not sure if I have the eel skin groove deep enough?
So far I have some polaris poppers,hab's needles,conrads, musso style needles, small donny's,bm dannys, and some pikies, a handcarve and some other stuff..Hopefully I have some stuff done for plugfest. Thanks to paul,george, and everyone who's been helping me out:buds:

sarge is that a cts blank? nice!

Yup, 11'6" and all of 7.8oz.....Going to cut to 11' and do clear wraps with single foots down to 3 double foots for my Abu Chrome rocket, strictly for pluggin. Hoping to keep the rod weight under 11-12oz.

Made a eel skin conrad Jr. and I'm not sure if I have the eel skin groove deep enough?


Looks fine to me. I like a couple of wraps of fireline to attach the skin, but used to use #30 monel wire.

I don't know. The 3 oz ones are maple, but it is too heavy for the 1.5 oz 5" plug. Birch would weigh the same. Pine is too light (though might work if weighted right). I doubt Musso used mahogany. They might be basswood, although the stuff I tried came out light. Heavy darters don't swim so you have to get it right.

George,

A couple of local LI guys duplicated that plug some years back with AYC and it worked pretty nice. I have had limited success with Red Cedar and a 00 buckshot 2/3rds of the way back (Digger gave me that trick). This was before i knew anything about plug building and I did the slopes by rough eye on the belt sander. I still know nothing and do the limited darters I have by hand on the belt sander. Some people never learn.
Kindest,
Billy

Seems dead around here.

Got a few things in the works....

A shallow running bottle, a early Pichney A40, a few popper clones (masterlure and bluestreak). There is more curve to the face of that bottle than the picture shows.

Then I've been fooling with small musso darters (pictured with their big brother for scale). Wood selection has proven trickier than expected.....turns out they were not maple. Got the jigs made, though.

I am trying them out of AYC

all the stuff looks great guys. I am just finishing up my main jig, fixture for doing my belly and wgt holes so i can do them at home on a drill press and not at work anymore. Too many really late nites after work. I do pretty much all my work off the belly holes so i need something that is going to allow me to be precision but also able to handle all the different shapes. I think I covered all the variables and need to start drilling some to find out. Also built a nice sub plate for the drill press table and a nice fence for setting up the jig. Glad it is done. All my turning is pretty much done for the season too. Now on to the more enjoyable stuff.

George,

A couple of local LI guys duplicated that plug some years back with AYC and it worked pretty nice. I have had limited success with Red Cedar and a 00 buckshot 2/3rds of the way back (Digger gave me that trick). This was before i knew anything about plug building and I did the slopes by rough eye on the belt sander. I still know nothing and do the limited darters I have by hand on the belt sander. Some people never learn.
Kindest,
Billy

Pine/basswood with 7-8 grams 2/3 back floats right. I've not swum them yet. Soft wood darters wear quickly, however.

Found some cool ideas on You Tube last night.

Check out Lordship lures clip on making an A40. Simple and effective painting jig. Cool DIY hook installation tool too.


The Surfcaster's Journal clip of Gary Soldati putting VMCs on plugs without breaking the eyes is informative too. Similar to the Lordship method.

Darn blizzard is keeping me from going to the shop to work on my Skinnies. :-(
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Hi All, was looking at some old P-40s Bob made with 2 weights in them so they'd dive deep. has anyone tried putting a weight near the nose and behind the belly hook on a wooden one for draggin behind a boat or working it in fast current? Bob made a few of these for guys fishing the Race and some other fast rips and they liked them. Ron

Hey Ronnie, quite a few guys from Maine have signed on recently. I was wondering if you were the impetus behind the new members from the North Woods?

Morning all. haven't been doing plug turnings yet. As some might know I've been busy starting a hobby/business turning wooden baseball bats. my son & I been making turning models out of original models. Coming along nicely but there is so much to learn about wood, grain and the dreaded variables. I have request for stubbys. I have the dupe ready to go for a run. If time allows I will hand spin a large pikie sub swimmer. Once I get a shape that I like i will make up a template. SGT. STRIPER, nice looking paint on those plugs. GOOGOOs like sweeeet!!

Get a shape you like and then test that shape to see if it sinks or swims.......then make a template.:uhuh:

Hi Swimmer, been tellin people about it but don't know if I can take any credit for people signing on or not.

Here's some stuff I've been working on. I played around with lip slot location and lip styles with these. I cut the slots on center, just above center and just below. Tried a small pikie and lefty 1 high slot on each. Can't really say one was better than another but I like the pikie lip on them with the slot centered. I need to tighten up the joint and will try Rocfish's method.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff012.jpg

Been doing alot of handcarveds. I enjoy doing them but can only take so much at one time as they can be time consuming. I did a bunch of the redfin copies for a swap and people have told me they liked them. I had some fish on it also but did not get alot of fishing time in this year in the salt for one reason or another. The others are loose copies of G2's tiger and enticer. I was just trying to see if the enticer tail would push a bit more water that the normal tail. It's not built like his enticer which I believe swam deep and held in current using a different lip and may have been weighted. I just built it the same as the others looking for something different. The big ones are a shape I came up with. I have built them both ways with two belly hooks and one. The one belly hook starts up faster and has a bit wider tail swing than the two hook. I also built some with hangers and some with swivels. Much easier build with swivels. Other stuff is a bunch of smaller thin swimmers. I have foiled a couple of those. And a bunch of different size Big O styles.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff021.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff023.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff020.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/foilht022.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff010.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff007.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff009.jpg


Numbskulls big popper thread got me interested in building a big [for me anyway] classic styled popper and this is what I came up with.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff001.jpg


I had thinned out a surfster I have been making and like it's shape. Also made a couple chunky surfsters out of white cedar hoping to use the large surfster lip on them. I have not had much luck using the big surfster lip. I need to test these still with it as soon as I can find some open water.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff015.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff019.jpg

Still have some other things I've had laying around that need to be tested just need to find some time.


http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/2011stuff014.jpg


Looking forward to Plugfest as usual.

Greek,

I'm always amazed at how ALL of your work is so damn clean. Crazy how beautiful your stuff is even without paint.

Super sweet!
Love the skinny surfsters and I hope you post a bunch of thos foil jobs when the are painted.
Always enjoy looking at your builds.

MS

your way too motivated for me. I am a graduate of the Chumbucket school of procrastination. Nice stuff.

Ted amazing work as always! I really like the Big O carves, always great to see the stuff you have in progress. I take it you like to keep the posts on the doll eyes you use?

I take it you like to keep the posts on the doll eyes you use?

I like to leave a little. I snip off maybe half. I set my eyes when I epoxy but I don't like to epoxy over the eyes unless I get a fingerprint on them from epoxy. The little post helps guide them in and usually I can get them in with no problem. Note I said usually.

Impressive

Good idea, I usually snip the whole post off then put 5 min. epoxy on the back of the eye. Then I end up dropping the eye on the ground and it gets all sorts of crud stuck to it:rotf2:. I'm gonna try it your way next time I mess with those eyes:grins:

Wow Ted you have been busy. Beautiful shapes! Can't wait to see them painted up.

Pats Pikies are insane. :uhuh: all plugs here are absolutely purdy.

Finally got my jigs done and am ready to paint my G2 clones this week.
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Finishing some Nike's and GooGoo's, started a Masterlure Popper this am, also would like to try a Norris Squid, anyone have some measurements?? Going to do more BM Danny's and some Conrads this week, and build a spinner.

I'm 4 days into a bag I told a guy I'd build him in order to save some bucks on a reel I bought from him. After materials I figure my time will end up being worth about $2/hour. :wall:

I'm 4 days into a bag I told a guy I'd build him in order to save some bucks on a reel I bought from him. After materials I figure my time will end up being worth about $2/hour. :wall:

I wish I made $2 an hour.

Numby... a plug bag?

I work like a turtle. I will have more to post sometime in the future.

Numby, after building a few of those bags between material and time do you think the price of higher end bags seem a little more reasonable?

keep practicing

DOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When sealing them I forgot to wipe off the excess epoxy. :(

So I sanded them like crazy with 80. :)

Then I recoated them lightly incase I sanded through with the 80,

AND FORGOT TO WIPE THEM AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wall: :wall: :wall:

Was going to airbrush and clear them, but now I guess I'll just prime with BIN and hit them with rattle cans. :(

I work like a turtle. I will have more to post sometime in the future.

Numby, after building a few of those bags between material and time do you think the price of higher end bags seem a little more reasonable?

Yes and no. If I was trying to feed my family by building them I would have to charge a lot per bag. But if you look at the average backpack, they sell for about 50 bucks and entail much more complex construction than a plug bag. That makes me think that a professional garment manufacturer could turn out equivalent bags for much less than 100 dollars cost (probably 1/3 that) if the volume made it worth their while.

your way too motivated for me. I am a graduate of the Chumbucket school of procrastination. Nice stuff.



LMAO......Paul


VB

These swim great, but not subsurface like Gary's Skinny.

Got to do some tweaking.:uhuh:

Those are nice! Great job with the airbrush

I managed to finish a few this week. I've been busy building jigs to make my next batches easier. 2oz. and 2.5oz. pikies, some 1oz. poppers which are headed to florida for some friends targeting speckled trout reds and tarpon. the yellow popper is a 1.70 ounce sinker. I saw a mike fixter pikie that was kinda the same color so that was my inspiration for the yellow/orange stuff

Nicely done Ryan.
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Finished up my gang this AM. Ready to swim!

Nice work Jon. I want to swim the Gary 2 you gave me.. I don't have that slim syle in my collection. How those the Lefty 1 lip work the plug? If you need the swimmer to dive you can change wood, tweak the weight hole forward or raise the lip slot. Another way though more labor intense is to take a larger lip and thin the width. Say a Danny or A-Jr. Let me know.

nice job. Those will serve U well. I like that plug a lot , fishing wise.

Nice stuff Guys. I finally got started this weekend. Its going to be a pretty light year for me, just needles, a few darters and some topwater stuff. I did myturning this weekend although I'm sure I'll add a few more odds and ends.

Here's what I'm working on..
Needles, top ones are pine floaters, bottom ones are maple. I made them a little fatter this year so I could put in a little more tail weight without turning them into fast sinkers.

Some replacement darters, and some gibbs style penils. I like the narrow profile of the gibbs, I think that size/shape matched the spike macks and whiting we had in the canal last year.

And I'm experimenting with 3 sizes of spooks, bottom ones are ayc, top are white cedar and the smallest ones are basswood.

look good. Do you weight your darters?

look good. Do you weight your darters?

I made some wide ones a couple of years ago that were like 1 1/4 inch and they had excess bouyancy and I weighted some of those and got them to swim right. But if you put any weight in the tail it changes how they sit, and I needed to put some under the chin too to get it to dig in right. These ones won't have any weight.

all look awesome. Size/shape of the needles look perfect.

Nice stuff Diggin Jiggin! Everything looks great.Woody those slims are sick

Uhhhhhhhhh...........at least I got around to buying some wood this weekend........but this sewing stuff seems to be messing up my plugfest plans.

looks great. Surprised more square 4 tubes weren't made as oppose to 4 tubes long. Got to see Mike's bag over the weekend. great concept.

very nice g. A real beauty and perfect size.
As far as plugfest goes I stopped making tons to bring 3 years ago. Now I just bring a few and go mostly to see others work and catch up with friends, shoot the breeze, answer a few questions to inquiring minds. No epoxy worry. You should adopt this philosophy, much less stressful and more enjoyable and plenty of time to finish up plugs for another 2 months after.

Wow G really impressive work there! There was a person on another site that has access to a bunch of those plug insert tubes in various diameters, he gets them for free I guess. If your ever looking for them, I could PM ya his email. He shipped me some for my bag and I traded a plug in return.

Uhhhhhhhhh...........at least I got around to buying some wood this weekend........but this sewing stuff seems to be messing up my plugfest plans.

Nice sack dude.:uhuh:

George nice work. I see you went in head first on the bag crafting. Starting additional endeavors adds a zest to the same same routine. Keep up the good work. If you need anything or info on bag making, a member of our club has been making bags for fisherman and has some incredible concepts. Shoot me a PM if you like to contact him.
On another note, I finally decided to spin up some stubbys yesterday. My plug making has taken a backseat to bat making. I decided to cut a couple dozen bodies. I have to say the mini dupe is no pro dupe. It felt like a toy in my hands. Once my head got over the size , I buzzed them out. The experience with the Pro model has helped me in being more efficient with the mini. One trick I use with the Pro dupe and put to use with the Mini is to remove the spring from the lever. Using your hand for feed under your own power eliminates dig outs and seems to speed up the ripping. Well I'm off to the sawdust room. All have a good day.

I finally had a night off and got around to epoxying 24 plugs for my friends and I. I used muskyslayers plate epoxy method, worked great, doubled the working time of the epoxy and was able to get 9 plugs done in a batch instead of the usual 5 or 6.

That's a great looking bag man!!! The color is nice too. I like the idea of a square instead of a long style.


Great work man!
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Finally got some paint and finish on some things. It's been a struggle this year to get stuff going for some reason. I do have alot of handcarved stuff that I'm starting to get finished.

These are the slim swimmers. I tried some circuit board lips in a couple also. I like the circuit board lips but don't like the fact that you lose the ability to tune them. I still have to get lips and hardware on the one I foiled but they are finished.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood005.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood027.jpg

Got a couple more of the big ones done. I use a different gauge S/S for these lips and they are hard to cut but it gets the head sitting a bit more where I want it. I also switched to a single belly hook instead of two and think it helps them start up faster.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood002.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood006.jpg

Really like the way the big popper turned out. I enjoyed building these. I wanted an oldschool look but didn't really want to copy something. I also want to fish these at a certain place so I built them for that purpose.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood024.jpg

And just some odds and ends. A maverick copy that I like and have been playing around with for a long time. They don't last long because the tail is so thin and the through wire so close to the belly. If a decent fish gets both hooks they usually end up in the same place with the tail hook and wire getting ripped out. I try to counter that a bit using a very long S/S rivet for the tail grommet to get it back into the meat of the plug a bit more. I guess I'll see if that helps come spring.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood017.jpg

Some topwater stuff. The yellow one is a handcarved swimmer I blew the nose up on drilling. Tried to save it and ended up making a popper out of it. The other is an attempt to copy the river2sea Larry Dahlberg Wide Glide. If you haven't already check out the video with him and Patrick Sebile from Sebile lures fishing for Stripers. Cool video and they are using some less than conventional tactics for bass. They are absolutely ripping the baits in at high speed instead of the more traditional slow approach. I found some video of the bait online and you can clearly see the weighting on it. I tried it and was surprised to say the least.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood022.jpg


Nice looking stuff everone and looking forward to seeing everyone and everything at plugfest.

Nicely done Ryan.
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Finished up my gang this AM. Ready to swim!

Wow, those are pretty.

Breath-taking stuff, Ted.

Wow, Greek your stuff is so clean looking!! The love combos are great.
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out of this world stuff greek! each style looks fun.

my plugs are all at different stages but I manage to epoxy a few to make room. Finished up some hybrid pencil style plugs I was messing with. Had this idea since last year but kind of stayed an idea until this winter. Made specifically for the canal hence the small flat bottom. Also finished up some large spooks.

In my "make everything slimmer" efforts, I started messing with a slim swimmer. Basically took a junior and senior size musso and compensated the thickness with length. Going to try the same weighting system but with 1/2 belly weights vs. 3/8. Just to experiment.

You will be happy with that swimmer. My experience has been that the ones that have trouble staying on top (skinnier and heavier) work great by night, and the ones that work like a true surface swimmer (lighter and slightly fatter...a 10th of an inch midsection makes a difference) are dynamite by day. They very definitely work better than fatter plugs in quiet conditions, but are less stable. Also, the design rolls so much you might want to forego the eyes and keep the colors solid.
I like the pencils as well.

nice job guys.

Beautiful stuff guys. Eskimo, I love the shape of those hybrid pencils and Ted, those are all beauties but that larger yellow swimmer is smokin! :smokin:

G, did you try out a shorter, wider weight? I have to pour them as I'm all out so I figured I would give it a shot. .375 X .75 high weight puts it well above mid level so maybe a .5 X ??? might be make more stable/less top heavy.

Although something about a unstable/tipsy plug might be the reason behind its productivity once you figure it out.

No, I didn't. My weights are high (3/4" x 3/8" I think) and drilled thru. I don't, however, think that the location of the belly weight makes much difference in roll (I could easily be wrong). I think most of it is from the width of the lip and line tie location.

Those lefty lips hanging low below the chin seem to create a lot of roll in thin swimmers. I wouldn't sweat it, however. Your plug is very close to the ones I've been fishing for the last 4-5 years. They are so unstable they will barrel roll with a twitch, and most won't stay on top like I had intended (altough widening the belly a bit changes that), but man oh man do they fish well in quiet water and have taken several fish over 40 lbs (there is a pic of one in this past years fish/plug thread) as well as a handful of fish in the thirtys.

I've found that solid white or solid purple fish particularly well.
You may have trouble keeping them slow enough with spinning tackle.
Skinny is good. I think mine are mostly about 1.17" mid section, but I've built several closer to 1.25 that swim much better (on top) with a little less weight (1/2 x 3/8 I think) and have proven better daytime plugs. At night I stick with the unstable slightly subsurface stuff....and don't have any reason to change.

No, I didn't. My weights are high (3/4" x 3/8" I think) and drilled thru. I don't, however, think that the location of the belly weight makes much difference in roll (I could easily be wrong). I think most of it is from the width of the lip and line tie location.

Those lefty lips hanging low below the chin seem to create a lot of roll in thin swimmers. I wouldn't sweat it, however. Your plug is very close to the ones I've been fishing for the last 4-5 years. They are so unstable they will barrel roll with a twitch, and most won't stay on top like I had intended (altough widening the belly a bit changes that), but man oh man do they fish well in quiet water and have taken several fish over 40 lbs (there is a pic of one in this past years fish/plug thread) as well as a handful of fish in the thirtys.

I've found that solid white or solid purple fish particularly well.
You may have trouble keeping them slow enough with spinning tackle.
Skinny is good. I think mine are mostly about 1.17" mid section, but I've built several closer to 1.25 that swim much better (on top) with a little less weight (1/2 x 3/8 I think) and have proven better daytime plugs. At night I stick with the unstable slightly subsurface stuff....and don't have any reason to change.

Interesting info. Did you tail weight the slimmer version you made? I tapered the tail down rather then weight it. I made some tail weighted last season and preferred them as the plug swam a little more level. Although the non tail weighted version seemed a little better in stirred up conditions as the lip was able to bite better being faced down. Both had their place.

I was actually thinking of bumping up the lip a little more then original 1/16". maybe getting a few pre-bent lefty lips from M&D's would allow it be bent lower leaving less hanging below the plug. Just a thought.

Interesting info. Did you tail weight the slimmer version you made? I tapered the tail down rather then weight it. I made some tail weighted last season and preferred them as the plug swam a little more level. Although the non tail weighted version seemed a little better in stirred up conditions as the lip was able to bite better being faced down. Both had their place.

I was actually thinking of bumping up the lip a little more then original 1/16". maybe getting a few pre-bent lefty lips from M&D's would allow it be bent lower leaving less hanging below the plug. Just a thought.

No, I didn't tail weight any, but the weight is somewhat back from midline (I forget how much). I also built them out of ayc so they are a bit heavier than pine and weigh about 3oz. They cast well for what they are.

This thread has a picture at the end of an early version of the plug
http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/stripertalk/49128-congratulations-sauerkraut-kudos-numbskull.html

wow, I never saw that thread G. A belated congrats.

The reference plug is a large BM danny right? 8" or so not the 6.5"?

wow, I never saw that thread G. A belated congrats.

The reference plug is a large BM danny right? 8" or so not the 6.5"?

Right, the 8" (actually they're 7.5" I think) BM danny.
Here is a better photo of some from a few years ago.

Snow and rain tomorrow... so not opening a house to frame for eight new windows... Planning to get the lathe going for the first time in three years:smash: A batch of spooks is first up on the list. Have some modifications in mind, but would like to hear some thoughts on weighting and placement. Want to make sure they cast well... Thoughts?
Pencils and darters to follow, I hope.

As long as the head of the plug is lighter and wider than the tail the plug will work. The fat head is help up by the water as it glides and the weighted tail tries to swing by it.

There are two ways to weight them. Ballerina/howdy style will float vertical with the nose about 1-1.5" out of the water. Zara/Jigman style is to weight them about 2/3 back with a fatter tail so they float at about 45 degrees with the line tie near the waterline (dropping the line tie below the center of the nose helps with this style).
The howdy style casts further, the jigman style works slower. Both work well.

Go Ross go. Make both styles G. mentioned, each is great

Right, the 8" (actually they're 7.5" I think) BM danny.
Here is a better photo of some from a few years ago.


I do remember the photo.
I'm going to try to bend the lip so its flush to the plug. Had better luck with the those vs. the shape they are prebent to.

Got to finish a couple more. Mostly handcarved stuff but some lathe turned stuff also. I have been trying to paint a mullet pattern for a while now and think these are the best I have come up with yet, for me anyway. I am almost totally color blind and have a very hard time telling the difference in shades of certain colors. I have to have my daughter help me when I paint. I ask her if she can see the pink or blue in here and she points me in the right direction. I know mullet looks real good with scales but I hate doing them and mess them up real bad.


http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood042.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood038.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood039.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood041.jpg

A few more handcarved.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood043.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood044.jpg

And one I owe to someone for a favor. Thanks Billy.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac167/alphabaits/11wood037.jpg

They sure are perty Ted! You nailed the mullet....love the surfster!!!:drool:

Greek,

Simply beautiful work as always,

MS

It was a slow week for me, but I managed to finish this foiled spook finally. It was my first go at foiling, if I had to do it over I'd give it 2 coats of epoxy before painting instead of one to help cover the seams..

It's supposed to be a pinfish pattern, for some friends in florida. 4" 1 1/8oz.

Eskimo- Really like that hybrid pencil!

Greek- Those surfsters are really neat!

Ryan- Nice foil spook!

My weekly alotment of shop time just went way up. Woody Jr. broke his ankle yesterday, so no more hockey commitment.
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Every cloud has a silver lining huh John?:rotf2: Hope the boy heals quickly! Give him tomorrow off!:uhuh:

Haven't got the urge to break out the airbrush so far this year. Not sure why just felt like canning some. These will definately make it and hopefully about a dozen more. Some needles, swimmers,(fresh and salt), some luckys, and some pencils.

44204

44205

44206

44207

44208

Hope this thread starts back up soon.
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now that I have started to get to the finishing stage I'll have a few to put up in the next few days.

Nice meeting you finally on Sat.

I have a few to post maybe tomorrow!:uhuh:

I just finished these up, tried to get them done before plugfest but it didn't workout. The blue/silver danny is a little bit skinnier than the bm models I made, but I matched a homemade lip to it and I'm gonna see how it swims.. Yellow conrad Jr. has a homemade lip as does the peanut conrad, Thank you Paul for posting the specs on those.. I made a batch of needles last year that where the same shape as this one, and I tried a bunch of different weight placements. Think I got it just right on this one, It has a nice slow sink and I dropped a fish on one that was weighted the same last year so I think the fish are going to approve..Lastly are a prototype canal special, and a peanut. Tried to do a similar paint job as one of cct pencils I did pretty well on last year.:fishin:

Those look really good Ryan :btu:

This Ryan fella is pretty good at this plug stuff. ;-)
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bill and ryan all great looking stuff.

Bill, those pencils are the nutz!

Ryan, very impressive work, particularly the metal lips. Good move not bringing them to plugfest.

Here's what I was been working on while you guy's were having a good time at Plugfest. Nike's, Cap'n Bill's poppers, Goo Goo's, and a new one I am trying a Snookie. Also got some BM Danny's and some Conrads turned and sealed, and I am finishing my Plugfest contest Plug:confused:..Hope to have it done by the weekend so I can post on Sun. morn.

Thanks guys!
Really nice stuff there Sarge, hard to pick a favorite but that pikie is sick!
Bill I'm thinking of giving those lucky13's a try, what would be a good wood choice for those?

Thanks guys!
Really nice stuff there Sarge, hard to pick a favorite but that pikie is sick!
Bill I'm thinking of giving those lucky13's a try, what would be a good wood choice for those?

Hey Ryan, depends on where you are fishing them. So far for me, Birch and AYC have been good in the salt. They tend to be a little heavier woods. WRC is nice in fresh when trying to make a soft landing near some lilly pads. I am still trying different types just because I have to know. :)

Congrats on your win by the way. Wish you weren't out of plugs by the time you got to me at the fest. :grins:

Hope this thread starts back up soon.
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Me too! So what's up guy's, it's sunday morn. and I'm sitting here bored to death!

I am about to head out to the shop! Playing with a bunch of vintage dupes! Cuttyhunk Poppers, Masterlure Snooks, Lido Flaptails and Lido Swimmers, Atom 40's......buncha stuff!

It's gonna snow!!

I am about to head out to the shop! Playing with a bunch of vintage dupes! Cuttyhunk Poppers, Masterlure Snooks, Lido Flaptails and Lido Swimmers, Atom 40's......buncha stuff!

Larry, I did a Masterlure Snook last month using one I borrowed from a friend 6", did they make any larger than that!

Oh yeah! 8 inches I believe! I have a small also....just purchased a large so they are next!

I just finished these up.. The pikie kinda got messed up (had a air bubble on one of the eyes and I hit it with the torch:devil2:)but It's going to get fished so I'm not to worried about it. A couple of teasers that I tied and my first blue cloud attempt..
Any of you guys still building stuff? It's looking like, I'll be hitting up my holdover spots by the end of the week :fishin:

awesome stuff Ryan. Blue cloud 40 looks like a winner

Bump for Muskyslayer!:)

Just thought I would reopen the Sunday morning "Plug Chat" thread as we are moving into full building mode on many fronts! Lets get the ball rolling with what your building plans are for this winter and anything else plug related! Get your coffee and put your feet up!:uhuh:

Also lets see how the plugs we built last winter did this season for us!!

Time to get this going again...

Working on some lipless styles, also did this bottle a few weeks ago. It's based on my little neck popper. My regular bottles have a good tight wiggle and I had good luck with them but am looking for a little wider sweep and wiggle so I gave this one a try. Little chunkier toward the rear and thinner neck. Swam it in some current yesterday and got just what I wanted. Thought it might roll over but she swam great! Now to try a version of the Musso Lipless with the same basic body design of this bottle, the challenge will be getting it to swim with tail weight. Pic's below of the new bottle compared to my originals.

Great stuff there. I hope mine swim and not roll i ended up doing a gibbs/super strike style instead of the Musso/tiger style first time trying that one... Will see???
Rene
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Perhaps you already know, but Musso's lipless don't use a tail weight.

Perhaps you already know, but Musso's lipless don't use a tail weight.

I knew you would jump on that! I will try both weight placements, Don's and something I have in mind. Will probably swim with a wider sweep than the wiggle of the originals.

It's gonna snow!!

:devil2: