This is a long shot but I'm looking to replicate some old style bm dannys,has anyone messed around with those? If so could you point me in the right direction to get started on some? I don't have any originals to go by. Thanks in advance

yup. Got an original from Numby after he told me they were one of his favorite made dannies, the earlier thinner rear ended ones. I made a bunch last year. Large diameter, short length belly weight and I made the lips as I have not seen any lips comm. made that are very close and I like to try and make them exact. When i get a min. I will take a pic of them and give you the dimensions, oh and I really like the way they swim. Paul

Thank you Paul! I heard alot of great things about this plug, wanted to try a few out next season. I'll send you a finished one for your help

here you go. Just not getting into the game today so I had some time. second pic you can see the lip and the weights. Lip on left is a Pichney med danny lip and on right is BM med danny lip . Pretty much same lip but lie tie is different. 3rd pic are the dim.'s . Hope you can read it.

Thanks Paul. I can read it, only thing I'm not clear on is the lip and weight. I take it the lip is a danny2 with a higher slot? Or is it a homemade lip. Also the weight is 1/2"x 1/4" deep correct? Would ayc be a good choice for wood?

Looks like the DP 6" SS.
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does look like a Pichney surface swimmer but like I said the lips are there to see and different. line tie is different, 1 high , 1 lower. and the weighting scheme is different. BM used a 1/2 inch dia. 1/4 " long belly weight sitting low on the plug. Pichney used a 3/8 dia. going up to the thru wire like most of his swimmers. The lips are home made by me. I used pine but worth a shot in AYC.

thanks I have a few pieces of pine kicking around I'll try that. Would you happen to have lip dimensions?

lip is .905 wide, like front of plug,
bottom outward angle is .625 long,
face is .550 long,
part inside plug is .500 long. the slot is down .225 from top of lip face.


Pm me your addy and if I get some time this week I will send you a naked pine one without holes and a lip and a few weights. Much easier than trying to decipher my hieroglyphics.

Paul thanks a bunch for the help

Prof M, Do you use this BM from the beach or trolled from a boat? Does it swim deep or shallow? I had one like this years ago that I lost on the Pigs. I would dearly like to make some like it.

Dannys are casting plugs, meant to be worked slowly along the surface. It would be very hard to get a boat to go slow enough to troll one effectively.

Search under "trolling swimmer" and I think you will find plenty of better designs to troll.

Pichney used a 3/8 dia. going up to the thru wire like most of his swimmers.

If the pichney stuff is anything like the mussos I think they poured the lead directly into the belly hole and let it settle around the through wire. At least a couple mussos I dissected were built this way.

I like the belly lead on the perimeter though. A couple plugs I experimented with had the lead tucked way up and it made the plug very unstable and made the plug want to roll on its side. I think once you get the lead beyond the mid point of the body diameter the keel effect of the lead is less pronounced.

Good deduction there Mike. You may want to try a few of the larger dia., shorter length belly weights I made for just that purpose. I got them up to 3/4 dia. but short in length. That is what I am now trying in that big danny I'm trying to figure out.

Never had good luck w/ Danny's but I'm giving it a try again after reading this thread! (Thanks Prof) I'm also thinking that the weight should be as low as possible. Something to keep me busy this weekend. Have a bunch of red cedar cut up so I guess I'll use it.

Good deduction there Mike. You may want to try a few of the larger dia., shorter length belly weights I made for just that purpose. I got them up to 3/4 dia. but short in length. That is what I am now trying in that big danny I'm trying to figure out.

Maybe try doing a proportional lead size and placement. In other words, how much bigger than a standard 6" danny is the big one you're making? Lets say its triple the size...you might need triple the belly weight to achieve your fulcrum effect. This might mean you need upwards of 1 oz of belly lead at the widest point of the body, 5/0 hooks, and a custom lip to boot...once you get that down you'll unquestionably need a rod that can cast it which I'll be happy to help you with...:laugha:

Nice darter in the background of that danny pic,,,

here are what the weights look like. The longer 3/4 " dia. one is 1.1 oz and the larger 5/8 dia. one is .9 oz and then they go down to the smallest one which is 1/2" dia. used for the med BM danny. So I have a bunch of choices. I have one done with the largest in there and it seems perfect but I am screwing around with lips now. As far as rod I was thinking a lariat or catapult.

The darters are for Gattafish:)

here are a 4 Dannies that I have just finished... 2 blind and 2 with eyes.

two with narrow old style tail and 2 with Musso... thicker tail..

2 have Pikie 3 lips and 2 have the Conrad style lip

I like the body shapes, but I suspect you will want a narrower lip. Wide lips make dannys roll more. If you go with a wide lip, consider making a cut from the top bend to the back of the lip, then sand it smooth, to taper the lip into the sides of the plug and avoid proud corners.

I rewired a few older BM Danny's recently and noticed the through hole was drilled at an angle winding up noticeably above center from both sides. Have you guys found this to be the case?

Numbskull-

I agree on the wide lips... I was out of Danny Lips and used the Conrad
to try it out. If it rolls too much I will try the hacksaw to get rid of the proud corners... I need to get some Danny Lips... how will the Danny perform with a Pikie 3 lip?

That is what a large danny would use, with a lower lip slot. For a medium danny I'd think it would be too much lip, but have not tried it so I wouldn't want to sound to certain.

Danny's as in BM, Lupo, Pichney, Alou, Gibbs are surface swimmers. They use a narrow low slot lip. Build one with a high slot lip and you may have a plug you like, but it isn't strictly speaking a "danny".

Some guys have success using a high slot lip but turning the body fatter in the middle. This pulls the nose down while the waist keeps things on top and the tail gets lifted clear of the water and wags actively (a lot like a surfster only with the pivot point further back). "Real" dannys have a more level and somewhat more subdued swimming action.

I rewired a few older BM Danny's recently and noticed the through hole was drilled at an angle winding up noticeably above center from both sides. Have you guys found this to be the case?

I've xrayed a lot of these plugs. Usually they center drilled from the tail to the front hook hole, then angle drilled from the lip slot up into the hook hole.

I've xrayed a lot of these plugs. Usually they center drilled from the tail to the front hook hole, then angle drilled from the lip slot up into the hook hole.
Thats what I was expecting but these were wired really high up, maybe they were redrilled at some point. They had definitely been around a while.