That was fun. I enjoyed the entire day. Seeing friends, old and new, swapping stuff, talking shop, learning. Great day!

I think Ted, the Greek got the long distance award, having come up from Philadelphia area. Top award was won by one of our longer living Marines, and was well deserved. Loaded up on hardware, as Mike and Barb were well stocked. And Felicia came from college, as she didn't want to miss a Plugfest. Can't mention all of you, but I came home with a great collection of plugs,rubber, cod jigs, wood stock, and master blanks. Thank you all for participating. Your skills are truly impressive. I am thankful for the friendships in this community and your generousity with information and plugs.
JohnR and Bruce. You have a really good thing going here with the site and this event. Thank you for taking the lead on this. I will be back!

Right on Ross. Good venue, good people, good time thanks to all

I got there just in time to get raffle tickets, see some peeps, and take home a few things,,,,,,, thanks again everyone,,,, nice job...
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So much fun. So many good people, and Paul and Eddy were there, too.

you going to take that Eddie

It was a great time, thanks S-B

Fun was had by all. Thanks to Bruce and John for all the work. I think this venue was very comfortable and roomy. All the workmanship was impressive. Come on spring.

Always a good time at this event. People are great, lots of ideas. Dittos on the "Thanks for putting this on" Great Job.

I got there just in time to get raffle tickets, see some peeps, and take home a few things,,,,,,, thanks again everyone,,,, nice job...
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Are you kidding me????? Missed each other......You were my #1 target to ho....:rotf2:

I think this venue deserves a second look next year, no doubt. As everyone else said good time, good people, very little planning, no meetings, which meant no pissing contest(just joking) , made for an awesome event.

Its kind of like having a plug flash mob with food.

Great day... fun to see alll the talented plugmakers, trade plugs, and stock up on supplies from M&D's, plus the food was great too

This was my first plugfest and I was really impressed with the craftsmanship. Seeing the pictures of these plugs on-line just isn't the same as seeing them up close. Thanks to JohnR, Slipknot and all the guys that helped put this together I cannot wait till next years plugfest. Being a newbie thanks to all the guys that swapped with me.

:nopics:

Glad to see all of you again we had a great time hope to see you again at TFCTFN. Thank You again for your support. .Now I can't wait to fish the plugs we got today.

Great time today... 1st plug fest for me ... allot of very good builders...Got me eager to get back into it... My kids had a good time and came out of there with a good starter collection....Thank guys....

Great time! More follow up tomorrow ;)

Its kind of like have a plug flash mob with food. :rotf2:

you going to take that Eddie

felt like a bump on a log not having anything built... Very inspiring show though and lit a fire under me as I painted a bunch of stuff when I got home .;.,Tinker toys were great . Good to see a lot of peeps . Also missed a lot of peeps . Grouchy old fart Steve,, Bad Larry ,, always Flap to mention a few . You guys work hard ,, thanks Slip you work real hard . Paul if I don't see you we'll see you at Zappa :uhuh:

:nopics:

Bill had a great time. He enjoyed chatting with all and I could see him eying the paint jobs. I expect to see some interesting things next time I see him. Ron McKee's comments to him about the break lines and contrasts between colors had him thinking. As usual he enjoyed seeing Blond Terror and his work. He was impresssed (as I was) about how everbody's game continues to move up a notch or more every year. Really looking to this upcoming season and pictures of fish on people's own wood.
Thanks to Slip and John and everyone else who helped put this great event together.
Bill (the younger)

Good time, glad I may it down and got to see everyone again. I like the place it was held, plenty of room. Thanks to everyone who help to put it together. Hope to see ya all later during the season.

First off, thanks to
John and Slip for putting it together.
I had a fantastic time. I was amazed by the work, the friendliness , and the generosity of everyone. Thanks.
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Off the wall is all I can say to those creations. Enjoyed talking plugs and fishing. venue was spacious and allowed easy viewing. Thanks to Bruce and John for your tireless effort. Have a great fishing season all!

Best venue yet. Plenty of room and good location. The spicy chicken wings rocked. Props to the chef.
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:nopics:

There were lots of pics taken. Hopefully some will be posted soon.

I was a good time and I always pick up new and useful info talking plugs/fishing with so many knowledgeable guys.

I did snap a pic when I got home of all the plugs (and tails!) I traded for. Nice work and thanks everyone.
51061

Best venue yet. Plenty of room and good location. The spicy chicken wings rocked. Props to the chef.
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Thanks!

Thanks to all for a great time. I learned a great deal and the information from the guys is priceless. The guys painting plugs gave great insight in supplies, tools and technique. Once I start finishing some of my new plugs I'll be sending those people some to try and evaluate. Thanks to Mike for all the ideas on novilty plugs and design. Sorry I didn't get to try the food because I was so busy on the floor learning my new obsession I lost track of time.

I had a great time also
I am just now saving and naming pictures and I just got to Muskyslayers plug, and realized i was supposed to save his contest plug and send it back. I don't know who got his raffle plug jitterbug but sorry about that muskyslayer. :(
a lot going on yesterday
I'll post more pictures soon

HotRod, I was hoping to meet you
sorry I missed you

Bruce,

No problem at all, If it was raffled off and went to a good home and to help out the S-B site, that's the least I can do for all the information, help, and friends I've gained here. :uhuh:
I hope the builders who won the Jitterbug and Flaptail enjoy them as much as I did making them. Wish I could have joined you guys!!

Best, and good luck this spring!!

MS

I had a great time also
I am just now saving and naming pictures and I just got to Muskyslayers plug, and realized i was supposed to save his contest plug and send it back. I don't know who got his raffle plug jitterbug but sorry about that muskyslayer. :(
a lot going on yesterday
I'll post more pictures soon

Bruce,
I won it in the raffle and can send it back if someone provides me with an address.

Picture of plugs I traded for. Thanks guys.

After all the great pluggage I saw yesterday, I don't think the fish stand a chance :)

Thanks for all the help everyone, I can't name all the names but you know who you are :D

Much bigger place with room to not be crowded:uhuh:
food was great and the company better.
Thanks John for the place to talk about and learn about building plugs.

I took a lot of pictures so I'll use up John's bandwidth for a while since he forgot his camera.

more

more stuff

more pics

pics

...

pictures

more

plugfest

sorry about the out of focus PM classic plug

the last one is some of the professors' fancy aluminum jigs and tools and stash

middle is Pauls' other classic with threaded thru wire and nut on the end, fancy workmanship!

pics

more

I was real impressed with Swimmers' cutty popper, nice job Frank :btu:

some of the contest winners

Joe rockfish9 most likely to catch a cow on the first cast

Bill sr. with the military theme plug

and DerekL rookie

Novelty winner
Lower
he left early
he made these the night before
better epoxy those screweyes in :jump1::fishin:

Thank you everyone!
and thanks Dan for bringing that grinder setup, my gouges are sharper now and have the correct angle, I'll be busy using them soon.
thanks again for the plugs I got, I will fish them hard.
I did miss seeing a few people, sorry they could not come - Bigfish, capesams,Throwing Timber, Stripercrazy, TDF. And it just is not the same without Flaptail Steve Shiraka :(
It was great seeing the rest of you and to see some first timers also.


By the way, Best of show again was Rowhunter with that beautiful big mouth popper painted in striper :btu: What a piece of work that is! Congrats Rowhunter!

I am not sure but we may have screwed up and forgot an award, I think I messed John up when I broke a frame glass and we forgot the classic plug winner. ooops

Next year we'll have to plan this stuff out better and talk more about it online ahead of time. It went well, good organized chaos.

Great time as per usual... good to see old faces and a few new ones...
I saw some great plugs from new faces as well.. I cant wait until next year...

I hope the few that got to see my e-tex "how to" got something out of it... I know I answerd a gazillion questions on the subject...

I'm off to re-assemble my shop!

Wow..sorry I missed this. There are always some amazing works of art there. That rowhunter popper paint job is kewl !

Tyler and I had a great time as usual. Thanks to all who helped put it together and to everyone who traded or gave plugs to Tyler.
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GregW,

by all means keep the jitterbug, i hope you like it and let me know how it works out for you :uhuh:

Douglass,

Congrats on another Plugfest win.....Can't wait to see one of your plugs in person someday. Congrats to all the other category winners as well. Man from the pics posted so far there were some crazy cool builds!

Best

MS

Kudo's to whoever made this darter .. I have a CCB with this line tie ,, Been meaning to get around to making one .. I was glad to see it and wondered how well this system works .. nice work ..

Eddie,
Rockfish Joe made that.

Another GREAT year !

We did miss a few of the old and grumpy ones :(
from Chatham and Orleans ,
please plan ahead next year , it's not like your going over the bridge or nut - in

Kudo's to whoever made this darter .. I have a CCB with this line tie ,, Been meaning to get around to making one .. I was glad to see it and wondered how well this system works .. nice work ..

Making some now Ed!:uhuh:

Bruce, John, all the great builders, and everyone else involved thank you dearly! Always have a great time, where does the time go? This event always gets the juices going. As said before, come on spring, can't wait to throw a few, fish on!!!!!!! Now thats what its really all about. Happy Trails!

It was great to see your works and shake a few hands, wish that I could have stayed longer But had a to-do list.

A big, huge thankyou to Slip and JohnR. Without them I truly believe this hobby would have gone nowhere.

Making some now Ed!:uhuh:

I have a CCB if you need a model ..

had a fun time w/ the boys. some truely amazing plugs.

Awesome time and crazy nice work all around. Thanks John & Slip. We dropped a lot dough on supplies, thanks Mike always worth it.

Had a great time. Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

Had a great time, talked with a lot of talented plugbuilders, saw old friends, made new friends & to top it off I won the grand prize, a beautiful plugbag that "Numbskull" made, George it is spectactular & I will use it w/ a giant smile on my face!

I was walking around my shop today wearing it & starting the spring countdown.

Thank You Slip & John, you do so much & we all appreciate it.

Kudo's to whoever made this darter .. I have a CCB with this line tie ,, Been meaning to get around to making one .. I was glad to see it and wondered how well this system works .. nice work ..

That would be me... CCB only made that plug for 4 years... 1955-58... the 1955 -56 version weighed 2 1/2 ounces and had the line tie in the center of the mouth... in 1957, they moved the line tie to the top, the through wire was doubled and wrapped around itself and nestled onto the pull eye.... dyed putty filled the through hole in the mouth.( I have a primo 1958 version). extra weigh was added to bring it up to 4 ounces... due to the shortge of white cedar, that surf darter , the surf plunker, the salt water surfster and the pikie 700L ( tail weighted) were eliminated from the line up... It took some doing and dozens of trial and errors to get it right but that plug swam some pissa when I finished it.. whoever got it got a real nice swimming plug...

I got some incredible pieces.

Picture 1:
-Muskyslayer jitterbug that I won in the raffle, This might be too nice to fish.

-A parrot darter by Joe (Rockfish9). We all know how much I like to fish parrot darters. This one will certainly have a place in my plug bag this year.

-A red, white , and blue pencil that Mark (mojo7) gave me. This is one cool piece, and I am very fond of the color scheme for obvious reasons.

Picture 2:
-Mac popper made by Ross (nightfighter). I have a few spots in mind for this one.

- Two pencils. I know the blue one was made by Dan (angler229) and the white one I am not sure of the builder. These will get some use as one of my favorite things to do is throw a pencil right at daybreak.

- And lastly is a unique bait made by Derek. I am interested in seeing how this swims , as I havent seen anything like it in action before.


Thanks again to everyone. It was nice seeing old friends and meeting new people. I am looking forward to next year and to the future when I get a space where I can build my own plugs.

Hi all,Just got home an saw the thread. was a great time an got some sweet plugs to use this spring. thanks to John an Slip for all the work you do to make this happen.Good time an great people.

I got some incredible pieces.
Picture 2:


- Two pencils. I know the blue one was made by Dan (angler229) and believe the white one is as well. These will get some use as one of my favorite things to do is throw a pencil right at daybreak.


Only the blue one is mine not sure who made the white.

Only the blue one is mine not sure who made the white.

Fixed it.

Fixed it.

White one was mine
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That would be me... CCB only made that plug for 4 years... 1955-58... the 1955 -56 version weighed 2 1/2 ounces and had the line tie in the center of the mouth... in 1957, they moved the line tie to the top, the through wire was doubled and wrapped around itself and nestled onto the pull eye.... dyed putty filled the through hole in the mouth.( I have a primo 1958 version). extra weigh was added to bring it up to 4 ounces... due to the shortge of white cedar, that surf darter , the surf plunker, the salt water surfster and the pikie 700L ( tail weighted) were eliminated from the line up... It took some doing and dozens of trial and errors to get it right but that plug swam some pissa when I finished it.. whoever got it got a real nice swimming plug...

Joe their big darter was 7 1/4" no ? The one I have is 5 3/4" 2.2 ounces ,, feels weighted .. It would be mint except for the worm burn ..

First off, this was such a great event and I want to say thank you to John and everyone who makes it possible. The new venue was great and really made for a comfortable and rexaled atmosphere. I must have walked around the room 10 times looking at everything and admiring everyone's work. I was fortunate to be able to talk to a lot of talented builders, and yet there were so many I didn't get to meet...there is always next year! I really think the tinker toy spinner was one of the best things on display! I got some great plugs, all of which are going to get some serious time on the water this coming season. I look forward to posting pictures of what they catch.

Cheers!

51137

Good times for sure. It was great seeing everyone. I Always enjoy it. Thanks to Bruce, John and any others who make this happen. Sorry I wasn't there at the end...Unfortunately I had to take off. Best part of that plug is gathering the materials.... :gu:

Thanks John and Bruce!!! Had a great day, learned so much, everyone in my party had fun at their first plugfest. Liked the Elks alot, plenty of room. It was awesome to actually hold Rowhunter, the Greeks and Muskyslayers plugs in my hand!! Impressive work!!!
Good to see everyone!!

Cheers,
OD

Joe their big darter was 7 1/4" no ? The one I have is 5 3/4" 2.2 ounces ,, feels weighted .. It would be mint except for the worm burn ..

what you have is the salt darter.. that also had a very short 4 year life span... they blamed the shortage of cedar for the demise of that plug.. my gut feeling is all those salt water series darters were toads.. I have yet to see one or speak to someone that has seen once actualy work..and yea all were heavily weighted.. theor catolog from 1956 states that thet were 'tail weighted to sail like an arrow"

.. whoever got it got a real nice swimming plug...

I didn't have anything finished to trade so I knew the only way was to buy a handful of raffle tickets.
Sweet plug that will get fished this year.
Thank you!

what you have is the salt darter.. that also had a very short 4 year life span... they blamed the shortage of cedar for the demise of that plug.. my gut feeling is all those salt water series darters were toads.. I have yet to see one or speak to someone that has seen once actualy work..and yea all were heavily weighted.. theor catolog from 1956 states that thet were 'tail weighted to sail like an arrow"

I like the size and the 2 hooks and the line tie .. cedar ? I don't know what they were trying to do,, but I'd make it out of birch ,, and tail weighted ? , sounds like a recipe for disaster,,, must come it like a ass dead stick..

I like the size and the 2 hooks and the line tie .. cedar ? I don't know what they were trying to do,, but I'd make it out of birch ,, and tail weighted ? , sounds like a recipe for disaster,,, must come it like a ass dead stick..

white cedar.. which according to the collectors book was it's demise.. i made mine from Western red.. with( as i recall 6 grams)tail weight... it swims pissa.. my original sinks like a stone.. I never got to see how thye intended it to be.. and it's od din my way of thinkig CCBCO made tons and tons of small ( sucsessfull )darters

thanks to all who put on an awesome event. this was my first time and walked the room several times. found everyone pleasant and eager to share info. came away with alot of ideas. thanks to all who made me feel welcome and traded with me. was lucky to win the best in show plug, thank you rowhunter. also a thanks to slipknot for taking some time welcome me, if you are interested in the tappered tail weight we talked about pm me.

Hey Bruce just curious what happened to best recreation of a classic category as in years past ?

and BTW if I was the only nit wit to enter than it doesn't matter as you need more than one entry to have a category.:uhuh::)

This thread now has me realizing how much stuff and people I missed.... Didn't spend nearly enough time checking out jig displays of ProfM and Rockfish, even though they were right in line with where I put my crap.... Their tables were always busy, so I figured I would get to them later....not. Have to go visit Joe's shop in the next two weeks!

Built a centering jig, new mackeral paint master,and got a darter profile finished for the vega. Turned a new set up master and three bodies.

ya, i quickly mentioned that earlier in the thread, sorry
brain fart

John has the list, I called him afterwards and mentioned it, but addressing that is not high on the list as he has much going on still. I think I screwed up one of the frames breaking the glass, but he said there was supposed to be an extra, well I think that may have been before the military was added. So we goofed up.
I am not even sure if there were any more classics, at one time during the day I tried to get Dan angler229 to enter something but then I got distracted like happened a dozen more times :) so you may have been the only one or maybe one other but i don't recall. I thought your plugs were both very worthy, I marvelled at both, your work is impecable. We will plan the contest better next time around. thanks

LOL, no biggie I was just wondering. Thought youz guys may have dropped the category. Next year I will lobby for more guys to try some classics in time for the fest.

This thread now has me realizing how much stuff and people I missed.... Didn't spend nearly enough time checking out jig displays of ProfM and Rockfish, even though they were right in line with where I put my crap.... Their tables were always busy, so I figured I would get to them later....not. Have to go visit Joe's shop in the next two weeks!

Built a centering jig, new mackeral paint master,and got a darter profile finished for the vega. Turned a new set up master and three bodies.

Just finished one myself. Works pissa.

Had a good time as I do every year, seeing friends and meeting new people. As usual I missed several people i wanted to meet. Thanks to the people who do all the work and I know it takes alot. All I do every year is show up and enjoy everything. Vineyard blues thank you for bringing your displays and especially the stuff I was asking about. There is a world of difference seeing something in hand vs looking at pics on the internet. Paul your jigs and fixtures are beyond words and worth the trip just to get a look at. George I have looked at your xrays every year and still find something I get to take away from them. Jamie and Joe it was good seeing you guys again and I really hope I get some time to be able to come up and fish with you guys a bit. Plugfest was great but then I had the fortune of spending the rest of the weekend at Glen"s place. We ended up building stuff in his shop till about 2 in the morning. Glen your shop is to die for and you are a 1st rate host. Thank you. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Great to see everyone had a good time as usual, thanks to all who posted pictures. Spent my Saturday on painting and epoxy, trying to finish up some plugs that have been sitting for months. Another year has gone and again I was unable to attend this great event. As they say there's always next year.
Sunday was fun watching everyone scramble around the room at the Berkeley Show to buy those limited edition ( and in full sets) fisherman catching plugs :biglaugh:

I didn't have anything finished to trade so I knew the only way was to buy a handful of raffle tickets.
Sweet plug that will get fished this year.
Thank you!

I have dirty dreams about where you are going to use that. So nice.

Sorry I missed out. Always a good time. I had a Cub Scout trip I could not miss since I'm a leader there was no way out.

Sorry I missed out. Always a good time. I had a Cub Scout trip I could not miss since I'm a leader there was no way out.

good man ..

Missed you. Even had a meat raffle lined up. Lol
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Mike just dropped off my plugfest raffle winning plugs..wow. Whoever picked these out did a great job. Angler229, Muskeyslayer and ?? not sure who made the white one. All three are amazing , thank you for donating and picking these out for us.

Mike just dropped off my plugfest raffle winning plugs..wow. Whoever picked these out did a great job. Angler229, Muskeyslayer and ?? not sure who made the white one. All three are amazing , thank you for donating and picking these out for us.

Andy I believe the bottom one is from stripermaineiac, I got a couple of those myself.:kewl: