Hey Peter...VB... how consistent are the Nike bodies.. The loaner I have has a nice transition curve on the top from the front flat to the round back..I see pics with what looks like a sharp point up there where the flat meets the round ,,,if you catch my drift ..

The one you have is the large nike.
The pic paul posted is the med one
vb

Hey Eddy - I think it was the 1/2 ounce slug I put in the arse. I'll check when I get home tonight. PM me your # and I'll give you a ring.

Tagger... I have been experimenting with the Nike shape, as well, although not an exact copy since all I've ever seen are pics. I do a couple things different, like where the lead goes and how the slope is cut, but there's still a resemblence.

Like you, I thought it would be a swimmer until I tossed it in the water. It'll swim, without any lead, even with a darter face... the way I started out playing with it. Once you started this thread, and the xray showed up, things got interesting.:uhuh:

I went to a straight 38 degree slope, and a nice slug of lead in the tail, and as you suggested the lure sits in the water like a popper. If and when I finally got its face in the water, it came in virtually straight.:crying: So I started playing with the slope and redistributing the weight. The latest proto is hard to describe, because it neither swims nor darts, but glides in a wide "S", sometimes as much as 2-3 feet off center before it swings back just as it looks like it might roll out. It will be interesting to see if final coating of epoxy changes things, but it's been fun playing with it.

I posted info on these a few years ago on antoher site. You can probably search for it.

BA,

Those are sweet:uhuh:

I want one:laugha:

Bernzy

I tanked the original in a bucket of clean fresh water and it sits perfectly level the top mound is above the surface so it will probably sit level only a tad higher in salt .. I'm not putting this in the salt .. These are my first,, shape is almost dead a little tweaking left ,,but .5 ounce of lead in the arse is too much !!!! 1st batch sit like poppers... I put 3/0 trebs matching orig.. I can bring the nose almost level swapping a 4/0 on the front and removing arse hook but it still isn't good .. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut wires and drill some lead out of the arse.. We'll figure it out.. I'm using pine.. a special pine that grows in swamps .. the grain is so tight .. I'm still under 3 ounces though.. When I was painting I was thinking House paint.. still a little flashy though..

Bottom shot ..

Nice stuff Tagger, very nice:heybaby:

OMG
Floyd would be :rotf2:


vb

nice.
hope you made some extras :heybaby:

Just plain













Beautiful -- Ed, just plain Beautiful.

:claps:

thanks .. I'm not ready for any trades .. I have weighting issues and think I could use a little more shoulders on plug..

Those swim real nice :D

Jigman

most pissa:cool: bandsaw

Those are nice. More like the original shape than mine. I didn't like the way they swam with the narrow slope so I went wider to get the action I was looking for. I have caught a few decent fish using them.

Pissa work as always BA;
gonna make it up North again next year or what :D
I think you need a road trip sans wife :D

I agree. Sure would like to fish B.P. again but when there are bigger fish around.

Yup...
we'll talk in the spring :D

Ok... still working on this ... got shoulders now.. letting wood tell me wich side is up in the water and solved weighting issues..Arrows show where surface water (fresh) hits plug on real Nike.. front tip ,and 2" back from rear .. How the heck you going to weight a plug to sit in the water like that . Then Georges (Numbskull) xray came to mind and remembered seeing some rinky dinky wrapping around arse weight.. I wrapped lead around a smaller tailweight and removed lead until it sat perfect.. Had the hooks hanging off it too .. So I guess they weighted each plug individual... very labor intensive .. I was also surprised tanking my blanks to find the top . heavy side down .. sometimes face grain on the side sometimes on the bottom sometimes cockeyed .. Give the blank a spin after marking it always comes out the same way buit different from others .

Nice tutorial Tagger.
I saw someone from this site test their version recently of the same thing and WoW, definatly on the to do list. It did an awesome double slide to one side then two to the other etc.

Musta been asleep to miss this thread. Those are sick Tagster. :sick: :btu:

Tangerine :drool:

:vamp: I see a massive pile of wood shavings around me in about 3 hours!

I would never have thought of Pre-swimming them in a bucket. With that style I see now that it is critical. Other plugs I put the fine grain down, and with a belly weight and it all works out -mostly. Thanks for putting in the time and sharing, Tagger. Numbskull, thanks for the x-rays. I was puzzled at first by the wrapped weight, but Tagger's post cleared that up; it makes the weight tunable. Brillliant lure, really...

Jake/Fred yes I agree .. brillant lure.. each one is weighted to that piece of wood ... impossible these days.. I see why VB is hung up on these.. really special wood .. Go read my post over there on ,,"Hydro Orientated Wood " and mess with it a little Jake/Fred...:alien:

This ones going swimming .. 3.4 ouces .. has shoulders,,made my own vmc cut hooks .Alaskan Yellow Cedar. This is a proto so High vs color.. I tossed everything I made (jigs) for other pics.. This is much closer.. exact if there is such a thing .. makes me wonder how consistent they were lure ta lure .. 30's and 40's,, and yes it is Hydro Orientated..

sweet plug.
but how you making them so nice if your on the hydro?
must take you a

w i c k e d,,,,, l o n g ,,,,, t i m e,,,, :smokin::spin: :uhoh: :sleeps:

Looks pretty. Peter, VB, was nice enough to let me borrow a few. I actually like one of the smaller versions, there are several, and I can't wait to try building one once I get my damn scanner fixed. P.

Peter VB helped me out too,, no scanner,,,old fashion way,, measure every half inch,, parting tool ,, connect the dots.

I tried one of these, sugar pine with no added weight, 3.17 oz and swims nice. I'll try some more now with different tailweights.