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

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/a.../11wood042.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../11wood038.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../11wood039.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../11wood041.jpg

A few more handcarved.

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../11wood043.jpg

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../11wood044.jpg

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

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a.../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:

My PlugFest Bag
 

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.

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More Pics
 

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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?

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:

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!!

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!:)

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.

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.

you're right
 

:devil2: