Skin Plugs
 

Finally getting something done. Here's a few skin plugs, about the size of a spin atom.

I'll take a blue one :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I think those are going to treat you well.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nicely done.
Did you adjust the weighting to compensate for the lack of a rear hook?

Wouldn't the eel skin throw the weight and balance off more than the missing hook? Does a "skin" have the same density as wood? Nice plugs Dan!! :drool:

lookin good Dan

put a little brass chain on the tail,,, it will give it a little weight....

look good D.

The weight is just forward of center, so no I didn't move it very much to compensate for the lack of rear hook. I made one last winter as a prototype and with the weight of a skin the plug swam almost level just slightest bit nose down which helped it dig in and hold very well in current. I think if you wanted it to swim completely level the addition of a piece of brass chain would accomplish this. I still have a bit to learn about skin plugs as this was the first year I've used them so I'm still undecided on exactly what I want them to do. But there certainly is alot of fish catching potential in this style plug.

I never found the skins to weigh enough to effect the action one way or the other.

Nice job on the plugs BTW

For what it is worth, I usually add a tail weight (or increase the size of the weight already there) when I build a skin plug. It helps with balance, but more importantly I think they tumble less on the cast. I often also use a larger lip than usual to help swing the skin.

The plug usually will only have one belly hook (unless I plan to troll it), fairly far forward (though back enough so the fish clears the lip as it hits) to help cut down tail wraps (which also throws the balance off). I don't use chain or mono on the tail, seems like it would hurt the action and cut down casting distance (they already cast much worse than a normal plug).

I turn the tail section fatter to fill out the skin (and also allow more tail weight). I like to fish them with a tail that is 1/2 to 2/3rds the length of the plug. I have always built them big, though Flap did a job last year using very small (by my standards) skin needles (which he built using a dowel and egg sinker on each end).

I've also done well with skins on slopeheads, and I saw one of Stan Gibbs' tackle boxes once that had a skin on a bottle plug.

Word of caution, however, the two hook BM Gibbs skin needle design fouls horribly (presumably the guys who fished that used mono tail loops).

Nice looking skin plugs. I found to compensate for the skin weight, I eliminate the tailweight, use a second belly hook position further back. The BM style swimmer swings nicely in a lazy S pattern. 3" skin tail no mono. Lob cast w/o force keeps the skin wraps down. Good Luck. By the way, skins catch well!!!

George,

Do you have any pics of your eelskin plugs that can be posted here?

Nice work on the skin plugs Dan.

This one (Sauerkraut's Xmas present) shows how I go at it.

I turn a more cylindrical plug than usual (ie less tail shape). Pick a bigger lip (this is a pikie 3 but I've always been impresssed at how well the atom shaped lips swim a skin). Put a BIG hook where I want it, then float it and fool with movable weighting to get it to float where I want. This one is meant for the canal and to get beneath the surface so it will use extra lead to float low (sans skin). On the finished plug, only the tail weight would be through wired. The other weights I just use belly weights of the same gram weight. More often I would use a single belly weight behind the hook and a small tail weight to counteract the thick tail's buoyancy and help cast better.

The other thing to consider is the size of the skins you can get. This plug is meant for medium skins and #^&#^&#^&#^&head wanted one heavier than the one I built him last year (in which I missed the swivel with the through wire and cost him two fish :rotf2:). On large skins I still use the plastic A40 but had two wires break over the last 2 years so will likely build some protos this year instead.

Likewise, on skin needles I'm still unsure whether I like more tail weight or not. Taking the tail hook off a needle makes it run more level which in turn makes depth control more difficult, but also lets you fish it more slowly. I've built a bunch of skin needles but remain undecided on what works best.

All that said, I don't think there is any such thing as a bad skin plug. The only thing I find that makes them suboptimal is tail fouling or the wrong length tail for the action of the plug (you get a hinge effect instead of a S wave). The swimmers also cast poorly which is why I'm fooling with tail weights (but don't pretend to know if they are the right answer or not).

When you say A40 lip do you mean a lip like what's on the sinker I sent over or the other 40 type with no folds on the outer edge of the lip?

Pretty sure you can rewire old plastic atoms too. A buddy of mine used to heat the wire up, then slide slide it out when the plastic around the wire got soft and insert another wire. Another skill for you to master, no doubt.

I don't think it matters with a skin. The styrofoam Atom Jr makes a great skin plug with a flat lip. The usual reason to tweak the sides of the lip is to narrow it a bit and reduce roll (I think).

amazing numbskull..

always something to learn........