few darter questions
 

Hi
I'm not a striped bass fisherman, I'm a muskie/pike fishguy. I'm starting out with making my own lures and I was thinking about a different type of jerkbait and came up with what I thought was an original idea. Then after surfing the web night one night I realized this original idea wasnt so original. My idea looked real close to a darter and decided I'll make this lure anyways. So my questions...

What is the action like on a darter? - Dive and rise or wobble left to right..both?
How deep does a typical darter run?
How would this plug work on a still lake vs. moving water?

When designing a darter...
Whats the typical darter weight?
How important is the angle of the head and "mouth"?

Thanks - Pete

A darter zigs and zags as opposed to a wiggle or woggle like a swimmer. In a heavy current it may start itself when it hits the water or need a tug to get it going. I have a darter that does not have the little mouth in the front that darts mad but I think the mouth cut would help the initial start. I can throw them in current and do nothing and they work themselves., Or I can retrieve and it will dive right into the bottom . You can cast and retrieve on a beach and the action should be somewhat the same depending on the retrieve.. If a darter "rolls out" you messed up .. Rolls out is when it comes in upside down ,on top,hooks up ..I am making them 3 ounces and 3.6 ounces succesfully. You may choose to make them much lighter.. I am still a student and like any other plug best to study the masters..Musso,,delveki,creek chub.. or try making wooden versions of modern darters..good luck

few darter questions
 

Another question while we are on darters, when u drill the thru wire hole do drill the hole off center or on center? My wire seems to end up on the small part of the lip cutout.

Look at my "darter" post.. The Top (musso) is centered ... the fourth one down I made with that in mind and works great .. You can work the angle to make the wire come out where ever you want , All those pics the wire is centered ..I bet you can drill off center and have it work to if you want .. But the musso with the 2 hooks both hang down equal .

They really need moving water to work right. May be you could troll one :huh:

Jigman

I'm not a darter maker but I've caught a lot of Pike on darters. I fish for them in a river near my house and in midsummer it's pretty slow moving. I've caught them downcurrent, crosscurrent and casting upstream and reeling faster than the current. Look at gibbslures for a good description of one way to work them.