PocketRocket Suggestions ?
 

I'm trying to build D. Anderson's P-R from the Feb 19th TheFisherman and could use some help with two issues: (1) 5/16 seems too big for the thru-hole and too small for the tail which also has a 1/4 hole for the tail weights, and (2) when I tie fresh water streamers with saddle hackles, I strip off the fuzzy stuff at the base of the feather----from the photos, it looks like these tails use the whole feather.

Anyone else making these?

Comments, suggestions?

Thanks, I'll appreciate the assist. Jay

5/16 = .312

1/4 = .250

Why would you use a .312 hole for through wire? Maybe you mean 5/32? (.156). Drill 1/8 dia. through, then open the hole to 1/4" in the tail for the weight.

My question, exactly, but that's what the article said (unless I'm going blinder along with everything else) . I'm new at this and don't have one to look-at/copy.

Thanks for the reply. Jay

Not being familiar with the plug in question, I'd still say Tie the trailers like you usually do.

When I tie them up it's basically a Seaducer pattern on a siwash hook. Long saddles for the tail and palmered hackles up the hook shank fan out and push a lot of water.

Or you can just tie the trailer sparse for a thinner profile.

Gotta be a misprint. Probably should have been 5/32, which a lot of guys drill through with. Also, a 1/4 diameter weight won't fit in a 1/4 diameter hole very easily (forcing it can split the tail). You'll need to slightly enlarge the hole or slightly shave the weight.

As for the feathers, you can do it either way. Another trick that works well is to strip the hackle where you tie it to the hook, then put a short collar of bucktail around the hook extending past the hook bend to help keep the hackle from fouling.

I was trying to make heads or tails out of the pocket rocket article as well as the darter article.... still haven't figured out the darter article. Not sure there was a final size of the plug in there. Anyway, I've got pretty exact measurements of the pocket rocket that I did. I'll post up a pict tomorrow that you can copy if you want. It's a diagram with detailed measurements and all. My finished plug only came in at about 1 oz although, i have an original pichney that was .9oz...

-Chris

Thanks, Chris: I won't be able to get back to this until late in the week, but will be looking forward to your stuff. My "estimation" from the article isn't pretty, but I took it down to a mostly frozen lake yesterday afternoon and I thought it had an interesting action-----not what I expected, but the feathers gave it a pretty neat look.....a long way from the surf, tho.....any thoughts of a reasonable flytying vice to hold a 6/0 siwash?

Bingo! That was a misprint. The weights I used fit perfectly into a 1/4 inch hole. They came from M&D's.

Wahlie,

The exact measurement of the darter is 6 7/8. It tells you under the "flip the switch" subheading.

Cool thanks for the size on the Darter dave. Much appreciated. I missed it