Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Rockfish9 · 08-29-2007, 08:09 AM

I use the double wire method.

I drill the front body through hole 3/16, this will allow the wire to go through and remove as little material as possible.

Once drilled, I test fit the wire for measurement, with the lip in place and the wire securely seated, measure 3/8" from the body and mark it with a sharpie, with draw the wire and bend it double, the mark will be the center of the loop, I like to bend the wire around a 1/8 drill bit, to form my loop, then pinch the end tight enough to still fit through a swivel, at this time I make a washer by drilling out a tail grommet to fit over the double wire, this will help the wire to become extra snug... now assemble your plug, things will be tight and it takes practice to know just how tight you can cinch the wire before it wont form a nice loop or break, always take care to not fracture the wire, anneald 304 seems to work best.
Now seat your wire,slide your "washer" over the double wire,using a block of hard wood ( I pre drill aseries of holes to accomodate the widening of the loop and taper of the awl) I then work an awl inbetween the double wire and hit it with a hammer thus spreading the wireif done correctly, it makes a nice round, very tight loop.. practice makes perfect.

Weighting.... I do mine a few differant ways, the ones I want to dive are not drilled off center and chin weighted right up front the amount of lead is related to how big I makle the jointed, some of mine go over 5 ounces... again, experimenting is key, I use 1/4 ounce on a 12" jointed...

On my surface swimmers, I drill offcenter and weight by drilling the rear section of the front half, just below the through wire, coming in from the back, agaain 1/4 ounce is a good starting point...

On ulta thin (1" diameter) eel pikies, I drill offcenter and pour a put 1/2 of a 3/8 tail weight in the chin ( I pound it flat so I dont drill too deep) then I put the other half in the tail section half way between the middle hook and the front of the rear section of the plug, this gives the plug a more poronounced tail kick and tends to swim more snake like, just whatr I wnt in an eel imitation...

I thiught i had some pictures of the process here here, but I dont..

08-29-2007, 08:09 AM	#6
Rockfish9 Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Reading Mass/Newburyport/merrimack river Posts: 3,749	I use the double wire method. I drill the front body through hole 3/16, this will allow the wire to go through and remove as little material as possible. Once drilled, I test fit the wire for measurement, with the lip in place and the wire securely seated, measure 3/8" from the body and mark it with a sharpie, with draw the wire and bend it double, the mark will be the center of the loop, I like to bend the wire around a 1/8 drill bit, to form my loop, then pinch the end tight enough to still fit through a swivel, at this time I make a washer by drilling out a tail grommet to fit over the double wire, this will help the wire to become extra snug... now assemble your plug, things will be tight and it takes practice to know just how tight you can cinch the wire before it wont form a nice loop or break, always take care to not fracture the wire, anneald 304 seems to work best. Now seat your wire,slide your "washer" over the double wire,using a block of hard wood ( I pre drill aseries of holes to accomodate the widening of the loop and taper of the awl) I then work an awl inbetween the double wire and hit it with a hammer thus spreading the wireif done correctly, it makes a nice round, very tight loop.. practice makes perfect. Weighting.... I do mine a few differant ways, the ones I want to dive are not drilled off center and chin weighted right up front the amount of lead is related to how big I makle the jointed, some of mine go over 5 ounces... again, experimenting is key, I use 1/4 ounce on a 12" jointed... On my surface swimmers, I drill offcenter and weight by drilling the rear section of the front half, just below the through wire, coming in from the back, agaain 1/4 ounce is a good starting point... On ulta thin (1" diameter) eel pikies, I drill offcenter and pour a put 1/2 of a 3/8 tail weight in the chin ( I pound it flat so I dont drill too deep) then I put the other half in the tail section half way between the middle hook and the front of the rear section of the plug, this gives the plug a more poronounced tail kick and tends to swim more snake like, just whatr I wnt in an eel imitation... I thiught i had some pictures of the process here here, but I dont..