Quote:
Originally Posted by numbskull
You are going to learn that it is very hard to improve on anything Stan Gibbs built. You will find the same for Don Musso and Danny Pichney.
Start with the Gibbs design ( 2.75 oz is a good one and one of the very best bass plugs ever built), from there you will find that if you lessen the tail weight (or move it forward in the plug) to get the plug floating at more of an angle, you will get an easier and longer walk the dog action. If you widen the waist and increase the weight, you will get a plug that will slap a lot but not glide much (I don't like this...but bluefish do).
Wood choice isn't as important as weight/width/length/float angle. Eastern White Pine, sugar pine, basswood, AYC, and presumably red cedar all work fine. AYC is the densest. Soft woods will dent if used in the canal.
Some step drills are very useful for tail weighting plugs on center. Or drill the weight hole first and finish through drilling from there.
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Hi numbskull -- good to see you on here. I appreciate all the practical advice.
When the shop is done I'm going to pick up a small quantity of each of the wood types you mentioned. I'll probably buy more of the cheapest so I can burn through some stock while I'm learning the basics.
My friend makes nice, thin pencils with a great walk/glide I'd like to emulate in different sizes. They wobble somewhat on the cast, but I guess that's the price you pay for that action. They still outcast a spook of the same size and they catch some excellent fish.
I like Striper Sniper pencils for whippy-sticking, but I wish they'd cast better (at least the 2 oz)...I'd really like to build a pencil that casts true and thrashes well at distance in a chop.
I hear you about attempting to improve on a Gibbs. One of my favorite just-for-fun daytime lures is a 1 oz Gibbs pencil. Casts extremely well and catches fish of all sizes. I'd like to build a 3/4 oz version of this. I'm also looking forward to putting better belly swivels in pencils of this size.