finally finished the needles..

[Diggin Jiggin]

I've been working on these on and off for like 6 weeks. These will be the last from me till the fall, time to put the lathe away and see what works....

I turned the top two last year. I liked the shape of the yellow one and I like the front half of the tiger maple one so this year I kind of merged the 2 shapes together... Funny things is when I was all done, I looked at em and they are pretty similar to a superstrike.

These are hard maple and around 6" long. We'll see what they do now that they are finished but they are supposed to be slow sinkers. The weight is up in front of the belly hook so they sink nose first...

[numbskull]

Those are really nice plugs. Weighting needlefish is an art in itself.

[NIB]

Love the shape.
Like NS says weighting needles is a art.'
They may sink nose first if u put em in a pail of water but if u tie a line on em they probably will sink level.Which is nice.the bad part is they probably won't cast worth a sh!T.
Maple is a good choice for heavy needles.but to make em around 2 oz. Something lighter like birch would be a better bet.I can get a tail weight to help it cast an a belly weight to even things out.Sort of.

[ProfessorM]

I have found using even the smallest tail weight will make them sink tail first even with a decent size weight in front of the belly hook. My swap needles were weighted on either side of the belly hook and no tail weight. Like NIB said they will not cast real well in a wind but they sink horizontal and sink ever so slowly. Perfect for a boat or a back bay or light wind nite. I am now making a bunch with the weighting scheme that BM uses so I can get a heavier needle that will still stay horizontal, which I feel is the important factor, but will have to be reeled a little faster so it doesn't hit bottom, which is also a good thing if you let that happen too. It is tough though to drill the hole that deep because if it walks there is a very small margine for error.. I have also noticed that the more tail weight you add the better the needle comes to the surface and swims, but at an angle, like a pencil. The horizontal ones I made for the swap are real hard to get up on the top unless you reel fast, but twitching and a slow retrieve it looks real good and level. Sand eels do a lot of still, level, floating when not being harassed so that is what I was shooting for. You really need several. I don't think a do all needle has been, or can be made but I am usually wrong at least once a day. BTW nice looking needles Diggin. Paul

[Karl F]

NIce Needles DJ.. that shape is a classic, I think at some point in time every builder ends up going there, needle wise.
Weighting a needle, yes there might be some art to it, however, I do not think as has been stated that there is a right or wrong way.. it's all in the application.. what you want the action to be, and how you get there.
I had my eyes opened up to a whole different way of building and weight location on needles the other day.. only a machinist, or a surgeon, or a needle nut, could truly appreciate what I saw.....
but, I gotta make like the little guy in my signature, on that...

[ProfessorM]

Ah Karl that is no fair. I can keep a secret .My eyes need some opening up.

[Tagger]

blue/white,,,olive/white,,,pink/white,, did nice fish on those three last year...blue/white especially,,, nice shapes......my slow sinks ,,, sink slightly tail first... level out on slow retreive..

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by Karl F

I had my eyes opened up to a whole different way of building and weight location on needles the other day.. only a machinist, or a surgeon, or a needle nut, could truly appreciate what I saw.....
but, I gotta make like the little guy in my signature, on that...

Thanks Karl,, gotta lay awake staring at the ceiling all night for that .. I saw the most amazing thing today ,a totally out of the box way of think, I was astounded,, no more wheel,, no more slice bread .. too bad I can't tell you ..

[Diggin Jiggin]

Thanks guys. When it scomes to needles I'm a beginner, I don't fish them much but I want to fish them more this year.

I've been doing a lot of jigging the past few years and I got it in my head that if I made a few needles that sink head first I could fish them vertically kind of like a jig. We'll see how it pans out.

[jomlt9@AOL.COM]

very nice