Float test thoughts?

[Ryan560]

Alright so I'm float testing these small donny swimmers I've been working on, and they all sink below midline. Is this possibly because I didn't make them wide enough at mid point? These are rockin small short m&d's tailweights and 5gram belly weights. I know they will float slightly higher in saltwater, but I don't think it will make up the difference as just the tops of the backs are above water. 1st pictures are pine, last picture is awc. The pine definitely sits higher...Any thoughts?

[iamskippy]

honestly i like the way they sit.

[eskimo]

what size are these? Is your lip at midslot? Is it a high slot or mid slot lip? (can't tell from the pics) I've made them float different ways and at different angles but had subsurface musso style swimmers (pines) swim best with the waterline above the lip. (with the lip 1/16" above). I've made them tail weighted, not tail weighted and fished them with a treble on the back and against the original I prefer them slightly nose down.

This is what worked best for me but S-B has a few musso style swimmer gurus.

[Ryan560]

Thanks guys, these are a 5" version Numbskull had a thread about. They use a lefty1 mid slot. I made 5, 1 is pine the rest are white cedar, 1 of the white cedars I used a highslot lefty1..The slots are 1/16" or so above midline,maybe a little less.The waterline I would say is 1/8" or so above the lip.


Should I be more worried about getting them floating level,than getting them to sit higher in the water?

[eskimo]

Numbskull has endless knowledge/experiments on anything made in the Donny style and I've never made them using the high slot lip although I made several variation using a mid slot lip to make surface swimmers in that size. (same lip position)

From my basic observation I noticed in all sizes, (I've made them tail weighted, non-tail weighted and fished them with a rear treble) when floating leveled it gave me a better swimming plug that was more appealing to the eye. When floating with the nose slightly angled down gave me a more versatile plug. I never fished the smaller ones in big water so it wasn't a concern but with the senior size I felt like the few surface swimmers I built without a tail weight held better in bigger water (nose angled down slightly). Could have swam with far less finesse but I could feel it at it slower retrieve where as the tail weighted versions seem to give out if I fished them in chop.

Strange as it goes against compensating for the rear hook but then again I've read that most fished the Donny stuff in calmer conditions and the Danny stuff in stirred up conditions.

As far as how deep yours sit I think you are fine. If I remember correctly I've read a tid bit where Numbskull mentioned he thought the plug began to swim sooner when sitting lower.

Maybe he will chime in as I'm

[numbskull]

The ones I built used 1/0 hooks and no split ring. They float with the water just above the lip slot (maybe 1/16th) and the water just above the minimum diameter at the tail (with a bucktail and no tail hook). They tend to want to dive a bit more than I like, but will stay on top as long as I keep the retrieve slow. Eskimo told me his stays up better, (but he is younger than me so maybe that is expected).

The plugs I built have a tiny tail weight (2.7grams, 1/2" long) that I bought from M&D's years ago. I used it instead of a tail hook.

Looking at yours, I'd drop the split ring, go with size 1/0 hooks, throw in either a small tail weight or add a tail hook, then play with the belly weight size and location to get it all floating level (I think mine had 5 grams in them).

I like plugs that sit deep and swim slow, but if you want to stay more on top at mildly faster retrieves, drop the belly weight a bit and fatten your belly diameter a touch.

I only built one with a high slot lip, weighted the same as the others, and it swims quite deep.

I'd also add, that while these little plugs have fished well for me, they are not something I've fine tuned or tried to perfect. There is something to be said for trying plugs that don't float the way you intended. At very least you learn something, and sometimes you find the fish like them way better than you.

[Ryan560]

Thanks for the insight George and Eskimo. I picked up a pack of 1/8th oz. tailweights from Mike,they are 1/2" long and weigh 3.4grams. That's what I floated them with, plus 5grams on the belly. I guess I'll test swim them with cut 1/0 and go from there.

Found some open water today, so I'll bring them down to the river.