Imitate this - Sphyraena borealis Northern Sennet

[ThrowingTimber]

Trying to get some interaction here between everyone. I'm going to try and run an Imitate This thread if its successful we'll run one every 2-3 weeks to give everyone time to come up with stuff, at the end we'll post pictures.

Last fall for 2-3 weeks we couldnt get the bass to eat any big wood, one night we realize why... they were going to TOWN on these little guys and the water was pretty much clouds of these Northern sennets, looked like someone spilled bottles of yoohoo in the water every so often. So, for the first imitate this we'll do the Northern Sennet. It can be your interpretation, exactly the same or just colors or exaggerated, bigger smaller etc. The picture below is just a quick pic I found, feel free to look up others etc. Im curious to see what everyone comes up with, since this is the first one lets plan on posting final pictures on April 30th. Until then its cool to post up ideas you're kicking around, progress pictures etc etc. Hopefully we'll get some good participation out of this one and maybe a few more guys on the next one etc etc..


Here is the fishbase information for the species:

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/spec...ry.php?id=3679

[Jigman]

For those of us who have never seen one before, what is the average size and how do they swim?

idea btw.

Jigman

[Slipknot]

Good idea TT
That looks like a skinny wahoo

[Backbeach Jake]

wicked, Vic! I'll give it a go!

[Slipknot]

related to barracuda

http://images.google.com/images?q=Sp...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

I'll try it too

[ThrowingTimber]

Jiggy,

We were seeing them from the 7-9 inch range.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Vic, cool idea. I saw those for the first time last summer. They were hitting tiny castmasters we had the kids throwing at tinker blues.

I took a couple of pictures of them as the whole time I'm thinking, needlefish...needlefish... Here's few more pictures...

[ThrowingTimber]

great pic diggin

[Hilo_Kawika]

This sounds fun!

We have several barracuda species here in Hawaii and I often see small sizes (3-4") waiting motionless around the boat ramp hoping for mosquito fish and such to show up.

My future needle lures are meant to imitate these guys in hopes of having small jacks go after them.

I'll give it a try...

[justplugit]

Vic, were these guys breaking water when pressured?

[Backbeach Jake]

That with Hilo's post, these mini 'cudas have gotten plug builders going from one end of this Country to the other - half a world away.

Yeah it's past my bedtime

[Raven]

the man of the future isn't up to the tiny barracuda challenge

hey did ya see that florida guy who got bitten by the huge barracuda...? he caught a small fish and prolly didnt know it...
so he was live lining and when he lifted it ...the cuda jumped in the boat....he had hundreds of stitches

[Backbeach Jake]

The man of the future takes a ride in his "Way Back" machine on weekends. Keeps the appreciation level up some. Baracuda ina boat. Bet things got real loud and REAL busy then!!

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Backbeach Jake

Bet things got real loud and REAL busy then!!

Ya Fred, like my Dad used to say,

"the air musta been blue blue".

[PASurfer]

Saw your post this morning, while drinkin' that first cup of java, and thought I'd give it a try. I mean, what the heck, it's just me-n-the-dog home today...

Used a template for a 9 inch needle; turned it offset 1/8 inch; chopped the nose back; weighted it to slow sink level. Body is a hair over 7 inches... with the tail, about 9.25" and 1.7 ounces. Rush job, so it's a little sloppy on the lateral line and the pearl overshot the gray side scales a bit more than I wanted... but it might work if we ever get some sennet swimming through Jersey.

[ThrowingTimber]

Ahhh beautiful!!!!!! Thats awesome RON!!!

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by PASurfer

Saw your post this morning, while drinkin' that first cup of java, and thought I'd give it a try. I mean, what the heck, it's just me-n-the-dog home today...

I'm IMPRESSED, really impressed. I was thinking along the same lines, an offset turned/or handcarved glider, but it would have taken me a day to build and weight it, 24 hours to seal, 24 to prime and test, 24 to paint, and 12 to epoxy. What did you seal, prime, paint and clear with to get a finished plug in 8 hours? WOW, you've just rocked my world bigtime.

[Backbeach Jake]

Yeah, PAS, you got my mouth hanging open, too. Blown away!!

[Karl F]

What George (ns) said.. u must have space age technology

Nice Plug..


I'm out of build mode for a while, buried with other stuff... but.. this one I did, might work in a pinch.. if bait like that was around..

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...9&d=1171937501

[PASurfer]

Originally Posted by numbskull

<<snip>> WOW, you've just rocked my world bigtime.

Well, in essence, that's what I was up to. I'll expound briefly on what I did later, but I have something else in mind first. Please don't take what I'm going to say for anything more than my humble opinion, because that's all it is.

Maybe it was the caffine jolt, who knows, but TT's statement about getting skunked for weeks was the trigger. Some of us have been building for a long time, others are relatively new to the game. But we're all constantly sharing, honing and improving (hopefully) our skills and techniques. We all have this quest for the "Holy Grail" of lure making: the perfect paint job and bullet-proof finish on our lure offerings. And that's great... really. Learn how to make eye candy, by all means; they're great for lots of things: to barter, trade and sell, and even your ego. But, in the case of fishing to catch fish, I have seen enough to know the finned bastages aren't really impressed. ((Winch will be proud, that I said that.))

Our common quarry, stripers and most assuredly bluefish, could care less, it seems, about most of what we invest our efforts in. When they're hungry, they're looking to eat something familar. Sure, sometimes they get finicky, but they're not custom-wood connoisseurs bound and determined to hold out for the prettiest plug in your bag, although some days/nights they'll make you wonder. Nah, the right profile or wiggle or color-de-jour is enough to fool them into a taste-test. Then, if you're quick enough to set the hook, you're in.

So, to conclude my first rant of 2007, I just wanted to show that once you figure what's got their eye today -- even if you don't have it handy -- it can be made in one tide cycle. Will it last forever? Nope. All season? Possibily, but that's not the objective either. I want to catch now, and maybe you do, too. So, what's stopping you from trying?

About the sennet needle... to make it (actually, it took 5 hours, not 8; I got up late today, simply because I could, and didn't start until 10 AM) I abandoned a lot of the good things we do to our "usual high standards". But it still looks presentable. Again, this was just an experiment. Hopefully the fish (and regretably, the rocks) are going to beat it up anyway. I took a similar profile plug template, that I'm familar with (so, I wasn't starting from scratch, "designing") and tweaked it to look more like the sennet that the bass were chasing. Rather than tail load it -- I'm assuming that if Vic could see "spilled yahoo" in the water, then he wouldn't have had to cast very far -- I spread the weight across the belly, so the lure will slowly sink level if I stop the retrieve... in case I need to get down in the water column a bit. That took an hour, waiting for the hole filler to harden. Then I turned and sanded it, but didn't do the usual seal job... you know why; time for that later... I just primed it with rattle cans, hair-dried for several minutes, then airbrushed the 3-4 colors paint and blow-dried some more to remove the tackiness. Then I baked it in my mancave-dedicated toaster oven -- don't use your wife's (or mom's) if you value your life -- at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, took it out and immediately dipped in a water-based clear acrylic topcoat. It hung for 10-15 minutes or so while I had a smoke, then I re-dipped and flipped the lure end-to-end twice more, so that it's triple coated and -- at least temporarily -- sealed inside and out. I didn't even waste time signing it, or I'd miss the tide.

[ThrowingTimber]

The professor of plugology strikes again!!!

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Karl F

I'm out of build mode for a while, buried with other stuff... but.. this one I did, might work in a pinch.. if bait like that was around..

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...9&d=1171937501

Ahh ya Karl, that would work in more than a pinch.

Patina paint, ya can smell the salt.

[bart]

Vic- were you seeing two different species of the sennets at all? 2 yrs ago i was getting fish that were loaded with the ones you had in that picture. last year i saw some of the same but also ones that had stripes mixed in. did you ever notice this?

[ThrowingTimber]

most fish for the most part have 2 dif sets of coloration. under natural light and one under bright or led type light (thanks Steve F.). The bars may have shown after they were stressed bart, similar to what happen with scup when they expire, their bars become more visible. maybe male vs female sennets, I know bass eat 'em like chips though and thats good enough for me

[bart]

the ones i saw were feeding during the day in a certain b-way, both types. male and female never crossed my mind though

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by PASurfer

?

About the sennet needle... to make it (actually, it took 5 hours, not 8; I got up late today, simply because I could, and didn't start until 10 AM) I abandoned a lot of the good things we do to our "usual high standards". But it still looks presentable. Again, this was just an experiment. Hopefully the fish (and regretably, the rocks) are going to beat it up anyway. I took a similar profile plug template, that I'm familar with (so, I wasn't starting from scratch, "designing") and tweaked it to look more like the sennet that the bass were chasing. Rather than tail load it -- I'm assuming that if Vic could see "spilled yahoo" in the water, then he wouldn't have had to cast very far -- I spread the weight across the belly, so the lure will slowly sink level if I stop the retrieve... in case I need to get down in the water column a bit. That took an hour, waiting for the hole filler to harden. Then I turned and sanded it, but didn't do the usual seal job... you know why; time for that later... I just primed it with rattle cans, hair-dried for several minutes, then airbrushed the 3-4 colors paint and blow-dried some more to remove the tackiness. Then I baked it in my mancave-dedicated toaster oven -- don't use your wife's (or mom's) if you value your life -- at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, took it out and immediately dipped in a water-based clear acrylic topcoat. It hung for 10-15 minutes or so while I had a smoke, then I re-dipped and flipped the lure end-to-end twice more, so that it's triple coated and -- at least temporarily -- sealed inside and out. I didn't even waste time signing it, or I'd miss the tide.

Thanks, this is very helpful. I've considered (but not tried) heating createx to "set" it. I've also been interested in a water based clear coat, but the tough ones I've located seem to be commerical finishes with/without various crosslinking additives. What product do you use (if you're willing to share) and how has it held up for you?

[Jigman]

NK,

I've sometimes done something similar to what pasurfer suggests: come back from fishing, knock out a plug to fish the next day. In these cases, its usually just spray can everything, no sealer. Hairdrier to help the paint cure quicker. Samething could be done with airbrush paints (done that too). I used to heat set them, then a thin coat of devcon. Its not fully cured the next day, but hard enough to last long enough to see if I need to make more of that plug or tweak it. Lately, I've been using Rustoleum clear in the spray can. Dries in 15 minutes. I can paint, let dry over night, spray clear in the morning, hooks on when I get to the fishing area. Not something that I would for a plug I was sending to someone else, but good enough for me for a short time.

Jigman

[NIB]

Createx in fact reccomends u heat set thier paints.Especially the Auto Air type..Not sure about the oven thing U don't want to heat up the wood that will make whatever u put in it (sealers) want to come out..

[PASurfer]

Dare I say this : NIB's right... and Jigsy, for that matter. An oven pre-warmed to 200 degrees doesn't bother Createx (or the Krylon primers I used) and sets them nicely in about 15 minutes, but if you're thinking of doing it after traditional sealers... Val-oil, BLO, and such... they will liquify and migrate to the surface. You can trust me on that, or try it for yourself. That's one reason (besides time) that I skipped the sealer. Usually I'll hang 'em to air-cool out of the oven, but I thought the heated wood might suck up the first dipping in topcoat a little better... and I was in a hurry.

George, I've no secrets, but I don't know if it will help you since the acrylic topcoat is some stuff made by a company called Tripp that I bought several years ago from WoodCrafters as they were closing their doors. I haven't since it anywhere else. As Jigsy suggests, this isn't something I normally would do for trades and the like but this one's for me, and if it doesn't hold up as is I can always repaint it later.

I guess my whole point here was not to lock into the same old, same old, if the fish are chowing on something you don't have... it really wouldn't take you too long to come up with a solution to the problem. Heck, the real old timers used to paint the suckers behind the dunes with whatever the "hot" color was that day, then walk out and fish 'em. Well, almost.

[eastendlu]

Well Vic i tried to imitate this fish as best as i could and my wife said i looked ridicules and that i'm too fat .