needle plug balance and beyond

[steelhead]

It's been a while, but life is finally settling down up here on the North Shore. I'm finally able to able to turn a few plugs as opposed to working 7/24....

so, I spent the afternoon fussing over three needle fish plugs.Trying to get the weight balance and sink rate right. From 2 til 5:15 when I had to go get a hair cut.

Set up a bucket of water with saltwater at 1.025 specific gravity, and dove in....

Two, I got to the point when they settle on the bottom, the 2/0 hook on the belly acting as an ever so soft support/balance point and the tail continues to suspend, plug perfectly level. Their sink rate is so slow, you can eat a sandwich and have a cup of coffee. Not the best for current of any substance. But I hope pretty good for beach front and rocks, where there are eddies of current that bring things in and out and up and down. I'm quite excited about these guys.

The other one sinks faster. Maybe 1 foot per second. I may try to shave a bit of the lead off the belly weight when I do the final assembly to slow it down a bit more.

I did notice one thing in common on all three plugs. I balanced them to find the center point of balance on a hack saw blade in my bench vice. But in the water, the balance point to get a flat neutral sink was almost always 1/2" or so in front of the balance point on the saw blade.

So, now I'm wondering about the Danny plugs I turn. Even though they aren't sinking plugs, is the balance/pivot point in the water different than the dry balance/pivot point. My guess is that it is. If you nail the pivot point, my guess is you get wobble. The question is for roll and stability (rips), do you shift the belly weight back or front?

Oh for a video camera and some very slow motion studies of about 20 different set ups.....