Why won't they swim?

[ProfessorM]

Good info. I needed that as I am trying some lipped stuff and feel somewhat in the dark too. Thanks George

[jnski]

When I am curious how a new profile will perform with different weight placement/ lips, etc. I spin one up drill a few holes for weight placement and bring the unfinished profile, screw eyes, lead belly weights, tape and assorted lips with me to my testing spot. I'll put a lip on with a screw eye, weight in one of the holes covered with tape, and toss it out and see what it does. Bring a pad and pencil along as well so you can record your results. Now, try another hole with the lead, and see what the difference in action is. Do the same with different lips. You can also try moving the lip up and down on the nose, bending the eye, different hook sizes, bucktail dressed or not dressed...the combintaions are many, and if you record what you observe, you should get a much better understanding of how all these variables will effect the action of the plug. If you want to be more creative, bring more than one profile, short and fat, long and skinny and see how they swim differently with similar weight placement and lips.
This is how I learned, and from my experience, you will learn more from your experimentation than from anything you can read. Hands on is definitely the way to go.

Good luck!! and most importantly, have fun!

[Jigman]

"I want them to have a tight wiggle"

As in something like a danny? If so, weight in the belly, middle of plug. Narrower lip (Danny or Lefty depending on the size). The lefty will give you a little more roll. Line tie centered. The tips jnski gave for testing work real well.

Jigman