needle plug balance and beyond

[steelhead]

I think where I'm going with this is that ideally, I want to have the cg/cb be the same. That gives me a very dynamic instability and perfect balance. From there, I can tune the sink rate and attitude of the plug.

What got me thinking about this was some experiences I had last summer in two situations. One was on a beach north of here where I encountered large sand eels and bass feeding on them at night. The needle that worked best was quite neutral and rode very flat. Given that sand eels are weak swimmers and from what I've seen on film, tend to flutter and float and sink slowly to the bottom, this plug seemed to let me match that behavior the best.

The other was ocean front, rocky shoreline, little current, letting the plug suspend trying to imitate the short, hesitant movement of a bait fish as it swims through the water. In this situation, the retrieve that worked best was to put myself in the head of the bait fish. working it slowly and very erratically.

Although I don't quite follow you on the tin squid, somewhere in there, Numbskull, I think that you're right, there's a head shape that will add a natural swimming action to the mix. I'm going to have to play with that, too.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by steelhead

Although I don't quite follow you on the tin squid, somewhere in there, Numbskull, I think that you're right, there's a head shape that will add a natural swimming action to the mix. I'm going to have to play with that, too.

The curve on the underside of a tin squid makes the body act like a swimming plate. The weight of the rear of the squid gives it stability and sets the angle at which water hits the swimming curve. I'm pretty sure the same thing happens with needles. My experience is that the longer you make the nose, the less likely it is to swim. Still, as much as it pains me to admit it, I think Flap is right. He usually outfishes me by reeling his plug across the surface like a motorboat while he makes a Brrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm......brrrrrrrrrrrrmmmm sound.

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by numbskull

The curve on the underside of a tin squid makes the body act like a swimming plate. The weight of the rear of the squid gives it stability and sets the angle at which water hits the swimming curve. I'm pretty sure the same thing happens with needles. My experience is that the longer you make the nose, the less likely it is to swim. Still, as much as it pains me to admit it, I think Flap is right. He usually outfishes me by reeling his plug across the surface like a motorboat while he makes a Brrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm......brrrrrrrrrrrrmmmm sound.

I thought we had agreed to keep the Brmmmmmm...Brmmmmmm.. sound part our little secret?