stuff in progress

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by NIB

Geo I have noticed you asked a question of the difference of the Musso/Pichney/BM darters..What have you found..??
.................A swivelized version of Stan Gibbs 3 hook job would be neat..

I've only fished the BM's over the years, and primarily at one outflow. They've worked well for me....better than the plastic Super Strikes. The real BM's are hard maple and weigh about 3.5oz, the Pichney and Lupo's are the same shape but in a lighter wood and weigh about 3oz. I built these out of soft maple, will probably do another run out of hard maple at some point.
The Musso is a shorter plug, but also (I presume) hard maple and weighs 3oz. More weight in a smaller package should mean it casts further. Flap claims the Musso's are the best swimming darter he's ever fished, but I've never tried one and these obviously have yet to see water.
Got the Gibbs out and measured as well. What most people don't know is that the three hook darters went through several modifications. The earliest had the the weight behind the second hook and the hooks more forward, the next model swapped the middle hook and weight position, the most recent were slimmer than the originals. Planning a run of those too, but which model and when I'm unsure.

[Diggin Jiggin]

George, you're making some really nice stuff.

Do the BM and Musso darters you guys are talking about use the same lip angles as the gibbs ? I have an old 3 hook gibbs with screw eyes that was in one of my dads old tackle buckets and its practically a twin to a superstrike in terms of lenght,width as well as the all the angles and cuts..

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Diggin Jiggin

Do the BM and Musso darters you guys are talking about use the same lip angles as the gibbs ? .

Sort of. The Musso, Pichney/BM/Lupo, and the Frech darters are bigger plugs (about 1.25" by 6 1/2 to 7 1/2" long and run about 3 oz). The set up is similar-45 degree chin cut to just beneath midline then an incrementally increasing slope from mid back down to the midline at the face. They all float about the same, slightly tail down and water about a third the way up the back then level with the slope which is about 1/8" above water. The 3 hook Gibbs runs shallower than the others.....why I've not yet figured out. You can also fish it like a floating needle, very slowly with twitches to make it struggle to get down while staying on top. So much to learn.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Thanks George, I'm going to try and pick up some maple on the way home tonight... And to say there's a lot to learn is a gross understatement..

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Diggin Jiggin

Thanks George, I'm going to try and pick up some maple on the way home tonight... And to say there's a lot to learn is a gross understatement..

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