Eels, Darter,small...

[Slipknot]

Very clean work
I like that tiny bait, the hooks almost look too big for it, but it's such a small body.
ya, that metal on the darter is cool

[numbskull]

Nice darter.......looks very similar to the Pichney darter.

I'm surprised to see a freshwater version of such a classic saltwater plug...although why that doesn't happen more both ways I don't understand.

Have darters caught on for muskie fishing, or are you at the forefront of it?

[Rowhunter]

Numbskull, No darters being used as far as I've seen, but they may have just the right trigger. Many times a Musky will put it's nose on a bait and follow it right to the boat without hitting it. A technique to get them to hit is to change direction, or figure 8 at boat side. I'm sure you surfcasters can work darters very slowly and get them to dart due to the waters movement. On an inland lake however, I need speed to get them to dance, but Musky's love a speedy presentation. I believe that the darters ability to jump off course, may provide the trigger to strike before they get to the boat.
I think that there are many plugs/lures that can do the crossover. One of the differences is where it is made to work in the water column. Many striper plugs are designed to be surface or just sub-surface, whereas Musky plugs go from surface down to 15 feet or so.

Douglas

[numbskull]

Some saltwater things I've learned.

If you want your darter to dig, push the nose loop back further onto the slope. Yours is ahead of the brow and that will make the plug more stable, but also run shallower. The very front of the wire loop could be as much as 1/8" behind the brow of the plug. Too far and the plug will start to roll, but there is a sweet spot just ahead of that where it will dig deep and work hard side to side.

If you want depth, the conrad is a good design, but swims slow and fish often track it, striking when it is paused. That may be more a bass than muskie behavior, since bass inhale rather than impale their prey. From a boat you can get it pretty deep, particularly if you hold your rod down in the water.

A slopehead design, using a high slot lip that has been re-bent to a more acute angle also can get you down 10+ feet and work there faster than the conrad.

The bottle darter, is another stable design that digs quite deep at speed and has a fairly tight fast wiggle. They don't "dart" much. I'll bet a musky would like 'em though.