First of all this plug was inspired by an Old John needlefish plug that he came up with years ago. Those things catch fish like nobodies business. Slim, heavy enough for excellant casting and fishability and very much like a sandeel or other slim baitfish.
I start out with some tiger maple wood 3/4" x 3/4" and turn a nice shape needle.
Next step is to thru drill with an 1/8" bit, I use the lathe to thru drill and start off with a short bit then go to a 6" bit. It is tough going with a figured wood like maple but patients pays off.
Once the thru drilling is done I drill the belly holes with a 1/4" bradpoint bit with the drill press. I have to look the blank over good and decide which side goes up and which side will go down to be painted pearl white. I setup a fence and placed markings on the fence for the 3 positions of the weight holes and the position of the hook/swivel hole. I use a #4 Spro swivel for these 130 lb. is plenty and it's small size suits the plug better.
Next step is drill the eyes.
Now I cut the waste ends off, sand smooth and wire the plug. Next I melt lead and pour it in the 3 holes, the lead follows the thru wire a little and adds more weight.
Now I file/sand off the excess lead then putty with filler any voids that are left.
Now a quick cleaning of the plug and it's time for stain.
I use Minwax Driftwood stain because it is close to an olive color, but on the sides I mix some yellow dye to the stain, it looks great that way. I take some of the sludge from the bottom of the can and smooth it on the top of the plug then blend it to the sides as a transition. I go lighter on the bottom as it usually gets painted with pearl white.
Once the stain is done I do a light coat of Minwax High Performance Wood Hardner.
Once the wood hardner is cured I lightly sand with 320,then airbrush on white paint on the belly only. Next airbrush on the pearl white on the belly, then put in the eyes. Now it is set to go on the spinner and get the Envirotex.
Sometimes I use Red Mahogany stain for a darker plug for dark night fishing.
time for hooks and put it in the plugbag
I don't know where the pictures went but I took some shots of my last one of these.
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