Movement

[Hookset]

There are some fantastic threads which go through in detail the various factors which influence the movement of the plug in the water. I have read much, many times over and over so not to miss any details. Learning about the shape, lip, lip placement, hooks size and placement, weights, through hole placement, tail hook or flag... very interesting for sure and the amount of knowledge and willingness to share is what addicts me to this site.

So, the one missing link for me is when you experiment with the factors to obtain the "perfect movement", what is that? What movement are you looking to obtain and how does that vary based upon condition and other factors and what are the factors where you want that to vary?

For example, a Danny is suppose to swim on the surface with side to side motion... should it role or not, what do you feel is the best motion. How much side to side? Where does the movement come from?

How about a sub surface, does that differ from a Danny?

[The Dad Fisherman]

The perfect movement is what YOU want it to do. If you don't want it to roll, play with the shape, lip placement, and weight until you get it the way you want it.

If you want it sub-surface...same thing....experiment until you get it the way YOU want it....

only one judge on the effectiveness of a plug...and that would be the fish

[Rockfish9]

The perfect movement.. your going to get alot of differant answers on this one.. and most will be correct...for me... the perfect movement on any plug is to make it actualy look alive or that it is dieing...

I've watched mackerel and herring schools swim..
I've watched pogies flip and stage ( not in recent years in our neck of the woods)

so when i build a plug.. I want it to mimic these actions.. not the mechanical actions of a stcik of wood...I've watched bass knock bait ( all of the above) out of the water and watched the bait do thier death dance... so when i build a plug.. I want it to look like a staging/swimming bait or one that just got blasted by a 30lb cow... I try not to concern myself as to how others rig their plugs and concentrate on what works for me with the naterials I have, of coarse thee are common guidelines that are followed.. but the final tweaking is what makes the plug do what I want it to do... I then take my "creation" to the field and let the fish decide... after all they are the best judge.

Roll is an inherrant part of a danny style plug.. some of it can be tuned out... roll is not a bad thing.. provided it is not so viloent it rolls out... because theis style plug is designed to fish slowly... the roll is rarly and issue... I make all my danny style plugs "blind" this takes some of the roll "illusion" away..

[Hookset]

I like the idea of blind, but not really sure if a strong roll would turn the bass off or turn them on. Unfortunately, I live 1 1/2 hours from the ocean here north of Philly so my experimenting time is limited in the salt to every weekend when I make the journey.

I remember as a kid growing up fishing for Large Mouth in lakes, I had a copper colored rapala about 4" long which had an eye that was vertical. I would vary where the knott was on that eye to change the movement. Placing the line high created larger side to side movement which seemed to really turn the bass on.

I Like the experimenting, just wish I had more opportunity to do it. Thanks as always for the feedback