Needles - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Eric Roach · 02-28-2014, 01:37 PM

Some needles I finally finished:

1-2 CZ Floating Needles [9.25"(L), 1.15"(W); 3.75 oz.]
3-4 CZ Waking Needles [7.5"(L), .95"(W); 2.8 oz.]
5 Tapered Needle [7"(L), .72"(W); 1.25 oz.]
6 Sand Eel Needle [7.5"(L), .54"(W); .88 oz.]
7 FS Sinking Needle [6.625"(L), .99"(W); 1.5 oz.] Sorry Paul, this was supposed to suspend, instead it sinks at about 3"/second! I really need to get the weighting figured out on these.
8-13 FS Waking Needles (8.125"(L), 1.15"(W);~ 3.2 oz.]
-- #9 with the parrot paint has my special "textured epoxy" finish
-- #10 is the "boring bone" paint scheme
-- #11 is Stripermaineiac's pollock needle
-- #12 is Blondterror's muted pollock needle

eskimo · 02-28-2014, 02:04 PM

Needle maniac! Really like the shape, size and color of number 5.

Linesider82 · 02-28-2014, 02:09 PM

Nice work Eric #6 is awesome

Eric Roach · 02-28-2014, 02:25 PM

Thanks guys.

#5
This basic needle is made of rock maple and has no lead. With those hooks and rings it will wake if moved fast enough but will sink at roughly 1"/second if crawled in quiet water. Lightening the rings /downsizing the hooks will create a floater. The rear is 3/8" so it's wide enough to drill out to add 1/4" cylinders of lead to get it down at a moderately fast speed.

#6
This 7.5" sand eel is slightly longer version of the 6" sand eel needle I used with pretty good success last fall. It's a great plug for subtlety in shallow water -- it suspends, so just letting it sit or slightly moving it was really effective on finicky fish. Can't cast it 100 yards, but it certainly gets out there a lot further than un-rigged 6" or 7.5" Slug-Gos. One downside is line management: The plug is so thin and light you can barely feel it in the water. If you aren't careful, the line lays lightly on the spool and sometimes twists because there isn't enough resistance to turn the line roller. If the action was slow, I had to pinch the line every few casts to keep the "wind knots" to a minimum. Still, it fills a niche nicely. I'm going to lose the holographic tape on the next one, and see if a painted chrome side looks more realistic.