Small belly wgt. Not much though. Kind of inconsequential
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

The original large maple I x-rayed has a 5/16 x 1/4" wt 3 3/8" from the nose. It weighed 3.55 oz rigged but WITHOUT hooks
I would not, however, focus on building exactly to these dimensions.
Maple varies a lot in weight. To start I would float your plug rigged with hooks in water and, using a rubber band to hold on different weights in different locations, weight it to float with only its back just proud of the water (the buoyancy in saltwater will be greater).

I have built a number of maples in both sizes and fished them but without much success. If you are trying to get deep the conrad is a better option (I think).

Neither the conrad or the maple are great in current because of their wide wag (which increases resistance and pulls the plug up). You might try a lefty2 high slot lip on the bigger maple body (+/- adding a slope to the head) if you want to stay stable in current. I've not done this but I have had success doing so with the large pine body and I think Musso may have actually made some special pines this way (just a guess based on a story I heard about a special pine he built).

I have not used AYC for darters (too allergenic).
I use soft maple and adjust time in the sealer to get the body weight I want.
I have experimented quite a bit with weighting smaller darters.
Even when exactly the same weight don't think they swim as well as their unweighted cousins made of heavier wood. That said, the three hook Gibbs was weighted and fishes well.....which is no surprise considering the genius of the man who developed it.
You also want to be careful thinning the tail of darters.
Insufficient buoyancy in the tail will make the plug more prone to roll.
You usually can't get a darter to run much deeper by making it heavier (they just roll).
If you want deep then you need to fool with the slope and line tie position.

Of final note, classically most darters are about 1/8" thinner at the nose than the belly. When the face is the widest spot they tend to want to swim more than dart (not that that is bad).

It's Sunday morning. I have my coffee and planning my stay in the "cave" today. Finally the minimal lures I did are primed and will put some colors to them.Made up some "bone" white to shoot for belly. I have a few color requests but the rest I don't know. Usually once I get the paint in front of me I brainstorm what to paint. My new scheme is lime green w/red head, Black over sprayed with red, purple and misted w/gold is my new dark color. I have pikes which will be painted in blackfish, porky and sea bass colors. Blackfish and sea bass was a producer last year. I paint the blackfish white then scale black then over spray brown in blotches vertically. Sea bass is light blue to silver belly over sprayed with black scale. I use a thicker net to show more blue. Trying to find some net similar to clementine netting but with smaller holes and wider net lines. Enjoy your day guys. I post some pix soon.

heading to rissa show.......i don't know why lol.....look for hooks lol

Hmmmmm...... I have a couple dozen poplar spook bodies that I turned either last year or the year before. Might see if I can get them drilled out today and then seal. That would be the most I have done in over a year.....
I remember using the poplar, A. because I had it, B. it was fine if it absorbs a lot of sealer as the added weight helps, at least on mine. And C. because if they are fished, as intended, they weren't designed to last a lifetime....

Thanks George! I did try a version of the maple with the left 2 lip which I preferred over the pike lip on the pine version but it seemed to swim almost identically to the one with the pikie 2 lip. I will try adding some weight to the ones I've built to see how it impacts the action and depth. The slope head is a nice idea as well that I'm going to try out.


I did finally get around to building some larger needles and test swam them this weekend. They are 9.25" and depending on the version I was testing they ranged from 3oz up to 4.3oz. I'm liking the skinnier 3oz version the best so far.

Time to apply the finish coat. E - text . Also trying a concrete sealer on some personal plugs. I'm trying to find a better finish. Harder and durable. I have a few needles from an unknown builder which show virtually no wear. He was a boat builder but would not reveal his finish. Always in search of the "Holy Grail" of finishing.

Some of that stuff those boat builders use is some caustic. I tried a couple when I started an they gave me a doozy of a head ache even with a mask on.

got a game dinner today but might turn a couple Donny body's off to the lathe

Here's a few pikes and wadds.

System 3 clear coat Billy give it a try
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

That will be my next move if this DIRECT COLOR - AC 1315 doesn't pan out. I did one coat , I'll do another tomorrow and possibly one more. Stuff flows .I keep water. What system 3 clear coat do you use? I see there's a couple different ones in our Woodcraft catalog.

Got my dust collector all set up finally, couple different hood systems to mess around with.

Used the big 16x13 one this week while turning, did a nice job of catching the smaller pieces but with no clear plexi piece to knock down the actually large chips like the PSI one it still made a mess.

So will play around with the PSI one this week, and see how that works, or build a clear plexi piece to knock down the chips.

Did get some more Donnys turned and some slim version wadd needles I want to mess around with.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Sys 3 clearcoat, not mirror-coat. I like 2 coats. First coat goes on crappy, I don't sweat it, 2nd coat fixes everything. Do 2nd coat before 72 hours or you have to scratch 1st coat and wipe with isopropyl alcohol. I prefer to do second next day if possible so no scratching. It is a 2 to 1 mix. Dries to a hard clear Very durable finish. It is used in boat building. Not a bar top epoxy like e tex or similar 1 to 1 mixes. There is a learning curve but worth the effort IMO.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I looked at some of my plugs today, then grabbed my gun and went to the range. Spring is almost here, no motivation to make time to build anything, I wish I had some, oh well. You guys stuff looks good

Don't worry Bruce I got plenty

I have plenty Paul
Just miss making them
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I'm working with some cherry ballister stock for another squid color option. The soak brings out a nice color. Gonna be heavy as I'm looking for something to dig into fast water so making a couple swimming spooks and super spooks out of it. i'll try to get some pics up when done.

I added a little over 10 grams of weight to the belly of the maples and they both swim much nicer now. I'm not sure that they will be great plugs in fast current but definitely seem to want to get down deep in slower water. Still want to try one with a slop head to see if it will swim better (tighter) in fast moving water.

Sys 3 clearcoat, not mirror-coat

thanks Paul.

Paul as of now I assemble , coat ,heat with gun to get epoxy flowing ,flip 3 or so times. Can this still be possible due to the longer set time or is a spinner with heater needed?

Painting my "silent George" remakes. Simple colors fluorescent green w/white & chartreuse bellys , dark greenw/silver belly. Try to find is my yellow mackerel pencils and blue cloud. Weather being so nice, trying to push the next few weeks in finishing up. Time to fish!

I would make a spinner with a little heat just makes it easier in our climate but Mike Fixter uses clear coat and flips his plugs, he is in Northern Cal., so it is possible.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I'm finally getting around to turning a few.
Just needles for now, maybe some pencils if I can get to them. I've been fishing a lot more needles the past few years.

I still like really the turning part of it but kind of dread the rest of the process. I just hope i can get some of these done by the time the fish are here...

I have a box myself, I need to finish up.

happy easter

playing with jointed pikies maybe seal today