More Musso dartahs, needles, and a troller

[blondterror]

I am addicted to making these scalloped Musso Plugs. Can't stop..

[blondterror]

a few more pics...

[johnny ducketts]

Sweet!!!
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[ProfessorM]

all nice, look great. I haven't even thought about turning anything yet. I'm still fishin for another week then elbow work will end it for this year and I can start cleaning the cellar.

[WoodyCT]

Beauties BT!
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[Eric Roach]

Nice stuff, Chris.
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[BigFish]

"Nice stuff"??? "Beauties"? Lemme' tell you something I just received the troller pictured above from Chris and man the thing is absolutely tantalizing!!! Can't wait to drag that plug from my kayak!! Thanks Chris! Mack "Prey" is on the way!!!

[numbskull]

Perfect darters. The will serve you very well. Nice job.

[blondterror]

here are a matched set of parrot scalloped metal lip swimmers... one Musso 7.5" surface swimmer (SS) with lefty 2 Mid slot lip and a 7.5" Pine with Pikie 3 lip... I add a little more wt to my pines (about .15 to .2 OZ more lead in the Pine than the SS.

This design is often referred to as a Musso torpedo due to the shape..

[FinS 32]

awesome, they look sweet

[Hookset]

Man, these look great! Tell me more about the needle, i have been playing around with them. I have a few 6 1/4 superstrike imitations made out of Poplar with 2 weights. They seem to have a slow even sink, maybe with a little nose dive. I just picked up some maple and plan to see if I can get a faster sink and maybe do a better job of hiding the weights. It is tough since the needle is so skinny, the weight tends to stick out and I am not very good at drilling through the weight, so I try to keep it below center...

[blondterror]

Hi Hookset


I bought a used Lee lead pot last year from a Rhody guy who moved up to the Albany area a few years ago. This allows me to drill any diameter hole and fill it with lead and then fair it in with bondo as the surface filler.

For the needles I follow the same weighting as the plastic superstrike needles. Take a good look at the low wt placement behind the belly hook on a semi clear SS needle. I try and achieve the exact same wt scheme by drilling below midline with 2 or 3 holes (3 with 8.5" wadds and 2 with the 6 1/4 and 7 1/4) The forward wt cavity has a wider diameter.

Josh C has used a few of my needles this past year and caught some nice fish up to ~30lbs and lost a bigger fish due to hook straightening... damn.


I do not use any tail weights only belly weighting.

[blondterror]

Another pointer on drilling belly weights... I have a tabletop drill press and a drill press vice that holds my plugs while I drill them. Sometimes i wrap the plug in paper towel or a rag to prevent denting it from the vice if the square ends have been removed. Weight is an art form.. but once you get it right make sure you write down the solution so you can reproduce it... I am guilty of not doing this all the time... and having to re-invent the wheel... must be old age...

If you need a drill press vice for a great price (used but American made quality) contact Joe at Plaza machinery in Bethel , VT Joe is an old jersey boy who moved up to VT and runs a used metal working and woodworking machinery business from his place next to the White River (great trout stream) off River Road in Bethel... it is a blast to spend some time in his barns getting bargains on old American made tools and machines... email Joe and he will eventually get back to you on what he has.. http://plazamachinery.com/

[Hookset]

I have been thinking about a melting pot for the lead. The last one I made I opened a shotgun shell with #2 lead, dremmeled out a cavity that I filled with the shot. But, the melted lead would absolutely work better!

[johnny ducketts]

Chris,
that green in the last pics, and in your avatar, what is the shade?, it's not a chartreuse as your earlier pics, it almost looks teal too me, did you mix that color or is it something off the shelf.

[blondterror]

Originally Posted by johnny ducketts

Chris,
that green in the last pics, and in your avatar, what is the shade?, it's not a chartreuse as your earlier pics, it almost looks teal too me, did you mix that color or is it something off the shelf.

Johnny- That green is Montana (Rattle cans from art stores) Acid Green (F6000) it is one of their fluorescent colors... the yellow is Montana 100% yellow (P1000) also a fluorescent color They work great together

They sell this brand at 2 art store chains in the Boston area: Blick, and Utrecht.... quality paint for $7-8 per can... dries fast and covers very well and has a very fine spray nozzle

[PaulS]

Very nice. Keep your plug bag under lock and key if I see you on Cutty next year.