What's Cookin' ?

[WoodyCT]

Suddenly I'm all horned up over NJ style sealed plugs. Obtained a bunch of examples- Lefty, Skippy, Cyclone, Tom Bottomly, Pajama Plugs, Basswood, Luna... And came to the realization that besides the sealed construction there is very very little difference in shapes, lips, or action. Odd that they are such copy cats down there! Any how, going to make some of these in various sizes. From 4-8".

Also doing a lure I call the 2fer. Basically a white cedar slope headed surface swimmer with a pikie 3 lip, however, the slope extends 2/3 of the way back, instead of to the midpoint. In calm water the lure will swim on top with a nice tail wag IF your rod tip is up high. Drop the tip and point it at the lure and it dives 2-4'. In the breachway the big lip and long flat top make it a super stable deep diver. 2fer- Two for one.

This week I need to churn out some plugs for gifts.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Muskyslayer96]

Hey Fellas,

Some cool stuff there!
My building time has been very limited, but I've been on a crank/twitch bait kick. from 4 inch walleye size to 12 inch fall trolling sizes. All made from cedar and will have either stainless or lexan lips Also my first attempt at foiling (wow quite a learning curve)
I've also been admiring how cool the added gill and fin effects are on some builders posts and decided to give it a go.
Here are a couple in mid stage! (crappy camera pic)

Happy Holidays fellas

MS

[pbadad]

Originally Posted by WoodyCT

Suddenly I'm all horned up over NJ style sealed plugs. Obtained a bunch of examples- Lefty, Skippy, Cyclone, Tom Bottomly, Pajama Plugs, Basswood, Luna... And came to the realization that besides the sealed construction there is very very little difference in shapes, lips, or action. Odd that they are such copy cats down there! Any how, going to make some of these in various sizes. From 4-8".

Also doing a lure I call the 2fer. Basically a white cedar slope headed surface swimmer with a pikie 3 lip, however, the slope extends 2/3 of the way back, instead of to the midpoint. In calm water the lure will swim on top with a nice tail wag IF your rod tip is up high. Drop the tip and point it at the lure and it dives 2-4'. In the breachway the big lip and long flat top make it a super stable deep diver. 2fer- Two for one.

This week I need to churn out some plugs for gifts.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Hi Jon. Any particular dimentions for this 2fr? i like that option, top water and a diver. Looking to do a niche plug this winter also.

[WoodyCT]

Originally Posted by pbadad

Hi Jon. Any particular dimentions for this 2fr? i like that option, top water and a diver. Looking to do a niche plug this winter also.

Pretty big

7.5" and 3.3oz rigged with 4 .092 Screw eyes, rings 3/0 VMCs and a flag o the back. And 10-12g in the belly at the max width point.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[numbskull]

Pretty much a wasted week stressing over Xmas, but #^&#^&#^&#^&ed around a bit. Nothing intentional, but had some fun. Avoided the "curse of the duplicator", that plug building mind trap where if you decide to make one you should make several dozen. Just started using up some of the odd sized,odd wood, left over blanks littering the cellar. Chuck 'em up, rough 'em down and grab a skew.

Ended up with some pine mini-mussos, some sloppy CCBC darter clones, some basswood SS little neck knock offs (with over cupped popper faces ), and a few trial small needle shapes (thinking a pocket rocket, a floater, and a level runner).

[nightfighter]

George, first off, hope you all have a great holiday.

Now, my question is, how are you cutting/sanding the darter slope? I have not addressed building a jig for that step....

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Now, my question is, how are you cutting/sanding the darter slope? I have not addressed building a jig for that step....

I just freehanded those, Ross, with bandsaw and belt sander, and I effed them up (just like the 1000 times before when I tried the same sloppy method).

If I am building enough of a plug to do it right, I build a sled to hold the plug on its side anchored at the belly and tail, mark out the slope, bandsaw it, then clean it on a belt sander. My system is not great nor perfectly consistent. If you search on SOL for "darter hell" thread, Joe posted a series of pictures that shows a good way to do it. Eddy does something very similar. I like to cut the chin of the plug first upright on the table saw (using a jig to hold it vertical...never freehand).

If I had access to a pin router or shaper I'd build a pin guided bed to follow the curve of the slope. You can do pattern sawing with a bandsaw using a point shaped guide block and a sled shaped to your cut, but my efforts at it were disappointing.

[Hookset]

Here are the Eddy Needles next to the 4 7/8" Musso Swmmers and 7" Dannys. I should be swimming these Needles in a few weeks, can't wait to give them a try.

I also turned three 7 1/4" A40s, but I have to wait for some lips to arive in the mail before I drill them.

[rphud]

Thanks Chef. I will let you know as things develop.