What's Cookin' ?

[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.

[numbskull]

Fat little Musso's. Look a lot like the ones he made for himself.

[pbadad]

Finished epoxy on the Conrad Jrs. Sit in the water with the back poking out, water line above lip slot and above the rear wire hole. That plug is white pine w/ 9 gram belly weight. Time to swim the finish product.
Just spun a Conrod Jr w/ soft maple. Comparable body weight sans weight and hardware 46gr. maple/ 32gr. pine. did a float test w/ 3/0 & 2/0 hooks (3). Sank head first with 9 gr. belly weight. Sank less w/5gr.belly weight. Floated perfect w/o any weight. Plug weighed bare soft maple w/3-3/0 hooks 2.6oz/ Weight w/Pine finished paint & epoxy w/3-3/0 hks. 2.3oz.
3/0 marry easy (cut), 2/0 OK. I rather 3/0. What hooks usually go with this plug? Any reason not to use a dressed siwash? 5/0 or /6/0.
Plug swap plugs; 1 finished, waiting on color response on other.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by pbadad

Finished epoxy on the Conrad Jrs. Sit in the water with the back poking out, water line above lip slot and above the rear wire hole. That plug is white pine w/ 9 gram belly weight. Time to swim the finish product.
.

Definitely try one with more weight. Probably another 5-7 grams. Your's sounds more like it is set up as a surface swimmer.

They work well if they float level with the back just barely out of the water (the tail will be well below the surface). Your plug will swim fine, but it will not get as deep as one weighted more heavily, it will also require a faster retrieve to fight its buoyancy and stay down. Most importantly (I think) it will not suspend as well when you pause it......and that is when the plug gets hit the most often in my experience.

I've done little this week and am working this weekend :sad: so I've got little to offer this week.

[rphud]

Yeah George, like Flap did. Maybe push along at a bit of an angle, not completely flat out at a slow retreive.