darters? how to - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

numbskull · 10-20-2007, 05:49 AM

They are usually center drilled. Bend your wire in a P shape and epoxy it in. Weighting depends on the wood and hook placement, but usually you want them to float slightly tail down with the diving plane level and just above the water. Maple often doesn't need any weight, lighter woods (or fewer hooks) typically are weighted about 2/3 back. The real trick is getting the length and width right, for the area of the diving plane. Too small a plane, no action. Too big a plane, roll out. What determines the depth they run I've not yet figured out. Good luck.

numbskull · 10-20-2007, 06:00 AM

Also, don't discount using screw eyes for darters. Big SS screw eyes, predrilled and epoxyed into maple with 2 ton epoxy (the 5 minute stuff deteriorates in water) are not going to fail. Guys have caught bass over 60 lbs on Gibbs old screw eye darters (and poppers).

Nebe · 10-20-2007, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by numbskull

Also, don't discount using screw eyes for darters. Big SS screw eyes, predrilled and epoxyed into maple with 2 ton epoxy (the 5 minute stuff deteriorates in water) are not going to fail. Guys have caught bass over 60 lbs on Gibbs old screw eye darters (and poppers).

I totally agree with you on this- especially if the darter is made from hard maple.

grizzdog, to make a good darter make a blank the shape of a fine fat cigar.. make sure to make it longer in the front than you think you will want the darter to be to give you some material to make cutting the lower lip easier. make sure the blank has a nice taper near the front and a fine shaper taper in the rear. drill on center and if you use one belly hook, put it a skootch forward of the center of the plug. it will dart nicely. the narrower the darter the more erratic the darting action... If you want to make a lot and have a tablesaw, i heavily recomend you make some jigs to to the lower lip. the width of the tablesaw blade will make the upper lip for you. If you go through the time to make another jig that allows you to have 3 settings to do a nice 3 stage transition in the slope from the nose loop to the back, you will have one heck of a darter.
use hard maple and soak them in sealer a loooooooong time.
you can do the lips on a bandsaw and a belt sander by eye but each one will be different. just make sure you leave the end blocks on the blank when you go to drill the holes and cut the lip- that way it will all come out square.