Action...

[Tagger]

I believe the old Gibbs is Sugar pine ... good luck finding that .. Try White Pine .... Just curious ??? Did your finished popper weigh in at 1.5 ounce .?? and did it sit the same dead in the water as the gibbs ..

[fishatin]

I am using pine and go gram for gram every step
of the way and still no luck...Mine come out to
be exactly the same weight and most people cannot tell
the difference...could "the wood" really be a factor from
eastern white pine to this sugar pine?

[Tagger]

Hows it sit dead in the water ??? thats a biggy .. You might have to adjust lead to wood change .. even exact same wood you might have to adjsut ,,, old growth ,, new stuff ..

[fishatin]

Well, these poppers sink until you retrieve so I am not sure about what
you mean...dead in the water? even the commercial made one sinks!

[Tagger]

I mean ... does it mimick the original when your not fishing it .not tugging on the line ... dead .. throw it in right in front of you and watch what it does . Ok does it sink same attitude in the water as original gibbs 1.5 ounce .. same sink rate ..slow sink or like a stone .arse straight down or at an angle . We are almost to the smash it with a hammer point .

[Diggin Jiggin]

Originally Posted by Tagger

I mean ... does it mimick the original when your not fishing it .not tugging on the line ... dead .. throw it in right in front of you and watch what it does . Ok does it sink same attitude in the water as original gibbs 1.5 ounce .. same sink rate ..slow sink or like a stone .arse straight down or at an angle . We are almost to the smash it with a hammer point .

I didn't know there was another step after the Bandsaw... Taggers on another level...

If you have the front cut at the same angle as the original and its diving, is it flipping upside down ?? That would make the cup work like a dive plane. Maybe move some more weight onto the belly and if necessary reduce whats in the tail. You gotta experiment...

[Flaptail]

Heres an example of why it's hard to get the "action" of one plug manufacturers models down pat.

In the photo below are 4 Polaris Poppers by Gibbs. They span the years from Stan, his son John and Jim Griecci, who owend the company before the current owners in Rhode Island. All are meant to represent the large model which commonly weighs in at 3-1/2 oz.

The top plug is one of Stans
The next one down is on of John's.
The next one down is one of Jim Grieccis standard large.
The bottom one was made by Jim G. on spcl. order from a noted distance casting champion.

Note the wood types and how they react hydrodynamically (float or sink) in the water. Note closely the weight differences though (except for the spcl order one) they all carry the exact same lead pencil weight.

Like Numbskull discovered when he reproduced the Habs Needlefish, you can't judge them all by one example. Find the one that you like best and mimic it is basically all I can advise you to do.

[fishatin]

yeah, I guess I need to experiment...Thanks for the input guys...I just keep doing the same thing over and over again being so happy with the shape and placement
of the critical components that I forget after I finish them that
they just don't work and since I have changed nothing, therefore
nothing changes...back to the work bench! Such is the life
of a plug builder...