PITCHNEY 5" DANNY ??

[Rockfish9]

things I have learned...
#1.. no matter who origialy makes a plug. no two of them are going to swim the same.. it's just not possible.. the grain alone in a specfiic piece of wood will make a differance...is every demension that exact?.. every hook hole... weight hole EXACTLY where the previous one was.. are the lengths EXACT.....things to ponder...

#2 lead... when weighting a plug... you cant go by the size of the slug.. you must weigh it if you really want it to be exact... differant pours will have differant perossities..

#3 surface swimmers... if you really want them to stay on top... avoid turning in straight line between transistions... instead... make sweeping countours/radiuses... ( Musso plugs are a classic example of this) by doing so you change the amount of wood on the plug dramaticly.. it DOES make a differance...

#4... Danny style plug line ties... a quick look at the line ties in any of the pictures on Bass Dozers site ( the closest some of us will ever be to an original)...look where they are... way down on the bottom of the plug...once i reworked ANY and all lips I now use on danny's( every size from Gorrilla 10" down to the 4" one) to match that.. the action DRAMATICALY improved especialy at real slow speeds...and if lip size is propotinate to the plug body.. that puppy will stay on top.. no matter how fast i crank it.. it gives me the option of slowing the plug to a crawl or speeding it up if i have a fish in pursuit..much like a bait fish would do if it was about to become lunch..
another finding for slow speeds.. thin the tail a little... it creates less resistance on its path back and forth...
#5... because i dis like making my own ( been there done that) .. I build the plug to fit waht is available to me... I will modify if need be .. but for me.. building a plug around an available lip is eaiser than building a lip for a plug that might not like it anyway...

I'm no expert.. not even close.. trial and error is my teacher. I let the fish decide on what they want... then I build it...often times based of the design of the masters before me... I just do it with what is available to me..

[capesams]

U make a lump grow in my pants

[numbskull]

I want to see a picture of this 5 1/4 inch "danny".
If he made one they are rarer than hen's teeth.
Borrow the damn thing from Steve, Paul.

He did make a 5 1/2" plug that looks like a danny but swims deeper like a musso pine. It was called a "bootleg". It has the max diameter further back (true dannies are fattest in the midline and weighted there), was thinner nose to waist, carried more weight, and used a higher slot lip. It is not a surface swimmer even though it looks like one. The one I measured was slightly wider than the dimensions you posted. I swam the original, didn't like it, and never bothered to copy it.

The fact that you have the widest spot 3" back on a 5" plug is much more in keeping with the bootleg than his surface swimmers. It is also going to let the lip pull more of the nose down (particularly if weighted ahead of its belly) and create issues trying to stay on top. You will do better if you move the belly to 2.5 ", rig the plug, adjust the weight until it floats in saltwater level and at midline. It will swim fine provided the lip slot is low. Keeping the lip narrow will reduce the roll.
The plug should pivot around the fat belly and weight, moving those spots apart will mess you up.