Spook Hell..........Help

[Eric Roach]

Also (and this is probably obvious), the spacing on the design shows the shoulder over 1.5" -- If you want a similar plug weight to mine (<4 oz), you'll want to adjust your duplicator to the shoulder diameter of ~ 1.46". Once I got this, I didn't want to adjust the design and cut a new template...Didn't want to mess with a good thing.

[Muskyslayer96]

Hey Fellas,

Well I'm taking some time off work to spend with my new daughter and so I had some time to finish up the spooks I posted about back in March. Well here is an update. First off thanks to everyone who posted and helped out it was a great way for me to tweak and learn some important lessons on bait building. I hope it was useful to others as well.

Here are four i finished up with a little paint and e-tex..nothing fancy and there are some flaws in the clear-coat (something I'm usually super anal and sensitive about) but I just needed to make sure my building process with a minimum of 2 E-tex coats would not effect the action of these spooks.
Final specs:
5.5 inches
Built from basswood or cedar (did not affect action a great deal)
Final weight 1 1/4 to 1 13\8 oz depending on wood used
Rigged with 2/0 trebles

My first time using basswood and I'm not real fond of it, didn't seal very well and i had some issues with bubbles around the eye sockets. I have a plan for the future, but really liked the cedar and will use it as soon as i use up the basswood.
I love the way these run when worked and am very pleased.....So pleased that I started on some 8 inchers for muskies that have very similar action...HUGE thanks again for all the help I learned a lot about the process.
Oh one last thing the pearl/pink is one I made for my new beautiful little princess
Best,
MS

[PNG]

Again congratulations on your daughter.

Ive used basswood alot and all I can say is give it a chance, it is awesome once you understand it so be patient. After the initial soak in sealer once dry do another quick dip.

What I have found is a single coat of etex is plenty any more and you run the chance of altering the plugs action. When i put the epoxy on I let it spin a bit then remove as much as I can for a thin coat. This preserves the original intended action of the lure.
Looking at the hook placement don't be afraid to move the belly hook back a bit if you find it tangles.

Lastly I really like the body shape of those plugs I think you nailed it I would love to see one in action.

[numbskull]

Neat stuff. Got a Zara look to them.

[blondterror]

here is my copy of Eric's Big Spook design... also made with EW Pine, same weighting as his design, 6X 3/0 hooks

[Eric Roach]

Very nice -- I'm glad you got a chance to mess with it. I found that it really needs more weight to keel it, as it rolls completely on the retrieve.