Origin of Canal Special ?

[Tagger]

I should know this but I don't or forgot .. I know the Pencil popper is Gibbs baby , but who was that man , I'd like to shake his hand , who made my pencil popper flat on the bottom and called it a Canal Special ? thanks ..

[steelhead]

Is that the big one with the flat bottom? I'd be interested, too. Maybe a picture and how it sits in the water?

[gone fishin]

Tagger - I think it was a Gibbs thing. came out with it just about showtime a few years ago.

[capesams]

yup! made just for old man gibbs himself...never got on the market, although some were sold out of his shop, they were made in his later years so he could use them to fish with....around 3oz..

[MAC]

3 1/8 oz

[capesams]

27/8's

[Flaptail]

Bing! History time. It was Stan himself. He wanted something that would move a little more on the surface on a running tide (especially minus tide days when the wa-wa really goes up to 5 knots) it had to plane up quickly ( which his pencil popper won't do) and cast a bit further ( the special weighs 3-1/2 oz as opposed to the reg. pp at 2-3/4) it has the same arse weight as the 3-1/2 oz Polaris ( so does the 2-1/4 0z polaris and thats why that size sucks for the canal in my humble opinion) He started making those in the early 70's. His son John and he experimented with dfferent sizes ( John used a slightly shorter and stubbier version) but commercially only the 3-1/2 oz is and was available.

A lot of big bass fell to them. My good friend Stiff-tip has a 54-1/2 pounder on a yellow scale CC Special taken in September 1989 at pole 155. I was given that plug for my collection, signed by him with the date he caught it and poundage. ( it was my plug and he stole it from me one morning while casting to breaking bass at Playland so he felt after he caught that fish he had to give it back)

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by capesams

yup! made just for old man gibbs himself...never got on the market, although some were sold out of his shop, they were made in his later years so he could use them to fish with....around 3oz..

Steve, they were always available after 1975 commercially, that's when I first saw them in a shop. Red top was the only shop that he would make them available to until Johnny bought and ran the shop that is across from Quintals by the Bourne rotary ( Cape Cod Charlie's) that only lasted a couple years. You could get them from the get go at the shop ( Stan's house and cottage factory) where he sold the seconds and one of a kinds that hung on the wire over the counter there before 1975.

[numbskull]

Whether its true or not I can't say, but someone told me Gibbs didn't really like the plug, rather he preferred the regular pencil popper and made the Canal special only because it cast further and "guys demanded it".

For steelhead's sake the dimensions (of a recent Gibbs version) are

Length 7 5/8
nose 5/8 and cut at 45 degrees
tail 1/2
belly 1 1/8, widest at about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches fom the tail
slope 5 3/4 measured fron the line tie, not the tip of the sloped nose.
belly hook 3 3/4 from tail

It sinks, whereas the equivalent pencil popper floats vertically with about 3/4 inch of nose showing, which makes them real buggers to snag and retrieve after you break 'em off.
Incidentally, I know that at the show people were talking about weighting the Canal special with a second weight ahead of the hook. Anybody want to fess up about that?

Here's a picture.

[Flaptail]

Good morning George! The original had no weight up front. Stan liked the plug but it wasn't his favorite, he really liked the Polaris.

[steelhead]

This history and rememberances are always fantastic! Love it! Thanks Guys!!!!

[Tagger]

Awesome to have all this at your finger tips .. thanks guys

[The Dad Fisherman]

NS....Thanx for the Dimensions on that one....I want to make a few for the Ditch for the upcoming season.

[Skitterpop]

I have a flat bottomed pencil about 7 3/4 inches

Flouro pink with silver sparkles white on the bottom two trebles

Is this a Gibbs? Doesn`t look old at all.

Love the history leesons!
Mike

[steelhead]

Were they made of cedar, pine? Or?????

[stiff tip]

when gibbs had the work shop in sagamore me and flaptail would stop and talk to jonh +stan all the time when they chiped or nicked a p-p it would be put aside .later he would take and belt sand the nick down flat that way he still could still sell the plug at the shop for a special reduced price most of the time it was 4 bucks or less .the weight of the was greater ,so better castin.because of the flat bottom the plug could displace more surface area making it more versital in fast and slow moving water.many a big bass was taken on those plugs i don;tleave home without one love stiffi

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Indanite

I have a flat bottomed pencil about 7 3/4 inches

Flouro pink with silver sparkles white on the bottom two trebles

Is this a Gibbs? Doesn`t look old at all.

Love the history leesons!
Mike

You probably have a Hawg Hunter or a Guppy, Mike.

Brad made the Hawgs from 8" blanks. Depending on the width (every one is different because Brad turned every one by hand and eye--and his eye wasn't too good) it can weigh between 3-4 oz.

The Guppys are much more uniform.

[ProfessorM]

Hawg's

[stiff tip]

steel head most of john gibbs plugs were made from sugar pine .john would buy 2x12x12ft lengths and cut them down to fit. stiff tip

[steelhead]

Thanks :-)

[stiff tip]

one good thing about the h-h-plg was ,u didnot have to worry about the finish, becuase brad made them to catch fish .not preedy but very deadly. i have a bunch of his plugs, there oogley as sin and still catch lots of fish.some of his plugs ,will never see the water,ill keep them stached away in my colection, i think an one way there works of a canal fishermans art .i miss big brad and his stinky cigar.

[steelhead]

ST, Can you post a picture of the HH PLug?

[t.orlando]

Big fan of Brads plugs also. Luckily, still got about 20 left.....even got 1 HH needlefish

[stiff tip]

SteelHead.... heres a few pics of some of the HH I have hideen in the vault. Hope these are what your looking for...
Stiffy

[ProfessorM]

Originally Posted by steelhead

ST, Can you post a picture of the HH PLug?

I got some time so I will give you a picture. The top is the real McCoy. The other is my copy. I also have tried some smaller ones too. Dave has a really nice size that is in between the large and my mack copy. If you want I can send you the original and to see for yourself. Paul

[ProfessorM]

He beat me to the punch. Dave you have way too many. What do you think he used for stock? The one I have is red cedar I think. Probably whatever he had laying around. Mine are sugar pine but I am now making a batch out of AYC. Sorry Ed didn't mean to hijack your thread about the canal special. P.

[stiff tip]

paul i see one hog-hunter, and the others r works of art. on brads best day he could;nt make a plug that pur-t . brad had his image to uphold .brad beleaved ugly was goodand keep the price cheep. s-t.

[numbskull]

Damn, Prof. Those are f......ing beautiful. Thanks for showing them.

[Mike P]

Brad used sugar pine, too. At the end, he was having the blanks cut, the thru wire hole pre-cut along both halves of the blanks, then glued together by his supplier, since his eyes were getting really bad and he had to scrap maybe one out of three plugs he turned because his drill press wasn't long enough to drill from one end to the other. He'd drill halfway, then start from the other end, then try to get the drillings to meet using a hand drill with a flexible bit.

He drew the mackerel vermiculations on with a Sharpie. He once made me a pink mackerel special where the vermiculations read "NY SUCKS" if you held the plug a certain way.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Professor Moriarty

I got some time so I will give you a picture. The top is the real McCoy. The other is my copy. I also have tried some smaller ones too. Dave has a really nice size that is in between the large and my mack copy. If you want I can send you the original and to see for yourself. Paul

Geez Paul, sorry to see your havin so may problems usin your new brush .
Dimensions really are on there way.