numbskull

Diemai The action of metal lip swimmers is determined primarily by the lip angles and line tie position. Weighting, buoyancy, and body shape and length are secondary factors. Try eliminating the screw eye line tie, through drill, and use a wire line tie loop (in a horizontal orientation). Bend the eye up to take your plug deeper, down to take your plug shallower. The location of the line tie slot also makes a difference. High slot lips make a deeper diving tighter wiggle more stable plug. The bend angle of the bottom part of the lip is also a factor. The closer to 90 degrees you get the steeper the dive angle of the plug. Finally the height of the vertical portion of the lip matters. The deeper the diving plane is below the line tie, the deeper your plug will go. Conversely, a low slot lip with a vertical angle of the diving plane closer to 180degrees, and a line tie bent down will keep your plug shallower, and produce a wide wobble, particularly if weighted near the middle. As for weighting, metal lip swimmers tend to pivot around their center of mass. The closer to the head you make this the more the tail wants to wag, but the more water resistance you need to overcome to do this. For surface swimmers where the tail elevates this is no big deal, but as the plug becomes submerged it takes more lip forces to get a bigger wag. The key point is that the depth that a metal lip swims at is not very dependent on weight position. It is the line tie and metal lip shape that are more important. Buoyancy is also a factor and weighting your plug so it floats just back out of water is good for plugs you want to get deep, floating level with the midline best for plugs that you want to work on top. These issues have been worked out by saltwater lure builders over decades. RI popper is probably not your best source. Search for pictures/info on plugs built by Pichney, Musso, or Gibbs. Saltwater plug building sites also have plenty of info. A good one is Striped-Bass dot com. There is also a site called bassdozer dot com that is semi commercial, but has articles including one on surf "plugology". It is long winded but has loads of picture and info about how various classic wooden metal lips performed. You can learn a lot by examining the pictures. Good Luck