JBlaze

+1 on the swivels. John

I make a lot of the slip sinkers with this mold. I lay my pull pins in a large lid like off of a quart size mayonaise jar and lightly spray them with a teflon lubricant which I get at Lowes Home Center. It works very well for a couple of pours And I have to lay them back in the lid and shake it. It usually has enough of the lubricant in it to lightly coat them a couple of more times before I have to use the spray again. There is some smoke that comes of this stuff when the molten lead contacts the pen. Also be very cautious about getting a heavy coat of the lube on the pins. Once I had the smoke or the resulting gas blow back up through the pouring nozzel of my lead pot and quite a few lead spatter came out of the pot. Luckily, none of them landed on me but is was a little scary. I did powder paint some of these sinkers and it adhered very well. John

Clint, I'm not mad either. If I was worried about someone making one like mine or even similar, I would not have shown or posted it. The Chatter/Clatter Rig just naturally evolved from what someone else has made. Thanks for the compliment. Just let us know how you do on it. John

And a Merry Christmas to you. John

Thanks Ted, Not sure that it makes them wiggle more but it sure puts out some strong vibrations. I too went nuts over the chatterbait, I made them and never caught anything on them for a couple of years. But like you, I seldom threw it. My nephew took me out one day and he was skipping my chatterbait (I called it a clatter blade) way back under the limbs of the willow trees and was catching a bass almost every cast. I did catch a couple that day but mostly caught limbs. havn't caught one on it since. My favorite method of catching bass is also like yours. A jig. I just don't think any other lure consistently catches the quality of fish that a jig does. Hope you have a Merry Christmas as well. John

Well, this past week I finally got to take a few of my Tn rigs to the lake and try them out. We didn’t have much luck catching bass, not even small ones. They are dropping the water fast and the fish seem to have pulled out off the banks and suspended. My worst nightmare. So here is my opinion of the plain old three wire Tn Rig as made by me. It ain’t for me, this is not my style of fishing. Not sure what I expected from it, but it didn’t have any action or do anything that impressed me. I threw it out and let it sink and slowly reeled it in. Other than the fluttering and or wagging of the grub and swim bait tails, the only action this thing had was that which I imparted to it with jerks and pauses. I can almost see it catching fish for me in the fall when the bass are up shallow and chasing shad in the shallows. Anyway the making of it was an interesting endeavor. I also made a couple with a chatter style blade. One was made with a balsa wood head and the other one had a lead head. On the balsa wood head, I made the wire eye too small and blade movement was restricted. On the lead headed one, I made the wire eye a little larger and it chattered and clattered very well. I think this one will get the job done. Merry Christmas. John

Fuzzy, I think you hit the nail on the head. while I was writing my reply I was thinking the same thing. Merry Christmas everyone. John

Guys this is really all very interesting. I personally think its all about vibrations which to my understanding is what the lateral line of a bass feels. I like the willow leaf blade for slow rolling and have never even thrown an Indiana blade. Worth makes a shallow cup willow leaf which swings/turns with a wider arc than a regular willow. I would assume that this would displace more water. I also have always thought that water displacement and vibrations are one and the same. Now I am confused. Vodkaman once replied to a post (I can't remember which one) about viibrations in regards to a bait that didn't have a lot of movement/vibrations, I think it was because of weight.. He said even though I didn't see the movement/displacement, the sonics (Vibrations ?) were there. It seems that several of you agree on the fish attracting attributes of the Indiana blade. I think I will try an Indiana blade, it might make my spinner bait go from a good little bait to a great little bait! My feelings about the pros, they have to make a living at what they do and they are obligated to promote their sponsors products. if not, most of them wouldn't be around too long. I am sure in the hands of any professional fisherman almost any lure will catch bass. Look at the recent enthusiasm surrounding the Alabama Rig (myself included) Can all of us get one take it out there and immediately start catching fish on it. I know that I can't, I tried. But a pro took it out there and won a big tournament on it and someone is now making a lot of money off of something that the average fisherman like me had never even heard of and don't know how to use. As I said they are obligated to promote their sponsors products. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I don't think that is hypocrisy, it what they get paid to do. Even if they catch most of their fish on secret/homemade baits, it won't be a secret too long. I guess I'm getting off subject a little here. Sorry for my ramblings. Mark, I do appreciate this post, it is eye opening. John

Worth would be my pick for blades I don't think it gets any better and they are made in the good ole USA. John

here is one more, with a rigid hook assembly. I never did get around to moving the tow eye placement to try and make it run deeper. Hope these help. John http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/23100-first-attempt-at-deep-runner/page__fromsearch__1

I've done it, it works very well. and is very snag resistant. Like Sonny Barile said you can burn it through the brush and keeep on reeling. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/5318-half-half-series-ii/

Indeed he is. and very generous with the sharing of his ideas. Thanks Dieter