diemai

Never even thought about such , Dave , ...great idea , indeed ! But as you've said , accurate pilot hole drilling essential ! But I will try this out on this lure , as I've often drilled long holes from either side to meet in center of a longer lure body section , ........and since these holes usually turn out to be a little off to exactly meet one another and thus require tinkering for f. e. a long wire shaft to pass all the way through , they might just come as desired for those interlocking screw eye's threaded shanks ? Hopefully tomorrow I'd find the time to fire up my lathe, ........greetings , Dieter

@ Vodkaman Dave , thanks a lot for your extensive reply , , especially the links , ..... I appreciate it very much ! But I must admit , that you're taking me into difficulties , .......so many timber blanks I've got awaiting sealing and painting , that it seems to be impossible to get done until May 1st , the end of local pike and zander closing tíme , ......"Zig-Wag" added and now you're coming up with that lure of Rollincoal , that I just ought try my hands on as well ! And it looks , like it's not the only lure model in that video worthwile to give it a shot ! Thanks a lot ! I've had contact with Rollincoal on StripersOnline about one year ago , he provided some help to me , as I wanted to make a Bottlehead Plug to try for local pike , ...a nice bloke , indeed , .......worked out fine , by the way , even caught a pike on that plug back then ! By your stats I figure out , that my thoughts seem to be correct , that this double pin hinge does limit the roll of the lure sections against one another , which might be essential for the swimming action of the "Zig-Wag" . Maybe also all of that heavy hardware on those vintage plugs has the purpose to reduce buoancy to let the plug swim a bit deeper ? But anyway , I want fast results , .....too many ideas , too little time , ....so I guess , I'd neglect that complicated double pin hinge design , at least for now , .........cracked my brain at my weekend shiftwork yesterday and came up with two rather crude sketches , ...gonna furnish two lures accordingly to these , just using simple screw eyes , .......the fasted and easiest method , I reckon . Belly hook hangers are gonna be made of small metal strips , either brass or stainless steel , bent to an "Omega" shape and mounted with small woodscrews , ........on the larger lure this hookhanger is going to be placed crosswise in a small plane groove cut into the lurebody , so that the mounting screws can pass left and right of the connecting screweye , ...otherwise not enough depth left for centered mounting screws . Had already successfully employed this crosswise hook hanger design on my "WeightShifter Plugs" . I guess , that I'm gonnna turn down the larger lure of meranti and the smaller one of abachi , ..this way the larger one would not turn out too buoyant , I hope . Also I'm hoping to be able to figure out about possible differences in action of both the double joint with less play and the single joint providing more roll of the sections . Anyway , ......I'll report back about my results , ..might take some weeks , as I'm busy with many things , ..but definately I want to offer such a "ZigWag" knockoff to our pike in may ! @ Seeking56 Thanks a lot for chiming in , ......this is a great idea , ...I must admit , that it gets my thoughts spinning , ......I had a similar idea years ago , but never put it to practice , .......it was about some kinda frames of rigid plastic material with cut out pockets in center to accomodate some kind of buoyant material , .....the rigid frames(in shape of swimbait sections) would accommodate the hinges , the material inside of the pockets would provide buoancy . If too complicated going with cut out pockets , one might as well make a sandwich construction , rigid material in center and either side plated with the buoyant material . As said before , ...... so many ideas , so little time ! Thanks a lot for chiming in , fellas , ......greetings , Dieter

Hi , folks , Couple of days ago I ran into this old plug in the internet : http://zigwag.weebly.com/ Just looks like another DIY lure project for me to try , .....accordingly to the Heddon's adverts back in the day this plug model just ought to catch pike over here in central Europe . I certainly do not intend to make accurate copies , that might be confused with the genuine vintage plugs , I just want to employ the general shape and action of that lure model utilizing modern hardware . But what puzzles me , is Heddon's method of joining the two sections of the "Zig-Wag" with a little metal plate inside of it's slots and fixed by two metal pins , ........would be quite time consuming and elaborate to copy this joint , ...also does just not lend itself to perfect sealing of the timber lure ! Would this kinda joint(or hinge , if you will)be essential for the lure's action , ...since it it obvious , that it limits the play of the two sections against one another into any other than the intended directions ? I do not think , that my knock-off would perform the same way , if I would just use a pair of centered , interconnected screw eyes as a joint , .........as these would provide much more possible twist of the two sections against one another , compared to the genuine plate and pin hinge system ? I'm thinking , to eleminate this certain twisting play of the two sections , I might have to employ TWO pairs of interconnected eyes on top and bottom ! I know , that it would be rather unlikely , ....but has anyone swum a genuine "Zig-Wag" before to be able to tell , whether a hinge free of play in unintended directions would be essential for the proper and desired action of this lure ? Off course any opinions of fellow lure tinkerers around here most welcome as well ! Greetings , diemai

Since you guys across the Great Pond won't be familiar to asp , .......here is a very wellmade video from Poland, that I just came across , really worthwile to watch , showing some great fish catching surface action and also the lures being used pictured by the end of the video ,........enjoy : Greetz , Dieter

Just came across this thread , ......I'm using such lures for asp , a predatory member of the carp family over here in central Europe , in particular in the tidal stretch of Germany's second largest river , the "Elbe". During the warm season asp burst into schools of minnows swimming about the tips of the groines , but sometimes also far out in the stream , hence asp lures should be suitable for far casting . Asp respond best to surface-skimming lures retrieved extremely fast , as such lures perfectly resemble a fleeing minnow swimming for it's life ,.......and this is exactly , what this pipe lure does , even pulling a bubble trace and changing it's course every few feet to come back in some kinda narrow wave pattern . Also this required action is the reason for the slant face cut this particular way , at first it aids the lure to break through the surface with it's nose and in conjunction with the hook rigged on top of the back end and the line pull it angles into the waves to change the course of the lure . Though this pipe lure does not have any built-in wiggling action like a casting spoon for example , it can also be used as a jigger on or near the bottom to target zander(European walleye) or perch , but in this case some kinda "dancing" action must be generated by constant moves of the rod tip . Guess , I had posted this video somewhere in here before , nevertheless , here it is again : Greetings , Dieter

@ RayburnGuy The missus keeps on telling me the same thing about the lottery numbers , .......but as it seems ,...... my luck is for lures only , ....no early retirement yet ! No more lurefishing for pike and zander until May 1st ,...local closing time commences in a few hours from now , ........enough time to maintain tackle and lures for the oncoming season 2015 . Thanks for wishing well , ......greetings , Dieter

@ RayburnGuy Sorry for belated reply , Ben , been quite busy through the Xmas Holidays ! It's the second lost lure of mine , that I would get back, but actually the first one came back just one week after I had lost it to a snag close at the bank , ......passed by that particular spot with my bittle boat this time and saw it being washed inbetween the rocky embankment to get stuck inbetween the rocks there . That "Rapala Down Deep Fat Rap" must have popped back to the surface somehow ,maybe even due to the backward acceleration, when having snapped the line ? But so far I've also only found "foreign" lures, .......and what bothers me about these nowadays ,ist the fact , that people are obviously unwilling not to spend money on lures anymore , .....I hate taking efforts to pick all of those non-brand cheapos from the trees ! @Vodkaman Dave , in fact many years ago I had extra bought fins , a mask and snorkel to dive down to a lure-eating spot in a local gravel pit , ......what I had discovered there at about 9 feet depth , was a 15 foot old punt of oak wood , the bottom cast out with concrete to keep it down , ...I assume , that the gravel pit workers had dumped it there , before the pit became entirely flooded many decades ago ? In a nutshell , .....amongst dozens of metal lures I had also recovered a "Nils Master Invincible" from the punt , a famous Finnish timber lure , .....it was supposed to be a floater , but after all of the time being nailed to it's wet grave , it's been soaked up with water and sunk like a brick . After a few months of drying down the basement and some new topcoats , it was ready for action again . Having this experience in mind lead into my excitement about seeing my own lure still in such a good condition ! Have yourself a happy and "fishy" New Year , friends , ........Greetings , Dieter

Hi, Folks , Haven't posted in a while , but here is a little rather uncommon story about a lost homemade lure : Picture by the end of the clip downloaded from my own TU gallery site . Hopefully you'd be able to understand my kinda clumsy spoken English , ........greetings from northern Germany , diemai

You're welcome , ...I'm glad , if I was able to provide some help to fellow fishermen , ...greetings , Dieter

If this would be of any help , ...........the German tackle company DAM offers their famous and well-proven "EffZett" spoon in a Brown Trout pattern , ......it's called their "Super Natural" line(click on spoon pics for bigger view of patterns) : http://www.dam.de/en/content/effzett%C2%AE-blinker-super-natural The spoon is available in 22 grams or 30 grams , which might probably meet your demands . Don't know , whether there are US distributors , but it should not be a problem to order these lures from Europe , ...if interested , I might be able to help looking around . In the US you might not be familiar this spoon model , ...but I'm not lying to say , that the "EffZett" is probably Germany's most famous fishing lure , a proven catcher of different species for many decades , ........some words about it in this video of mine : Greetz from northern Germany , diemai

Bill , ....I must admit not to have cast these a lot , since I've never done well on any pure propeller lures , .....but as far , as I'm concerned , a friend in Belgium caught quite well on one of my Tallywhacker models . My own prefered pure topwater lures for pike are the "Heddon Zara Spook" type stickbaits , at least for calm conditions , ......and when waters are a bit more choppy , I'd rather stick to popper type lures , ..of course in pike size 5" to 6" long . Guess , you'd need to find out , what works best for you as well ? Greetings , Dieter

In a nutshell , ............I'd turn them down on a lathe to roughly the shape of an ancient amphora or a flower vase . Then cut the lip slot and using it as a reference , I'd take away material to make up for the back and the flanks of the lureblank , so that the front part would remain round and the rear part unsymetrical . Here is a lure of mine made this way(the top one) : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/3876-small-lathe-turned-cranks/ Greetings , diemai

OK , ....good luck making these , ....quite a while ago I've made a little video about such lures displaying how to work these , ...if you haven't watched it yet : One more thing , ........naturally the "Whirligig " must be made of sufficiently buoyant timber , ......a more elongated one with shorter fins would rather "walk-the-dog" on the surface more pronounced , but the underwater action , when twitching it in a submerged state , would be rather slow , ...this is due to a longer body providing more guidance in the water and shorter fins would not cause the lure to break out sidewards too much as well . On the other hand , .....a rather short , maybe even kinda "egg-shaped" body with longer(more protruding) fins , would not walk as far on the surface , rather sport an "X"-ing motion , but when constantly twitched on it's underwater path(about 1 1/2 feet deep) , it would come up with some kind of a "wild dance"(sorry , don't know how to describe better) , ........so , ...in a nutshell , ....you've got a couple of options making a "Whirligig" , ....probably make each one a bit different and find out , what works best for you . Greetings , Dieter

http://samfishing.fi/kauppa/index.php?cPath=74_73_190 Diving lip page of a Finnish tackle shop , .....Finnish language only , ....not even sure , whether they'd ship within Europe , .....once before I've tried to call in there in German and English language (many Finnish folks speak English , some also German) , but haven't received a reply . Greetz , diemai

Sorry , but I haven't been in here for a while , just came across ! The blade angle of the "Whirlygig" was never specified in that book , where I ran into the building instructions , ...by the sketch an fotos in there I've figured out , that it must be about geometric construction : Take the top view of the rotating head section as a base , the end grain side of the inner end of the top section is the reference line . Now create a paralell line to that reference of equal length and connect the ends of both lines under a right angle , ....this way you'd achieve an almost squarish rectangle . Now divide both paralells to the endgrain end into quarters , ....connecting the first quarter mark on the pointed end paralell to the third quarter mark on the end grain paralell makes up for the pass of the fins , ....you may make these at left , -or right pitch at will . Naturally the fin pass would also lead through both the lengthwise AND crosswise center of the head portion's topview . So virtually , the fin's angle changes a bit with the shape of the head portion , ....but this is the way , that I've made all of my "Whirligigs" . Sounds a bit complicated , right , ...here are some pictures , if you haven't come across yet : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/17724-my-latest-lure-test-video/?p=134542 Or , more simply by the looks at the pics .....you've just got those quarter marks at the end grain end and lead the fin's pass through the length ,-and crosswise center of the head portion , .....results are the same . Good luck making your own , .......greetz , Dieter

Sorry for belated reply , ...for days I've been hanging out at the ponds all day and sat down the shop in the evenning , got some urgent work to be accomplished(pimping bicycle luggage bags with tubular rodholders to transport two lure rods plus a landing net). @ Vodkaman Thanks , mate , ...glad , that it seems to be understandable ! @ Musky Glenn Thanks a bunch , bud , ......never heard of Jerry Clover , but just googled the name , ...came across some YouTube vids , .......OK , admittably this is just not the Oxford English , that I've picked during my youth , ......but as it seems , it's not much more difficult for me to understand than the southern accents of my own country . Greetings from Hamburg /northern Germany , ...Dieter

Hi , folks , Finally found the time to make a little video containing my "PopDiver" sketch made last weekend at work . I've decided on a video , so that I can reach far more people , as if just putting the pictures up on TU and a local site . Don't have a scanner , anyway , so I've only got these pictures at hand , anyway . All measurements are metric in millimetres . Greetz , Dieter

Thanks , Mark , they are just too reluctant these days , weather is weird , ....summer does not seem to want to leave for fall . Just yesterday my wife tossed in a stocker rainbow trout , when an approx. 28" pike attacked that hooked trout , ...but for the heck , they just don't bite lures ! Still some more spoon experiments to be accomplished , though , ....don't like the action of the bare "Hofschneider Red Eye Wigglers" , as they are always turning on their backs , ........a 5" grub attached to a bigger muskie version slowed downtzhe wiggle too much , but trebles dressed with feathers seem to deliver good results . Greetz , Dieter

Thanks a bunch , Mark , .......any attachement to a casting spoon , may it be a bucktail , a feathered treble , a plastic grub , a rubber skirt , a piece of cord or another spoon or spinner blade does work like some kinda brake parachute , meaning that it would provide a certain grade of drag to the spoon , slowing down it's wobble significantly . So in reverse , .....a spoon supposed to carry any of previously mentioned attachements , has to be designed in a way , that the bare blank would come up with a very strong wobble right from the start , ....maybe even overturning or spinning , ......so that when the attachement would be rigged , a sufficient grade of the built-in wobble would be left to the spoon , in spite of the drag of the attachement . I guess , that basically you are right with your idea of a second splitring or even a swivel between dressed hook and spoon , but I reckon , that any improvement would be hardly visible , as the distance inbetween spoon and dressed hook would be too short . Probably if switching one foot of monofilament beween dressed treble and spoon , the spoon would have a chance to wobble more , but for obvious reason this would not be practical . I rig two splitrings to these spoons to hold the feathered trebles , but not because of the wobble , but for a more lively action of the feathers , when lure is fished in a retrieve-and-pause pattern . One more thing I've found out meanwhile , is that those feathers slow down the sink rate of the spoons quite a bit , so in particular those narrow ones , that do not wiggle that much(they still do , but a bit more subtle compared to the wider spoons) on a straight retrieve , can be retrieved in a jerking manner , causing them to break out sideward randomly and same time sporting a great action of the feathered tail , ...also maintaining depth quite well this way . Greetz , Dieter

I did a video series on the subject a while ago , ........here are the two parts , that might be of interest to you : Sorry for the misleading title of the videos , English is not my first language , and I've just a wrong term . If you look closely at the spoons in the second linked video , you will see , that the epoxy clearcoat tents to set more around the rim of the spoons to bulge up a little there , even though I've utilized fast curing epoxy with a processing time of about 20 minutes. Probably a rotisserie might help , ......but in spite of that little flaw these spoons do perform very nice , got them in my tackle bag right now . Greetz , diemai

@ Vodkaman Thanks for chiming in , Dave , .......possibly gaining some more diving depth sounds pretty much interesting to me , I would have to try this on another model to be made during coming winter break , .....might not be neccessary for that particular pond in the video , but I'm also fishing other gravel pits partly having some steeper and deeper drop-offs covered in water weed , .........and still one could use the lure as a pure diving bait , too ! Thanks for that hint , Dave . @ barrybait Thanks a lot , ......though my written English is better than my spoken one , I guess , ....just do not have any "delete" button when talking into the camera ! @ Cougarftd Thanks a bunch , ........by next week I shall post a sketch of that lure in here as well , someone on a German lure making site asked for one to be able to make his own versions , so coming weekend shifts I'm gonna take the exact measurement off one PopDiver to draw a sketch at work , ...these two lures here I've made "freehanded" . Greetz , Dieter

Sorry for belated reply , gents , ....been working weekend shifts , ...not much time for web surfing ! Thanks a lot for your kind words , ........I've been throwing these PopDivers quite a few times now , ......sadly fish are too reluctant these days at the turnover from summer to fall , ...but I've learned a lot about how to work this lure through the submerged weedbeds without catching weeds too many times . Works real great to twitch it over weedbeds with only little clearance to the surface(just one foot is OK) , but yet crank it down into the open gaps between the single packs of weed in that pond . Also found out , that on a deeper dive a really lively and erratic swimming pattern can be achieved by cranking the reel handle just a quarter to a half turn and pause for a split second , then repeat and so forth , .........the lure would maintain depth this way but come back in in a most irregular swimming motion . I'm really happy with this lure design of mine , .....for coming winter break I'm planning on making some more of this kind in various colors and also turn down some larger models having two trebles rigged , ....just to be able to offer a bigger bite , since I believe , that larger lures would be of advantage in our heavily pressured local fishing ponds . Thanks a lot for your interest , folks , ....much appreciated , .....greetings , Dieter

Hi , people , It's been a little while , since I've posted in here , .......now I'm back and would like to put up this little video displaying my latest , somewhat out-of-the-box lure design , ....just thinking , that one or another hobby lure carver in here might get some inspiration and input , since I strongly believe , that my design would not only work for local northern pike , but for American bass alike . Most info about that lure model is containing in the video , ......hope , it's fairly understandable , as English is not my first language , ......nevertheless I'd gladly answer any upcoming questions here in the forums . At 15:10 of the video there is an inset link to another video shown , .......please check out that one as well , if interested . Greetings from northern Germany , diemai

I mailordered one from the US a while ago , .........now it's in my tacklebag and I've never even dared to grapple with it on the water's edge . Greetz , diemai