scrubs Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Hey guys can you tell me what the blade angle is on the Charlie Fox Whirligig lure? Want to make up a couple during the off season. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Here's Dieter's initial post about them: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/2474-a-great-american-lure/ I haven't built a Whirligig, but I have built topwater twitch cranks that flip from horizontal to vertical on the retrieve, like a struggling bait fish. The closer to 45 degrees, the more quickly the lures turn, but the slower I have to fish them so they don't spin completely around. I'm guessing you can vary the angle to get different actions. The greater the angle away from parallel to the lure's centerline shaft, the slower you would have to fish it before it begins to dive, but the greater the topwater disturbance. Maybe make some with less angle to burn in clear water, and some with more angle for off colored water, or low light conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Thanks Mark. I had seen that and I'm guessing about 75 degrees to vertical. Lazy guy that I am I was thinking of using Indiana blades. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted November 9, 2014 Report Share Posted November 9, 2014 I am also lazy, and cheap! Hahaha I used Plano box dividers for my angled lips when I was making prototypes, and it turned out they worked fine, period. But I can see how curved blades would work better on a rotating lure. They would help the lure rotate at slower speeds, so, depending on what you have to work with, some kind of spinnerbait blade should work fine. I would play around on some scrap to see if I could get a saw kerf that I could slip the blade into, so I didn't have to try and make a curved cut. If a curved blade fits snuggly into a straight saw kerf, locking it in place with epoxy is easy to do. Just remember that fingers and moving saw blades do not play nicely, so use some kind of a vise or jig to hold your scrap and/or lure when you do the cutting. Let us know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) 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 Edited November 12, 2014 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted November 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Thanks Dieter, that made it perfectly clear. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Maxwell Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 What he said!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 (edited) 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 Edited November 14, 2014 by diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted November 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Thanks Dieter. I had seen it but sometimes it's not so easy to find your older youtube videos. How successful was your Tallywacker on pike? There's a lake around here that has some 40 inch plus pike and most I've seen are good sized. Always the Muskies too. :-) I'll need some surface or very shallow lures for both lakes. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Thanks Dieter. I had seen it but sometimes it's not so easy to find your older youtube videos. How successful was your Tallywacker on pike? There's a lake around here that has some 40 inch plus pike and most I've seen are good sized. Always the Muskies too. :-) I'll need some surface or very shallow lures for both lakes. bill 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted November 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Guess , you'd need to find out , what works best for you as well ? Greetings , Dieter And that's half the fun. The guys at that lake do well on buzzbaits for the pike. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 (edited) Well it's been really cold in the garage, too cold for turning baits lately jso these experiments may wait awhile. bill Edited November 19, 2014 by scrubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
