mark poulson Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I just posted a photo of my copy of a Whopper Plopper in the Hard Baits Gallery. It was a fun build. I have some assembly, finish shaping and sanding, and fine tuning to do before I paint it, but I'm waiting for my .051 musky wire to arrive before I can do the assembly and water test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonoman Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Did you carve the tail piece or did you mold that?...awesome so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thanks. I'm wishing tomorrow would be here already so I can work on it some more, but, without the shaft wire, I'm on hold. I carved it from a piece of PVC that was 1" x 1 1/2" x 1 3/4". I drilled a pilot hole 1/2" in from one side, centered in the 1" dimension, to give myself a starting point and a reference. Once I got the rough shape on the bandsaw, I used both my oscillating belt sander and my dremel with a small sanding drum to shape it. The dremel really helped me get the cupping in the tail. I used an exacto knife to remove matl. where I couldn't use the dremel, and then hand sanded with 120 grit. I use a Whopper Plopper to trace/rough draw what I thought the finished tail shape should be, and then just slowly removed material until it got closer and closer, and I kept using the original's tail for comparison as I went, so I could make small removals and not spoil the workpiece by removing too much. That part was a little nerve wracking, because I'd never tried to make a prop tail before, but slow did the trick. I left my tail a little thicker for strength. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 That tail is quite the carving challenge. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfk9 Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Thanks for the "how to do it" Mark ...looks great...unfortunately Patience is not one of my better characteristics...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 What did you use for the plastic tube that runs down the center of the bait? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 That tail is quite the carving challenge. Dave Dave, It took about an hour, because I had the original right in front of me while I was doing the shaping. It would probably go a little faster if I were to do it again. Because I knew the PVC needed to be a little thicker, because it isn't flexible, after I hogged out the basic shape I shaped the inside of the prop first, and then trimmed the outside back down to as thin as I thought I was safe. I just went slow, so I didn't remove material from the wrong place. I kept renewing my reference lines, so I was able to think about what to remove, and why, in incremental steps. The genius of the tail is the cupped prop, which is what makes the plop-plop sound. It's like slapping the water with a cupped hand. That Dahlberg guy is pretty smart! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 What did you use for the plastic tube that runs down the center of the bait? Nedyarb, I wound up not putting a tube through the tail. Instead, I enlarged my original through hole to accommodate a buzz bait rivet at each end, which I super glued in place. That way, the tail is only touching the shaft in two small places, so I'm hoping it will turn more easily. I also put a rivet into the rear of the front section, so those two rivets would pivot on each other and keep my parts spaced. Since the bait was made from PVC, I counter sank the front of the first piece with a tight hole to accept the barrel wrap part of the line tie loop, and super glued that in. I may run some super glue down into the rivet in the back of that section, just for additional "don't rotate" insurance. I don't think I would have tried to build this bait from wood. Between the through wire, and the prop rotating so hard because it's eccentric, I think it would be too hard to waterproof it. Last night, I painted the inside faces of the joint with black nail polish, so I can paint the rest of the bait today with Wicked Black and coat it with Solarez, dipped, without having to worry about a buildup within the joint itself. First I am going to add another two grams of ballast in the belly, just in front of the hook hanger. I'm afraid there is going to be a lot of force from the rotating tail, so I want enough ballast low to keep the front part from turning, too. I'm doing an all black scheme, with red faceted glass beads for eyes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I finished it today, and it works!!! Here's a link: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/15445-whopper-plopper6/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I agree, the double bearing rivet is a better solution. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) I made another Plopper tail today, using a Tally Wacker tail from LurePartsOnline, just to see if it would work. Here's a link: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/15450-plopper-tail1/ Edited January 11, 2016 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Because I am fighting a cold, I haven't been able to finish and fish my latest Whopper Plopper yet, so I have had a lot of time to think about my build. I realized that I shaped both of my Plopper tails to follow the original bait's tail as closely as possible. For me, that meant having a cone-shaped tail section with the Plopper tail blade coming off to one side. In the case of the tail with the metal Wacker blade, having a cone shape reduced the amount of material I had to mount the metal Wacker blade into, and was probably unnecessary. A cylindrical shape would probably work just as well, since the Wacker blade is plenty heavy enough to supply an eccentric load to the tail, and give the whole lure a good booty shake. Or I could just be way off base, with too much time to do what I'm least equipped to do, think. Hahaha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) So I got a chance to test swim my Plopper with the metal tail. It does swim, but it doesn't plop. I think I need more cupping. It also hangs down at a 45 degree angle, which I don't like, since I put some silicone skirt material in the belly to simulate wings. I think I am going to either make a new metal finned tail with a cylindrical attachment, to give it more buoyancy, or carve a new tail out of PVC. Knowing myself as I do, I'll probably do one of each. Hahaha I just posted a picture in the Gallery: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/15484-whopper-plopper9/ Edited January 16, 2016 by mark poulson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 (edited) I did make another PVC-tailed Plopper, but with an even wider and deeper tail fin. Guess what? It turned when I shot air past it, but not in the water. I put it next to my successful Plopper tail, and the original's tail, and I finally saw what was wrong. I had made the end of the fin so wide it transitioned back into the body of the tail past the shaft, or axis of rotation, so it was fighting itself when I dragged it through the water. I removed some material to get the connection to terminate even with the shaft, and reduced the size of the end of the fin and, plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is, because it swims now. I had avoided this problem by dumb luck with my first tail because I tried so hard to duplicate the original, I Not understanding how the fin worked, I just figured bigger is better. Lesson learned (I hope). Edited January 18, 2016 by mark poulson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroycustombaits Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 We're is the picture,can't find hard bait gallery thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) We're is the picture,can't find hard bait gallery thanks There's a link in Post #10 of this thread and another one in Post #12. Ben Edited January 25, 2016 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21xdc Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Have you tried Roto Spinner blades Worthco ?... Roto Propellers at LPO ? 3 sizes to choose from... How about the Prop Delta Blade from LPO and cut one blade off? Lighter, Made from aluminum. Edited January 25, 2016 by 21xdc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Have you tried Roto Spinner blades Worthco ?... Roto Propellers at LPO ? 3 sizes to choose from... How about the Prop Delta Blade from LPO and cut one blade off? Lighter, Made from aluminum. Thanks for the ideas. The prop delta blade from LPO does look like it would work, and it is lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MstormC Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mark, I've often had top water prop baits have their bodies spin, mainly on mass produced baits. The easiest way to correct it, that I've found, is to take a bell sinker and fasten it to the hook hanger on the lure body. You might have to experiment with the size of the bell sinker but 99 times out of 100 it works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mark, I've often had top water prop baits have their bodies spin, mainly on mass produced baits. The easiest way to correct it, that I've found, is to take a bell sinker and fasten it to the hook hanger on the lure body. You might have to experiment with the size of the bell sinker but 99 times out of 100 it works. I added a gram of lead wire to the belly treble's shank, and that did it for me. It gave my bait a much more stable front section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Well, it's been raining, and I'm cold natured, so I decided to make another Plopper Monday. I made it all out of PVC, including the tail, and I made the cupped blade on the tail bigger, thinking this would give me a louder plop. Wrong! It didn't spin at slow speeds, and the front section rotated when I did manage to get the blade turning and plopping. I figured out that the bigger blade actually made it harder to fish the bait at slow speeds, and it didn't plop as much as my first version. So I began looking hard at the first one I made, and I realized that the larger blade was taking too much speed to begin spinning, and was actually hurting the action. Because the blade is turned by moving through the water, the larger blade was requiring more water speed to begin turning, because it doesn't grab the water, like a boat's prop, but instead is pushed by the water as it is retrieved. So I made the new blade narrower, like my first version, and, voila (or viola), it swims great and plops loudly. And there is no hint of the front spinning. I realized that, in trying to duplicate the original with my first version, I had inadvertently made my first blade perfect, totally by dumb luck. Of course, I'll never admit that to anyone. I'll just keep on letting everyone think I'm a lure making genius! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishon-son Posted March 10, 2016 Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 lol got any pics mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2016 lol got any pics mark I'll take some and post them in a few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Fishon-son, I have to update my phone's software before I can post a picture. Right now it won't let me email my photos. Technology is great, except when it isn't. Hahaha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
