went for a swim today!

[merch]

I think a well trimmed needle might stand a better chance of swaying back and forth on the surface. So well trimmed it's right at the verge of unstable. Needles are probably some of the toughest plugs to build correctly because you typically don't want to much motion imparted on it from moving through the water, but you don't want too much weight in the head or tail either because it wont sit right as it suspends. The body shape of a suspending needle probaly has the largest influence on its behavior in the water if it was trimmed to sit perfectly horizontal.

If you figure out a formula for a perfect needle then you'd probably do pretty well as a plug builder. Very few have built suspending/slowsinks that perform well. Then again, a lot of the performace in the water has to be credited to the angler and there are very few of those guys who actually fish needles well. Different needles for different situations. You really have to know what you want it to do in a certain situation for it to work for you. I'm definately not as consistant with needles as some of the better guys out there. I'm working on it though!

[scottw]

I was just reading and printing out a 58 page Bassdozer article on plugology, he stated exactly what you did regarding needles, need to be tuned to the verge of being unstable....he suggested bending the eye up or down to accomplish this depending on the situation, good stuff....the needles that I've purchased seem to be weighted throughout ..in one case one in front of the eye, one behind and one about 2/3rds back ona 7" lure...trying to spread the weight throughout the body, I'm interested to see what the result would be from rigging one up and finding the point where the CG and CB line up as a result of placing a weight right there....interesting to see how the ends would act...guess I'll get on it starting tomorrow....btw..I was looking at a pencil popper that I have and it is weighted with a single weight(I don't think there's a tail weight) about 2/3rds back and given the body shape this is probably near the point we're discussing and the first time I fished I couldn't believe how wildly it splashed back and forth with almost no effort from me...

[kickin' bass ass]

hey scott,where did you find tht article?id like to check it out.this really turned out to be a great post ,very helpful merch,this plug building is pretty fun didnt realy think there was this much to it but ill take the callenge.i cant wait to fish .the pc video games just arent the same

[scottw]

Surf Plugology - Metal Lips, Plastic Lips, Needlefish, Darters, Topwaters and More

incredible history of swimming plugs and pics, really interesting stuff...

one final question...

what if you placed your weight at whatever midpoint you chose and then added flotation to one or both ends...meaning, instead of drilling and adding the lead tube weights in the tail or weight in the underbody at either end you instead add say...cork or some styrofoam in those cavities...should be the exact opposit effect of the weight dampening the action...right??

this is a good thread, I feel like a scientist, thanks Kickin' and of course the actual scientist- Merch

[merch]

Not a bad idea with using floatation instaed of weight. Sounds a little tricky though. I've been told that making the same plug, trimmed the same way out of different types of wood has drastic effects on the way the plug will behave. If you build a plug out of a dense wood and it performs one way and then you build the same one out of a lighter wood it will have a drastically different behavior. This is true even if they weigh the same when they're done. It makes sense, the weight distribution is different in each case.

Don't forget this either, the amount of water the plug displaces (mass for a given volume) will determine how high out of the water it will float. So, if you take the weight out of a plug it will sit higher out of the water (less total displacement required). If the CG and CB are not coincident it will make the plug sit at an angle while floating. Look up some info on buoyant forces and displacement much like how a boat sits in the water. I won't try to explain it here. It would get really boring really fast. A good fundamental understanding of physics can help you with just about anything though.

Glad you guys are enjoying my ramblings. It would be good to get some input from someone who's been building for a while here though.