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Test Swim

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Naptime

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Had to pick up the boat after some routine service, forgot I had left a couple rods on the boat.  Figured I'd see how one of my home made plugs swims, so I trolled it next to the boat.  Which means of course that the angle of the line etc. aren't matching what it would be it I had actually casted it though I did hold the rod tip near the water.  Does it really matter, or do they basically swim how they swim regardless?

 

 

 

 

Edited by Naptime
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I doubt I'm gonna say anything you haven't already considered, here, but:

 

ANY testing you do will give SOME valid info. And, everybody uses lures differently, so if the lure swims they way you want it to..well then...it works. But, yeah....I've noticed  that the same lure, deadsticked straight down the same current will swim differently according to the angle it's attached to (how high your rod tip is) AND, having 7 ft of line out has produced different action than having 20 (though I seldom get conditions where I can see a lure 20ft away). I make a mini-darter that some people I've given one to love, and others hate. The ones who love it and fish it catch with it. The lure will not hold straight downstream in a medium/fast current, yet does dig in and dance as it swings across. For some, the criteria for a good darter is one that holds (never flips or surfaces). For me, I use different lures when I'm deadsticking over some down current structure. (and I also make bigger darters that can hold in fast current)

 

Anyhow, I think trolling a few feet behind your boat gives an absolutely valid idea of how the plug swims. If you take notice of how it 'feels' in your hands (can you feel the vibrations, amount of tension, etc), then you can compare that to how the plug feels when being retrieved out at the far end of a cast. One difference I've noted is how deep a plug will go. Certainly, a deep diver will give an indication that it dives, even with only 10 ft of line out. Some plugs I've tested, tho, go deeper than I thought they would, over the course of a long retrieve.

 

 

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I don't keep a notebook of my builds.  From the marks it looks like there are belly weights in front of the hook and maybe behind it too.  I use small dowels as plugs on top of the weights and then sand flush.

Edited by Naptime
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