5' jointed redfin vs 5" storm thunder stick jr jointed

[dannyplug1]

Over the last five or so years ago I have been doing very well with 5".  I sand down to the bone color and spray paint black fusion paint.  Curious any one out there have any experince with the five inch jointed red fin?  They look very similar to the thunder stick.  Also curious about any one's experiences with loading these plugs with mercury?  thanks charlie

[Fishit 2]

I have all different sizes of jointed RF's I prefer the jointed over standard. Ive spent thousands of dollars on plugs but the simple Redfin has been the best,I buy them whenever they pop up on eBay. I don't load them but i do put bucktail on some for a different action and stripers of all sizes love them

[Jayfish]

This is one of the few plastics that I keep unloaded . I keep a lime green jointed thunder stick in the bag often 

[XBMX]

My largest Striper on a plug was on a Purple/pearl 5 1/2in Jointed/loaded. If you do decide to load any only weight the front section. Subing a Flag for the tail hook works well as a topwater swimmer.

 

Note---a interesting side bar is the earliest CO-9-J were a Slimmer shape. Slimmer with each section measuring differently plus they were joined via screw eye.

Edited January 30 by XBMX

[surfrat59]

Jointed Redfins, Bombers, Rebels were always amongst my most productive plugs...don't cast worth a damn, but when fish are in tight at night they flat out produce when others wont.  XBMX nailed it, front section only and not much weight.

[Basswiper]

I too have been wondering this. I will eventually do my own testing but for conversation purposes... how much are you guys liking for load on the jointed plugs? 

 

I was assuming the 5" rf would like a lighter load. Perhaps 4/5ml and jointed bomber maybe on the higher side of that maybe 6/7? Again I have no idea yet...

 

Anyone have numbers to share?

[Cascade]

When weighting light plugs, especially the smaller 5" ones, just add enough to make it fly straight on the cast and not pinwheeling around. You cannot make a potato chip into a 2oz sinker and you don't want to ruin any action for a few more ft/yds of distance. Play around and experiment, not much else to do.

 

[ReelSharp]

I’m not too sure if any of my jointed Redfins or TS are unloaded. I only use Mercury.  You can get away with a decent amount of juice in them actually, enough for it to have a pretty good  cast with a 10’ rod. 

[Robert Yacoub]

2 hours ago, ReelSharp said:

I’m not too sure if any of my jointed Redfins or TS are unloaded. I only use Mercury.  You can get away with a decent amount of juice in them actually, enough for it to have a pretty good  cast with a 10’ rod. 

If 10 CCs of water is standard for the 7 inch RF (that’s about 10 grams), then maybe 5 CCs/grams for the 5 inch?

[ReelSharp]

11 mins ago, Robert Yacoub said:

If 10 CCs of water is standard for the 7 inch RF (that’s about 10 grams), then maybe 5 CCs/grams for the 5 inch?

Honestly I have never went by CCs ,  I add some until it sits at a 45 degree angle for the most common load. Sometimes more or less. 

[Robert Yacoub]

Just now, ReelSharp said:

Honestly I have never went by CCs ,  I add some until it sits at a 45 degree angle for the most common load. Sometimes more or less. 

With mercury that makes sense. Where do you get mercury? 

[dannyplug1]

Have you guys seen any difference between mercury and the other loads in terms of how well they catch?  Or is the advantage of throwing better, not evaporating, or having the bird shot become stuck?

[ReelSharp]

37 mins ago, dannyplug1 said:

Have you guys seen any difference between mercury and the other loads in terms of how well they catch?  Or is the advantage of throwing better, not evaporating, or having the bird shot become stuck?

Definitely have better action with Mercury over any other option. 

[Fishit 2]

You can also use vegetable oil to load them

[VanStaalSteve]

5 hours ago, ReelSharp said:

Definitely have better action with Mercury over any other option. 

Best casting too