A few Mr. Whiggley questions

[Fogeljazz]

Hi Larry,

I know there is a lot of threads about Mr. Whiggley, and I've searched them but not really found the answers I'm looking for, so here goes...

I'm making my own Mr. Whiggley-type bait, but I would like to make it in a 1-piece open top mold. I've made a few 2-piece mold for paddletail swimbaits, which have been quite successfull.
But I would like to try a 1-piece mold for this project, as I believe it will be a lot simpler. For the master to work in a open top mold, it will have to have a slightly downward tilted tail section in order to give the master a flat back to glue down for the mold making. What do you think, how important is a perfectly vertically symmetrical tail for the swimming action?
Another thing I was wondering about is the dimensions of the bait. My bait will be approx. 9"- 9 1/2" long. How thick/thin do you think the head and tail need to be in order to produce the lovely swimming pattern that Mr. Whiggly has?

Please let me know if you have any ideas or feedback regarding this. I'll try to upload a picture of my master sketch in the Lure Photos-section for reference.

Brgds
/Emil

p.s really looking forward to the release of the production Whiggleys. Been wanting to try them out since I heard about them d.s

[dahlberg]

All of the issues regarding thickness relate to the relative softness of the lure. As I'm sure you know, anytime you make a bend you've created what I call a "control surface" which will affect the way the lure swims, plus change the amount of drag. That being said, soft plastic is unique in that we can vary its' hardness and softness. If a "control surface" is made of a very soft, flexible material a portion of its' effect gets translated into motion rather than misdirection.
It's another one of those things where you've just got to try it! If I cut the tail off my whiggleys, they still wiggle but it takes more speed.
good luck
L

[Fogeljazz]

Thanks for your reply, Larry. I made a few baits in my one piece mold using Alumisol with approx 20-25% softener. And they feel really soft and floppy. But the bait doesn't work at all. It doesn't have any swimming action at all, at any speed. It just goes straight as an arrow when reeled in. Could the Alumisol be too soft? Or isn't it soft enough. Or maybe it's the shape of the bait. Since I'm pouring it in an open top mold, the tail fin is tilted downwards in order to create a straight top line. Maybe this causes the lower part of the fin to act as a rudder or stabilizer, making it harder for the bait to start swimming.

Any ideas or advice on this, is this something that you've seen before?

/Emil

[dahlberg]

The bait should taper from head to tail. I've had whigs that got one fin or the whole tail bit off and they still swim. Must be something wrong with the shape.
best,
L

[Fogeljazz]

Ok, that could very well be the case. I've uploaded a couple of pictures of my prototype in the lure photos section.
Larry, if you have time, could you please take a look at my bait and see if you spot anything that's clearly wrong in the shape or general design of the bait.

Side view: http://makelure.com/Userphotos/image1.jpg
Bottom view: http://makelure.com/Userphotos/image2.jpeg

Very thankful for any light you might be able to shed on this.

Brgds
Emil

[RhettWheeler]

use photobucket.com for the photos so we can get a hyperlink

[Fogeljazz]

Hyperlinks fixed!

[dahlberg]

I looks like it should work, but I can only surmise; looking at the bottom view, try making the nose more pointed. Heat up a wide table knife with a torch and gently reform the nose on one so it's a little more pointed. about the same angle as you have on the top and bottom. also, possibly move position of hook farther forward. Let us know how it works out!
good luck,
L

[Fogeljazz]

Thanks a lot, Larry! Will try that and get back to you with a report

I really appreciate your help!

Brgds
Emil

[Mike - Alumilite]

How are you rigging the bait? I don't see a nose ring. One of the big benefits of how Larry rigs his Whigs is the hook is way up front under the head/eyes and does not go any further back than the gill. The further back the hook is, the less mobile and flexible the Whiggley will be and it won't swim nearly as well if not at all. The placement of the hook is very important not to interfere with the action.

So if you were to try to texas rig it or use a hook that went 1/3 of the way back, it would kill almost all of the action.

Not sure if that's the case, but thought I'd thow it out there as I tried it and it didn't work at all.

Mike

[Fogeljazz]

Thanks for your input, Mike. Any help and ideas are appreciated.

I've actually tried different rigging methods. The one in the picture is rigged with a bait screw. Kind of like an Owner centering pin spring, only longer. You can see a glimpse of the nose ring if you look really hard at the side view picture.
I've also tried Larry's rigging method with the eyes, piece of tubing and wire. I rigged one bait on a jig head aswell, but that didn't look promising. I'll probably continue using Larry's rig as it seems to give Whiggley the most whiggle, and is almost impossible to pull out.

Brgds
Emil