Diver Theory?On second thought I'd better call this'how I make divers' because a real theoretical understanding of how these lures work is still beyond me. Dave Whitlock once wrote, in Trout I think, that balancing flyrod divers was 'impossibly difficult.' I used to agree with him. But like a lot of things the difficulty is largely in discovering a repeatable method. Once you know how to make wigglers it isn't all that hard. Perspcective:It's also worth mentioning that flyrod wigglers arespecial purpose flies. I don't use them often, but I do use them with confidence when I do. Wigglers are hard to make and hard to use. But the rewards are great in certain special purpose conditions, like fishing downstream into a deep brush-choked log jam that cannot be reached by any traditional upstream cast. Or for coaxing extra-large spring creek predators up from their deep weedy hiding places when they've already shown no interest in drifted beatles, nymphs or streamers. Or for casting toward the bank, from a moving boat, when nothing else seems to work. Heavier LuresIf you do use a spinning rod and/or a bait casting rod,note that all of these wigglers can be made as heavy as you need. In general, the heavier the wiggler the easier it is to make and tune. The hardest wigglers to make are the lightest flyrod variety. Three Basic ComponentsAt the most basic level there are three parts toany wiggler: a buoyant body, a front-mounted diving bill of some kind and weight. Exactly how those three components combine: how big the bill, how much and where the weight, how and where to build the body is a subject I still haven't mastered. So I can't put this into a theoretical formula that implies or dictates dimensional proportions for each new design. Each new shape, each new pattern, in other words, inevitably takes some trial and error time. What I can show you here are the patterns that work for me. Bouyant bodies.A downward-sloping diving bill has a natural tendancy to bite downwardinto the water at first, until resistance from the water forces the lure to flip over and upside down, so the diving bill now points upwards, and so the lure shoots straight up to the surface. But if the diving bill is attached to a bouyant body--of the right shape--flipping the body over would require the bouyant body to swap position, downward into the denser, deeper water. At this point the bouyancy of the body overcomes the tendancy to flip and wobbles over in the other direction. If you get it all built and balanced properly, the lure wobbles back and forth, with a seductive head-shaking oscillation, while burrowing downward into deeper water. Bouyancy on the top of the lure (which counteracts the tendancy to flip) can also be augmented by the addition of carefully-positioned weight, somewhere near the bottom half of the lure. The closer to the tip of the diving bill that weight is the better the lure will dive, the less likely it will be to ever flip upside down, but the less side-to-side wobble it will have. The trick then, is to somehow maximize wobble without building a lure that spins over upside down. Lures will occasionally flip, no matter what. So it is best to fish a wiggler with a barrel swivel. I like to use a simple double-loop swivel (with no snap) about 18" up the leader from the attachment point. Body Materials:Bouyant bodies can be made from closed-cell foam or from soft moldedlure bodies, like the ones bass fishermen are so fond of. You can buy good-looking pre-molded sculpin and minnow bodies at places like WalMart, or you can make your own. How to work with hot-melt 'soft bait' resin is a subject for hard-core lure makers I'll take up at another time. Diving bills:I've experimented with dozens of diver methods and materials. By farthe most successful way (at least for lightweight flyrod lures) is to cut extra-wide, extra-long diving bills from the hard but flexible, flat clear plastic containers used to package produce in recent years. Every time I buy a package of green house tomatoes or hot chili peppers, I save the container. Tuning the Lure:It's important to make the bill a little too large in all dimensions.The final step in the lure construction process has to happen in or near the water. To make the lure track and wobble properly you have to tune the bill by trimming it with toe-nail clippers. If the lure does not track straight (they never do at first) you have to trim one side of the bill or the other. If the lure tracks to the right, trim a sliver of plastic off the left side of the bill. Cast again and trim again, until you get what you want. Halford's Ghost:Where to add weight is a mystery. I can only show you a fewof the few successes I've had, and then point you in an experimental direction. The hardest wigglers to make and balance have a generically Rapala shape, with a bottom-mounted bill mounted about a 1/5 of the way back from the front of the lure. What little success I've had with that general shape relies on careful placement of weight on the underside of the body, slightly to the rear of the bill. Flat Fish:An easier class of wigglers is the venerableFlat Fish shape. To make my version of the Flat Fish (see the Halford's Ghost link) I make a slightly V-shaped body from closed-cell foam. I attach that to a clear plastic diving bill. Then I flatten a small split shot with pliers, and glue that to the bottom side of the bill. Then I drill a hole in the middle of the weight and tune the bill. This lure I can make again and again, and there aren't many fish I can't tempt with this lure, when and if the conditions are right. Watusi WormsThe Watusi Worm is the easiest of all. I start with aTwister Tail, lop off most of the front end of the Twister body, at a steep angle, and then mount a weighted bill. With this lure I've caught good trout on cold, brown-water early season days when nothing else worked at all. It takes some effort to cast, but I can wing it out there up to fifty feet, when I have to, and that's plenty far enough. The Watusi Worm (like all of these wigglers) is a deadly big fish lure you'll just have to use. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. |
Lure Flies/
Scallawaggler/
Halfords Ghost/
Ponzi Fish/
Watusi Worms/
Spinner Blades/