Hey thanks for the tips guys!! I appreciate it a lot. It's nice to know that some plugs are bad, it means that there is at least a slight chance that I'm not a complete idiot with wooden plugs. I think I will take out the Slammer again and see how it swims. I think you're right Brian, my Slammer doesnt kick very well with a slow retrieve, it looks like it needs some adjustments. I think I've been fishing it too fast just so it will swim. I might have to get another one and compare the swimming motion. The AC minnow, I dont know where to start with that... it's so crooked, the line tie, lip, the head, the slit where the tail goes in, it's all crooked. It bends almost a third more to the right than it bends to the left. It looks so ugly, even if I mated it with a generic trout, it's offspring will still be ugly. Ok, bad joke. Anyways, I dont know how to start tweaking that thing, I dont know if I should shave some of it off or add bits of wood to it! Maybe I'll add a dorsal fin, yeah that's what I'll do, maybe it'll swim like a generic trout! Ha ha.
I think one of the most important thing about the big plugs is to have confidence when fishing it (whole new topic we could talk about), and I felt pretty confident throwing those things at first after reading the reports you guys wrote about it, but especially with that AC minnow, I kept on wondering if I got a bad plug. I have this neat Loomis/Conquest rig, but this plug just looked like a broom handle with paint on it and threw off my whole setup! (Ok, enough AC minnow bashing, I know it's supposed to catch a lot of big fish). But I know I have to fish those things with confidence since I have to stay alert because what I do after the strike is just as important as how I got that strike. Because you never know, that next strike could be that 10+ (or 13+ for Swimbait, ha ha).
Thanks for the input again. I think a good plug will probably catch fish even without paint on it, just like the surface iron. I have a surface iron (Tady 45) with no paint, and four seabass over 20+ plus to it's credit, maybe I should try it at a lake! Seriously, has anyone tried this?
Has anyone here tried the Roam Minnow?

Fishhead