The Surfwalker Challenge.....Do you Follow the Herd, or Lead your Own Way????

[surfwalker]

I'm sitting here looking at all the plugs and metal I have hanging from the cellar ceiling by wire, easy access for the time of day I'll be plugging or time of year. I love all the new plugs out there and appreciate the work put into them. But I'm staring at ones that were given to me by no name maker friends that will never be used, because they are just too nice, I could never think of losing them. Then there are the ones that have produced, doubles, triples, quads of the same, out of fear I'll never be able to replace them if lost. Lastly are the ones I carry the most, the dented, chipped, rewired, waterlogged, and repainted, but they still perform and run pretty true, and produce.
What I'm getting at is- Do you fix up your old plugs or just throw them into a box, or do you fill in the hook holes and repair them, repaint them, have faith in them. Your old dull metals- Do you cover them with reflective tape or anything? Your new plastics are they sprayed with some clear before the first use? Am I just cheap or a hate to let go person?

[DarkSkies]

Lastly are the ones I carry the most, the dented, chipped, rewired, waterlogged, and repainted, but they still perform and run pretty true, and produce.
What I'm getting at is- Do you fix up your old plugs or just throw them into a box, or do you fill in the hook holes and repair them, repaint them, have faith in them. Your old dull metals- Do you cover them with reflective tape or anything? Your new plastics are they sprayed with some clear before the first use? Am I just cheap or a hate to let go person?

I'm that way too, surfwalker.

Old reliable plugs I keep around because each one has a story to tell, to me. As I pick it up I remember if I had a nice fish on it, and re-live that fight. Just like a trusted old bird-dog or beagle that has brought many a prize back to the hunter, these plugs have served me well.

If they were junk in the first place, I'm ok to get rid of them during the winter. The good producers I'll sand down and re-paint, put new VMCs on them and split rings.

The metals I use something called "Magic Wadding" to shine them up, it's like lambswool with a metal cleaner soaked into the fibers, works pretty good. You can also dress up the metal spoons by gluing red beady eyes on them, that works sometimes too.

As for the plastics, I tend to use them as is, but a neat trick is to scuff them up a bit with fine sandpaper and spray the old ones chartreuse, black, or bright yellow, 3 colors that have produced well. I also like to swap out the rear treble on a lot of my magnum bomber types with a single bucktail siwash.

I met a guy a few years ago in MoCo, and old salt who's not too much into the newest styles of anything. :thumbsup:

This guy not only made his own wooden plugs, he took all the plastic ones we use...bombers, redfins, magdarters, ets, and made them better, either with paint, bb's, or some modification. I was drooling as I looked over the weatherbeaten old army issue green canvas container he was using as a plug bag, and all the custom mods he made with these basic plugs. :drool:

[surfwalker]

Yeah, all my old wood is redone, sanded, painted, new hardware and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I do use new stuff too. My old plastics have been repainted. I'll have to try that magic stuff on the metals, right now I just put some Witchcraft tape on them. Old Army green (sometimes black) bags- all I use. I usually do these things in the off months, blowing off any painting or leaks that have to be done in the house.
Dark, why arn't you out there, there's some good stories waiting to happen.

Happy Trails

[vpass]

Has anyone ever painted there tins black and used them at night. I have a bunch of bluefish destroyed tins that lost their luster and thinking of painting them black. What do you guys think?

[voyager35]

Black tins are good for bass in the rips at night. Paint em black.:thumbsup:

[surfwalker]

I have used the top pictured lure on many occasions, matter of fact it's in the bag all the time. When I bought them I think they were under the name Whip Tail, not sure. Never caught big on it, but has produced well.
Thanks for posting that article. Used to look forward to Nelson Bryants' articles.

[DarkSkies]

Don Bingler and the Bingle Lure Co

From what I understand, Don Bingler was responsible for some decent innovations and things for the boat fishing crowd.... He sold these under the name Bingle Lures Inc, out of Brooklyn, NY.

*There were also 2 guys around the same time making similar jigs, Bob Sparta and Gary Goldbery, who started S&G lures.

Among some other products, I believe Don made:
The Bingle Bait Tail
The Bingle Banana
The Bingle Dandy tail. (maybe as a response to the famous whip tail, with which they were killing big weakfish and bass during that time.)

Mostly these jigs were meant to be jigged or trolled from boats, but under bridges they were magic as well. Most popular in the 1970's.

Here's a quote someone said about the Bingle bait tail:
"Bait Tail, next to the diamond jig, is probably the best all around lure for the NY Bight. And unlike the diamond jig, the bait tail will catch fish at night."



16704





16705
Pic of Bingle Dandy tail I shot at a recent show.

[DarkSkies]

I had the idea for this thread for a long time now....the inspiration came from talks with Surfwalker....and our pushing each other to try different presentations and profiles when out there.....
I'll be talking to him, talking about a night of fishing, and he'll say...
"Did you try this?
What else did you try?"


It seems we are both in agreement that when we are catching fish, we are naturally curious as to what other artificial will tempt them as well....
I know I have had these conversations with some of ya's as well....
To me, and you, it's fun to try something different....so I thought we could push the new guys to think about why and where, some of these artificials would trump Brand A or Brand B....











Some recent catches with no-name, $5 artificials.....Bombers. other swimmers, etc....

4-23 Wed
Scouted a few places back and front. Lots of dead water.
Found a good solid bite in the western bay where bunker were schooled up with the wind pattern.

6 hour trip
Managed 9 fish....10 to 17lbs.
There was solid action for 1 1/2 hours, the rest of the time I had to work hard for each fish.
All on small bomber type swimmer.
All the hype out there about the expensive swimmers Daiwa, big wood, etc, etc.... and I caught these fish on a $5 plug......:headbang:
All released

16904
16905








4-24 Thu
Had some business in South Jersey.
On the way home I fished some unfamiliar water.
Fished 7 hours total.
3 bass to 9lbs, all legal, but some were skinny.
all on small swimmer.
All released.


16906








**********

[DarkSkies]

The Contest:


1. Fish with any plug other than what is being talked about on the internet or facebook....

A. IE NO Daiwas.

B. NO Name brand metal lip swimmers (generic bargain basement, or ones that are not built en-masse are eligible....such as your own home-made swimmers...
C (in other words, fish with something that is not being promoted by the herd mentality out there.......:thumbsup: )

2. Catch a fish on it....

3. Post a pic of the fish with the artificial that you used to catch it.....and how you got it....

4. So, in this contest,
A. a less popular artificial, (Bombers, redfins, rebels, creek chub, or any obscure plug that has fallen out of favor....there are dozens of them to choose from......)
B. or rubber other than the vision sand eels, or tsunami shads, or storm shads,..or tsunami shads,,,would qualify....
c. no name bucktail and grub or pork will also qualify.....
D. Your own teaser that you made, would also qualify


5. Most creative report at the end of the year, wins the 2 best producers from my tackle bag.....
And some tips as to how and when I fish those plugs......

6. Or....if you are convinced I don't know how to catch fish....:rolleyes:...I'll give ya 2 brand new in-the-box swimmers from my collection.....

[DarkSkies]

Why a contest/Surfwalker Challenge?

Too many people are getting locked into the herd mentality.
They think a Daiwa is the only thing that will get them that big fish.

Or a name brand swimmer, custom wood, with scale pattern, will get them the fiish of their dreams.....
Although a plug that swims a certain way can be deadly....to me it is about the presentation, and the angler fishing it.....and that's something that I wanted to convey to you younger anglers out there....


and something that Surfwalker always trys to convey..:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

"What the Hell is the matter with you, Dark, why are you so anti-Daiwa??????":mad:


some might be thinking this question, thinking I have some kind of bias against it....
But I don't,,,,,,I have even done a video promoting the Daiwa.....seen here.........


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4fqb9hr7L0

[DarkSkies]

My main goal here, is to get the newer anglers out there...to see that there are a great number of out-of favor plugs that will produce, given conditions for that plug.....









And I want to encourage the new guy out there...to try to think outside of the box.
By doing this, you will eventually become a better angler....
And you may want to thank me for it....

Don't thank me, thank Surfwalker....:HappyWave:
For being old-school enough to still believe in the less popular plugs, and still catching large fish on them....:fishing:

[albiealert]

I like it I'm in! Will fish a bomber or redfin next time I'm out and see what comes after it. Not a problem as I am a big fan of bombers anyway, If you lose them no big deal.

[Monty]

I like it I'm in! Will fish a bomber or redfin next time I'm out and see what comes after it. Not a problem as I am a big fan of bombers anyway, If you lose them no big deal.
I'm anti Bomber.....wasn't the bomber the SP before the SP (the go to)?
I'm big on the Mambo and loaded Red Fin (small one).

[DarkSkies]

^Fish whatever floats your boat, Monty.....
As long as it ain't a DSP, DSM, or any of the others I mentioned....;)

BTW, managed a #15 bass last night on the $5 plug I mentioned above, dropped another. Might have done better if I used the Daiwa, but I am trying my best to stay in the spirit of this thread.....of course my results don't count.
I'll still throw the Daiwa when I can't find fish, as it is a very effective fish locator.....:thumbsup:

But as Surfwalker and some of you here have talked about time and time again....
Part of the thrill, is finding some obscure plug, that will still catch....making it tougher on yourself........

If all we wanted to do was produce results and pound our chests...a bunker head would win with bigger fish, hands down....

For me, I would rather get it done with artificials..although that can be frustrating when others are bailing fish, and you're not....and am trying to build the confidence in some of our newer members out there....:HappyWave:

So I hope this thread will lead to that, confidence building and raising awareness, that
1. the world is not flat, and
2. You can still catch fish if you are not fishing the Daiwa, or Vision Eel. :learn:

[hookedonbass]

For me, I would rather get it done with artificials..although that can be frustrating when others are bailing fish, and you're not....and am trying to build the confidence in some of our newer members out there....:HappyWave:

So I hope this thread will lead to that, confidence building and raising awareness, that
1. the world is not flat, and
2. You can still catch fish if you are not fishing the Daiwa, or Vision Eel. :learn:



thanks for that great idea.

[storminsteve]

I'm anti Bomber.....wasn't the bomber the SP before the SP (the go to)?
I'm big on the Mambo and loaded Red Fin (small one).

I'm in too Monty. I will try with bombers you can use the manbos and redfins. I will still be looking for dead things to take pics of when out there plugging. Hope you will be doing the same.:HappyWave:

[Monty]

I'm in too Monty. I will try with bombers you can use the manbos and redfins. I will still be looking for dead things to take pics of when out there plugging. Hope you will be doing the same.:HappyWave:

Definitely looking for dead stuff, its become a habit to check out objects to see if they are dead, ya never know what is out there. :HappyWave:
The ~20 dead bass last week was a bummer.....

[J Barbosa]

Definitely looking for dead stuff, its become a habit to check out objects to see if they are dead, ya never know what is out there. :HappyWave:
The ~20 dead bass last week was a bummer.....

How time flies! Its a sad day when bombers and redfins are no longer the NJ staples or go to plugs.

Theres always two bombers in my bag and its one of these colors: chicken scratch for day and night and yellow over white sometimes gets replaced on dark nights with black.

Can't leave the car without a smokey joe Redfin in both 5" and 7".

[dogfish]

15 years back bomber was the go to lure. Now fellas want something with fancy bells and whistles. The power of marketing and advertising.Go figure.

[J Barbosa]

15 years back bomber was the go to lure. Now fellas want something with fancy bells and whistles. The power of marketing and advertising.Go figure.

The bomber was still king just a few years ago; if they redesigned it to cast further it would be king again IMO.

[finchaser]

The main reason SP took over from bomber is bombers cast like **** and no one really likes the 3 sets of trebles. In the 3 shops I repair rods for you can't give bombers away. If your old enough to remember Bomber replaced the Hellcat and Redfin. Hell the cell phone replaced the CB on the fishing scene. Also Mambo's will fall by the way side because people won't pay $20 for them. At $9.95 the SP rules and out casts anything and catches. The SP also holds in strong current where a Bomber ,Redfin or Mambo can't go. Also the new Bakers are outstanding and keep up with the SP with a profile more like the big C10 Redfin. Nothing is for ever only thing guaranteed in life is change..

[rockhopper]

Nothing is for ever only thing guaranteed in life is change..

that's the truth!

[DarkSkies]

June 10.....Cownose ray, caught on a plug......

1720517206

[DarkSkies]

June 16 AM trip
5 hour Monty Mini Marathon

Got the blues....
Some bluefish activity in the dark, swimmers.
As opposed to the day before they would not hit top water....tried 3 separate times during the trip.
Best action on swimmers....Half the fish came from the OFFC plug,


17291



which is now trashed after catching over 30 bluefish...tail hook and back part of plug broke.....:(

One of the "larger" bluefish was caught on speedy's white swimmer...

17290

The blues that morning were so small they were not pic worthy...half the size of the blues the day before

What was interesting was how picky and sluggish they were....light hits, if you missed it they would not come back....
I missed so many fish it was embarassing. :(
When the plug bite died they hit metal at varying retrieves until slack tide. Bite was dead after that.

Also hooked and landed 2 cownose rays, 8-10#...both on metal.



17292



Total:
14 blues to 3#.
2 cownose rays.

[DarkSkies]

June 22 2013 - Early AM - 3 hour trip.....

Started out with good expectations...went back to the well-known bluefish and weakfish bay spot to see if I could find the bigger blues at night....
I failed at that, but did manage to land a 6# weakfish, my first of the year....she was beautiful, had not seen them in long time....quick pic and release.....

17297

on a small swimmer...(old and ugly, see the Surfwalker thread...)
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9001-The-Surfwalker-Challenge-Do-you-Follow-the-Herd-or-Lead-your-Own-Way


The rest of the night went downhill after that...........my bail spring broke and I was not really participating any more no matter how hard I triied....it was too much of a pita.....so I cut the trip short and called it a night early, no other action for me...

[DarkSkies]

In the month of May caught some nice fish on ugly, beat up, old swimmers (with upgraded hooks and split rings)...will post the pics when I get a chance....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4fqb9hr7L0

[basshunter]

very innovative thread and thanks for the tutorial ds.

[robmedina]

West Wind Ralph........Yeah I think your psychedelic past has definitely caused some permanent damage!:kooky:

[DarkSkies]

^Rob, my teen and young adult years were times when kids did a lot of experimenting with psychedelics.....I think 3 kids from our high school class died from drug or alcohol use and related accidents.....Joe did a lot of that stuff too...you should ask him to tell you some of the stories next time you're out fishin together...:bong2: :plastered:....but that was an earlier chapter of my life...

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?2318-One-Day-at-a-Time-Do-You-Know-Bill-W
30 years clean and sober since then.....:thumbsup: :HappyWave:

Glad ya like the West Wind Wally and Ralph...btw I will be phasing West Wind Ralph out, back to West Wind Wally..:viking:..will be shooting some new WWW videos this summer when I get a chance.....:cool:















Basshunter, you're welcome. :HappyWave:....
Remember that this thread arose from a conversation with Surfwalker about how guys have blinders on that a particular plug, like the SP for example, is the only way to catch fish....

Statistically, only about 25-30% of my yearly bass catches, come from the SP...
Over the past 4 weeks, the one plug that has been the least effective for me, has been the SP.
If that was the only plug that I would consider using I would have missed out on a lot of fish....
Food for thought......

[robmedina]

I am in the process of tying some flies for the fall. I am working on some ways to be able to cast the flies and work them without a plug or swimmer or without getting a flyrod. It may not be possible but I am going to take the summer to work on it.

[robmedina]

I am fishing a 2 flies rig my spinning gear. I have a small piece of leader (about 12") with a inline sinker. There are 2 swivels on each end. Then I connect that leader to my main line and then to my rig via powerclips (or snaps) then I tie a leader with a dropper loop (which leaves me with 2 tag ends. THe dropper loop gets attached to the power clip and I tie 2 flies to the tag ends. So far no tangles whatsoever and I can cast a mile. The weight allows me to feel the bottom nicely (which means my flies are just above the bottom) I pre-rigged a few "sinker leader" with different weights and can switch them out easily via the powerclips. A keel weight like Kayak willy's would be more efficient, but what can I say I am cheap!17233

[DarkSkies]

June 27/28 PM/AM trip:

Weather conditions forced me to re-plan my night. The wind and swell were bad, so I found an inlet where I could get a little lee and the wind wasn't so daunting.


17303

17304

17301

17302
Total:
6 bass to 10#,,,,3 small blues - 5 hour trip
All bass were fat and had been feeding well.
2 of the bass were legal, kept one to see what they were eating., released the rest.....


Mostly on plugs..one on bucktail.....and then when I was getting ready to leave, one nicer fish dropped, on rubber.

[DarkSkies]

I copied the posts above from other threads. You will see at least one fish, in each post, that has been caught on a no-name swimmer. Sometimes they were larger, but for the most part they were smaller swimmers. Some got destroyed by the fish (The small yellow swimmer the OFFC gave me got busted up after 30 bluefish, but so what?).....

In most cases they produced lots of fish for me....
They were the only thing that would produce for that trip...
Usually this was because of the very small forage around that time of the season...and the fact that these swimmers came closest to matching it.....
And..best of all, they all cost $5 or less.....:learn:

[robmedina]

I cant wait for the fall run when I can catch bass with my homemade flies....I hope anyway :)

[Monty]

Fished this morning ocean side from 1:00 to 8:00.
Picked up a shad on a teaser, then a decent Fluke on a loaded red fin, Sea Robin also on the loaded Red Fin.
Also picked up 6 short stripers, biggest around 24 inches.
Loaded Red Fin, white Hogy and feathered teaser (2 on each).
And a double of blues (Howdy and feathered teaser).
Last fish caught around 6:15.
None of the fish were sluggish, was awesome seeing them crash the White Hogy.
Had a few bumps and misses, covered at least a mile and half of beach, great time :).
Beautiful night, saw 4 shooting stars, ocean had small chop. Water and air were cool.

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_8_4_SR.jpg

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_8_4_F.jpg

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_8_4_SB2WH1.jpg

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_8_4_BFD.jpg

[buckethead]

Nice going monty you nailed the inshore trifecta only thing missing for a full house was a weakfish. I fished moco from 10-2am last night picked up a few short bass on a black bomber.

[buckethead]

ps monty loaded redfin - nice!:thumbsup:

[strikezone31]

Was looking at the back pages and found this. Great thread fellas.

[williehookem]

The official bumper sticker for Sekora lures.I had one still lying around.

A wealth of info in this thead. Very informative. Thanks for sharing.

[rockhopper]

I was fishing this morning with a nasty old redfin, central south shore. Around 7am the birds and bait went crazy and I got 6 tailor blues. Small but fun. The old plugs are great because you don't care if you lose them.

[storminsteve]

Has anyone ever painted there tins black and used them at night. I have a bunch of bluefish destroyed tins that lost their luster and thinking of painting them black. What do you guys think?


I always wanted to try that and see if they produce better. I am going to make a note to do it for the next new moon.
This morning I fished a small ava oo7 in the dark and caught some cocktail blues. Would love to think that with all the small bait around there are a few bass that would take it. Keeping the hope alive.

[rockhopper]

What I'm getting at is- Do you fix up your old plugs or just throw them into a box, or do you fill in the hook holes and repair them, repaint them, have faith in them. Your old dull metals- Do you cover them with reflective tape or anything? Your new plastics are they sprayed with some clear before the first use? Am I just cheap or a hate to let go person?


If they can handle the strain of bigger fish I keep and repaint them, I like to paint plugs black and yellow or a combination of the two. White is cool too but it doesn't need to be a picasso to catch fish. Def want to upgrade with bigger hooks. I tried reflective tape once on the diamond jigs. the bite was on and we were catching bass and blues so I am not sure if it made a difference.

[cowherder]

Slow pick of bass last night before dark. 3 to 22" on small black bomber right before it shut off.

[dogfish]

Nice to see the older plugs get recognition. Too many lean on the SP. Loaded refin is far superior when the action is slow.

[DarkSkies]

Got some bluefish on those bait tails in the past few weeks, they were picky....
I'll try to search for some pics I took and post them when I get a chance....

[finchaser]

Finally made it out front first time this year 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm had 6 short bass and 1 fat 29"bass all still swimming all on Mucho minnow my friend jerry had 9 on Mambo minnow they wouldn't touch the SP or anything else but slammed small minnows. water was 47 screaming current running south to north for some unknown reason.


One other note there was skim ice on the beaver dam creek this morning for the first time

[fishinmission78]

they wouldn't touch the SP or anything else but slammed small minnows. water was 47 screaming current running south to north for some unknown reason.


One other note there was skim ice on the beaver dam creek this morning for the first time

Yep its getting cold out. Fished OC from 4-6am and picked up 4 short bass. Tried the black SP as well. The only thing that worked for me was a redfin. Fish were in tight and hit hard. By 6 it was over. I took a reading this morning of 46 degrees finchaser. Good to see some out there taking their own temerature readings. This could be the last push of fish before thanksgiving and the death rats with them. Damn was it cold out. No one else fishing the beach I was on.

[cowherder]

Nice going gents. finchaser I read where you said you haven't fished the beaches yet this year. Glad to see you caught fish on your first time out. Thanks for the advice on the mucho minnows. Guess they would work with all the small bait around.

[finchaser]

Was forced to the beach back waters have dropped ^^^ sure would work at 4 1/2 inches and 7/8 ounce they cast great plus they swim in real skinny water. They are a knock off of the old mega bait JB 110

[porgy75]

They look tasty I'll have to pick some up. Thanks for sharing and congrats on the catching.

[seamonkey]

sure would work at 4 1/2 inches and 7/8 ounce they cast great plus they swim in real skinny water.


Thank you sir for the recommendation fin chaser. kudos on catching some when there don't seem to be many fish in the surf. The beaches in Atlantic and Cape may counties are very shallow and terrible at low tide. Anything good in skinny water would be an advantage to the terrible luck I have been having lately. Will try them out.

[finchaser]

I fished late yesterday afternoon released 3 shorts on the new bomber long shot, casts and swims great. I'll put up pictures of this new plug later

[finchaser]

Fished the new 5 inch version it comes in 3 sizes

I fished and caught on the 5 inch for the second time the plug casts well and swims good in skinny water.

Comes with all HD hooks and rings comes in 9 NE colors


Length

Weight

Hooks

Crank

Trolling

Qty



5 in

3/4 oz

#2

2 - 3'

3 - 5'

1



6 in

1 3/16 oz

2/0

2 - 4'

4 - 8'

1



7 in

1 3/4 oz

4/0

2 - 4'

4 - 8'

1

[fishrich]

I agree that the 5" long shot bomber casts and tracks well. I also bought the 6" plug to compare both. I tried both plugs on a day that the wind was east about 10 knots. The 6" plug wavered on every cast, while the 5" plug casted like a bullet every cast and actually went a little longer. Tried both plugs on a calm day and the 6" plug went a little longer but hit bottom when it got close.The 5" plug didn't hit bottom. The finish and colors on these plugs look pretty nice.

[surfstix1963]

Bombers were always better in quieter water now they just cast better the SP is better in heavier water IMO.

[DarkSkies]

Bump for VS dreams.....when the most popular plugs aren't working....try something different and experiment with some plugs out of rotation.....you may be surprised at the results.....:HappyWave:

[J Barbosa]

Was forced to the beach back waters have dropped ^^^ sure would work at 4 1/2 inches and 7/8 ounce they cast great plus they swim in real skinny water. They are a knock off of the old mega bait JB 110

I love these things....

Mucho Minnow

[lostatsea]

This girl took old gear and caught some fish. Darcizzle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgKsE2lG3iQ

[surferman]

Nice!!