Custom Wooden Plugs Review and What's New

[DarkSkies]

The man, the legend, Big Rock! He'll be at the Asbury show. Dude is a madman with an airbrush, and he donated a plug or 2 to a special plug showcase that was raffled at this show. Proceeds go to charity, good mojo man.



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Heres a pic of the plug he donated, the one with the red flames

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[DarkSkies]

Met Bill Pierson and his wife of Pierson Plugs. Check out these plugs!

For the most part, the plugs are clear cedar or maple, with some bright accents. We had a good conversation about how the action of the plug is more important than anything else, and I guess his "plain" cedar plugs that catch fish are proof of this. Prices range from $3 to $20. He lives in Perkiomenville, Pa, right near the reservoir. Stop by his shop to talk about plugs, or watch him hit the reservoir for plug R&D to test his new stuff. Or you can find him at a few more shows he'll be doing.

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He's been doing it since he got laid off as an aircraft mechanic 20 years ago. He puts 5-7 coats of clear on each plug, and says saltwater doesn't affect the plug, for those interested in using these plugs for striped bass. The plugs are designed and used for big muskies. He's got an album with pics of guys who caught big fish on his plugs, including tuna.

He gets the material from trees on his property, and they mill and shape it into the raw stock he needs to create the plug.

One of the coolest things about meeting this guy is that he's a freshwater AND saltwater fanatic, and his wife fishes too.

He knows Island Beach State Park in NJ well, and he knows Tony Spina! The guy lives over 100 miles away from Tony, and remembers him from fishing IBSP. Small world.

[DarkSkies]

Bill and his wife
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Big wood, good for toothy muskies or striped bass
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Clear cedar and maple plugs
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He invented this killer bluefish rig, comes with a wire leader and extra hooks. Made out of rock maple, it's rock,jetty, and teeth proof. Guys in Mass use it to get live bunker under the bluefish and get to the bass.
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Some alligator muskies a guy caught using one of his plugs.
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I never fished these, but guys fish them for muskies all the time. If I were to use one in the salt, I would definitely swap out their freshwater hooks for VMC's.

Beyond all this, Bill seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He's a smart businessman and self-promoter, but he's also generous with his time and advice. Kinda reminds me of Charleston from another site I used to be on.

Bill said he's helped about 7 or 8 guys learn the craft, and they're now making plugs like he taught them. He's also got the local kids involved in fishin and "testing" his plugs, keeps them out of trouble.

At the end of the show, a young girl stopped by with her Dad, and he gave her a plug as a gift. With the scarcity of women entering the sport today, it was a generous gesture, and she and her Dad appreciated it.

Nice meetin ya, Bill. The next time I come out your way, I'm bringin my freshwater gear.

[DarkSkies]

Art Hoch is a protege of Bill Pierson who has been making plugs on his own for a little over a year now. He had plugs of all sizes, mostly cedar, though he will make different plugs & designs upon request and is starting to experiment with different wood.

He style is to make the plugs and then woodburn the details into them, and finish with several coats of poly. He did say he would use different sealing and curing methods if the market demand developed for saltwater versions of his plugs.

For now, guys use them mostly to catch largemouths and big muskies. He has a bounty on any of his plugs that are used and battered in a battle with a big fish. If you bring it to him with your fish story, hell buy it back from you so he can put it on display.

Nice meetin ya, Art, and best of luck with the business.


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[DarkSkies]

Art Hoch Plugs

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Some of his biggest plugs are 9" and 2-3+ ounces.
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His plugs are priced from $5- $20 depending on the size and level of detail.

[RI Popper]

Hey Darkskies, It was great meeting you at the show. What a wonderful event that was. NJ is quickly becoming one of my favorite places. I love the great comraderie that was shown down there and the people were some of the kindest and warmest I've every been around. Great site you have going here. I hope to stope by some and participate .

Thanks for your kind words about our lures

Tight Lines
Armand

[RI Popper]

I hear big numbers thrown around a lot for wooden lures and I know that there are some that start in the $24. + but for me that's a lot of cash so I keep mine in the $15 to $20. range. And I guess I'm an old school kind of guy because I build them first to catch fish and then fishermen. I think most of the new styles out there are to catch fishermen first.

Armand

[DarkSkies]

Just calling it like I see it, Armand. It was good talking to ya about fishing with your son, those moments are worth more than anything else, the memories last forever. And I thank ya again for the advice about fishin Rhody.

[RI Popper]

If at all possible I'll be back next year.

Armand

[DarkSkies]

Bob from Sunset lures. Relatively new to the scene. His plugs range from $15-25.

Among his biggest influences:
Billy McFadden, whom he called one of the "most sharing guys, with the biggest heart".
He's also been iinfluenced and inspired by Bill Lindner and Lefty.

Nice meetin ya.

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[DarkSkies]

Mike Fixter from California is an established guy, has a good rep in the plug world. I never met him, heard a lot about him. Was looking forward to meeting him, but instead got to meet Dave who was workin his table.

Dave's a musky nut, the guy could write books about muskie fishin. But why would he? it would take away from his fishin time.

I never fished Fixter's plugs. He makes some huge stuff, some of em must have been over 5oz or more. Price ranges from $25-40. After checking out the plugs, I could see why musky and salt guys hold Mike in high regard. People say they're built to take punishment, and then some. Nice to finally meet ya, Dave.

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[DarkSkies]

Joe from Bodega Bay lures, out of California, aka Sporty Guy. He's been into this for 6 or 7 years now, and said one of his biggest influences was Chumbucket.

Chumbucket is one of the humblest guys you would ever want to meet. First tiime I met hiim, I said someting about what masterpieces his work was. He just shrugged it off, like he didn't want to feed into the ego thing too much. Meanwhile, guys all around say what a helpful resource he has been to the plug building community, and how generous he is with his advice. I don't think you could find one person on this earth who would be able to say anything negative about him.

Nice meeting you guys again.


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[DarkSkies]

Guppy Lures started in 2002 when brothers Peter and Wayne Hess bought the equipment and machines after Brad Pohler of Hog Hunter lures passed away.

They started to ramp things up around 2003 or 2004, and have been hard at it making plugs since. Nice meetin you guys.

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[DarkSkies]

Ryan Smith's table.

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[DarkSkies]

Met Big Rock and Mrs Big Rock. Big Rock is a generous guy, having donated many plugs for good causes. Never fished his stuff, one of these I'll put more up about him and how he got started. He's held in high regard by builders and surfcasters alike, and is in the Asbury and a few other clubs.

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[DarkSkies]

Ron Muccie is an institution in the plug building community, has been doing this for a long time. Ron is pictured here with his son. Ron had some good things to say about Tony Spina. Glad to hear your health has been good, Ron, I haven't seen ya for awhile. Stay well, nice meetin ya again.

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[Monty]

Rich,
Great posts and Pics.
Thanks for sharing.

[DarkSkies]

Capt Nick is a small plugbuilder out of Keyport NJ who's been making plugs for many years. He's not looking to get bigger, sell more plugs, OR sell plugs out of season

... there ain't nothin gettin in the way of his fishin time once the season starts.


You can only get his stuff at Asbury, and it's priced to sell all in one day. One hook poppers are $5, 2 hooks are $10. He's been doing the Asbury show for 6 years. He started building because he couldn't find a plug to cast the way he wanted. Nice meetin ya again, Capt.

[DarkSkies]

Billy McFadden is an icon in the plug building community. He's been doing it for many years, and has the weighting, sealing, and finishing down to a science. Richt now he's focusing on Atom40 profile plugs, and some small needles. Atoms $20, needles $10. Billy is pictured here with Mike Commune, another saltwater legend.

Many of the builders I talked to had nothing but good things to say about his generosity and advice he gave them. Billy and his friend were there, nice meetin you guys.

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[DarkSkies]

Bob Hessel from Dingbat Lures. Been doing it for 7 or 8 years, one of his biggest influences was Skippy Lures. These pics don't do justice to the sweet airbrush skills this guy has. Cool meetin ya.


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