By Zeno Hromin

This article originally appeared in the Fisherman magazine

Deep diving metal lips

“Lost in transition”

The “art” of surfcasting is a finicky one. We go through periods where certain kinds of lures are hot for a year or two and then we move on to the next best thing, always searching for that holy grail, a lure that will produce regardless of season or conditions. Those who ply the beaches with regularity know that this is an unattainable goal since gamefish adapt to the availability of baitfish at any given time. Constant “evolving” on the part of a surfcaster is a must in order to achieve success with any regularity. True, there are a few time-tested strategies that produce fish year after year.  Bucktails around jetties or darters in waters around Montauk Point are a few strategies that come mind. It is normal that those who catch the surfcasting bug and immerse themselves completely into the sport, take on the strategy (and hence lures) that are popular at the time. You are not going to see a novice surfcaster tossing Jack Frech’s banana plug while everyone else is casting Yo-zuri Surface Cruisers, are you? It’s a natural human instinct to follow the crowd. After all, most mammals move in herds.

The other side of the coin is that some old time strategies that have produced countless cows over the years get “forgotten” for lack of a better word. Those new to the sport wrongly assume that old time strategies are outdated for the modern times and the top of the line tackle we all fish with these days. Examples of this kind of thinking is the lack of use of rigged eels and deep diving metal lips. When it comes to rigging an eel, it takes a bit of time to learn the process but once you have it down pat it becomes an incredibly effective tool in your arsenal. In addition you can apply the knowledge to rigging the 9-inch Sluggo, a lure that has accounted for many large fish in the last few years. I think that in this age of instant gratification with reports being emailed to our PC as soon as the bite develops and when just about any lure is available to us with a few clicks of the mouse, a certain amount of “laziness” has developed among our ranks. The “where the fish are” has replaced the time tested method of learning a particular strategy and then applying the knowledge. Another reason why some productive and proven strategies fall by the wayside is part hype and part misunderstanding certain lures that we use. When I say hype, I don’t mean it maliciously. I am talking of promotion on the part of the builders to push their brand. Doesn’t it strike you as strange that while we are in the midst of metal lip “madness”, 99% of the plugs made today are designed to be fished on the surface while most big fish lie at the bottom of the water column, oblivious to the wobble of a plug above? No self-respecting gamefish will rise more than a few feet to take a swipe at the metal lip. Instead of fluttering a metal lip on the top, how about if we bury it ten feet deep, right smack in front of their noses? What, you didn’t think you could make a metal lip dive for the bottom?

Stories abound how years ago each jetty that borders the inlet on the south shore had its cadre of regulars who considered the deep diving metal lips their “go-to” plugs. Many cows fell to these plugs from places like the Breezy Point Jetty or the rip at the Sore Thumb. Conventional setups were the norm to fish these plugs as they offered better plug control for the anglers, as these deadly plugs would lumber towards the bottom. Today, if you visit these same locations you will encounter angler after angler tossing nothing but bucktails and an occasional large shad body. Did plugs like Rattlers ,Conrad’s and Cowboys  made popular by the likes of Don Musso, Danny Pinchney and Beachmaster  lose their effectiveness in these local waters or have we stopped using them because, well, no one else is? The second reason seems to me to be closer to the truth. In addition, the difficulty of acquiring these gems is another reason for their sparse use. I resorted to having a friend of mine and local custom builder make me a few dozen Musso Rattler Juniors because there is no other way to acquire them as Don stopped making these many years ago.

Around jetty tips where there is usually a pronounced deep-water rip or any location inside the inlet where water moves at a good clip are ideal locations to use these lures. Although bucktails do work well in these same locations, the bigger profile metal lips will get annihilated by larger fish, which might ignore the bucktail at times. Slow wobbling lures, seemingly suspended in the current, represent a larger and more vulnerable meal to a gamefish than a bucktail that is zooming by. Unlike the lazy roll of their surface swimming siblings, the deep diver’s wobbles are generally a lot tighter and more pronounced. This is the result of the strong current pushing against the metal lip in front of the submerged piece of wood. Some, like the large Beachmaster Cowboy for example, throb so hard during the retrieve it is almost reminiscent of working a bottle plug during a heave. It’s that intense! Other divers with narrower profiles like the Musso Troller Junior offer less resistance and move through the water more fluidly, wobbling tightly while seemingly flashing its sides just like a baitfish often does. I like to fish all of these plugs with stout tackle for two reasons. First, some of theses plugs are 3 to 4 ounce brutes and you need a strong rod in order to drive it through the wind. Because I use these plugs mostly around deepwater that borders jetties, there is always a chance of a good size fish being in the vicinity. Add strong currents, a deep rip and close proximity to barnacle-covered rocks; you can see why a stout rod becomes an asset when it comes to controlling fish and not a nuisance because of its length. The old time technique was to cast the lure up tide and leave it in a free spool while applying tension with your thumb. The force of the current will make the plug dive even though the angler is still feeding line into a current. Once the plug reaches the desired distance from the jetty, then the crawlingly slow retrieve is initiated. The lure usually is forced toward the back end of a rip but then it hugs the line where the rip and eddy meet .You can at times just hold the plug in this area without a crank of the handle, just by maintaining pressure against the current. Fish will be either patrolling the rip or taking position in the lee of an eddy and darting into the rip to attack any baitfish that finds itself in the unfortunate predicament of being forced through the rip by the current. Again, bucktails are deadly in these places, however you cannot keep a bucktail on the backside of a rip for a prolonged period of time as it will rise to the surface when positioned directly against the current. Deep diving metal lips can be held almost stationary in these rips and their answer to head on current is to dig even deeper. In addition, the bucktail moves through the rip fairly fast compared to a metal lip and this allows the lure more time in the most productive part of the rip.

I’ll admit that conventional setups are made for this kind of finesse plug control but I am, like most surfcasters today, enamored with the versatility of spinning tackle. It is just too darn hard to toss small bucktails and small swimming plugs with a conventional outfit which is something I often do while waiting for the tide to start cranking. I fish these metal lips as I do most of my other plugs designed for locations with a good current. Cast up tide, maybe at one o’clock, let some line out (if the rip is at the end of the cast) and then begin a slow retrieve, just fast enough to feel the resistance of the plug as it starts to dig. Since the line is taut and if you are using braid (as you should) the hits can be bone jarring so keep that in mind and keep a good grip on your stick.  I like to tune my divers by bending the wire above the metal lip up, therefore forcing the plug to dig even deeper. I figure if the fish are here, they are usually hugging bottom. If that does not produce, after a while I might try to bend the eye down to explore the higher water column although I have to be honest, this rarely proves to be successful. I find that searching another location is usually a better bet than hoping the fish will be high in the water column. Since I primarily fish these lures in the hours of darkness I tend to prefer the darker color lures. All black, black over purple or anything with a dark top and lighter bottom will usually be found in my bag. One exception is Danny’s herring pattern, which has always been my favorite pattern in any metal lip, even at times when herring are known not to be present in our waters.

Where to go?

So now we came full circle, back to “where” these lures are most productive. Well, there are some obvious places and some that you might think would not be suitable for deep diving plugs, but inexplicably they are. The natural spots would include any south shore jetty bordering an inlet. Jones inlet jetty, Breezy Point, Moriches and Shineckock jetties all feature deep water and strong current within casting range. In addition, on the backside of most inlets you will find a deep channel that runs very close to the shore line. Some of the structure inside these inlets is very appealing to a surfcaster tossing deep diving plugs, for example, the rip at the Sore Thumb inside Fire Island inlet. Tossing a Cowboy during a Nor’easter, on a dropping tide is one of the best ways to cash in on the storm’s tendency to bring large cows inshore. In addition, the backside of Democrat Point features some nice structure with fast water and deep rips reachable with a short cast. The backside of Jones Inlet however is not nearly as appealing as the before mentioned location. Yes, there is a deep channel within casting range but the lack of defined underwater structure over which a rip could set up makes this a less productive area.

The road less traveled ….

Other locations where these plugs can be put to good use are less obvious. For example, the rip at Shagwong Point is deep, fast and the presence of baitfish and predators is often the norm, not the exception. Yet, those who fish this particular piece of very productive real estate with deep diving plugs are few and far between. The stretch of beach from Long Beach on the east end through Atlantic Beach going westward is a place which does not “fit” the script of fast moving deep water yet it is consistently productive using these lures. Being far from the inlet these beaches do not feature storing current flow. Most of the movement here is courtesy of the wind and its velocity. But nice rolling white water will stir up the bottom sufficiently enough to expose many of the crustaceans that hide in the sand and the rocks. Crabs, sand fleas and worms are all part of the striper’s diet. In addition the jetties serve as a nursery for juvenile baitfish, which seek comfort and safety among its boulders. These “jetties” have been reduced in size and shape by storms over the years and might be more aptly be called “piles of rocks” rather than jetties. Battered by storm surges and large swells these jetties are best fished along side than trying to climb on top. I prefer to fish around either side of high tide as the receding tide sometimes leaves these jetties absolutely devoid of water. Wading along side I make a few casts on each side of the jetty and a few diagonally across the tip. Always make this cast up tide, that way your plug will wobble close to the submerged rocks at the tip and still clear the lead rock on the retrieve. Do not try to make this cast from the wrong side of the jetty as the current and wave action will force your plug on the other side of the rocks. If you are lucky you will get your plug back with some nasty abrasions on your line. Or worse, you’ll hang your plug in the crevices amongst the rocks. After a few casts I’ll usually move to the next jetty and start all over and keep moving until I find some life. If you are intent on casting from on top of the rocks, head down towards Atlantic Beach as those jetties are much more suitable for walking and some of them have some nice structure around them too. Because you can get onto the tip of many of these jetties you want to bend the eye up and first try to probe close to the bottom. This is impossible to do along Long Beach jetties as the water is shallower so I fish the diving metal lips with the eye straight or whatever it takes to have it dig down about a foot.

One special plug……….

I feel a need to mention this even though this particular plug is strictly not a “deep“ diving plug .It is however one of my favorite metal lip swimmers to fish under the surface. Beachmaster’s Junior Swimmer is about 6 inch long, weighs about 2 ounces and unlike most swimming plugs it  was designed with an eye for increased casting distance. In my opinion, it will outcast any comparable metal lip swimmer on the market. This is hardly the only reason for my infatuation with this particular lure. It has a great side to side wiggle, almost like an eel slithering through the water. Contrary to popular belief, the best results with this particular lure are not achieved on the top but by swimming it under the surface. Working a Junior around rock piles like those found in Long Beach or casting off the jetties in south shore inlets are equally effective techniques. Same goes for working north shore boulder fields or the rocky terrain around Montauk Point . They work best when there is good water movement. Although they won’t dive as deep as a true deep diving lure they will get down a foot or two when you bend the eye of the plug up. A crawling slow retrieve against the current works best, just enough to keep tension on the lure.

Tides

As I mentions before, a current that is moving at a good clip brings out the best in deep diving lures. With that in mind I like to concentrate my efforts on a few days before and after a full or preferably new moon period when the currents are usually at their strongest. When it comes to specific tide direction, the answer is not that simple as it depends on wind direction and velocity too. As a general rule of thumb, outgoing current is preferred in most places but keep in mind that any location has its own quirks and tendencies. For example, I prefer outgoing current on the Jones Inlet jetty but incoming on the other side in Point lookout where the rip just seems to set up better on the flood. Breezy Point jetty also coughed up its share of cows on the flood in the old days using nothing but these deep diving metal lips and I can’t see why it wouldn’t produce today. A word of caution when it comes to all of the afore mentioned locations. When it comes to wind direction in most of these rock piles I prefer to have the wind in my face. The benefit of “in your face” wind is that the rip is pushed tight against the jetty and not blown out as it often happen when wind comes over your shoulder. This often results in some sloppy conditions around the base of the jetty as the water is pushed into the rocks. Catching fish can at times be described as the “easy“ part but getting down the slippery rocks and landing it can be a bit hairy. Studded cleats like Korkers are a must here and if you intend to fish at night bring a spare flashlight. Being stranded on the tip of the jetty in the absolute darkness of a new moon is not a pretty feeling, trust me on this one.

There you have it, some of my thoughts that were passed onto to me by those old-timers who probably forgot more than I will ever know. Fishing deep diving metal lips will rarely make you  “high hook” on any given day or any given location but those who practice this technique will often manage to cull the biggest fish out of the school. Is that a reason good enough to give them a try? I think so.