By Zeno Hromin

This article originally appeared in the Fisherman magazine

Surfcaster's bag of tricks

Have you ever been out-fished by a fellow surfcaster who was standing only a few yards away from you? I certainly have…on numerous occasions! Even in broad daylight when I could clearly see what he was using and I matched his offering exactly, from color to weight, I still came up short. You might think that he was casting in a better “spot” but frankly this is not the case most of the time. I consider myself a good caster and I often reach the same spot he is. We can take distance out of the equation and retrieve too, since I try my best to mimic his.  Our rod lengths are about the same and we both are using a braid with the same lures attached to our leaders.  What is the reason for my pathetic performance compared to his? It is hard to say with certainty as any “little” thing can have great influence on the presentation in the water but most often it is a slight modification he has done to his lure. Paying attention to small details goes a long way in this sport.

Certain days are permanently etched in my memory. These are rarely days of all-out blitzes.  More often than not, they were times when “little” things have made a huge difference in my success. A cold October morning on the north side of the Montauk lighthouse was one of them. The night before, a cold front had passed over the area. A gale force northwest wind greeted me as I woke up and opened the door of my truck which was parked in the lower lot. The blustery breeze sent chills down my spine as I struggled to get my gear on with numb fingers. The False Bar was enveloped in the darkness of a new moon. The sea looked like it was illuminated by the waves, white water crashing in all directions.  The waves seemingly raced to the shore and then playfully crashed on each other. I struggled to walk to the water’s edge as the gusty wind pushed me back, as if it was challenging me to a duel of wills. I attached a yellow Super Strike darter and cast into the darkness .A huge bow developed during the cast as the wind had its way with my line.  By the time I picked up the slack, my lure was firmly planted in my boot. “Well, what did you expect”, I said to myself, “When your cast is 30 yards long at most?” That sleeping bag in the truck was probably still warm and I thought that maybe I should head back but I did not. Putting my gear on was hard enough. Taking it off after few casts would be admitting defeat, something I wasn’t ready to concede yet. I kept struggling with my casts as the wind picked up my plug half way out on the cast and actually raised it up and then pushed it back at me. I decided to try a different cast, something I had never done before. Instead of a full cast, I released my index finger much latter than I usually do. This kept my casts low to the water and under the wind. I did not gain great distance but I eliminated any bow in the line and was able to start a retrieve as soon as my darter hit the water. The lure got slammed by bass repeatedly that whole tide. I was mental zone only paying attention to my casts. A few fellow club members walked over to me once the action slowed down a bit and startled me by asking: “How did you load up your darter?” Regardless of my swearing on anything and everything dear to me that this was a standard, out-of-the-package Super Strike darter, they were convinced that I had added a “little” extra something to my lure. I swear to them I did not, but I often do modify some plugs in my arsenal in order to make them more productive. Here are some ideas, small modifications to your lures, which under the right circumstances will increase your success.

Floating a bucktail

During stormy conditions, heavy bucktails are often the only lure that can be used with any efficacy. Large swells, which are often associated with storms, create problems that are not often encountered in the surf. Specifically, because of the large size of the waves and their strength when they crash on the shore, the surfcaster is forced to cast while standing far from the water’s edge. Those who venture out farther when the wave recedes are reminded very quickly of the great strength of an angry sea and often get swept off their feet. Because of this, your cast, which is usually into a strong headwind, does not go very far. Although your 2 or 3 ounce bucktail might land on the top of a nine foot swell, it will momentarily find itself in inches of water as the wave recedes. Granted, bottom bouncing is not a problem on a sandy beach but it can become a major annoyance during a nor’easter in the rocks at Montauk. To combat this problem, take an extra heavy bucktail and cut the leadhead with a hacksaw diagonally. Start from under the wire loop and angle towards the belly. You’ll end up with a heavy bucktail that will cut through the wind with force but it will “plane” upwards in the waves, thus staying off the bottom.

Increase your casts

Lures are often designed to produce specific action, at a specific depth. Their “castability” is usually not the main goal of a plug builder. The ones that cast the farthest are those that are weighted heavily in the tail. Top water metal lip swimmers are generally weighted in the belly in order to give them their tantalizing wiggle but this greatly reduces castability, making them tumble in the air if one employs a power cast when using these types of lures. Other lures, like darters for example, cast pretty good but even their reach can be improved by a simple modification. Add a single tail hook via a split ring instead using a standard open-eye treble connection.  This allows the hook to “fold” against the body during a cast, resulting in a longer cast and more fluid delivery as the air resistance is greatly reduced.

Make needle “sexy”

At first glance you might declare needlefish lures as “boring”. No distinguished features like metal lips or darters.  No scooped out face to push water like popping plugs. They can be so much more if you are willing to think slightly outside the box. The plastic Super Strike needlefish can be given additional weight by drilling a small whole in it.  Then you fill the plug with water and seal the hole with Goop. Customized this way, these lures become great casters in stormy weather or when probing deep channels in an inlet. Sliding an eel skin on the Super Strike “bullet” style needlefish will enable you to cast your eel skin plug to places metal lip swimmers fitted with eel skins can’t reach. On the stubby Hab’s or Gag’s Pocket Rocket, remove the feathered hook and replace it with a plain single hook fitted with a large grub for a totally different presentation.

Make your pencil a better “dancer”

Just about every pencil popper on the market, including the Surface Cruiser by Yo-zuri, today’s most popular lure in this category, can be “enhanced” by the simple addition of a large, #7 stainless steel split ring on its nose. The extra movement generated by the split rings makes these plugs “dance” better and will often turn a good pencil popper into your favorite one.

Making an eel skin plug “pretty”

Sliding an eel skin on a metal lip or a needlefish is probably one of the most effective ways to entice truly big stripers to one’s hooks, even when they ignore other lures. Although preparing and rigging a lure with an eel skin is a straight forward process, paying attention to details can, in my opinion, pay big dividends in the future. After skinning an eel and removing any excess meat still attached to the skin, you could just slide the skin on your lure of choice. However, if you soak that same skin overnight in a solution of equal parts water and kosher salt, the skin will toughen up and become more durable. Rinsing hooks after each use will prevent rust discoloration on the skin around the hook hangers. I’ve caught fish on badly rust-discolored skins but my confidence is somewhat shaken tossing a lure that looked so unappealing. Another trick which some might disagree with also has to do with the “look” of a finished product. The time-honored way to attach skin to the lure is to either slide it all the way to the metal lip and tie it down with Dacron at the base where metal meets the wood or to utilize a grooved “ring” in the wood, made just for this contraption. A lot of anglers will fasten the skin in either location and then cut the skin as close as possible to the Dacron. This leaves very little room for error in case your skin “slips” under the Dacron during the battle with the fish. In addition, the tie-down threads don’t look to appealing to me. Then again, I am not a fish and fish might not care….but still. I like my finish product to be mimic the real thing as close as possible. Cutting a skin approximately half an inch in front of the tread and then “folding “it backwards over the Dacron makes a much better eel imitation.

Go “thin” on pork?

I think we all agree that using pork rind in conjunction with bucktails creates a far superior presentation to a game fish than just using a plain lead head with hair. If you don’t believe me, try going “natural” with your bucktail when the fish are turned on and watch your success rate plummet compared to those around you who are using pork rind or even other embellishments like curly tails. However, in windy conditions, pork rind reduces the length of our cast considerably as it creates a lot of wind resistance while in flight. To combat this problem, cut your pork rind in half lengthwise with a razor blade, starting from the split in the tail. This will leave you with two, thin, fairly identical strips of pork. Now make a “split tail” on the wider side of the rind by a short cut with a razor blade. You’ll end up with a rind that will still flutter behind the bucktail but the air resistance will be reduced considerably, resulting in a longer cast. In addition, early or late in the season when gamefish are feeding on slim baits like sand eels or spearing, a thin strip of pork rind will often out-produce the standard size that comes out of the jar.

Dig your lures a little deeper

Subsurface metal lip swimmers are deadly when used around jetties, bridges or other deep water structures. Getting the plug “down” in rips that are often found at these locations is often the key between success and failure.The deeper you can bury your metal lip, the better chances are that you will hook into one of those reluctant brutes that are often found lying at the bottom of the water column. Bending the eye upward to its maximum angle will cause your the lure to dive to its greatest depth. I should note that current strength will play a large role too. Replacing a usual 3/0 front hook with a strong and heavy 5/0 VMC or Mustad hook will make your subsurface swimmer reach its maximum potential. Replacing a standard front 3/0 hook on a Super Strike darter with a 4/0 or even a 5/0 hook is an old trick when you want your darter to dig and hold better in the rough water.

“Slosh” your surface swimmer

I find that these top water metal lips are marginal productive at best under calm water conditions. I had most success at dawn under flat water conditions but I had to adjust my retrieve in order to elicit some interest from the fish. Predatory fish are usually not as aggressive under these conditions and I find the “sloshing” my top water metal lip with a sweep of the rod will often entice a strike or a least draw some interest. As soon the plug lands in the water give it a slosh thru the water and then let it rest for few seconds before initiating retrieve. Five or ten cranks later repeat the same sequence and then let plug rest again for few seconds. This type of retrieve will often draw an interest from gamefish on the days when noting else seem to work.

Those are just few modifications to either a plug, cast or a retrieve which have been proven to produce over the years. Some should only be employed under certain condition while other can be used most of the time. Either way, they should help you modify your presentation and increase the chances that gamefish will find your offering appealing enough to strike it. After all, isn’t that what this sport is all about?