buying plugs

[rob allen]

OK i am tired of late summer steelhead on the east side I wanna get ready for Winter runs even though it's a month+away. Gi joes has hot shots (my favorite) on sale. I have always heard that certain plugs will out fish others even the same size and color and just wahted to know is there anything you guys look for when looking at a plug thats still in the package?

also do you think plugs are worth tuning? i have found that plugs that don't run true out of the box need constand adjustment and are more hassle than they are worth..

thoughts, comments, opinions , flames :grin: ?

[excuse me]

Yes. The main thing I look for on all plug brands in their marketing boxes is how the front eyescrew or front connecting wire loop are attached. Most are put in straight, on plane with the fore to aft axis of the plug. But many aren't exact with this and are slightly angled. Those will be the plugs that are more difficult to tune well and often won't catch fish as well. Look for this factor by both looking straight down toward the bill to see if the eyescrew is straight on axis, and try to see it from the side for this same factor.

[Flatfish]

If anybody can tell a winner in the box,please tell me how.I will pay.
Tune them every time if necessary.I fish a lot of K-12s and Flatfish (duh)and they are a pain to tune.I figure 1 in 6 or so will not tune no matter what.The price of fishing them, I guess.It is rare for any of the plugs I run(pretty much all brands/models in the box somewhere)to run straight out of the boxIt is a good indicator though..The big debate I have between me and a cronie is,do you want it to run absolutely straight down?Or a little side to side thing(like a Hot-N-Tot but not so much)?My winners dive straight down no matter what.I do have a couple that wander and still catch fish,but in my experience, straight is great.My bud,who is as good as they get,has a bunch that shimmey as they go.I have tried to make mine do the same,and NONE would tune and wander.It just depends on the plug I guess.My only advice is to find a couple that you like the looks of and buy 5-10 of each one.In my experience,1 in 5 is a winner(give or take)so while 10 sounds like a lot of repetition,in the real world you may get 3 winners in 10.If you are lucky.It is expensive to start,but a winner catches fish til it wears out.I have worn 1 out.If I told you how many fish it had caught,you would call me a liar.But a winner is worth a bunch of fish.Because of this I now run 50# Tuf line and 30-40 max leaders.To lose a winner is awful.I will swim for some of them.Swim for them in December.Yep.I figure a winner is worth at least 100 dollars each.Plus time invested(this is probably low. But honestly quite accurate).As far as color is concerned,buy what YOU like.I am starting to come to the conclusion that a winner catches fish no matter the color.Strong words,I know ,but I am almost able to prove it.Give me 2 more years and I can show that color only affects a small %age of the big picture.Less than 15% small.
Sorry this got so long.
Mark and the tired dog.

[Mojo]

I'm with Mark. I have a one lure that has taken the majority of the fish in my boat for 2 years. Almost all the paint is worn off it, but it still catches fish. I turned down $50.00 for it 2 years ago. Best $50.00 I never got. Buy a bunch, try 'em all, and sell the losers on e-bay.

[Mojo]

Also, by a color you like, because you'll fish it with more confidence. As Jennie says "Expect a fish with every cast..." Confidence is everything :wink:

[Cast Away]

One wiggle wart in particular has caught the majority of fish in my boat(while throwing plugs). Two years ago it came out of the package bright and shiny(red herring bone) Now the thing is almost white from all its use. Can't explain why it just catches fish!

[Sublime]

Cream-sickle hotshots!

[crabbait]

I have not spent much time plug running but could it be that the "winner" plugs spend a lot more time in the water than the others?

I have run Kwikfish a bit and find them easy to tune to run straight but have had more success on prawn rigs and spinners (ergo, prawn rigs and spinners seem to spend more time in the water).

How much success is due to the plug and how much is due to the confidence you have in "ol' killer"?

[MasterCaster]

So I take it this one k15 kwikfish I found on the Nestucca (just up from the mouth of Three Rivers) that has MANY sets of teeth marks in it would be one to hold on to? :grin: Its Its silver with purple stripes on top and pink stripes on the underside with pink and purple eyes and a purple and then pink butt.

I have never used it and may never as I am a bankie and just dont use them. Maybe I should start taking bids? :grin:

I have fished some wiggle warts side by side with others that are exactly the same looking and yet one definately out fishes the other.

Jon :smile: :grin: :smile:

[ 10-29-2002, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: MasterCaster ]

[Flatfish]

Crabbait,
I have documented going thru a hole(or tailout or wherever)with multiple plugs and blanking.I got first water here,so row back up and change plugs,Down again and fish on.I have fished one Tadpolly for 53 hours(according to my records)and it has been in the water when 9 fish were hooked.NONE bit that individual plug.I am sure it will never catch a fish.I have several plugs(about 25 or so hall of famers)that average a fish every 5-6 hours fished.If I fish 3 of these at a time I am fishing 3 plug hours per hour.I average a fish every 2 hours when i get first water.I am constantly testing new plugs,cause I feel cornered if I have only a couple plugs that catch fish.I usually start the day (if I get first water)with new plugs.This way I am confident that there are fish in the hole and biters amongst the fish.If I blank,reload and give them a new batch to eat.I have 3 holes that only fail me occasionally.Holy water if you will.If I get first water there and a plug don't catch a fish.I write it down.After 12 hours of trying,under good conditions,I sell the plug.Those that do will.Those that don't never will.What do i do with my harem of winners?I save these for the heavy competition days of hatchery brats.When I have to follow 3 boats thru a hole my best chance is to give em 3 winners.I have caught fish behind some pretty good anglers with this approach.I have only fished 1 plug to death.It took 17 years to kill it.She sits above the puter now.
Mark and The Midnight Feathered Express.

[ 10-29-2002, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Flatfish ]

[Mad Mikey]

Rob, if you aren't pulling plugs off your flyrod :tongue: I agree that hotshots #30 are killer. I have fished them in all kinds of conditions and have found the color is not as important as most would think.
My hang-up is the hooks that they have. I like to change them over to a round bend VMC 3950 since the company tends to put different styles of hooks on them varying from month to month. I got a pack of spendy Owners'(#4) that I fish all seasons, damn sharp.
I usually don't have to tune hotshots but Wiggle warts and Tad-Pollies it is a good idea.
I used to run bait divers for Winter fish on the Clack but have had much more success with hotshots to put fish in the boat You can keep em' out and run them over shallow gravel bars and park them in the sweet spot without pulling them up and dropping them down again like you would for bait divers.
I prefer bait divers on the Sandy but have a moral dillema using them when the natives are in, I go barbless on that stream with anything I fish.
Good luck, see you in a few weeks and pray for rain!

[rob allen]

Mad Mikey i have never and never will put a plug on a bug rod... I have a friend who does it. I peronally would never do it.. They are not designed for that.

[Flatfish]

Mad mikey,
Glad to hear that you are concerned with nates and DnB.They swallow it most of the time.Besides that,nates are agressive enough that you don't need bait to catch them.Plugs work just fine.
As far as Clack brats eating plugs better than DnB,well if you have some good plugs then go to town.But divers are just like plugs-One in five catches fish.I have never seen a better way to bonk hatch fish than a wall of bait behing divers that fish well.But I still fish a ton of plugs for them.Why get egg goo all over everything when you don't have to?
Mark and the sad to not be ducking dog.

[rob allen]

I tried bait divers a little..on the North lewis, not gonna run into too many nates there right??? well caught a small hatchery brat one hook in the tongue the other through the gills, still getting the blood out of my boat,, 20 minutes later caught a beautiful native sea run cutthroat 16 inches long luckily only hooked in the corner of the jaw with one hook.. after that i'll never nor will anyone in my boat pull bait divers ANYWHERE and ANYTIME

[TheTexan]

I am new to fishing the NW and understand the desire not to kill or critically injure the natives by pulling plugs. Is there some un-written rule that I should know or understand? How about pulling plugs on the Santiam's or the Siletz?

Thanks

[Fishalot]

e tex it is not the plugs it's the diver/ hot & tot with bait run behind combo that the fish like to take deep and there for making it hard to release the fish unharmed. When there is a lot of Natives in the river people stay away from that combo.

Fishalot