During the course of a striper season, say from New jersey to Maine, what PERCENT of 40 pound plus bass are taken on metal lip type (DANNY style ) swimmers, in the surf that is. What's your opinion?

More Dropped than taken IMO. Thats a tough plug to land a big fish on.

Never done well with metal lips in actual surf.Quiet back waters with lots of eelgrass is a different story!

I would have to say it's a very low number.Bait probably fools more big fish than all lures combined..Not to say they won't fool em.I know of a few this spring OVER 40.
I have a few 30's this yr on metal lips.Although I did not use em that much..I just don't like to deal with the trebles..

More Dropped than taken IMO. Thats a tough plug to land a big fish on.


I have to agree. They're incredibly deadly in the right hands and right spots, but I really struggle to reliably land some of the cows I hook.

It's the plug of broken dreams for me. But it doesn't stop me from fishing them.

To toss out a number, I will venture 5%...though there have been times and places when ONLY metal lips are doing the reaper's work on the fatties.

Trolled on wire I'm sure a lot of commercial guys are catching tons on them!

I'd say that the percentage is low, especially with the amount caught on pogies and eels from boats. Even if limited to percentage of 40s in the surf, I'd say the number would be low, say around 5%. Eels, chunks, soft plastics, needles and finish swimmers would all take more large fish IMO.

That being said, and as others have said, there's just something fun about fishing them. I had a bass of 35-40# follow a yellow troublemaker danny the whole retreive on BI last fall, coming up right behind it and dropping further back, only to hit when the plug got pulled back by the undertoe. The hit was in so close that I really didn't have a chance to fight the fish and lost it to pulled hooks pretty quickly. I'll never forget watching that fish stalk the plug though. That's why I love and continue to fish metal lips even though they are a "heartbreak" plug as someone else said. Largest fish I've manage to land on was in the upper 30# range.

My largest to date and a very high percentage of schoolies. My metal lip about 5" long. Larger ones I don't do as well with. My thoughts on that would be that the smaller plug fits in the mouth-the whole plug. The larger plug doesn't, and a larger lip might act as a shield to the hook. I've puzzled on that for a long time, Tagger suggested that reason, he's wicked smaht you know. Makes sense to me..

I take some of my nicest fish each year on Dannys. Love them.

[QUOTE=Terence;521483]More Dropped than taken IMO. Thats a tough plug to land a big fish on.[/QUOTE and that was the case last night :crying:popped off a very nice fish after a good battle.never did land any thing over mid twenty on a metal lip myself,but then again I almost allways fish eels so that doesn't say much.To put a number on it would be hard but would say it would be very low.I"ll still fish them cuase they are one of the coolest plugs to catch on.

Tagger suggested that reason, he's wicked smaht you know. Makes sense to me..

Freekin Tagga, always thinkin,
coming up with new ideas and theories for the plug builders Think Tank. :think: :btu:

I think larger metal lips give the fish more to throw around when they shake their head, making it easier for them to throw the hook. The size of the body prevents many fish from getting it in their mouths and forces the mouth open and shields the hooks during the hook set when fish do get the whole plug in their mouth. The result seams to be alot of fish hooked in the soft tissue around the fish's mouth, rather than the boney inside of the mouth, where the trebles of needles and finish swimmers usually end up.

During the course of a striper season, say from New jersey to Maine, what PERCENT of 40 pound plus bass are taken on metal lip type (DANNY style ) swimmers, in the surf that is. What's your opinion?


probably a lower percentage than the amount of 40's caught on sluggos in the surf. I'd say less than 5% maybe less than 2 even. Shore caught 40's don't happen that often, lots might be on eels, others on needles, then there is bait, rubba, jigs and other stuff.
I bet not only danny plugs get 40's, but pikies and sursters also.

I would agree that they take a very small percentage of the 40+ bass caught but still consider a danny to be a big fish plug. :kewl:

The shield is not the problem.The problem is they never get it down cause the hooks are in the way..Now u have a large fish hooked outside it's mouth with small hooks.It's a catch 22..If u go larger than a 3/0 hook u'll kill the action in most surf conditions.Plus fouling becomes a problem.2/0 has a small gape an 3/0 while better is still small.Them expensive Owner stingers are a strong hook with a smallish shank.They are heavier than the 6x VMC's so u might loose some action also..
Use bigger hooks.Take ur chances with it fouling..Use a bigger plug with bigger hooks..Use the tail treble..U get one of them in the eye socket an ur golden..
I like em large with big hooks.Give me some good white water.

Often what happens is that as the fish rolls while thrashing about, the lip catches the line and wraps it around the hooks, so you are pulling from the middle of the plug or base of the hook itself, which either unhooks the fish or levers it out. The early beachmasters had a rough lip and they used to cut your shocker instead.

The larger plug doesn't, and a larger lip might act as a shield to the hook. I've puzzled on that for a long time, Tagger suggested that reason, he's wicked smaht you know.
I'm a dummy .... I think numbskull suggested metal lip sheilding that first hook .. My problem with the smaller danny is 2/0 hooks .. I fish a min. of 3/0 on a plug and not sure if I like my odds on a big fish with that . vmc wire diam doesn't jump up until 5/0,, havn't gone to 6x yet .. My big fish plug has been a needle .. I'd be willing to wager a good needle will kick a good dannys arse as far as big fish go .. You can get a needle right down in front of thier face ,, where they lay ..