obviously this has a lot to do with the area you're in and the kind of bait present but I just want to get a general idea from you guys here.
For me its been that damn shimano orca... especially early and late in the season when the bass were keyed in on herring. Probly becuase we had a crap ton of herring here on the cape this spring. There's something about the action on that plug that I love and the silver color also mimicks a lot of different kind of bait. A Close second was the savage sand eel 5oz... white over silver again was the best color for me. next closest runner up was the guppy wacky mack mini, and my tried and trusted blue/white polaris with homemade mack pattern. So lets hear it what was you favorite/best arificial lure tis season?

Live pogies!!!!:rotf2::rotf2::rotf2:

Bucktails and soft plastics. Must of the big fish I had this year were on Black bucktails after dark or on soft plastics with a large lead head.

Loaded bone redfin, and savage gear sand eels in mackerel pattern.

A lot of experimenting with my bag this year (and this year has not been kind to me)

Diamond jig with green tube (tons of sand eels and they would not touch a needle) and Blurple Darter

Season was a blur. But I dig the savage. SP was a top performer as always. Big fan of the guppy pencils as well
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no real order

247Lures pink mac sea special, canal and surf

247Lures fish stick mini pencil, killer on the beaches this year

ss darter, all yellow

noreaster baits darter, all white

ccw small danny in mullet pattern, by far the best lip ive fished, maybe ever.

interesting that i didnt catch more than 6 fish on redfins this year, it was always such a productive plug no love this season.

a couple other plugs that did real well were gibbs 1.75oz needle, sp minnow, ss bottle plug.

Tattoo sea dog, SP minnow, Bucktails.

Siembre Azul blanco on the rocks with lime.
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Dahtas - some nights it was all about the SS bottle and others it was the Northbar.

Needles - actually got some traction with these plugs. It really is true about the confidence thing. Once you gain some, they start producing. Interestingly enough, my first fish on a needle almost cost me a finger. Was trying to work out a wind knot when it got hammered. Lost the plug but managed to retain the digits.

Riggies - going to be my go to next year.

Habs 2oz Needle, SS Darter, Eels

Found some love with a bottle this year. Darters not so much as most years. Flaptails by day were good.
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Tsunami deep shads 5" and 6 1/2 " hands down.... Then a buck tail with Gotstyper pintail rubber.... Ditch.
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and my tried and trusted blue/white polaris with homemade mack pattern.

I've seen that polaris in action...I have an orca, couldn't get a feel for it tried working it different ways but no love. I fished alot of Savage stuff and did real good on it, also the typical black/red Sluggo. For some reason my plug season sucked, usually I could have just darters and do well, this year was way off for me with them. My best overall producer this year jigs and eels.
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4 ounce bucktail jig

after that white ghost stik shad large size

The diamond jig, green tube ;).
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french fries and white perch.

Rapala x-rap has caught the last 2 seasons. No matter the time of year they catch! A close second would be a buck tail and a 7" wiggly tail.
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Hands down a white spray bomb Stick Shad, caught so many quality fish I lost count, but I do remember the 3, very large, fish I lost on it.
Boat wise plug casting copies of a white Bluestreak A-40, Gary2 slim, white med Gibbs pencil. Whole lot of fun fishing your own stuff.
Trolling wise Tube & Worm, old reliable.

Loaded Bone redfin,I went through 2 this fall had a fish rip the belly hook hanger out of one. White superstrike darter has worked well too, I'd say 60% of the fish I caught this fall came on those 2 plugs. Had some good nights fishing Loaded Northbars and homemade pikies earlier in the year

hey PM WTF is a spray white stick Shad ?????????????:confused:

hey PM WTF is a spray white stick Shad ?????????????:confused:

When you wait too long to stock up and all you can find is the fresh water patterns so you have to spray paint it "bone" color...

White 3oz T.O. fatboy polaris. Perfect floating polaris for the ditch. Throws a ton of water, can work it real slow in the current and cover a lot of ground. Most of my fish on top came on that plug this year.

In RI it was the SS bottle (again) and the SP.

1. Live or rigged eels by far for quality fish
2. SS Needles
3. Lemire 4oz Needles for big surf
4. JoeBaggs Bucktails w/uncle josh pork (best bucktails on market IMHO)
5. SS Darter - white w/red head
6. SS sinking popper worked real slow in surf

I have an orca, couldn't get a feel for it tried working it different ways but no love. Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It is tricky to get the right rhythm with it at first, its a really slow pop of the rod every quarter crank and you can get it to zig and zag really good. But its tough to controll in rough conditions, its really a slack tide calm condition plug...

This is interesting though, pretty much everyone had a different style plug they thought was their best... Just goes to show how much confidence plays a role in the plugs you throw!

1. Salty's Wadd Needle in BI green
2. 8.5" Needle thin/heavy don't know builder. Similar to AH needle but on a diet.
3. SS Darter in Blurple
4. SS Heavy popper w/ skin.
5. Loaded Redfin in bone or black

Its funny how it seems to change from year to year.

From the surf:
The jointed Xrap had been great for the last few years but it seemed to fade a lot for me this season. Can't say anything really jumps out as number one as I did not fish the surf a ton this year but I went from time to time. If I had to pick one it would be the heavy ss needle in black/purple. I normally don't fish those much anymore but it did better than most everything else I fished.

From the boat: I have to say my shimano butterfly outfished everything with the heavy banksinker-squid jig a close second.

Offshore:
I love my ballyhoo daisychain rig with the swimming head on the stinger (you rig it with dead baits). This was great. I found this rig in a dusty old box in a on-island tackle shop floor stuffed away in the corner... It has a clever clip that allows easy attachment of the baits. The package was yellowed and faded. I figure gezzz...this looks like it would work let me try it. The proprietor said he has not sold one of those in years (and he has more in the back if I want them) Let me say after my canyon trip...I went back and cleaned him out. The company them made them is long gone and I can not find those clips anyplace.

3/4-1.75 oz home made bucktails. No love this year on redfins which was aa surprise. I have a smokey joe that was my go to plug the last couple years, this year, nada.

Most of my fish were caught on eels...

When I wasn't fishing eels I was usually jigging and did well with:
1. 1.5 - 3oz bucktails w pork rind
2. 1 - 4oz jig heads with rubber (shad bodies & sluggos)

For plugs which I only fished occasionaly through the season but I have been throwing them more the last few weeks.
1. SS Darters
2. SA Juniors
3. BM Wadds

hey PM WTF is a spray white stick Shad ?????????????:confused:

LOL. Hey Mike it is the large knock off Sebile Stick Shad that I get unpainted, clear, and then spray paint it white. Way cheaper than originals.

Cocaho minnows and my super spook.Did real good with both.

5oz savage sand eel...early and often!

Spro Minnow bucktails in white, silver and chartreuse. Also Al Gag's eels. Big fan where I fish in sandeel and purple/black or just black

Big D's pencils and spooks.
6" magic swimmers.
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ditto on the cloned stick shad... I like mine painted pearl white... I did well with one of my 20Z darters in lobsta paint

Didn't fish much this year but the sp minnow was productive and is really pushing bombers out of my bag.
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My mainstay lures this year and most productive included:
*AH Slider Spook
*AH pencils - 3 oz and 2 oz
*StriperMaineiac needles
* BigFish Prey - saved the day for me a number of times
* Pt Jude tins also saved the day on numerous occasions as well

* plus a variety of jigs/bucktails

Surprisingly for me.....all my productive lures were BigFish Baits????:huh: Go figure???:rotf2:

But seriously though.....out of all my plugs I did the most damage with my "Doubleshot Pencil" in 2.25 weight, my 1 oz. pencil and my "Prey" swimmers. Did not throw the Danny much and my usual spring and fall go to the "Blitzseeker" barely got out of the bag??? Every season is different though?:uhuh:

eels

eelskin plugs and eelskin jigs

gibbs mackeral darter

loaded reverse atom

gibbs white swimmer

atom poppers, mackeral and white/blue head

shimano butterfly jig, blue/silver, drifted along the bottom

Red head 3oz darter & bucktails,jigs!
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frozen herring chunks.

(not kidding either) :confused::devil2:

frozen herring chunks.

(not kidding either) :confused::devil2:


Frozen in Bunker Oil and infused with Eel piss, none-the-less.

I thought they caught all the illegal aliens already??

Savage 5oz or the 3 sandeel most fish on the retrieve and SP minnow and late the Mag darter . every one say loaded bone redfin have had one 2 years the thing catches nothing?

Savage 5oz or the 3 sandeel most fish on the retrieve and SP minnow and late the Mag darter . every one say loaded bone redfin have had one 2 years the thing catches nothing?

I haven't done well with fish of any size since i started fishing the loaded redfin a couple years ago. I seem to catch much better fish on the unweighted...

Use the unweighted Redfins in calm waters or shallow boulder fields, low current where you don't have to get the plug very far. Loaded ones are good for long casts, and work better in current.

Perhaps you heard this one before... 5oz. Savage eels & SP minnows. Hate to be a follower but if it works...I'm in.

LOL. Hey Mike it is the large knock off Sebile Stick Shad that I get unpainted, clear, and then spray paint it white. Way cheaper than originals.

Who makes the knock off and where can them be purchased ?
I take it they only come in one size ?

Who makes the knock off and where can them be purchased ?
I take it they only come in one size ?

Err, I dunno if I'm violating rules here, (delete if applicable) but canal b&t has a bunch of different sized knockoffs; stick shads and magic swimmers... I assume you're not driving up here for that, or I think you can just order them off the internet too

Who makes the knock off and where can them be purchased ?
I take it they only come in one size ?

M&D's / capecodtackle.com has some

You can probably find them on the Internet too if you are good at that sort of thing. I am pretty sure they have a couple sizes but I am talking about the largest size of the stick shad and the magic swimmer.
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Canal's faux stick shad is just as good as the $40 version. I like the white/bone/ghost whatever they call it- works well.

These tube things I pull behind the boat seem to work pretty well too.
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Beachmaster Lil Guy
Beachmaster Wad
Beachmaster Darter 2 oz
Mag Darter
16A bomber
Billy D Stubby

Darters made by a member here and 2.5oz skinny minnie
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Any plug ive taken from gattafish and rapidfflow0s bags while theyre sleeping

SS Darter white
Bone Sp minnow
Billy D Canal Special in Blue/white
Joe Baggs jigs w pork.
"Over loaded" bone redfin--this plug leaks, gains weight, and therefor holds in heavy current well.