Sooooooooooo..... then this fisherman's fisherman, Mr Campo, that everyone respects so much primarily fished eels and only collected plugs for conversation and the rare occasions when he couldn't throw eels downwind? Surely somebody here knew him and confirm this.

And Mr Gibbs, Mr Musso, and Mr Pichney liked eels best, but used plugs as a way to make a quick buck off less knowledgable fishermen? Is that true?

Enquiring minds want to know?

You and me both. It seems like you need to know which shop is getting them before the shops even know it. I'm very curious to see how the bottle darters swim in person, but I don't doubt they catch.

That's why I bought one, and posed the original question? The bottle plug has always been a very situational plug for me , but on the rare occasion when I've clipped one on, I've done pretty well. Believe it or not I have taken 3 very big fish on them over the years. I always liked the Gibbs 3 oz. mackerel bottle and more recently, the Supersrike in parrot , yellow or black/yellow. I just wanted to know if anyone out there was more aware of these new bottles by North bar.

By the way, Numbskull. I fished on BI in the 80's alot and ran into Steve Campo on occasion. He was always using needlfish or 7 inch loaded redfins most likely because they worked and because it was always blowing a gale which made live eel fishing extremely difficult. Steve used to say that the guys from RI were lousy fisherman because they used yellow Stren line. He was just busting.

Wouldn't Block Island have a downwind side?
Why would he accumulate special metal lip plugs as mentioned above to throw into a gale?
None of this seems to make sense. We all know eels work better. So why did all these good fishermen go to plugs?
Anybody?

I wish I could "think" I was as good a fisherman as many on here think they are! I hope someday to be a "sharpie"! Oh pleez oh pleez oh pleez! I feel bad for many of you....I really do because you miss the point.:fishin:

Numbskull, I 'm not familier with Campo's special swimmers. Steve, like most everybody on BI back then threw the weighted Redfin then the needlefish as they became availble. Really, it was tough to throw eels out there as it was always windy and/or real big seas even in the lees. I tied rigged eels on occasion which usually resulted in chop-offs. Yes , they were there too.

Wake up larry it's winter..:scream:
Basically the whole thing in jest..

Tony C. knew and knows Campo very well. We have talked at length about him. Campo was a rabid bass fisherman and just like when we fished eels and bait we (at least I) still had to have every plug that came down the pike. It's an obsession. You think you had to have it because it might be that one thing that gets you better catches than the next guy.

Tony told me that when his shop (Bass Run)was out of Pichneys or Musso's wooden creations that he could always ge a bunch from Steve C. because it was unbelievable that someone could carry that many plugs on a fishing trip plus the eel live and rigged. He was simply obsessed, aren't we all when it comes to Striper fishing in some sort of way?

Tony said Mr. Campo lives in Canada now looking for better bass grounds as far as he knew.

I'd love to meet him.

there is a word for all that plug buying, and it's a real sickness treated only by a doctor..I know someone just like steve c. who lives in orleans..he was telling me he has a basement full of thousands still in their pkging from back in the sixties..you name it he has them..evert color and size...he told me that he'd spend 3/4 of his pay check every week buying stuff he knew he'd never use, had to get his fix.For years he kept this up untill he was treated for this sickness....and to this day he still won't part with one.Said his wife and kids will be very well taken care of when he passes and they have a yardsale.

Don't forget to call me when this takes place

Hopefully, his wife and kids will know what the plugs are actually worth before they sell it off :D.

Campo had different colors painted on the nose of his plugs which would indicate whether it was a deep, medium or shallow swimmer.This way all he had to do was look into his bag to know which suited the application. He customized most of his arsenal and seemed to be another tinkerer.He sold a warehouse of plugs years back to subsidize his retirement home up in Nova Scotia. I still have many of his mercury filled bombers that I love to use in Cotuit.

I dont think that you could get eels on block island in the 80's...and as a result, plugs were used.

Nebe, Twin Maples used to carry them sporadically and Joe Mollica, then owner of The top of the Dock in Gansett, , used to "ship" them over to us and the other guys, even the Islanders. But because of the very large sand eels ever present the 7 " redfin and the like, then the needlefish plugs, perfectly mimicked that bait.

ah. well there you have it. I wish I could have partook in some of that action back then..

because nobody wants to find an EEL in their Christmas stocking !!

I dunno, I wouldn't go that far, Rav...:wave:

Maybe I'm just a funny guy :smokin:

Isn't eel a traditional Italian Christmas dinner?

[QUOTE=Sea Dangles;645869]No one would go to eelfest,pogiefest sounds rivetting.

I'm in for EelFest.

There might be something in this.

Everybody know the Best fishermen use CUSTOM eels :hf1:

Luke, use the force. Don't go to the dark side!:smash: