Tatoo darter
 

Based on reviews from folks on this site, I picked up a blurple tattoo darter. This sucker is bigger than most lures I use and I’m curious if anyone has any hints on how to work it. It says works best in moving water, so I am assuming an outflow or rough current. Is it similar to a swimmer? Is the action too much in a strong current?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Jim

They dont catch a damn thing... :D
BTW I'll take it off your hands... my yellow needs a cousin.....
Get'cher butt out there and fish it... you'll see:D

Jim -
Tatoo will no doubt chime in - he knows like nobody else.
I suggest you go to cliff and throw it into some deep water in the day and experiment....Just to get an idea of how fast you should crank and the lure's action.
Moving water could be a rip, an inlet, or just a faster section of shoreline current. The lure also works great on the back side of the wash when the water is big. I prefer to use the darter in places with a significant drop-off.
A very popular lure.

Joe, based on your reply, does it swim deep? My only access to the water is at 2am when I'm fishing and I'd hate to toss this in a shallow outflow and lose it on my first cast.

RIJ, usually Ill give a darter a good pop w/ the rod to get it started digging in the water. If theres good current or a rip you can reel very slow and the darter will do its own stuff. If its slow water, you can reel and jerk the rod to keep the darter down and digging. Basiclly you dont want to pump the rod like a swimmer, pull the tip up and reel in and keep the line tight. Thats the key

Jim,
I've noticed that Tattoos Darters do dig more than the SS or Gibbs. Be careful throwing it in the shallow areas.
DZ

Thanks for all the advice, I'll giver her a spin Saturday night.

A wise surfcaster always tests the water with a cheap plug

They also always make sure they rotate the pickup to the other side of the spool :smash:

Scratch one tattoo swimmer :wall:

-spence

Hope this helps.....

The darter works best in moving water. It may dart in calm water, but it is not reccomended and it is going to perform better in moving water. Breachway currents, rips, and strong moving tides are the best places for darters. Varing the retreive has the most effective results. The idea is to imitate an injured or disoriented baitfish caught in a current, an easy target for predators. Try the stop and go or use the count to ten method. The count to ten method is as follows; Start you retreive and beging to count to ten, at the number ten make a few quicker cranks on the reel to speed up the plug causing it to swim a bit more erreatically, continue your retreive and repat for the rest of the cast. You may find strikes will occur just when you begin to speed up or slow down your retreive. Pay close attention to when strikes occur, your observations will determine your success. If fishing a breachway or jetty, a long drift with constant tension on the line causing the lure to swim and swing in an arc from the end of the jetty is also a great way to increase your catch.

Nice, thanks!!

put that post in the FAQ!!

Tattoo Page

I built it in to the product descriptions of the darters I have online....
Thanks Mike!

0.02
 

To add to what has been said, what I found was working the other night was not just letting it drift on its way out in the outflow, I would count 5 drift ten hold, count 5 drift 10 hold etc... this allowed me to hit pockets of stacked fish on the drift out as well as on the way back in, in most cases I never made the whole drift out without having the lure get STUCK by a fish!

Tatoo you make a hell of a darter man! :D

Glad you like it, now tell me where the fish are :smash:

Perdon señor no hablo ingles.... :D

a donde las vacas tio juevo:laughs:

hay ahora vacas en que la isla :smash:

-spence

yo quero vaca grandicimo:D

quacamole
tacos bel grande
chimmichanga
burrito supreme

muy bien entonces para la isla:D

Habs has been fishing behind Your back.
You take that from Him...

i've thrown a darter once or twice and tattoo's is definitely a great product. it can take a larger surf, unlike the ss or, do i dare say it, gibbs. the thing digs right away and holds during the whole retrieve too. great plug when the wind is in your teeth or in a heavy rip. and, those colors! mike, umm, when is the next batch coming out?

Eeee cooodeeesh....I can't remember my Espanol now.....

Hmm...:smokin: ....very good for throwing around the island.....I think I got it....

señor crafty, I gotta make a stop in to see ya hows the knee? I have something for you to add to the arsenal :D

So this would work great in the canal I imagine?

I got a black one that I havent used that much... I think ill give it a try tonight

In two weeks you'll know!

TT - Thanks for askin' - the knee's almost back - I still can't figure out what the hell I did to it - could just be the decrepitude of old age, I guess - I dunno...:smokin:

I called JohnR to get some addresses to send invitations for an Open House we're having next weekend and was gonna get in touch with ya - he recommended posting the invite online so that'll have the details if you can make it -

Or you can stop by anytime - I'm always at the casa during the day, I'll be framing like a lunatic :rolleyes: to get ready for the Open House Saturday and Sunday. I'm pretty excited, we've got a bunch of new stuff nobody's seen yet :) lots of local stuff -

Tattoo Swimmers are productive plugs. All yellow have
worked very well around the last 2 full moons. All black
have worked well on other nights. i have been fishing them around and over rock piles at high tide.

Tatto's Darta's do swim deeper like the beachmasters.I find in a good pull i will craw a darter till it bumps a rock then drop the rod an if there's a fish there they can't stand to have the plug float up on them it gets crushed.A darter like no other plug u throw dosen't track straight in it has a side to side swagger like a drunken sailor.If squid are present, like the time I was out under the light at montauk.U'll be very pleased.:D It's side to side swagger has a tendency to fake the fish out so sharp hooks are a must as alot of fish seem to get it in places other than thier mouth's.