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DZ · 02-01-2005, 03:37 PM

Jim,
Interesting question – here is a little background on one plug type in particular, the needlefish plug.
Most agree the Boone Needlefish was the first of its kind. In the early 1980s other manufacturers from Jersey started to make their own versions of "needlefish". Then Super Strike and Gibbs came into the picture in 1983 and 1984. At that time there was a "rumor" on the beach that Boone had the trademark to the plug design "Needlefish" and wasn't happy about other manufacturers calling their plugs "needlefish". Through my needlefish research I was never able to substantiate that rumor but Super Strike did change the name of their needlefish to "N" Fish.
Needlefish plugs, because of their simple design, lend themselves to easy duplication. Knockoffs were/are readily available and made by many different home made plug makers. Nowadays there are so many different 'needlefish type" plugs available that no one can rightly say that they own a particular design, especially if they continue to call them a "needlefish."
So… as far a needlefish are concerned, there is one true "Needlefish", the Boone. Everything since is a morphed copy of that original design. If plug makers truly want to call a design their own they should apply a unique name to it, such as Silent George did with his homemade "needlefish type" plug when he called it the "Silent Sand Eel" or Musso's unique design called the N Fish.
So, keep those "needlefish type" plugs rolling off the lathe. But try and be original and name it something unique. Steelhead has the right idea – he decided to make a "reverse" needlefish type plug. Very unique – an idea I've passed on to a few plug makers, but he is the first to apply the idea to a finished product. Just think – a reverse sand eel imitation, weighted in the tail end which is actually the sand eels head. Drop it back during the retrieve and the reversed plug heads into the sand. What a novel idea for a plug in the Cape Cod sands!

DZ

02-01-2005, 03:37 PM	#15
DZ Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,574	Jim, Interesting question – here is a little background on one plug type in particular, the needlefish plug. Most agree the Boone Needlefish was the first of its kind. In the early 1980s other manufacturers from Jersey started to make their own versions of "needlefish". Then Super Strike and Gibbs came into the picture in 1983 and 1984. At that time there was a "rumor" on the beach that Boone had the trademark to the plug design "Needlefish" and wasn't happy about other manufacturers calling their plugs "needlefish". Through my needlefish research I was never able to substantiate that rumor but Super Strike did change the name of their needlefish to "N" Fish. Needlefish plugs, because of their simple design, lend themselves to easy duplication. Knockoffs were/are readily available and made by many different home made plug makers. Nowadays there are so many different 'needlefish type" plugs available that no one can rightly say that they own a particular design, especially if they continue to call them a "needlefish." So… as far a needlefish are concerned, there is one true "Needlefish", the Boone. Everything since is a morphed copy of that original design. If plug makers truly want to call a design their own they should apply a unique name to it, such as Silent George did with his homemade "needlefish type" plug when he called it the "Silent Sand Eel" or Musso's unique design called the N Fish. So, keep those "needlefish type" plugs rolling off the lathe. But try and be original and name it something unique. Steelhead has the right idea – he decided to make a "reverse" needlefish type plug. Very unique – an idea I've passed on to a few plug makers, but he is the first to apply the idea to a finished product. Just think – a reverse sand eel imitation, weighted in the tail end which is actually the sand eels head. Drop it back during the retrieve and the reversed plug heads into the sand. What a novel idea for a plug in the Cape Cod sands! DZ
	DZ Recreational Surfcaster "Limit Your Kill - Don't Kill Your Limit" Bi + Ne = SB 2 If you haven't heard of the Snowstorm Blitz of 1987 - you someday will.