For years I have marveled at how productive the cedar plug is and the size of some of the fish they take. As a kid I recall my Dad and Uncle dragging these things along with "Jap feathers" for tuna off Montauk in the 60's. Even today with all the super fancy spreader bars with life-like squid and full size fish lures in tow exotic jet and cone heads some setups costing upwards of $300+, the ol' $4.95 cedar plug still produces trip after trip. Just the other day I was talking to someone who found some tuna and tried all the expensive gear without success only to find the fish slamming cedar plugs every pass.
Can it get any simpler? most of them don't even have paint just a raw cedar plug with a lead head and a hook resting in the drilled out core on a leader.
A couple years ago we lost our last one and it seemed to be the only thing that was working. I jury-rigged a Habs needle . While not quite as productive as the original cedar, nevertheless it did indeed work and outfished a greenmachine . There is something special about this very simple almost cave-man like lure.
What is it about this plug that fish seem to like?
I got a 30lb tuna on a raw cedar plug last year!
Though we got 3 others all on spreader bars that day, what sticks out in my mind the most from that day was the sound of the outrigger going off like a shot gun blast when the tuna hit the cedar plug
Simple, but effective. They are said to imitatate sand eels. I think it is the erratic swimming motion that they have that draws the strikes. Rather than singles, I run them in a daisy chain, three 4" plugs, chased by a 6" plug. Sometimes old school kicks new schools butt - my Dad and I argue about this constantly.
Cedar plugs work because they have the correct profile (imitate many different types of baitfish) and because they swim like a real baitfish. They are my number one bluefish lure and, when the blues prevent me from fishing soft plastic baits, cedar plugs are my top producing striped bass lure, too. Cedars always work. I drill and through-wire cedar plugs and rig them with a free swinging feathered tail hook. This year I'm going to troll them for football bluefin tuna, too.
Cedar plugs are great (and inexpensive) lures. I'm surprised they are not mass marketed to inshore fishermen who want to troll/cast for stripers and blues.
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