Beach master Gibbs styleneedle

[Linesider82]

I use the heavy ss or loaded needles dead drifted in heavy current and I removed the tail hook and use just a cut treble on the belly and a sparsely tied bucktail flag. I usually get hit after touching bottom on the lift, or after the second bottom contact lift. If they're back further I may slightly adjust my cast but it's easier imo to get it down and bump it back to the fish than try to deliver it direct, especially when the reef is falling away under the drift. I.E. the reef drop off is at the same or similar slope angle as the falling needle.

If I have a shallow reef and a moderate current, I use the SS style wadd cast and come tight to the plug then deadstick as well. It's a great search tactic when fishing over shallow boulder fields, or more importantly to me over a defined depth change or structure change where the plug is in the strike zone for a long time.

I don't like the Gibbs wadd
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[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Linesider82

. I usually get hit after touching bottom on the lift, or after the second bottom contact lift. If they're back further I may slightly adjust my cast but it's easier imo to get it down and bump it back to the fish than try to deliver it direct

Fascinating.

So, if I am reading you correctly, you are fishing needles almost like a jig in hard current. Throwing it somewhat upstream, letting it sink, them bumping it along or just above the bottom?
And you are able to do this over rock without too many hangs as long as there is no tail hook?

That's the great thing about plugs. There is always so much to learn.