Needlefish Plug History Presentation

[Back Beach]

I have one more for you. A friend of mine who fished chatham alot in the 70's and 80's used to build needlefish out of bic pens by removing the ink insert and wiring it through. He would then customize the "plug" with a permanent magic marker, a feather tail, and a small treble on the belly. The things were remarkably durable, and you could make a bunch of them for little$$$. The reasoning behind these plugs was a narrow silouette was needed to emulate the "matchstick" sandeels that were frequently present around pleasant bay. Maybe somebody here will get bored this winter......

[Karl F]

the 19 cent needle

slide some wire solder in the mix for some arse weight.

[DZ]

Lot's of good input in this thread. There are many theories of where the modern day needlefish first started and who was the first to use it in the surf. Some say the islands, some say the cape, and still others say jersey. One thing is fairly certain, the Boone needlefish was the first "mass produced" needle – used for targeting snook, redfish and sea trout.
Other lure makers began to copy it, and some improved it. There were also some enterprising surf men who made homemade models. My history presentation focuses on the renaissance of the "modern day" needlefish. My research includes interviews with some of the particulars, Musso, Coleman, etc. It includes a time-line of when each model needlefish came out and their specs. It covers the mass produced needles along with some homemade models – including Thackery, Pinchney, Piazza, Carlizon, and Stetzko.
It ends with the Habs model which was the last needlefish that is used during the time period of my book project "The Snowstorm Blitz".
Thanks for everyone's input – if there are any more photos of "slobs caught on needles" please PM me.
DZ

[Crafty Angler]

D. -

Don't know if you've seen the Stetzko anodized aluminum needlefish yet at the SWE - I just saw them last week.

So is this the 21st century rendition?

Ahhh...I remember the old days.....wooden plugs and iron men....

[RIROCKHOUND]

What about Iron Mike

[Karl F]

You have to remember, Tony Sr. was a machinist by trade.
Jr. has taken some of Sr.'s tins from the early days, sorted through what worked the best, and has mass produced from there. If you saw the hammered ones, in the annodized colors, well, all I can say is yum yum.. they catch.

[steelhead]

I don't have much experience with Needles and it sounds like I need to get with the program... I've been told by several people I know that they need to sit a particular way in the water, nose slightly above the tail and that they should sink at about an foot a second. I'm trying to tie this info back to Bassmaster's How To on Fishing Needles and slow, medium and fast sinking needles. There are also floating Needles? Sounds like I need to tune the plugs to the flow rate of the water I'm fishing, particularly a rip? The surf would seem to be somewhat different unless there is a good current running parallel to the beach or you're fishing those neat little rips that pull off the beach perpendicular to shore (Man I've caught some nice fish in them.). Is it used as a plug to "search" the water column by slowly cranking it in and then letting it settle and then repeating?

[capesams]

Back when I used to go to block I,,,I met an old man that had those same bic pen needle's in white....told me those were his best fish catcher's....talked to someone on the phone tonite who said they also used them in and around chatham.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally posted by Karl F
If you saw the hammered ones, in the annodized colors, well, all I can say is yum yum.. they catch.

No, Karl these didn't have the hammered finish, just machined and anodized - 6" and 1 1/2 oz. - looked interesting, though...

[tlapinski]

Stezko alluminum needles.