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Old 02-15-2018, 03:07 PM   #1
DZ
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Redfin Talk

The first of my Classic Plug series articles:

Classic Surf Plugs…That Made a Difference - Black Redfin
Dennis Zambrotta

A striped bass surfcaster should never stop learning. There is so much to our favorite pastime that many casters simply ignore, don’t understand, or are completely oblivious to. When you have been a dyed in the wool plug casting surfcaster for most of your life you tend to learn a few important things. I have used a dizzying array of plugs throughout my many years of casting. While many of these plugs have suitable substitutes should you not have the right hot plug, some do not. What I’ll be sharing with you are three plugs that have made a significant difference over many years. These are plugs that almost every avid surfcaster eventually discovered and has carried in their surf bags religiously. These are the plugs that if you weren’t casting them you didn’t have action AT ALL. These are plugs that other casters will beg you for or offer you cash for on the spot. What are they? A solid black minnow swimmer, a Block Island Green Needlefish, and a Yellow back/White belly Darter. Read on.
#1. Cotton Cordell C10 Series Redfin in Solid Black
By 1985 I had been surfcasting for 15 years and thought I had become a somewhat accomplished surfcaster with what I thought was a thorough knowledge of striped bass fishing. Casting for stripers in my home waters of mainland Rhode Island brought success more often than not. But my learning curve would take a sharp increase upward when my surfcasting friends and I hit the cobble shores of Block Island. Block Island at the time was a mecca for surfcasters from all over the northeast who sought trophy striped bass the size worthy of a wall mount. Block Island’s fall run from October through early December was almost a sure bet for multiple cow nights and the very best casters throughout the region converged on the island each November. It was a great opportunity to test out different plugs and learn from others who shared our surfcasting passion.
Our first visit to the island was in 1985 and we came armed with a buggy load of different plugs and put them all to use. With so many different groups of anglers fishing a relatively small island it was inevitable that we would find some plugs washed ashore that were lost by others surfcasters. The late Ezidro “Zeke” Silva was my casting partner at the time. He would do a lot of plug hunting when fishing was slow and one night he found a loaded Cotton Cordell Redfin washed up in the wrack line. We had been using Redfins loaded with 10ccs of water with great success, namely the “Chicken Scratch” pattern, but the Redfin Zeke found was spray painted solid black, a pattern we had never seen before. It also felt very different, like it was loaded with something heavier than water. Upon closer examination we realized what Zeke had found was a plug loaded with mercury. We had heard through the grapevine that some of the New York gang routinely loaded plugs with mercury but we had never seen any. Well, Zeke did what any smart surfcaster would do – he clipped the Redfin onto his leader. Almost on que a large striped bass crashed this black Redfin much to Zeke’s delight. Area bass continued to take this special plug while the rest of us would cast our Chicken Scratch Redfins with no results. The next night was the new moon and the surf was flat as a pancake. I was casting the bar at Southwest Point with a half dozen others at the very end of the ebb tide. Nothing was doing so before quitting for the night I decided to check in on Zeke who returned to his favorite Graces Cove boulder field. I saw that Zeke’s buggy was the only one parked at the end of Graces Cove Road. Grabbing my gear I high tailed it towards Zeke’s favorite perches. In the darkness I could see Zeke’s form standing in front of his favorite perch as the tide was much lower than normal. Zeke saw me coming and yelled for me to join him. As I waded next to him I could sense the excitement in his voice as he said, “Watch this”, and let a short flip cast about twenty feet in front of him into 4 feet of water. He took about three turns of his Ambassador 7000 when the water erupted with a cow s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g in his Black Redfin. His conventional stick made short work of the 20 pound bass and it was still green with fight as he slid it into the cobble. Stuck in its maw was the Black Redfin he found the night before. Zeke began to tell me he had solid action for the past two hours in low water with no surf and all of his bites were on the Black Redfin! The bass wouldn’t strike anything else he threw at them, even needlefish plugs that were almost always productive on this island. During the rest of our trip to Block Zeke consistently took bass on this new found plug which we then labeled the “Toxic Plug”. This was the very first time that we had witnessed an absolute dominance of one type and color plug that out-produced every other plug. In later years I would talk to many legendary surfcasters and some, like the late Tim Coleman, spoke in hushed tones about the Black Redfin. It’s safe to say that after Zeke’s initial success with the Black Redfin we all began to spray paint some of our Redfins solid black.
It’s no longer a secret that many surfcasters have had banner nights using the Black Redfin loaded with 10 ccs of water. These plugs seem to work best on the darkest of nights. I’ve had success using them not only on Block Island, but the back beach of Cape Cod, and my home waters of mainland Rhode Island. The fact that Campo and crew used them regularly tells you that many of the New York surfcasting fraternity has had a space in the surf bag reserved for them. One interesting note is that although the Black Redfin is primarily considered a dark moon phase nighttime plug, it has also been effective for us during bright moon periods when the waters we fished were discolored by heavy rains. Additionally, Zeke discovered that the solid black Redfin pattern was also his most consistent striped bass producer during daylight when fishing these off color water conditions.
Most of our initial success using Redfins was with Redfins that had a rough finish which we had spray painted black. These rough finish Redfins are not factory produced anymore (although they are still easily found at various fishing tackle flea markets and online sites such as Ebay). The Cotton Cordell Redfin now has a smooth finish. Solid black or black back/purple belly Redfins are now occasionally offered as a factory finish. Both patterns are still very effective for pursuing striped bass. And Redfins are perhaps the best plug bargain around as they generally run between $6.00-$8.00 each. Find or spray paint a couple of black Redfins and see if you become the caster who takes bass when on one else can. Learn what the magic is all about.
Some Historical Context - The Use of Mercury to Load Plugs
The history of adding mercury started in freshwater fishing as early as the 1930s. As a youngster I recall seeing advertisements in old copies of Field & Stream magazine for a plug called “The Mercury Minnow”. It was marketed by Mercoy Tackle Company during the 1940/50s and included a quarter-ounce blob of pure liquid metal inside each lure. The idea, according to the product brochure, was that the mercury forms a ball inside the bait and rolls back and forth, giving the bait an appeal guaranteed to catch bass. Other lures which used mercury in their construction were the “Mercury Worm”, “Neon Firefly”, and “Neon Mickey”.
The practice of loading saltwater plugs with liquid mercury is no secret and over the years has been mentioned in various surfcasting books, journals, and magazines. In these articles mercury was always mentioned as a loading alternative (although toxic) to tap water, lead shot, BBs, Mineral Water, Baby Oil, etc. But none of these previous works has ever mentioned the reasons behind using liquid mercury. For the record I’ve never used mercury to load a plug. But my curiosity has gotten the best of me so I decided to research why, with so many safer alternatives available, would someone load plugs with liquid mercury? My initial research has suggested that the use of mercury to load surfcasting plugs first started in New York. I decided to ask two veteran NY casters about the tactic. I contacted Long Island Surfcaster Steve Campo about Black Redfins and the tactic of loading Redfins with various substances. Steve mentioned to me that he started loading plugs during the late 1960s using water, BB’s, mineral oil, and then mercury. Campo: “Water evaporated so that the same load was not the same weight after a year or less, mineral oil seeped through the plastic resulting in an oily mess, BB’s did not cast as well, but mercury was perfect,” mentions Campo. Campo’s actual loading amounts and techniques remain proprietary information but anyone knowing Campo will appreciate his attention to detail. Campo: “I spent many, possibly hundreds of hours testing loads that would always work despite substantial differences in weights of identical and similar plugs. But because mercury is so dense it flows to the very back during a cast and flows forward to just behind the belly hook hanger on a C10 Redfin resulting in an enhanced swimming action and no potato chip effect when casting.” “Do I want a better swimming or a better casting plug? I wanted a better swimming AND better casting plug, the best of both worlds.” This is why Campo told me he had several different loads for Redfins, Bombers, and Hellcats. All his loaded plugs were color coded with different colors on the lips to signify different weights. And when I asked Campo about using solid Black Redfins? “I had been using that color for many, many, years before I ever saw a factory painted model.” he continued.
I sent Campo a photograph of the “Toxic Plug” which Zeke had found on Block Island. And wouldn’t you guess - Campo confirmed it as one of his own plugs because the Redfin still has some faint remnants of yellow paint on the plugs lip signifying that Redfin had a medium mercury load. In our discussion Steve left me with one last statement about the use of loading plugs with mercury: “Mercury has out-fished water/oil loaded plugs for me by many multiples almost every time I have had a chance to fish them side by side.”
My research then led me to Rick Fink, a veteran surfcaster from Staten Island. I asked Rick about the practice of using mercury to load plugs. Rick Fink: “I first ran into the use of mercury in the early 1980's and learned early on about the qualities of mercury and its uniqueness for plug loading. I had been given an old timers plug stash after his passing. Included in the plugs were wooden Atom 40's with lead wrapped around the tail hooks and some Rebels and RedFin’s with their belly’s drilled and plugged with bits of round tooth picks. One day while banging spring run schoolies a buddy saw me grabbing a mouthful of saltwater and filling a RedFin. When I showed him what I was doing to gain that extra casting distance he said he had heard about guys that were using mercury and things progressed from there. Mercury’s high weight in relation to small mass sets it apart. Mercury only sticks to itself so it doesn't get stuck where you don't want it. During the cast it’s in the tail making the plug fly like a dart. After landing it settles into the lures belly not hindering action in any way. Oil/water loads would slow down plug action drastically as well as making them run deeper whereas the small mass of a mercury load retains the trapped air and its buoyancy. I loaded everything, big and small, plastic and wood, with mercury. The C-09 series RedFin is by far my favorite with the 16a Bomber second but I didn't stop there. Many a 20 pound striper has fallen to a 4 1/2inch 15a Bomber at the LILCO Power Plant on Long Island during the winter. Catching the most fish was always the driving force behind using mercury.”
So there you have it - a little bit of fishing history. But I must include an important note here. Much of mercury’s use to load plugs was 40-50 years ago. The warnings about its toxicity were much less publicized at that time. I should not have to tell you that mercury is extremely hazardous and all forms of mercury are toxic. Mercury poisoning can result from inhalation, ingestion, or absorption through the skin. All forms of mercury should be considered teratogenic, that is mercury can disturb the development of an embryo or fetus. Mercury may cause a birth defect in children or may halt a pregnancy outright. Mercury can be dangerous to everyone including members of your family. Safer plug loading alternatives exist.

Last edited by DZ; 02-15-2018 at 03:12 PM..

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.
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Old 02-15-2018, 08:27 PM   #2
massbassman
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Great article Dennis, always enjoy your writing. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 02-16-2018, 12:22 PM   #3
Steve K
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Excellent read. Thanks for sharing. I need to load some plugs...
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Old 02-16-2018, 12:45 PM   #4
Linesider82
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DZ,

Thank you for your diligence in sharing your experiences in fishing over the years. It is a blessing to all of us. New and old alike, and particularly the new crowd who might gain some perspective on reality of fishing in any given year. Your thoughts and detailed account provide a measure of oneself to a counter point of another who is valued as a great fisherman. The result is simple, I am a better fisherman today than I was yesterday because of what you contribute.

Most on this website probably had a direct mentor teaching them the basics, teaching them the advanced aspects of surf fishing. I didn't have that because my grandfather passed when I was very young and my Uncle (his son) moved away in my prime years so to speak. or most influential years.

So what I fish for today is and always has been that connection with my grandfather, a ghost hunt for what was intended. The late night phone calls with my uncle to connect to my roots and the bridge you chose to build for the next guy or gal in line for that same feeling.

This year, I got to speak at the CT surfcasters show, and I spoke after Dennis. To me that was like being the opening act trying to go after the headliner. How do you fill those shoes? You cannot, you're young and dumb. However, I thought of our professions. Dennis a Navy guy; myself a land surveyor, the connection was simple to me, there are no connections here, think of something else...

So I thought about my grandfather again, and how I didnt get to learn from him, but rather how I learned from others who I respect.

Thank you Dennis again for sharing your knowledge to the community at large and also sharing that at the CT surfcasters show. As a new guy, I read your articles, your book, your presentations with intent of being a better fisherman.

Thank you.
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:38 PM   #5
ProfessorM
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Another good one Dennis. I have several of Steve’s special black red fins but have not fished any of them. Kind of hesitant because of the hg.
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Old 02-18-2018, 07:10 AM   #6
DZ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Linesider82 View Post
DZ,

Thank you for your diligence in sharing your experiences in fishing over the years. It is a blessing to all of us. New and old alike, and particularly the new crowd who might gain some perspective on reality of fishing in any given year. Your thoughts and detailed account provide a measure of oneself to a counter point of another who is valued as a great fisherman. The result is simple, I am a better fisherman today than I was yesterday because of what you contribute.

Most on this website probably had a direct mentor teaching them the basics, teaching them the advanced aspects of surf fishing. I didn't have that because my grandfather passed when I was very young and my Uncle (his son) moved away in my prime years so to speak. or most influential years.

So what I fish for today is and always has been that connection with my grandfather, a ghost hunt for what was intended. The late night phone calls with my uncle to connect to my roots and the bridge you chose to build for the next guy or gal in line for that same feeling.

This year, I got to speak at the CT surfcasters show, and I spoke after Dennis. To me that was like being the opening act trying to go after the headliner. How do you fill those shoes? You cannot, you're young and dumb. However, I thought of our professions. Dennis a Navy guy; myself a land surveyor, the connection was simple to me, there are no connections here, think of something else...

So I thought about my grandfather again, and how I didnt get to learn from him, but rather how I learned from others who I respect.

Thank you Dennis again for sharing your knowledge to the community at large and also sharing that at the CT surfcasters show. As a new guy, I read your articles, your book, your presentations with intent of being a better fisherman.

Thank you.
Linesider - Thanks for the kind words. Members here have been saying this site is not what it once was for information. Puppet posted some great info about the chamois trailers - I'm just trying to help by adding the three part plug series to help keep the momentum going. Hopefully it gets members motivated to participate in some discussion beneficial to our fishing community.

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.
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