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Needle Talk
Last article in the series of three.
Classic Surf Plugs…That Made a Difference Part 2
Dennis Zambrotta
In the last article we discussed the solid black Cotton Cordell C10 Series Red Fin. In this issue we look at the next plug that can make or break a casting session. That is if you didn’t have one… you didn’t catch. Much like the Black Red Fin much of this plugs historic reputation was validated in the Block Island surf. Meet the Gibbs Needlefish plug in Block Island Green.
Plug #2. John Gibbs 1 ¾ ounce Needlefish in the Block Island Green Pattern
First we’ll look at a little historical background about needlefish plugs and the classic Block Island Green color pattern. Up until 1982 a surfcaster’s lure of choice while surfcasting on Block Island was a Rebel Super Minnow or Cotton Cordell Red Fin. It was during the fall run of 1982 when needlefish plugs first made landfall on Block Island. As related to me by Mike Abdow from Massachusetts who was fishing the Block surf one night with his good friend Charlie Dodge of Block Island. They were casting Red Fins into the surf at Southwest Bar and noticed another angler fishing the “wrong” side of the bar. As they walked up to this unknown angler he was beaching a nice bass and placed it with the dozen others that he had stacked above the tide line. Mike and Charlie couldn’t help but notice the skinny looking plug this caster was using and asked him about it. The New York surfcaster told them it was a needlefish plug made by Classic Lures. (Author’s note: Classic Lures, owned by John Bushell and Matt
Mauer of Seaside Park, made very productive needlefish plugs in two sizes, a 6 ½ inch, 1 ounce model and 7 ½ inch, 1 ½ ounce model, both built with a screw-eye construction.) He then gave one to Mike so he could copy it. The next day Abdow and Dodge purchased some ½ inch dowel and screw-eyes at the Block Island hardware store and duplicated the needlefish as best they could. Mike loaded the homemade plugs with buckshot he removed from some shotgun shells; they used dark green spray paint on some and colored some others with a fluorescent green magic marker. That night they took these homemade needlefish to Black Rock where Mike landed a 52-pound bass on his first cast with one. They used these homemade needlefish for the remainder of the 1982 season and noticed that the bright fluorescent green pattern was more effective for bass than any other color they tried. With this homemade plug and a simple magic marker a killer pattern was inadvertently discovered. Word quickly spread about the effectiveness of that shade of green.
It didn’t take Steve Campo long to realize the color pattern was second to none and he tried to keep it quiet, even when ordering Super Strikes needles from his friend Don Musso who based on feedback from Steve started to paint some “Neon Green”. In Campo’s words: “At first because I didn’t want Donny to know how hot fluorescent green was, each winter when I placed my order I ordered no more fluorescent green than any other color. But I would order a disproportionate amount of white/silver SS Needles with no top varnish; on these I would then spray my own fluorescent green backs. Years later Donny said to me, “Now I know why you bought so many white/silver plugs!”
The surfcasting fraternity didn’t know what to call the new color pattern, some referred to it as bright green, lime green, glow green, or fluorescent green. Whatever the name, the pattern just seemed to out-fish all other color patterns at times. In 1986 I coined the term “Block Island Green” for all needlefish which had the color pattern of a bright green back and white belly. I have often referred to that term in my writings and discussions about striped bass, Block Island, and needlefish. The color pattern Block Island Green has stuck ever since.
The Gibbs Needlefish
Before 1985 the Gibbs line of needlefish plugs were all built with a screw-eye construction. This type of construction proved less than desirable when Block Island’s cow bass began to destroy those first Gibbs plugs along with other screw-eye needles by Classic and Boone. Then in late 1985 John Gibbs came out with a prototype wooden thru-wired 1 3/4 ounce needlefish. Some of the first anglers to field test this new Gibbs plug on Block Island were Rhode Island surfcasters Art Lavallee and Steve McKenna. On their initial outing in November 1985 Steve McKenna took a 51, 48, 45 and a few 30 pound bass with a prototype painted, you guessed it, bright green. The plug held up well and went into full production in 1986. This Gibbs model, along with the Super Strike “N” Fish, became the standard for the other needlefish style plugs to follow.
Gibbs Needlefish were the first plugs I used on Block Island. I started out using the Gibbs screw-eye model and took my very first Block Island striper on one that was painted Block Island Green. The effectiveness of Gibbs needles on Block Island is well documented. During the mid-1980s at the very height of the legendary Block Island fall runs I’d say 7 of 10 surfcasters were casting a needlefish in a Block Island Green pattern. The Gibbs, Super Strike, and Gags Grabber were the needles of choice. The Gibbs was especially effective in the shallow boulder fields so prevalent on the islands southern and westerly sides. A shallow cobble bar called Southwest Point was where I first witnessed the magic of the green Gibbs in 1986. That night six casters lined both sides of the cobble bar. All but one was casting a Gibbs needlefish in Block Island Green. The lone exception was casting a Gibbs needle with a dark green back. Just at full dark the bite started with one hookup, then another, before long five casters were hooked up simultaneously. The lone exception for the next hour of constant action was using the dark green needle. Even over the sound of the surf I could hear this unfortunate angler mumbling to himself in disgust as others a mere rod length away hooked up over and over. As I was releasing my third 30 pound class bass the angler with the unlucky needle inched up to me and sheepishly asked me what I was using. I replied Gibbs needlefish and turned on my neck-light to show him. He showed me his and it was the same plug, but in Forest Green. When I told him it was the wrong color. He replied, “What does color have to do with it?” I replied, “Color doesn’t make a difference… until it makes a difference”. I reached into my plug bag and removed a Block Island Green Gibbs and handed it to him. He clipped it on and immediately started catching bass. This scenario has repeated itself many times in the years I have fished on Block Island an elsewhere. The success of the Block Island Green pattern was and still is absolutely uncanny. The Gibbs green needle was particularly effective on flat calm nights with little surf. Retrieve the Gibbs very slowly and it will remain on the surface with its nose creating a slight “V” wake on even the slowest of retrieves. Many are of the opinion that the “V” wake created by some needlefish plugs is what the bass home in on and is one of the secrets to their effectiveness. I tend to agree. Strikes on Gibbs needles will range from subtle takes much like a trout sipping a dry fly; to tremendous violent jolts as cow bass will turn on the surface to crash it. You literally cannot retrieve a Gibbs too slow as it always stays near the surface unless you stop your retrieve. Gibbs Needlefish are particularly effective in shallow water boulder fields.
Another scenario where Gibbs needles are very effective is when they become water logged. Already an adequate casting plug at 1 ¾ ounces the Gibbs needle gains another half-ounce of weight when it becomes water logged. Water logged Gibbs needles were great casting plugs while still remaining buoyant.
So in the case of this particular needlefish plug the Block Island Green pattern was often the difference maker. Greg McNamara gave SJ readers a great article about how color affects fishermen and whether it makes a scientific difference to striped bass. McNamara points out, and I quote, “Cow striped bass most likely see better in an environment where there is less light”. And it appears that Block Island Green produces a 100% response rate (from striped bass) in both day and nighttime conditions”. For more read McNamara’s article, “The Eye of the Striper – Understanding the way striped bass see can make you a better angler.” SJ issue #21, page 151, located in the Surfcaster Journal archives.
I’d like to leave you with one final thought about the Gibbs Needlefish and specifically the Block Island Green pattern. During the height of the historic striped bass blitzes on Block Island it is interesting to note that the island’s only hardware store was always stocked with fluorescent lime green spray paint, a fact that never ceased to amaze me. When any of our plugs needed repainting we would go into the paint section of Block Island Hardware to find ten cans of spray paint in all the popular primary colors - and twenty cans of fluorescent green! I mean, how many uses could there be for the god-awful color of fluorescent lime green on an island seven miles long and three miles wide and located 13 miles from the mainland? You be the judge.
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