Berkeley Striper Club Flea Market on 3/3/2013

Now that Surfday has happened down here in NJ, I assume that Dennis Zambrotta has your blood ready for fishing as much as mine is. The Berkeley Striper Club's fishing flea market has always been an unofficial start to the season for me. Its not time to fish yest, but its getting closer. Just a week later is the Asbury Park Club's flea market. After Asbury, I take inventory of all the stuff that I haven't done over the winter. I am going to start a bit early this year. Lets see how I am doing this winter:

•Van Staal serviced. Nope
•Abu conventionals cleaned. Nope
•Sat at the table and changed hooks on plugs: Nope
•Do I have any idea of the things I actually need: Nope
•Do I have a list of things that I want: YUP!

So it seems that everything is progressing as they always do. Just a normal winter here at Choopy headquarters.

While I haven't been doing the winter maintenance stuff on all my gear, I have been kicking out the sawdust. I have lots of cool colors ready for Berkeley and Asbury. I hope you guys dig them as much as I do. One of the plugs I am excited to bring to Berkeley is a larger version of my darter.

Here are some specs on it:
• 6 1/2" long
• Approximately 2 1/4 oz.
• (2) 3/0 VMC 9626 Hooks
• Fishes 2-3 feet deep. A little more or less depending on the current.
• Colors:Pollack, Chicken Scratch, Seabass, Squid, Bunker and Bergall.
• Available in LIMITED quantities

In case you guys didn't notice the caps above, they are going to be available in LIMITED quantities. Meaning, I am not expecting that these are going to last through the whole show. If you are into wood darters, I wouldn't wait too long to check them out. I have no intention of selling them to shops, and I doubt I will do another run of them until maybe next winter, if you guys seem to like them.

So in order to help spread them around, I am going to let you know how these are going to be sold. I am not expecting a line for them, but I am anticipating a bit of demand.

• Cost: $25.00 each
• Limit of 2 until 10:30 am, or the demand for them dies off.
• They will not be sold until the doors are opened for the public.

While these darters are going to be a special item for Berkeley, I will have a selection of needlefish, swimmers and lil Barky's as well. Lots of stuff if you are a freshwater fisherman to go along with all the staples needed for fishing the surf.

Looking forward to seeing you all and talking some fishing!

The Reel Seat @ Surfday 2013

Hey Folks! What a busy and hectic week so far. Everyone is getting excited for the shows, and I am scramblin to get the rest of my stuff built.

So the next NJ show is Surfday at Brookdale Community College this Saturday, 2/23/2013. Lots of great speakers and vendors. I think listening to Dennis Zambrota will be well worth the price of admission.

So I will not have a table there, but the guys over at the Reel Seat in Brielle, NJ are going to have a bunch of Choopy stuff to make sure that you guys are taken care of. Please make sure to stop by their table and check it all out, or even let them know what Choopy products you would like them to stock in their store (hint, hint).

So the onto the goods. I am still wiring stuff and as you can see, I still have to assemble hooks, etc. The pictures aren't the best, but it was 6:45 this morning when I took them while rushing out the door for work. They will have some 3 oz metal lip swimmers, 1 1/2 oz. Sinker needles including a pretty cool schoolbus lite/chicken scratch color and blackscale, 1 1/4 oz danny's in perch, smokey joe and sexy shad. They will also have lots of  needlefish including one of my new favorite colors, tan sand eel, and the midnight eel, which is quickly becoming a favorite color for many surfcasters.

Hats

Fishing season is right around the corner (PLEASE!!) and I thought it would be a good idea to try and get you guys a new lucky hat to start the season. I think they came out pretty awesome, and I think you will be pretty happy with them as you strut your stuff down the beach this spring.

I will have them at the rest of the flea markets this winter, including the Southern Regional Fishing Club's which is tomorrow. Come hang out and check out all the stuff I have been working on this winter for you guys. Here is the listing of what I have left for the winter.

February 16, 2013: 
Southern Regional Fishing Flea-Market
Time: 8am to 2 pm
Where: Southern Regional Middle School: 75 Cedar Bridge Road, Manahawkin, NJ

March 3, 2013: 
Berkeley Striper Club's Fishing Flea-Market
Time: 9am to 2 pm
Where: Toms River Intermediate North, 150 Intermediate North Way, Toms River, NJ

March 10, 2013: 
Asbury Park Fishing Club's Fishing Flea-Market
Time: 9am to 2 pm
Where: Convention Hall, Ocean and Sunset Avenues, Asbury Park, NJ

I will also have new stickers. I know your trucks are dying for some new accessories! See you all soon!

Do you have a bigger darter?

Quite a few times a year I have the following conversation with a fellow fisherman, and usually at one of the winter flea markets. It's happened enough that I started to wise up and pay attention.

Darter Fan #1: I like your darters. Do you make a larger size?

Me: Yes. It fishes pretty well and has caught a bunch of fish. But it's not available commercially.

Darter Fan #1: Why not? You would sell a lot of them.

Me: SuperStrike makes a great darter in the larger size and I think they have that corner of the market covered pretty well.

Darter Fan #1: You should make it.

Me: Thanks. I will consider it in the future.

So I have considered. And I have given in. Sort of. I am going to do a small quantity of a larger darter for the Berkeley Striper Club's fishing flea market. This will be a one time event for now. I have no intention of making these available at a level where you will find them in stores. Maybe if there is interest I will have them again for 2014.

So here is a sneak peak of them. They should finish up around 2 1/4 ounces and are 6 1/2 inches long.

They are now sealed and ready to go for a test swim a bit later this week. As long as the test swim goes well, I will start the painting process. I have some pretty cool ideas for some of the paint these will get, but I would love to hear your ideas, so leave a comment on what colors you would like to see these in!

2013 Carnival Pictures

The first stop in the 2013 Choopy carnival tour is next week, 1/19/2013, at the Delaware Valley Surf Anglers Flea Market. I have been in the shop trying to crank out some lures in the colors that I think are pretty cool, and will be great fish catchers, so I hope you guys stop by and check out some of the stuff I am bringing on tour this winter.

You can find a listing of all the stops on the carnival tour here.

So without further adeiu, here are some pictures of the stuff I will be bringing to all of the flea markets. I don't know how long all of the colors will last, so as the saying goes, early bird gets the worm. See you all soon!

3" Pikes

Lil Barky

2013 Winter Flea Markets- UPDATED

2013 is almost here. How is this possible?!

Before I do a recap on 2012 on another blog, I want to quickly let you guys know when the Choopy carnival will be hitting the road for the 2013 winter flea markets/shows. There might be a couple more added, but here is what I have lined up for now:

January 19, 2013: Delaware Valley Surf Anglers Fishing Flea-Market
Time: 9am to 2 pm
Where: VE German Club: 130 Davisville Road, Warminster, PA

I will be bringing a lot of freshwater oriented stuff to this show since its a little bit more inland. I will definitely still have some saltwater oriented lures with me, but if you want the first dibs at some pretty cool freshwater colors and lures, this is the place to be.

The Needlefish Sink Test

I sometimes get questions about how fast my needlefish sink. I am never quite sure how to respond and I just make comparisons to other needlefish and my experiences. I know a lot of people consider them floaters or slow sinkers, and I have never really agreed with that. I think they plane to the surface fairly easily and quickly, which makes people think they don't sink much. I generally would call them moderate sinkers.

As a way to try and figure out some sort of classification for them, I decided to run a little bit of an experiment. I have a clear plastic tub that has 12" of water, some needlefish, a video camera and a stopwatch. I threw on my safety glasses and lab coat, and pretended I was a rocket scientist.

So here is the video of how they came out. They are in a controlled environment and all the wild cards of nature like waves, current, the velocity of how the lure lands from the cast, the momentum that is stopped from the friction of the lure hitting the surface, etc. are all ignored in this little test. So I don't necessarily see it as a true guide on how they fish.

So in case you missed it at the end of the video, here are the results:

Name	Sink Rate
5/8 oz. Needlefish	1.6 seconds per foot
1 1/2 oz. Needlefish	1.4 seconds per foot
2 oz. Needlefish	1.1 seconds per foot
1 oz. Stubby	1.0 seconds per foot
1 1/2 oz. Sinker Needlefish	0.8 seconds per foot

1 1/2 oz Sinkers

I have been asked for a few years to make a true sinking needlefish, but I have always blown off the request. I think there are some really good sinking needlefish out there like SuperStrikes and Habs, and I wasn't so sure what I could add to the world of needlefish. Well, the requests became more frequent, and more forceful, so I gave in and started working on a sinking needlefish. A few years later, and I would like to introduce you to the 1 1/2 oz Sinker.

left to right: black/purple, olive/blue/white, yellow/white, eel, black

Specifications:
Length: 6 1/2"
Weight: Approximately 1 1/2 oz. (a heavy 1 1/2 oz.)
Hardware: Stainless steel through wire construction. KROK 310 lb hook hanger
Hooks: 3x 2/0 VMC 9626 treble and 5/0 VMC 9171 siwash
Wolverine split rings

These needles cast very well, sink quick and hold well in moving water. They will easily cast onto the bar on a high tide. Fish them deep and let them tick the bottom. Then hold on when you get to the drop off into the trough where bass love to feed. If you are out on the bar, they will cast plenty far to the bass to shy to come inshore, and sink into the deeper water off the bar.

When talking to people about needlefish, they often ask me "How do they sink?" and I am forced to try and make comparisons to other well known needlefish, but I don't have a definitive answer, because they all sink, its just a function of how fast. So I am going to set up a tank and break out the stopwatch and try to get some numbers and video of the experiment. Look out for a future post that will hopefully illustrate how level all of my needles sink, and how fast.

left to right: midnight eel, bone, yellow/white, eel, parrot

Where to get them: 
I did a short run of these just to get them into people's hands while there are a few fish still to be caught this fall. They are available at Fisherman's Supply in Point Pleasant, NJ and RM Tackle. They should be more widely available over the winter and next spring.

Custom Colors

Last week was pretty hectic, as it usually is around the holidays. I took some time off from the real job, had some family time for the holiday and hit the shop pretty hard. One of my "projects" was to paint a few custom 3 oz. Metal Lip Swimmer colors by request.

A few colors I had never thought much of before, a few I have seen on other builder's lures and of course a couple classics. Ever since RM Smith did a few black with chartreuse head danny's, I have been a fan of that color. I believe the chartreuse side with black dots was a Lefty Carr color that he often painted.

The color that I really was drawn to was the solid dark red. Dark enough to fish with confidence at night, but bright enough for it to fish well in low light conditions like dusk and dawn. I have always done well with yellow/red head colors at dusk, and I think the solid red will fish similarly well

As much as I sometimes think colors don't matter, I see a color like the dark red that makes me rethink colors all over again.

2012 Thanks!

As a teenager, college kid, young adult and now a middle aged man pretending to be a young adult, I have always opened new records with the same procedure. Pop the record on the turntable and head straight for the liner notes. Scan the lyrics for the ones that hit home the hardest and move the needle straight for it. Then its time to study the "thank you" list. All sorts of good stuff could be found in the thank you list. Whether it be people or bands that I already knew of, or some that I would later go check out. I was rarely disappointed.

I was never cool enough to put out a record, so in the Thanksgiving holiday spirit, I am going to compile my Choopy thank you list for 2012.

Thanks! (in no particular order) My apologies in advance if I am forgetting anyone. Please don't feel slighted. I am just a dumb lure builder.

November Deliveries

Once we got power back in the shop, I sat in the paint booth and cranked out a few orders. Hopefully there are some cooperative fish still around to throw these lures at.

The Saltwater Edge
The Saltwater edge got a complete re-stock. They have the most expansive selection of Choopy products in their online store. Check out their inventory, I am sure there is something in stock that will fit just perfectly in your plug bag.

They also have a thread up in their forums for Choopy product reviews. Check it out and share your experiences with their customers.

RM Tackle
Keep your eyes peeled at RM Tackle for a restock of darters and needlefish. Hopefully the mail man will deliver them in the next day or so, and Ryan will add them to the store shortly after. I tried to get a broad selection of colors that were requested at the SOL forums and the Choopy Facebook page. One color I am pretty excited about is the bone 1 1/2 oz. Needlefish and 1 3/4 oz Darters I did. This will be a new color I fish a lot.

Martha's Windyard

A few weeks ago I was invited to go to historic Martha's Vineyard to fish the last week of the Derby. After about 15 minutes of deliberating, I was in. I cleared 3 days off the schedule, busted my hump to get an order filled and set out to the island of the mad Russian, Serge de Somov.

After a rain filled drive to Woods Hole, I boarded the ferry and tried to catch a few minutes of sleep. Anticipation must have been getting the best of me, because there was no sleep to be found behind my eyes. I got off the ferry, and headed over to Larry's Tackle Shop to get my derby entry and a few eels. Then off to the house to meet Rick and Jim. I have met Rick before (he is my official unofficial pro staff of one) as he has been very helpful testing plugs for me. Luckily these New Englanders graciously opened the door to this Jersey boy. We quickly started to put together a game plan and while I rigged an eel, they sorted through some plugs I brought for the house.

Shortly after dark, we shoved some food in our mouths, grabbed our wetsuits and waders, and headed out. We arrived at our location of rocks and started the walk. Rick requested I bring a larger 2 1/2 oz. darter that I have been holding in my back pocket, and of course he picked the color I liked best. After the first cast on the bar, I might have regretted giving it to him as he landed the first fish of the night. We were hoping that it would be a good start to the night. I had a light tap and then it was over, so we walked onto the the next point. The fishing that week, and for the whole derby was very slow, as the daily derby results confirm. We fished the rest of the night and didn't land another fish. We wanted to catch the dawn albie bite, so headed back for a couple hours of sleep.

While the striped bass, bluefish and bonito's are starting to take all the headlines in the northeast world of fishing, there are some other species that are starting to wake up with the cooler water temperatures as well.

Pickerel, pike and musky! Watching these fish stalk and chase their prey is pretty awesome, and always plenty of fun to catch with top water baits.

Report (9/22)

We jumped in our favorite multi-colored jon boat and set out for a stringer of pan fish, pickerels and large mouth. After dropping a decent large mouth on lil Barky, I finally connected a few larry's with lil Barky. The largest was just shy of 2 lbs. The fishing slowed down a bit and I grabbed a 1 1/4 oz Danny to see if they needed a bit more enticement. First cast, just on the point of some weeds, a pickerel annihilated it. Two casts later at another weed clump, the same. I think there was another bite or two on the danny. Then I broke out the proto big barky and had a few fish explode on it, but didn't find the hooks.

Later that night, I got an email with some pictures. Pictures of some real fish...Musky! What a gorgeous fish that ate a 3" Pike. I was super excited to get this email, and could go on and on about how jealous I am, but I am going to let the picture do the talking instead. Congrats on a super fine catch!

Report (9/29) 

This past Saturday, I jumped in my jon boat and missed every large mouth I could, but did catch this pickerel on lil Barky. Thick enough that I had to put it on the scale. Not quite large enough to be a mongo, but at 2.6 lbs it was the probably the largest of the year for me.

Then the following day, I get an email with a picture of this 33" pike that was caught on a frog 3" Pike. That frog has caught some serious fish the past few years. It might be ready to retire. I am not sure if I can convince the uber talented angler though.

So two weekends in a row, I got shown up, using my lures! My pickerels couldn't hang with the superior catches of these fine anglers. Maybe next weekend I'll put something noteworthy together. I have some pretty high standards to top though...

Pop. Pop. POP!

Its that time. Mullet are making their presence known. Peanuts are getting uneasy in the back water. New England is getting a bit crazy and the Mid-Atlantic fisherman are getting tired of waiting.

I don't think its the fish though. Its just the cool weather that makes us remember past fall mornings of good fishing after a long summer absence of stripers.  After fishing a full night of tides, I wish the sun would almost rise so I can throw poppers to striped bass and bluefish cruising the surf line looking for their next meal.

I am really excited to have released a the 1 1/2 oz Popper earlier this year, just for this time of fall. This popper is a perfect mullet and peanut imitation and saved a few tough night last year in early October.

In order to spread these around a bit, and celebrate the beginning of the fall run, I am going to offer a few of these at a super cheap price of $15.00 (plus shipping) while supplies last . I only have a few, so just like on every corny TV ad, "Don't hesitate, call now!" Send me an email with what you would like, and I'll let you know what colors are still available.


I have the following colors:
• Yellow/Red head
• Blue Scale
• White/Red head
• Natural

Creature report! Creature report!

So last week I headed down to Virginia to fish some of my buddy Paul's water. He has been telling me to come down down for a while, so I finally invited myself down.

I was excited for this trip. Not a giddy like a child before Christmas, or a grown man about to get on a ferry to Block Island, but excited none the less. I heard a lot of good things about the water down there, and since I have resurrected my love for freshwater species, I thought this would be a great way to learn more, especially some structure that I don't fish or don't feel I am very good at. Plus I wanted to see what these snake heads were all about.

Day 1:

We hit Spot A with the hopes of finding snakeheads and largemouth. The sun was just popping and overcast. The perfect combination for an extended top water bite. In theory at least. Paul had a snakehead chase his frog, and i kept on casting with nothing to show. We move over to a creek channel and there were hickory shad everywhere. Hickory shad took over the area I think the LMB wanted to be staged in at the current tide. Then It started raining. Then it started thundering. Then it looked like a funnel cloud. Then we got off the water. If the bumpers didn't start, we might have found them in some other spots once the tide brought in more water. 

3 lb 2oz lil Barky eater

And I am to blame for the storms. every trip I plan, I bring some level of suck. Storms. Heavy seas. Crazy wind. I am the common denominator. While its all my fault, Paul should have know to tell me he was out of the country when I invited myself.

Spot B: While it was raining, we figured we should head over to another spot where Paul had some fish the previous week. When it looked like radar had us mostly safe, we through the kayaks in the water. I found a weed line and a fish with in a few casts on lil Barky. And then another fish that was a bit bigger. Hung out there for a bit with a few more bites, and decided to head into the creeks for the outgoing tide. Paul had one while we fished our way through. Some nice structure, but not really much bait. We headed back to the original weed line and had fish again. They were eating lil Barky, so I let them. I tried a few other things, but I really like fishing that bait. I think we both had 4 or 5 fish. I won the daily pool with a 3 lb 2 oz largemouth. No snake heads.

There was a boat stuck out in 12" of water and matted hydrilla, that I paddled a rope out to for Sea Tow. Paddling through 12" of hydrilla matted water, pulling a rope is not fun. But it did pay for dinner and some gas for the drive home. So mission accomplished I guess. Exhausted. We finished for the day.

Day 2

Paul's 4lb 6 oz largemouth

Spot C. After a little bit of sleep, we headed out and I was going to get a lesson in deep water fishing. After tying a rope around a rock for a makeshift anchor, we were off. Paul is clearly a good deep water fisherman. He understands the structure and how to attack it, and it showed with his 4 lb 6 oz. largemouth that was the first fish boated. It took me some fumbling, but I think I sorta got the hang of it. No bites for me though. I resisted the urge to go find some fish in shallower water, and did a good job for a while. Until I had to pull anchor to go retrieve a rattle trap from a rock. Then I sort of drifted there. I blame the wind. Still left there skunked.

Spot D: Smallies! I love these fish. I don't fish for them often, but I really love them. They hit like a train and have 5x the heart of a largemouth. It started out slow and we probably stayed in a few spots a bit longer than we should have. It all looked good, but they were not there, or not eating. I am usually pretty confident when fishing current and willing to fish quickly from spot to spot. Paul got the first on a popper. I finally got one on a shad rap and daily skunk was removed. As we drifted lower, we started to get some bites on tubes. Then we drifted to a set of rocks and we find them holding pretty good.A few on tubes and a few on lil Barky. Paul was beating up on them with his popper. I wore out my welcome, so I move across river and found a nice current break where I had the 3 lb 10 oz on lil Barky. These fish are so strong in current, and know exactly how to use it. They remind me a lot of tog. I caught another and decided to just sit for a few minutes and let my sun burnt feet cool off in the water.

3 lb 10 oz smallmouth on lil Barky

Final tally for the day. Paul had a couple largemouth with the daily pool for his 4 lb 6 oz. I am guessing we both had 12-18 smallmouth each.

I then had to recruit my former athletic self to go fetch my keys. (I am going to write about this more in a future series called "Ridiculously dumb things that happen on fishing trips".) Get read for some laughs.

We finally loaded up the trucks and I was back off to NJ.

Overall, the fishing could have been a bit better, but about average for most of our trips. Thanks to Paul for his hospitality and putting up with all the hi-jinx I bring on these trips. Dude really should have learned by now.

Welcome to the Reel Seat

I would like to welcome our newest dealer, The Reel Seat in Brielle, NJ. I just dropped off some needlefish to them. They now have a good selection of 1 1/2 oz and 2 oz needlefish, which are some of the most popular needlefish here in NJ. They will fish the sand, jetties and everything in between very well.

They asked me to do a color that I am pretty excited about. They wanted a goldish brown with a white belly. The color request reminded me of those pale sand eels that are tannish with a purplish hue on the side. So that's what I painted. I think that they came out pretty well. This is a totally new/custom color, so stop by their shop and check them out!

Early September 2012 Deliveries

3 lb 10 oz small mouth bass on lil Barky

I am back from a short fishing trip down in Virginia, and trying to catch up on a few things here. While down in VA, lil Barky was a superstar! It caught largemouth  bass to 3 lbs 2 oz. and this 3 lb 10 oz. smallie.

And that's the perfect segue way to let you know that Harborview Bait and Tackle in Stratford, CT just got an order of lil Barky's. Seriously, at the risk of sounding like a sleazy used car salesman, go check these out. They are putting together some really nice catches.

Also last week, The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, RI got their walls replenished with plenty of needlefish and darters. Its that time of year again, so get ready and don't be left behind when you crew is choopin it up and you aren't.

Introducing... lil Barky

If you have been following along my ramblings here, you know I have been busy working and fishing a small spook style lure this spring and summer. Well I am happy to announce, it is ready to go, and will be available at RM Tackle in the very near future. I just finished painting and assembling them, and will be sending them off today.

So, with no further adieu, lil Barky:

Bottom to top: Creek Chub, Bluegill, Bunker,
Schoolbus, Sexy Shad

Specifications:
Length: 4"
Weight: Approximately 3/4 oz.
Hardware: Stainless steel through wire construction. KROK 310 lb hook hanger
Hooks: #4 VMC 9651 (1x strong wide gap)

What they do:
In some ways, they are your classic spook / walk the dog style lure. They will fish well with a quick cadence or a medium cadence (my favorite). They also fish well slowly, similar to a glide bait. I have had success with them in the open water, along weed lines and pitching them into millfoil holes. They can also handle the current or rivers and streams just fine and dandy.

In case you aren't familiar with "walking the dog". It is a technique where you have a little bit of slack in the line and you twitch your rod tip. The lure will then pull to one side. Retrieve a tiny bit of line (leaving some slack again) and twitch, and the lure will pull to the other side. Continuously twitch the rod and retrieve and the lure will dance on the surface. I will hopefully have a video up shortly to demonstrate how lil Barky can be fished and how it works.

Hook Configurations:
They are packaged with #4 VMC 9651. I like this hook a whole lot for freshwater use. The wide gap hook fishes nicely, especially with top water lures. I know lil Barky will also have a use in the saltwater, or some people like a different or stronger hook, so I worked out a few other hook configurations.
1. #4 VMC 9626: This worked well and balance the lure fine. However I did miss a few fish. The gap of the hook is smaller that the VMC 9651.
2. #2 VMC 9626: This worked well since you had the wider gap to hook fish, but the lure sat slightly more vertical in the water and you had to work it a bit more.
3. #2 VMC 9626 on the belly, #4 VMC 9626 on the rear: This is the best of both worlds. You get the larger hook on the front where i hooked most of the fish, and it is well balanced.

The proof is in the pudding:
I could ramble on and on about how these are the next great lures and how you should buy dozens of them. But I won't. I much rather look at a small sampling of some fish they have caught.

4.4 lb largemouth on lil Barky

4.4 lb largemouth on lil Barky (same fish as on the right)

2 lb largemouth on lil Barky

2.7 lb smallmouth on lil Barky

They even eat lil Barky once they are painted!

"I am nothing without my influences, I am nothing without my friends!"

I have a few things I have wanted to write about, but lacking the organization in my brain to clearly put it all together. So I reached out to the Choopy Lures Facebook page and asked for suggestions. I am glad I did because I got the great suggestion:

"Write about someone who made a difference in your life and craft as you were getting started as a plug maker."

I thought about it for a bit, and realized that it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. So. you are now reading this after I started writing 3 days ago. I can't point to a single person, but I can walk you through my early years of lure building and some people that helped or influenced me along the way. 

Some early plug bodies

When I started building lures, I had barely started fishing again after a hiatus while I was in college. As graduate with a pile of bills and loans that had to be dealt with and living in Philadelphia. I had to live life on the cheap. The idea of spending 17 dollars on a Gibbs danny was kind of silly to me, when that was a tank of gas. I would certainly rather spend my cash on gas so I could go fishing, instead of on lures that collected dust when I couldn't afford to drive to the suds. I had two hands and a thirst for figuring things out, so spent my weeknights carving out poppers with an X-ACTO knife and a few prayers that I would keep all of my fingers.

In 1998, the internet was just gaining ground and while there were a few websites dedicated to striper fishing, lure building was rarely discussed. Since I was living in Philly, and did not grow up at the Jersey shore, I didn't have any roots in the local fishing community. I didn't have a lot of opportunities to talk lure building with anyone, or have a mentor / apprentice relationship where I could get some direction.

So for the first few months, I just made things up and tried my best to make something that sorta swam. In late 1998 or early 1999, I made friends with guzz on an internet message board. We shared a lot of emails about the lures we were working on. He was the first person that really helped me and we shared lots of emails filled with ideas with each other. He was a better builder than me, but we were both rather hungry for knowledge about lure building. I still stand to my opinion that the internet lure building craze never would have broken out the way it did if it wasn't for guzz. He was the heart  and soul of lure building at a critical part of its popularity. I can't say enough nice things about him. In case he is reading this: Hi guzz! We should fish again soon!!

Early Choopy Darter

I started to become a better fisherman, and bought a couple of Lex Lures swimmers and combined with my knowledge of Gibbs, I started to really put things together. They were both influential to me for a few reasons. Gibbs purely due to the way the small danny swam so seductively and was a great imitation for mullet that fall. Lex Lures because of how simple yet effective a lure could be. There were local builders like Bob Hahn, who made one of the more perfect needles for NJ and one of the best surfsters; and Billy McFadden, who made a plug that was everything a plug should be, and nothing it shouldn't.

Internet message boards lead me to find out about some other lure builders, most notably Mike Fixter, John Hab's. Fixter's completely blew me away. The pure size of some of his pikes were so entirely different than the way I fished in NJ. They really opened my eyes to the west coast striper fishery. And his needles would later catch a lot of fish for me. Plus Fixter's lures had a really great finish and made me focus on the finish of my lures more. For a long time I thought his lures were pretty much perfect, and you couldn't find a nicer person to talk to.

Choopy 1 1/2 oz  Swimmer Prototype

And speaking of needles, I must mention the KING, John Habs. I never really discussed lure building much with John, but his needlefish really opened my eyes on how to fish Rhode Island. Once I got the hang of fishing the boulder fields and current of Rhode Island, his lures made a ton of sense. I really respected how his lures were a representation of the water that they were created for. That idea really forced me to study not only a lures function, but also the general conditions and structure that was native to the builder. Whenever I bumped into John, he was always very kind to me and I was shocked he remembered who I was. To this day I always remind myself of his advice when the lure building boom was in full effect, "There's room for everybody". I miss how he would type in CAPS.

Looking back, its hard to believe there was so many builders and lures out there, that I didn't know about. And they were in my backyard! I don't think I knew about Lefty Carr for quite a few years. His influence on NJ lure building is overwhelming. Just check out the Asbury Park Fishing Club's flea market every spring. But that's the beauty of this hobby/business. New builders rise and you can see what makes them tick, and it forces you to think differently about what you are doing. I think R.M. Smith is a good example of that. He turned the world upside down with how well his lures function, and the amazing finishes he gives them. He has definitely made me think dozens of times how he paints a lure, and why I can't do it like he does!

First edition Choopy 1 1/2 oz Needlefish

Without a doubt, my biggest influences over the years have been a few friends that have given me advice, or told me to "make a plug that does....".  Without their encouragement I never would have had the confidence to sell my lures. There never would have been a Choopy Lures. They consistently listen to my complaints, give criticism and invaluable advice, and never once complained about my passive/aggressive nature when discussing lure building or the lure building business. I could write a lot more about them, but I will just say "Thanks" instead. You know who you are.



 

Tuning 101

Today class, we are going to discuss how a plug swims and how to tune it to swim exactly the way we want. Most wooden lures come out of the package and swim just fine. However there are the days where there is some wind or chop on the water and the fish want the lure diving deeper, just barely subsurface or they only want it waking on the surface. The ability to finely tune your swimmer to fish the conditions perfectly will definitely help you catch a few more fish. We are going to use the 3" pike as the example in today's lesson, so let's begin.

Roll vs. Wag 101
There are two main ways that a lure will swim. Dave Anderson wrote a really detailed article in Surfcaster's Journal about how a plug swims, and I encourage you all to check it out. But I am going to go over the two basic functions of a wooden lure, roll and wag.

Roll Diagram

Roll: This is how the rotates around the length of the lure, or the Y axis. The metal lip is going to catch water as the lure is retrieved. The water will come over the lip and onto the shaped head of the pike. As the water exits the top of the head, it will cause the lure to roll to one side, catch its balance and then roll to the other side.


Wag: Wag is a bit easier concept. It's how the rear of the lure is rotating and pivoting from the front of the lure. Like a dog wagging its tail.  The lip and head of the pike are moving a lot of water out of the way, the water then slides along the side of the lure, but it is not as strong and back eddies to a certain degree, causing the rear of the lure to wag from side to side. The 3" pike will swim head down, and the tail on the surface wagging.

Wag Diagram

There is certainly a lot of personal preference for how you like a lure to swim. Some people prefer the tight roll of a lure, with little wag. Others like little roll and lots of wag. I like a nice mix of the two, with a little bit more emphasis on the wag. Fishing is 95% confidence in what you are casting and how it fishes. If you can tune a lure to really match your confidence and the conditions, well, that's what you should be doing.

Tuning
So in order to make a lure really swim the way you like, we make a few minor modifications to tune it.

1. Line tie: When I am referring to the line tie, I am talking about the loop at the front of the lure where you tie your line to, whether it be direct via a loop knot, snap or a clip like the Breakaways, etc. I am not fond of a clinch knot when tying to a lure. I think it steals some of the life from the lure.

There are two things we can do when modifying the line tie. We can bend it up towards the top of the lure, or bend it down towards the bottom. Here's what happens.

Bending it down: The lure will fish closer to the surface, but with more roll.

Bending it up: The lure will fish deeper in the water, but with more wag.

There are some precautions to be mindful of. While bending the line tie down, you might get the lure on the surface like you want, but it might require a slower retrieve so the lure doesn't roll over. You don't need to be very aggressive bending the line tie. As the saying goes, "a little pinch will do".

2. Hooks: Changing the hooks can also change how a lure swims. Changing to a heavier hook can add a little more weight to the lure and changing its balance, typically giving the 3" pike a bit less wag and more roll. Changing to a lighter hook will do the opposite, more roll and less wag.

3. Lip angle: It is typically not advised to change the angle if the lip, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I usually look at this as more of a last resort and I always adjust the line tie before the lip.

Bending it down: The lip will push more water, forcing it to stay closer to the surface.


Bending it up: The lip will force more water of the top of the lure making it fish deeper.

Conclusion
This is just the basics for tuning the 3" pike. A bit of experimenting will go a long way to getting the lure to fish just perfectly. A lot of these modifications will also work on danny's, Hahn's, R.M. Smith's and other metal lipped swimmers as well. Fish you lures in a variety of conditions. Don't just pull them out when your go-to patterns are not working. Develop confidence in them by making these minor tweaks to really make them shine. Eventually they will become a regular part of your arsenal in the right conditions.

Be sure to leave a comment with any questions or comments. Now go fishing!