Born To Fish LLC

Plugs 101

Plug: A plug is the standard hard-bodied fishing lure. Although the term plug originally referred to a lure carved from wood, most modern-day plugs are now made from plastic. All plugs produce sounds to draw the attention of fish.

Plastic plugs: These plugs are less expensive than their wooden counterparts and maintain their finish for longer as well. They also possess a more consistent density, shape, and action. The plastic plug has become the industry standard.

Wooden Plugs: Many fishermen like wooden plugs for nostalgic reasons. To many, it is “what my grandparents fished with.” The more practical advantage of wooden lures is that they oftentimes possess better action (i.e. wobbles more readily) than plastic lures.

Lips: A flat surface that protrudes from the lure that is used for diving. They cause lures to dive by forcing water over the top of the lure. Most fishermen carry a selection of different crankbaits with different lip properties in order to fish at various depths.

Lip Size: In general, larger the size of the lip, the deeper the lure will dive.

Lip Angle: Lips parallel to the plane of the lure dive the deepest and have the tightest wiggles. Lips that come out at an angle do not dive as deep and have exaggerated wiggles.

Surface Plugs: As their name implies, these plugs are designed exclusively for surface fishing. They are most effective when the temperature of the water is 60 degrees or warmer. They will occasionally draw fish from deep water but these plugs are best used when the water is shallow or the fish are spawning. Stickbaits, propbaits, crawlers, and chuggers fall into this category.

Propellers: Propellers create surface disturbances that help in grabbing a fish’s attention. They are used exclusively with surface plugs.

Stickbaits: These are long, slender floating plugs that lack lips or propellers. They are surface plugs and do not have any built-in wobble so the fisherman must supply the action. Stickbaits draw gamefish from deep water better than any other surface lure. Stickbaits are best when used to catch big largemouths but they also work well with smallmouth and spotted bass, white and striped bass, pickerel, northern pike, and muskies.

Propbaits: Propbaits are identical to stickbaits but they also have propellers at one or both ends. Due to these added propellers, stickbaits tend to create more disturbance than other surface lures. The fish a propbait will catch is dictated by the speed of retrieval. A slow twitching retrieve tends to work for largemouth and smallmouths.

A fast steady retrieve tends to work best for pike, muskies, stripers, and white bass.

Crawlers: Crawlers are another class of surface plugs. What distinguishes them from propbaits and stickbaits is their large faceplate or wings. These features enable crawlers to produce loud gurgling sounds when retrieved. Crawlers work best in large expanses of shallow water as they cover a lot of area quickly. Crawlers are rated amongst the best lures when fishing at night for largemouth bass. They also work well with northern pike, pickerel, and muskies.

Chuggers: The final class of surface plugs are chuggers. Their trademark is their indented face that catches water when jerked across the surface. They produce a pooping or chugging noise when retrieved. Chuggers work better than most other surface lures for fishing precise targets as well. They are generally considered largemouth bass lures but they can also catch smallmouth/spotted bass as well as stripers

Subsurface plugs: These are plugs that run at depths of 1 to 20 feet. They are much more versatile than surface plugs. Crankbaits, minnow plugs, vibrating crankbaits, trolling plugs, and jerkbaits are all considered to be subsurface plugs.

Crankbaits: A crankbait is considered to be any hard-bodied lure with lips.  The lip causes the crankbait to dive and wiggle when reeled in. Crankbaits are great for casting as they can both travel long distances and be retrieved quickly. They can cover more water than almost any other lure. Hard plastic crankbaits generally cast better than similar wooden or foamed plastic lures but they do not wiggle as well on a slow retrieve. The lips present on crankbaits also tend to contact obstructions in the water before the hooks. This tendency leads to less snagging, fewer headaches, and ultimately; more time spent fishing. As an added bonus, crankbaits also catch virtually any type of gamefish except the smallest panfish species.

Minnow Plugs: Minnow plugs are very similar to crankbaits in that they have lips but what distinguishes them from ordinary crankbaits is that they are n to imitate thin-bodied fish. Minnow plugs generally have smaller lips than crankbaits, so their heads do not swing as far to the side as the plug swims. This difference in action results in two distinct formulas for attracting fish. Where crankbaits rely on creating disturbances in the water to grab a fish’s attention, minnow plugs rely on their visual appeal. For this reason, minnow plugs are best used in clear water. Most minnow plugs run from 1-5 feet below the surface but several have very long lips and dive as deep as 12 feet.  Fortunately, like typical crankbaits, minnow plugs generally appeal to all gamefish except for the smallest panfish.

Vibrating/Lipless Crankbaits: One special class of crankbaits is the vibrating/lipless type. Their defining feature is that the attachment eye is on its back. This difference causes the plug to run with its head angled down. Water pressure on the forehead then produces a very tight wiggle. The tight wiggle generates a high-frequency sound wave that attracts fish even in in cool or murky waters. Vibrating/lipless crankbaits however sink more rapidly and snag easier than most baits. They are best used for largemouth, small mouth and spotted bass; northern pike; walleyes; white bass; and stripers.

Trolling Plug: As their name implies, these plugs are designed primarily for trolling. They have large flattened foreheads which create wide, erratic wobbles. They are also characterized by being very difficult to cast and floating at rest. Trolling plugs are most effective with salmon, trout and striped bass, but when fishing along the edges of cover they can also take walleyes, bass, northern pike, and muskies.

Jerkbait: Jerkbaits are large elongated plugs that are defined by the sharp jerky retrieve needed to give them their action. As they tend to have zero action on their own, the fisherman is entirely responsible for creating all the action with a jerkbait. Jerkbaits are widely considered the number one lure for muskies and large pike and are seldom used for other fish.