If you want to have some fun in the brine, don’t just bait it, plug it.

So, Shipmates, you’re wondering what Capt. Dave is rambling about this time aren’t you? First, we need to agree on what is meant by plug it.

It basically comes down to using a type of artificial lure to catch fish. There are many shapes, sizes, materials and colors in the world of plugs. I’m going to tell you about some of them past and present.

The Creek Chub: It was back in 1953 that I first got acquainted with the Creek Chub lure. We were trolling it at night out in Sandy Hook Bay for big stripers.

The lure gave a nice rhythmic vibration to the rod tip as it skimmed its way through the water. Years later we found them to be effective trolling at night along the CBBT on an outgoing tide. The rushing current would sweep them between the pilings where the big stripers lay ready to ambush any foundering bait fish.

The Scudder: Speaking about the CBBT, one of our greatest fun things to do was casting the big Scudder lures to the rocks on the tube end of the third island ocean side.

We would cast them as close to the rocks as we could and then chug them back with a jerk-rest retrieve. The chopper bluefish that were stationed there would bash the Scudders with abandon. Sadly, they don’t make the Scudder anymore, but you can buy them on Ebay.

The Cisco Kid: During the 1970’s and 1980’s the Chesapeake Bay was loaded with big bluefish during the summer. We spent hours trolling for them with our Cisco Kids and other elongated lures.

Besides the Ciscos we ran big Rebels, Rapalas and Bang O lures. It was great fun hooking up blues to twelve pounds on those magnum plugs.

The Rat-L-Trap: To begin with these were lipless plugs having deep bodies that somewhat resembled a spot. Later on they made them with lips.

I had used the fresh water version for largemouth bass, so when they came out with a saltwater variety I put the to use on stripers. One time we fished them under the Pamunkey River Bridge at West Point on an outgoing tide and boated some nice school rockfish.

The Stretches: You could hardly write a story about fishing for rockfish without mentioning the Stretch lures. They come in a range of sizes defined by the depth they would run when trolling.

A Stretch 20 would run 20 feet down, a Stretch 25, 25 feet and a Stretch 30, 30 feet or more. You could cast the smaller Stretches to surface feeding fish, but the bigger ones were for trolling.

The Tomic Lure: Years ago I used to go fishing in Lake Michigan with a friend who took me out after Coho and King salmon. One of the lures we used was a J Plug. I brought one home to try on bluefish without much success.

Then about a half dozen years ago I went out on a charter boat with some friends. On this trip the mate put out some Tomic lures that killed the jumbo stripers. The Tomic resembled the J Plug, but was more effective in the saltwater. One advantage of the Tomic is that it did not wander around behind the boat and tangle lines as much as the Stretches.

The Pencil Popper: I cannot tell you how many bluefish and stripers I have caught with Pencil Popper lures. I used them for years. One time we were fishing with Capt. Billy Pipkin on the old “Liquid Assets” just north of Smith Point Light.

We came upon a school of rockfish feeding on the surface, and I cast my Pencil Popper into the fray as we slowly trolled along. I hooked up right away and quickly had the fish to the boat as we continued trolling along. Capt. Billy tried to lift the fish into the boat with the 4 pound test line I was using, but it snapped and the fish was gone.

Minutes later Butch Harlow had a hit on his trolling rig and hooked up. When they boated the fish my Pencil Popper was still solidly hooked in its jaws. I’ll bet the chances of that ever happening are a gazillion to one.

The Monster Shad: There are a number of deep bodied lipped lures on the market. One is the Monster Shad. It could pass for a spot as well as a shad. You can cast it or troll it.

It dives relatively deep as it has a large lip on its front. There are others in this same category, some with lips and some without. They tend to have a rather short body compared to their girth and have a nice wobble on the retrieve.

The Cordell Red Fin: This is available in a solid or jointed body. I have several of them. One time I took one with a red head and white body with me on a trip to Lake Nipissing, Canada. On our second day there Butch Harlow and I were trolling the Red Fin around an island out in the lake.

Suddenly, the rod bent double and Butch grabbed it. We could tell he had on a big fish by the way it pulled line out against the drag. After quite a struggle Butch finally got the beast up to the boat. I was dumbfounded to see such a huge Northern Pike. Our net was large, but hardly big enough to land the pike.

I was able to capture it by folding the fish double into the net. We didn’t have a scale to weigh it or a tape long enough to measure it, but I’m sure it had to be at least four feet long. We were thrilled when it recovered enough to swim away.

You might be a well prepared and experienced saltwater angler or a complete novice in the brine. Either way there are some great fish out there just waiting to be caught. Take it from me, you will have some good fun if you go out where they are with one of these great lures and PLUG IT.