From LIBBA: Tackle Tuesday

LIBBA has a member post an article every week that the writer titles " TACKLE TUESDAY". In this week's installment he talks Darters and Larry is mentioned as well as he should be. Below is the article. I thought it to be well written. I hope you think so as well.
Leif

Tackle Tuesday, Volume 10
Double digits; wow! I can’t believe we're here already, it’s been fun. I hope you learned a bunch from the last 3 part series on the Rod, Reel and Line. They were each quite long and I hope they were informative and enlightened you to try a couple of new things.

So let's get back to the namesake of this whole thing; tackle. I can guarantee that there is a very large contingent of people reading this that have at least 100 plugs. I’d also be willing to wager that some are into the multiple hundreds of different fishing lures. Some collections are probably well organized, where it looks like you’re walking into a museum. Others, probably have some sitting in crates collecting dust, some of you might have a combo of both. See, the thing with lures is that a lot of them catch you the surfcaster rather than fish. This is exactly why you have 100+ lures in a variety of sizes and colors and you only consistently keep a handful of them in rotation; please raise your hand if this is you. When I was first getting into surfcasting I fell victim to this. I had some early guidance from a buddy of mine and had some of the basics, mostly “hand me downs” from his collections. Then I would go to a show and or the tackle shop and I was like a kid in a candy store and it would go something like this: “Ooh I have that lure, but not in that color, I better buy it…. Wow never saw one of those before, I better buy it” ….and on and on (raise your hand if this is you). I have a bunch of lures that I’ve had for years that are still in their original packages (raise your hand again if this is you), yeah we have a problem. I have to admit, I’ve been a lot more disciplined as of late. That being said, if something catches my eye, I mean, come on, one more won’t hurt, but I digress. If you were to take a survey of the sharpies (lingo word) here on Long Island and you asked them to narrow down their top 5 lures, I would bet the ranch that the plug that is covered today makes that list, heck it might even be in the top 3.

Darter
Coming on to the scene about 75 years ago, the darter is one lure that should definitely be in your plug bag and constantly in your rotation. Relatively unique to the Northeast, the darter hands down is one of, if not the most effective lures around. When used properly in the right conditions they are irresistible to stripers. They are the standard in Montauk and are as productive as they are popular. At the Point you could probably get away with only two plugs in your bag and still be successful; the Darter and our friend from Volume 1, shout out to the Bucktail!

You can’t mistake this plug for anything else. They have a very distinct sloped head, it's kind of ugly, but this feature is what makes the plug so lethal. The darter is most effective when used in a swift moving shallow current or when a sweep is present (ahem MTK); it also works well if you're fishing an inlet. Because of the unique slope design of the Darter, when the water passes over it, the lure is forced below the surface, usually a couple of feet, then the magic happens. Since it’s not hydrodynamic the water won’t flow over it smoothly. When the plug “digs in”, the moving water pushes against the face of the lure and it starts to “dart” from side to side. It works best in cross currents or sweeps rather than big waves or in the surf. In the white water the lip doesn’t quite dig in as much and or the wave will pick it up and move it forward. Anything over say 4’ might jumble it up too much and it will be difficult to feel and maintain contact with the lure, rendering it not as effective..

Styles and Sizes
The darter is made out of wood or plastic. Usually they are dressed with a double treble hook, or sometimes a treble and a siwash. Because of their shape, for the most part they aren’t the best casting lures so don’t get too discouraged.
There are a few companies that make darters, each creating them slightly different which allows you to have a choice depending on different water conditions. If you go to your tackle shop you’ll find the likes of Tactical Anglers, owned by our friend Alberto Knie, remember his clips from Volume 7, Northbar, made by Long Island’s own Larry Welcome. He is an awesome guy who I met a bunch of years ago when I, along with a couple of friends, were pulling an all-nighter. We chatted for a while, he gave each of us a lure and we proceeded to immediately catch fish; take a guess exactly where we were fishing. and Gibbs, to name a few. These are all great plugs, so please support our local guys and try them out. Yo-Zuri makes their Mag Darter which comes in a variety of colors and casts well; it is a good lure to have, but I don’t really consider it a true darter. However, the Super Strike “Zig Zag” darter made by our friend Donny Musso is hands down the most popular and seemingly most effective one up and down the coast. The Zig Zag is made from plastic which eliminates the odds of buying a dud of a plug that might not swim correctly, which is something that is an inherent risk if purchasing a plug made out of wood. Super Strike’s darter comes in a variety of colors and in one size; 6 ⅝” long and 2 ⅜ oz. Color is a matter of preference; black, white and yellow are good choices to get you started, with yellow being the most popular.
Method to the Madness

The action that is a result of the design of the lure makes using the darter easier than you think. Newer surfcasters might be a little intimidated by them, but if you come upon the water conditions discussed earlier you should definitely give it a try. In some instances you can just cast it out and let the water do the work without having to reel it in; it will work its magic just based on the movement of the water. If you are going to be reeling it in, a straight slow retrieve with maybe a couple of twitches should be effective. The key is always maintaining contact with the plug and letting the current do the work, so on the cast a couple of fast reel cranks will do the trick so you can get the plug to “dig in”. Try out different methods and see what works best for you.

Although it is possible to have some success during the day, the Darter is thought of as primarily a night lure. That said, moving water and at night is what you should be fishing in if you are looking to catch more fish and bigger fish at that. When it comes to night fishing, the darter is king.

Remember “match the hatch”? Whatever kind of bait fish that are around should play a part in your color selection, in the spring when spawning squid is on the menu, maybe pick up a pink or amber colored darter. However, if you’re out in Montauk and you don’t have a yellow darter in your bag, they’ll ask you to leave. I’m obviously joking, but seriously don’t show up without one. If you haven’t fished a darter in moving water yet, you have definitely missed multiple opportunities to land your personal best.
I hope you enjoyed the read, tight lines!
-Joe Pellegrini

“Most of the world is covered by water. A fisherman’s job is simple: Pick out the best parts.” – Charles Waterman

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