Beach master Gibbs styleneedle

[JLH]

I love needles! My favorites sink level and stay down on the retrieve. They also have some swimming action but I’m not convinced that action on a needle matters a lot to the fish because the ones that don’t swim seem to catch as well. There are a lot of ways to fish needles but my go to is to fish them slowly and near the bottom in a slow sweep just like I would a dead eel. When I started building my own the goal was to come up with something that I could fish in the same areas and in the same ways that I had success fishing dead or mostly dead eels (slowly drifting them along the bottom). I normally carry/fish two different sizes in two different weights (so a total of four different needles) but they are all shaped and weighted to fish the same way. Depending on the specific area that I am fishing along with conditions and current I alternate between them to stay in the strike zone. I agree with George that color can matter on needles so I end up carrying a dozen or more needles most nights so thankfully I can fit a few of them in a single tube!

I haven’t fished floating needles or needles that come right up to the surface that often or with much luck but I intend to give them some more time this season.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by JLH

I haven’t fished floating needles or needles that come right up to the surface that often or with much luck but I intend to give them some more time this season.

Interesting also. That is the primary way I fish them, although only in fairly shallow water without much current sweep (there are also shallow outflow spots where everybody fishes them on top against the current.....which seems unnatural but does work (though you need a tail hook)).

My sense is that you CT guys are often fishing in rivers and outlets. When you are out of your home territory....say at Cutty or Block do you still fish these plugs deep along the bottom?

[JLH]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Interesting also. That is the primary way I fish them, although only in fairly shallow water without much current sweep (there are also shallow outflow spots where everybody fishes them on top against the current.....which seems unnatural but does work (though you need a tail hook)).

My sense is that you CT guys are often fishing in rivers and outlets. When you are out of your home territory....say at Cutty or Block do you still fish these plugs deep along the bottom?

I fish them pretty much the same way all over CT, RI and beyond. Most of the time I'm using this technique in areas that I know well and I'm targeting specific pieces of structure and using lanes that I know I can work the plug through without getting hung up too often. I sometimes lose quite a few plugs a season fishing them this way but it usually pays off. Not really caring if I get hung up and lose a few plugs on an outing is one of the big advantages of building them. I’m sure that I would be a lot more conservative and catch fewer fish if I was taking a $25 - $40 hit every time I lost one.