Plug Building 2025: The Surf Howdy - The Fisherman

Plug Building 2025: The Surf Howdy

surf-howdy
The Surf Howdy was one of the most influential plugs of the 2000’s and still crushes fish today.

A unique spook design that became its own trend in the mid-2000s.

It’s funny how the span of your own history always seems short enough to reach back and touch, until you’re given a reason to count the years. I’m reaching back to 2004 here… back then, hobbyist builders regularly organized ‘Plug Swaps’. This meant that each participant made enough of one design for everyone in the swap and, in return, he would get a plug from each of the other builders. The results were often mind-blowing creations from many of the pioneers of modern plug building. There wasn’t much interest in trying to make a buck off the plugs back then, it was all about learning and sharing. Those were fun times.

In 2004 I entered my first swap and there were some heavy hitters in the mix; Dave Manzi, Ed Craigin, Sandro Tobias, Dave MacLeod and Bruce May to name just a few. One of the plugs that came in that box of adrenalin and excitement was an especially fishy-looking spook made by a guy who I only knew by his screenname on Stripers Online: Bernzy. I would later learn that the man behind the avatar was John Huff.

Boy Howdy!

When that winter gave way to spring and the swap plugs were brought out to do their work, there was an immediate buzz around that little spook. I remember reading John’s post about the plug that he called the Surf Howdy, saying that he got the inspiration from a classic Cotton Cordell lure known as the Boy Howdy, which is still made in a few variations today. Basically, the Boy Howdy is a jerkbait body, without the lip, weighted in the rear so that it will splash and walk on the surface when fished with a jerky retrieve. The pamphlet that came in the vintage Boy Howdy box suggested, “After casting into a likely spot, retrieve it with short, quick jerks of the rod tip. When used properly, you can anger a fish into hitting. The lure has a soft, bouncy action [that attracts many species of gamefish].”

My experiences with that first Surf Howdy followed suit with the rest of the guys in the swap (along with the growing number of casters who were buying them through private messages directly from John). The plug featured a splashy walk-the-dog action that drove striped bass insane. This plug will catch anywhere, but it really shines in the back rivers in the spring and on the open beach in the fall, when mullet or large peanuts are around. The ‘manageable’ and fishy silhouette coupled with its frantic, darting zig-zag has proven to be irresistible to stripers of all sizes.

I only had the pleasure of meeting John once, I think it was 2016, when I went down to the Berkeley Fishing Flea Market. He lived up to everything I had heard about him; he seemed to exude happiness, he was welcoming, friendly and larger than life. He had a few other great lure designs, including a long, narrow swimmer he called the Commander, but none were as influential as the Surf Howdy. In fact, during the first wave of commercial builders, the Surf Howdy was probably the most imitated original design of the era. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery they say, but I bet that stung a bit. John Huff eventually started selling his plugs under the name Bernzy Bait Co. His plugs were distinguished by their clean lines, lifelike plastic eyes and his paintwork. John was a master of using just a few colors to capture the essence of live baitfish, along with emulating the classic colors of yesteryear. Sadly, John passed away in 2018.

howdy
The original Bernzy Surf Howdy made by John Huff and its inspiration made by Cotton Cordell.

Sizing It Up

Over the years, I’ve only owned a handful of these awesome spooks, somehow they always seemed to survive the gauntlet I was throwing them into. My research indicates that Huff made them in at least four sizes, the 5-3/4-inch original, the 6-3/4-inch Large Howdy, the 9-inch Giant Howdy and a pint-sized 5-incher called the P-Nut Howdy. In today’s article we’ll make the Large Howdy, that’s one I like the best and I need a few backups before spring comes! You should follow my lead!

One of the best things about taking on an early-2000’s design is that the odds are high that the wood will be Alaskan yellow cedar (AYC), it was the most popular wood by a mile at that time. And after giving an original the ‘sniff test’ – my daughter always recoils in disgust, “DAD! Why are SMELLING that lure!?” – it absolutely is made from AYC. However, with the staggering price of wood these days, you can definitely substitute other species, just choose something that’s around the middle of the spectrum, density-wise. I’m building mine from some tight-grained basswood, but even a lighter piece of soft maple or some white pine heartwood will work.

blanks
A pair of Howdy blanks with their eye and hook holes drilled.

The Build

This plug tapes out at 6-3/4 inches and sports a 1-1/8-inch diameter at its widest point; so cut your squares at 1-1/4 inches and then cut the sticks into 8-inch blocks. Next find the center of each end and set the block spinning in the lathe. Use a gouge to round off the corners, leaving about a half-inch of each end square, once you have it rounded down to a fairly uniform cylinder, shut off the lathe and lay out the following reference marks. Begin by making two marks 6-3/4 inches apart for the nose and tail. Now make a mark at 2-1/4 inches back from the nose, this is where the widest point will be. You could work off just these three, but I’ll give you two more in between to help guide your shape; add marks at 1-3/8 and 4-1/2 inches back from the nose. Refresh these marks as needed.

Your target diameters are as follows…

Nose mark:                3/8-inch

1-1/2 inch mark:        1-inch

2-1/4 inch mark:        1-1/8-inches

4-1/2 inch mark:        15/16-inch

Tail mark:                   5/8-inch

Our trusty small skew chisel will do most of the work here, it’s a flowing, elongated wave… a seamless curve that results in a slender, fishy profile. I wouldn’t get too broken up over it if you don’t nail the shape to perfection. Just make sure to get the nose tail and widest point right and any ‘artistic interpretations’ that might arise outside of that, shouldn’t make too much of a difference—within reason, of course. The tail diameter is especially important so that the buoyancy of the wood can properly support the weight.

Drilling In The Name Of

Start by drilling a centered 5/16-inch hole at 2-1/4 inches back from the nose, this hole should be drilled about 1/8-inch past hallway through, this will be your hook hole. The eye positioning on the original is at 1-3/8 inches back from the nose, and he used 5/16-inch plastic doll eyes. You can use whatever you have on hand. Because the nose comes down to such a point, it’s especially important to nail the positioning of the thru-wire hole. To help negate any bit wandering, I pre-drill with a short bit and finish with a long one. The thru-wire hole in this plug should be 5/32-inch diameter.

Once you have all the holes drilled, we have to drill the hole for the tail weight. Begin by cutting the square end off the TAIL ONLY, you’ll need the other square to help steady the plug as you drill. Now set your drill press up so that you can drill in from the tail end and rest the remaining square end on the drill press table. The .39-ounce tail weight from NJ Tackle is listed to have a .32-inch diameter, so I drill a 3/8-inch diameter hole a hair deeper than 1-inch, drilled in from the tail along the thru-wire hole. Now cut the square end off the nose and hit all your rough edges with some 220 grit sandpaper, just to give it a nice, finished look.

A bath in the sealer of your choosing is next, hang the plugs to dry for a few days after sealing and then give them another light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and wipe them down with a barely dampened rag. Before priming, you may want to blow them off and blow any dust out of the thru-wire hole with a compressor before continuing. Now give them a couple coats of primer, Painter’s Touch all-purpose primer is a good one, let them dry for 48 hours and now we can paint.

hole
The tailweight hole should be centered in the tail and drilled to a depth of 1 inch.

Channeling Bernzy

If I’m going to be completely honest, I’d have to admit that I was an admirer of John Huff’s painting ability, maybe even a little intimidated by his deft hand, back in the day. Nowadays, I feel like I can emulate (but not master) almost anyone’s painting style. If you’re new to airbrushing, Huff’s style is good one to study, because he was so good at blending and because his color schemes were surprisingly simple when dissected, but the finished product always looked so sophisticated. A true master, he certainly was.

When I think of a Bernzy paintjob, I think of this one color that I believe he called ‘Purple Haze’. This was a simple sand-eel-like color, that featured an off white belly and sides with a, sort of, khaki/army fatigue green top, with the same drab green fogged in around the eyes and a faint strip of purple color-shift paint along each flank. Simplicity and sophistication melded in perfection.

You can bet that I will paint myself a handful of these in his signature ‘Purple Haze’ coloring, and I’ll knock out a few in bone or white, something with some chartreuse and something yellow, as well. I typically like simple colors for my own fishing, and when it comes to topwater choices, I usually lean toward natural, light and bright… and not much else.

When your paint has dried, give your plugs a coat or two of your favorite clear finish and, once the clear coat has cured, prepare to assemble your plugs. Start by sliding a nose grommet over a pre-bent thru-wire and then drop a size 3 swivel into the hook hole. Send the wire through the plug, threading the loop of the swivel on the way. Now slide a .39-ounce tailweight over the wire and into the hole in the tail. Cover the weight with a .425-inch tail grommet and wrap a tight tail loop to finish the build. Attach a pair of 2/0 VMC trebles with 5.5H split rings and you’re in business.

Even though I barely knew John, I always had (and still carry) a deep respect for him and his legacy as a plug builder. Above all that, I have an even deeper respect for what other people who knew him as a person and friend thought of him. Anyone that knows Larry Wentworth, of Big Fish Bait Co., knows what a big-hearted and all-around good guy he is, and Larry thought the world of John Huff. Most men can be measured by the caliber of the company they keep, and based on the guys I know that were close with John, it’s undeniable that he was one of the good ones. I hope I’ve done his amazing design and plug building legacy proud with this version of his awesome Surf Howdy.

Related

yankee

Plug Building: CT Yankee Dual Action Swimmer

Building the challenging and unique ‘Dual Action Swimmer’ made by CT Yankee Lures.

giant-gts

Plug Build 1: The Gibbs Jointed GTS

“A Gibbs ‘shop special’ from the 1970’s reborn 50 years later!”

main

Plug Build #3: Engineering A Glidebait

A concept lure made for musky that snuck into the striper world