The versatile metal lip swimmer covers a wide range of depths and sizes, making it a valuable weapon for the surfcaster.
The last of this series spotlighting four plugs that should be a part of every surfcaster’s repertoire is one that I have a special fondness for. It all started for me in my early 20s when I discovered the excitement and effectiveness of this hunk of wood with hooks and a lip bent out of metal. Yeah, I must admit the first time a large bass obliterated my metal lipped swimmer, I knew things would never be the same for me again. I was out on the north side of Montauk Point and got into a blitz of good bass on Danny Plugs. The savage surface strikes and peeling drags made me fall instantly in love with metal lips. I’ve since fished many variations of them in just about every type of water imaginable to the surfcaster, both day and night, with great success.
Metal lipped swimmers are just what the name implies; swimming plugs with lips fashioned from steel, made to swim them (depending on their design) tantalizingly along the surface, just below it, or down into the depths. The very first saltwater grade version was developed in the 1940s by Bob Pond and was known as the Atom 40. He made them from wood and then moved on to plastic molded Atoms, eventually.
Throughout the years, and up until the present day, there are countless variations made primarily from wood in so many shapes and sizes, that an angler can select the type that suits their particular needs.
Metal lips come in surface, sub-surface and deep-diving models and range in size from 4 to more than 10 inches in length matching just about every baitfish on the menu. They may not win any casting competitions, but most of the time they don’t have to! All can be very effective when presented to stripers in their feeding zones
Surface swimmers are very well suited to boulder-strewn areas of the coast, such as jetties and rocky shorelines, as well as the open sandy beaches and back bays. I like to fish them in areas of moderate to little current. On ocean beaches, casting them in calmer surf conditions is preferred, but they can be effectively worked in rougher surf by timing your cast behind a breaking wave and working it in the white water and foam. There’s something about that slow waking swim after a wave passes that stripers can’t ignore. Common to all these areas is to retrieve them slowly and stay in contact with the lure as it snakes its way to success.
The Danny Plug made by Gibbs Lures, along with the many variations of this plug produced by builders up and down the coast are great surface swimmers that come in many sizes and colors. Pikies are another style suited for surface to just below. What is nice about this style of plug is that they can be tuned to swim high on top or just below the surface. By bending the nose loop up, you can make a Pikie dig down a bit, and bending it down will ride it higher on the surface.
When targeting deeper water with fish that are holding closer to bottom structure, you will want a deeper diving model. Some of these can reach depths of 20 feet or more! Conrads and Slopehead styles, Junior Atoms, Atom 40s and – if you can get your hands on one – a Beachmaster Cowboy; these plugs will cover a wide range of depths to fit your needs. They can be fished in deep inlets and off rock ledges and steep points and can be drifted out into the current and slowly crawled back or even just held deep, imitating a baitfish hanging in the flow.
Metal lipped swimmers can imitate a wide array of the forage that is available to the gamefish we chase. They can be used in many scenarios along our beaches, and have won a permanent spot in the plug bags of surfcasters up and down the fabled Striper Coast.
