Lure Shopping Stirs Memories of the Big One
By MAX HART
It comes as no surprise that Steve Amaral has a unique collection of
stories and secrets hiding inside his tackle bag.
After all, as the 60th Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and
Bluefish Derby enters its final week, the man who is fishing his 59th
tournament holds a distinct perspective. Although he has never won the
derby, Mr. Amaral has fished almost every corner of the Island since he
was old enough to hold a rod, prowling the coast in search of giant
striped bass. He has caught six stripers over 50 pounds and been fishing
partners with several derby winners. One of the more well-known and
respected shore fishermen, he is always a threat to reel in the
tournament's biggest fish.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/10/07/content/20050930_steve_morris_sm.jpg" Peering into his bag of treasures is akin to looking back over a
half-century of fishing.
There are vintage Stan Gibbs plugs, old six-inch wooden lures from
the fifties and sixties, next to a couple of worn Boone needlefish. A
collection of muted colors dulled by time, each one bears their own
nicks and wounds from battles fought long ago.
There are newer lures, too - an assortment of plastic poppers,
darters, swimmers and jigs. Several smaller, shiny metal Kastmaster and
Hopkins lures reflect brightly in the early morning sun. A few bucktails
hide in the bottom of the bag.
Mr. Amaral can look at them all and recall the fish - or the
complete fish tale, if you have the time - that is invariably
attached to each one. Like the Gibbs' Danny swimmer plug he used
to land a bass on the south shore up-Island. Or the darter that worked
especially well in the rip at Wasque.
"They all work, I can tell you that," Mr. Amaral says
with a wry grin, cautious about giving away too many secrets. "But
that is what you want in your bag: something you can trust, something
that is time-tested, those ones that have brought in the big fish. You
hope when you get out there they work the same way and bring you some of
that same luck, too."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/10/07/content/20050930_steve_amaral_sm.jpg" It is closing in on crunch time for derby fishermen, and while eels
and other live bait are always a popular choice for attracting large
bass, many will take to the water with their trusted lures. On a recent
morning at Dick's Bait and Tackle shop, Mr. Amaral reflected on
his experiences and offered suggestions as to which lures might land the
tournament's first 50-pound bass.
"You gotta use what you think is right for the
conditions," says Mr. Amaral, the 69-year-old Oak Bluffs native
who fishes primarily for striped bass. "The fish have to be there,
of course, and they have to be hungry - but there's no
question that the right lure will work in the right conditions.
It's experience that tells you what lure works in which tides or
weather or whatever the factors are."
Without that experience, buying the right lure can be a formidable
task. One step inside Dick's and it is clear just how expansive
the fishing universe has become. Wooden, plastic and rubber lures cover
the shop walls. They are made in all shapes, sizes and colors, each
designed for specific fish. They come with names like Atoms, Bombers,
Rebels and Krocodiles; Boones, Gibbs and Spoffords; Slug-gos,
Kastmasters and Deadly Dicks.
"They all work for something," offers Steve Morris, the
store owner and one of Mr. Amaral's fishing partners.
"They're here for a reason."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/10/07/content/20050930_amarals_lures_sm.jpg" For Mr. Amaral, his first weapon of choice is also his most trusted:
the swimmer plug made by the legendary Stan Gibbs, whose plugs
revolutionized lures in 1946. Swimmer plugs get their name because of
the swimming action they make in the water as they are reeled in. They
are equipped with a small plate, usually a small metal or plastic lip,
toward the front of the lure that makes it swivel as it is retrieved.
The action it creates mimics the movement of bait under water. An array
of them in different colors hangs on the wall behind the counter.
"I fished with Danny plugs for years," Mr. Amaral says,
recalling several huge stripers and bluefish he has landed with the
lure. "And I've especially had luck with the white ones. For
whatever reason, the fish love them."
Mr. Amaral launches into a story about three consecutive years in
which he caught a 40-pound bass on Mother's Day - his first
fish of the year.
"Can you imagine, the first fish of the year three years in a
row?" he asks incredulously.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/10/07/content/20050930_rods_reels_sm.jpg" Next to them are popper plugs. By contrast, popper plugs bounce
across the surface of the water, imitating wounded bait. Those seem to
work better at sunrise or sunset, Mr. Amaral says.
He also points to a darter plug, a flatter and wider lure that he
lauds as being most successful in rips and other rushing tides.
"I threw one out at Wasque into the rip out there and boy, did
the fish hit it," he recalls. "These lures got their own
little action to them and the fish go after them right away. As soon as
you feel a bump, you gotta set the hook and - boom! -
you're on."
Needlefish - long, skinny lures - work well, too, he
says, but he isn't quite sure why.
"They come through the water like a stick as far as I can
tell," he says with a laugh. "But there is something there
that they like. I find with needlefish, it's all in the retrieve:
too fast and they don't like it. Slower, they seem to go for
it."
But old wooden lures such as Gibbs, for the most part, are the
exception to the rule in tackle shops. As technology has changed over
the years, so has the material used to make lures. Plastic lures,
painted to look exactly like a mackerel or minnow, and life-like squid
and silver sides made from synthetic rubbers now make up a large chunk
of the inventory.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/10/07/content/20050930_ballistics_sm.jpg" Mr. Morris holds up a Slug-go, one of the year's most popular
lures. It is a new pre-rigged, soft bait lure, and an exact imitation of
bait fish favorable to false albacore and bonito. Those two species are
much more particular about what they will go after, preferring to dine
on smaller bait-like sand eels and silver sides.
Mr. Morris also says a Maria lure - another flawless
duplication of the small bait - is a favorite this year.
"This is really as close to a silver side as you can get in a
lure," he says. "There are hardly any of these left in the
country, they are so popular."
And then there is the Gumpy jig.
"For some reason, bonito love this thing," Mr. Morris
says, holding up a peculiar small lead lure enshrouded in what looks
like white horse hair. "They stopped making it a few years ago,
and I kept a few of them which I keep locked away. Bonito go nuts for
it."
But Mr. Amaral is a bass fisherman, and his tackle bag reflects his
pursuit for those striped giants. And looking through his classic
collection, you have to wonder: Will his trusted Gibbs Danny swimmer
land him the derby's first 50-pound bass and his first shot at
winning the Boston Whaler?
"Every year you fish the derby, you find out something new, so
you throw something new in there," he says of his collection.
"But what you really want to put in there is luck, because
sometimes that's really what you need."
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