Ok Here's the Situation

[chris]

You're going to be stranded on Striper Island . As the name suggests, there are plenty of big bass within range of shore. You'll have your saltwater fishing gear BUT can ONLY CHOOSE 4 Different Lures to bring and use. What 4 do you pick and why?

[Rob]

Bucktail- cause it resembles just about any bait.
Tin- in case they get out far
some thing top water like a spook or poper-cause it awsome to get blasted on top
and a swimmin plug- some type of big danny

[FontaineRods]

hands down, #1, a white bucktail. so versatile, cast in light surf, large surf, wind, no wind, and it catches anything, especially striped bass. put on a piece of pork rind and you have the single best catching lure. period.

#2 - hab's needlefish 2.0 oz. when you need to reach that far off shore bar, reef, or rock this lure will reach them. it can be retrieved for sub-surface, top water, or slightly sinking. it swims, unlike some needles, which is the key to it's success. the quality is one of the best, if not the best, in the biz. and, how many large has it caught in recent years? that should say enough.

#3 - tattoo's tackle diving swimmer - if i need a metal lip lure that swims and is versatile, it's the diving swimmer. i can bend the eye up or down to meet the conditions i am in. it comes in a variety of paint schemes, including baitfish patterns to match the forage better. the quality, like hab's, is about the best in the biz. i've been in surf condtions where pretty much any metal lip would have beben throw around and i should have been throwing a gs2 or gs3 to stay in the surf. i bent the eye on the diving swimmer down and i had to pull this lure out of the surf at the end of my cast. it help the surf that well!

#4 - tattoo's tackle sea dog, 3oz. i rarely throw any topwater lures, as i rarely fish in the light, except for late eves and early mornings in the mid-late fall. 2 years ago i was fishing w/ tattoo and i was throwing a metal lip lure. he had on a 3oz sea dog. he took 7 fish before i had my first. that lure flat out worked. i started fishing them and was surprised how easily it was to work. it was far easier and less tiring than a pencil popper, and did it take bass! i have heard how people have even used the sea dog at night successfully, which is one idea i will be trying this fall.

if i could have one more, which in certain places may be my #2 lure of choice, it would be a cotton cordell red fin 7" slightly loaded. i've caught fish with this lure when other lures were just not working and i had other anglers around me throwing almost everything. something about this lure...

[Pete_G]

#1 for me is also going to be a white bucktail with a red porkrind. When doesn't it catch...

#2 is a Pencil Popper. Far casting lure with the ability to be worked slow or fast. Great for bombing structure you just can't reach with anything else besides metal.

#3 Some sort of metal. Pt. Jude Sea Scallop or a Kastmaster. Same as the bucktail, it always works.

#4 is a metal lip of some sort.

I'd love to jam a Super Strike Bottle Plug into this 4 slot imaginary plug bag too. Great plug when it's too windy or rough for most other offerings.

And a Habs needle fish...

I struggle to fit everything I want in a single row bag, never mind being reduced to 4 plugs.

[Tattoo]

Do they even make a plug bag that hold just 4 lures?

1 - Sea Sog
Not because my company produces them, but because of the effectiveness of a walk the dog type lure. When you know fish are there, but are unable to get them to strike, a slow pulsing side to side swagger drives every gamefish nuts.

2 - Bucktail Jig
Everything and anything will eat a jig. The Army doesn't put one in it's survival pack for nothing.

3 - Sluggo
Rigged on a Kalin's Jig Head, it's very castable, can be bounced off the bottom, holds it's own in bigger surf, and I've outfished people standing next to me with live eels more than once. Hey, they just work.

4 - Darter. Find a rip and hang on. If fish are there they will eat it.

[jimmy sly]

hey guys want to introduce myself to the forum first...most probably know who I am

bucktail/white
needle/ black
spook...bone
redfin/bone loaded slightly

love to put a couple more in

[Dave]

Well we know it's an island but we don't know the physical make up. So let's assume similar to Block. Varied shoreline beach, rocks, boulders, cliffs, etc...
Limiting it to just four is going to be tough six would be better but here's my four.
1) a blue over white danny (Beachmaster, Tattoo, RM Smitth, MAC, etc..) very versatile as mentioned by bending the eye and fchanging the retreive can cover the surface and subsurface, that covers my meatl lip
2) a white bucktail jig (Andrus) w/ a curlytail trailer and a casting egg to use as necessary to increase it's versatility in certain locations/terrain/structure/conditions
3) a parrot pencil popper (Hab's) which I feel is a very versatile surface plug
4) a white or black 2 oz needlefish (Hab's) ideally would have several colors and sizes

My other two if it were 6 would be
5) a black surf hog or slug-go
6) chicken scratch bomber

hard to leave tins out so they would be next should the list go on

[SageBoy]

1-Storm Shad-It will take just about anything that swims..and it looks so good that if you can't catch anything to eat a little mustard on it may look pretty good if you get hungry enough.
2-9" black Sluggo-it looks a lot like those slimy little bassturds that can be tricky to handle and are tough for the big girl to refuse.
3-Deadly D.-It will cast a mile.
4-Spro bucktail with a little something special on it.

[IronMike]

Night:
Blue/White Habs 2oz Needle
(one spare in case of bluefish gets me)
(one sharp knife for the lobster pot that gets me)
Herring color Danny plug
Black Bottle Plug
Bone Color Redfin (weighted w/ VMC hooks)
and the Magic Giant Eel (The black snake ... nothing beats it w 7/0 live bait hook)
... the rest of the bag's for the beer

Daytime:
-Daytime is for amateurs... Please only fish at night.

[DZ50]

Iron Mike on the internet? - Watch out now.

Good choices by all.

DZ