A delicate surf lapped on the fringe of Island Seaside State Park the place, on the sand, dozens of automobiles and a whole lot of anglers unfold alongside the seaside. Just some yards offshore, rectangular darkish stains broke up the cool inexperienced of the late-October ocean. Peanut bunker have been in.
I had a soft-plastic swim shad clipped on as I waded in, however as I seemed up and down the seaside, I noticed that almost all different anglers had the identical concept. Paddle-tailed delicate plastics, each these matched to jigheads and those with built-in weights, are near-perfect peanut bunker imitations in dimension, profile, and motion. They’re the sensible selection, however not probably the most romantic—and for an occasion as romanticized as the autumn run, typically one wants to pick out plugs with the guts as a substitute of the pinnacle. I eliminated the swim shad and changed it with an RM Smith Peanut Swimmer. The lure was nicely beloved—for a time, it was considered one of my solely customized wooden striper plugs. There was a half-moon of naked wooden above the stomach hook hanger the place, by way of numerous casts and dozens of bass, the paint and end had been raked away. Like so many different plugs that survived just a few seasons within the surf, its wooden had been imbued with historical past, character, and a kind of magic that, within the depths of winter after I’m feeling homesick for the excessive surf, makes it a conduit for my favourite surfcasting reminiscences.
A peanut swimmer is a small metallic lip, within the 1- to 1½-ounce vary, that’s between 4 and 6 inches lengthy. It has a rounded nostril and a large physique that tapers to a thinner tail. It may swim on the floor or under it, relying on retrieve pace and the way the road tie has been “tuned.” Bending a line tie down causes the lure to swim greater within the water column; bending it up causes it to swim deeper.
I forged the plug out to the far aspect of the closest college of peanut bunker, and commenced reeling, feeling for the suitable rhythm to let me know I used to be retrieving on the correct pace for the situations. After I felt a gentle pulsing, I locked within the pace and labored on the cadence. A quick pause to let the plug float up just a few inches can typically set off a strike (particularly simply after resuming the retrieve), however I’ve all the time favored growing the retrieve pace for a few cranks or popping the rod tip to make the lure dig in and even roll out momentarily to imitate a panicked or injured peanut bunker.
The success of peanut swimmers isn’t restricted to areas with thick faculties of peanut bunker. They’re wonderful prospecting lures round jetties, in quiet bays, and on open seashores from late spring to fall, whatever the baitfish current. They fish finest in slower-moving present however can deal with appreciable surf.
Because the tide started to flood, roving packs of stripers discovered the colleges of peanuts at Island Seaside and the chunk turned on. For a bit, the bass pinned the bait to the seaside lip. Whereas that was occurring, my small, shallow-running metallic lip loved a short benefit over the delicate plastics, which up till then had been outfishing the plug at a price of three to 1. Solid after forged, I watched the plug disappear in a violent swirl as bass snatched it proper off the again of the rolling waves.
When the bass and bait ultimately dispersed, I put the plug away, admiring its latest scars, and headed for the truck. It had been a morning of fall=run fishing appropriately: extremely visible, fast-paced, and over too quickly.
Peanut swimmers are a looser metal-lip class than pikies or Dannys, so there might be appreciable variation between lure builders. Ryan Smith nonetheless builds his 1-ounce peanut swimmer as he has for the final 20-some years, providing them on the market at his web site RM Sort out, when he has them out there. Lonell Rodgers of Potomac Plug Co. makes a peanut swimmer that I’ve had nice success with this spring on the south aspect of Cape Cod, so I sit up for fishing it when the peanut bunker lastly present. His plugs might be discovered at Angler’s Market, an internet “flea market” the place customized lure builders supply their wares.
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