We all know cedar plugs catch a lot of Albies. However, I have lost more Albies on cedar plugs than any other setup. Two problems keep popping up.
Problem 1) The leader line breaks inside of the plug, then I lose the fish, hook and plug. Reason, the needle eye on the hook is too small. The leader line must be small enough to fit through the small eye. It does not take very many Albie strikes to wear a weak spot in the line where it bends inside of the eye..
Problem 2) The fish twist off of the plug. I believe this is due to the hook running up inside of the plug. This is a stiff setup and it often gives the Albies enough leverage when making fast turns to twist off of the hook.
Here is the original hook showing the very small eye.
Here is a modification I have made to the cedar plugs.
I was not sure if the Albies would even be interested in this setup. About half of the fish in this picture with Maarten (easydoesit86) where taken on the modified cedar plugs. The other half on clones. Maarten even had an Albie hit a modified plug when it was only half deployed.
I have not lost any Albies with this setup, yet. I believe the swivel attached to the hook is the reason. Nor have I had a leader break since this change. I now can use a much heavier weight of leader line.
Here is the original hook comparison with the new hook..
Here is the clone that caught half the fish. Clones on the starboard side and cedar plugs on the port side.
Hope this idea helps someone catch more Tuna...
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