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Every year I buy stuff for the upcoming season based on what happened last year. My fishing showed that some of the hottest surface plugs last year were those pointy nosed skimmers. Many would call these "spook" type plugs based on the famous Heddon Zara Spook. These plugs would consistently outfish traditional poppers.
I've expanded my line-up of skimmers this year, stocking up on four different varieties. These include the Rebel Jumpin' Minnow, the Heddon Super Spook, the Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil and the Bomber Walk the Dog (see photo of these from top to bottom). You might have noticed that I used the Jumpin Minnow and the Super Spook a lot last year and had very good success on both stripers and bluefish.

All of these plugs are of the lightweight variety ranging in size from a half ounce to an ounce. They are great to fish in Bays and protected waters with light tackle, not so great where a long cast and a big plug are needed. I also favor light colors on all these plugs as you can probably see from the photo.
The knock on just about all of these plugs is that the hooks and possibly the split rings should be beefed up. Here are the modifications I make on each:
Jumpin' Minnow- Hooks must be changed to VMC 4X, size 1. Possibly change split rings to more heavy duty.
Super Spook- Remove middle hook and split ring. Change front and rear hook to VMC 4X, size 1/0. Possibly change split rings.
Yo-Zuri- No change needed
Bomber- Change hooks to VMC 4X, size 1/0. Possibly change split rings.

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