Rigging an eel skin plug
Get all the materials you will need to rig your plug. I like to use monel trolling wire for securing the skin to the plug, but dental floss, braid, or mono can also be used. (Using the wire, you will never have to worry about bluefish biting through it)
Your local tackle shop has it in bulk spools and they will usually be happy to give you a couple of feet of it which should be enough for several seasons worth of skin plugs.
Leave the skin longer than you need because you will trim the excess after the skin is secured in the groove with the wire.
I like to leave no more than 3 " hanging off the back of the plug. If the skin is too small for a 40, I will save it for a Jr plug instead of leaving a long trailing tail off a 40. If the skin won't fit on a Jr, you can try it on a needle.
After the skin is in position, I take a 6" piece of wire and wrap it over the skin so the wire pulls the skin deep into the groove.
When the wire is wrapped tight and the skin is secured in the groove, cut the wire and bend the cut end back into the groove.
I always position this wrap on the bottom of the plug so I know where it is. (cutting the wire leaves sharp edges)
After the skin is secured, trim the excess with an Exacto knife or razor blade leaving approx 1/8" of the skin.
Now use the razor blade to cut slots just large enough to poke the swivels through the skin.
Now you are ready to attach your hooks to the plug. I use cut VMC's and skip the split rings. I do this because I don't want the hooks to "marry" or tangle with each other.
Now that your skin is complete, you will need to store it properly to preserve it. I store mine in a zip lock bag with about 1" of kosher salt in it. When I am done fishing, I put the skin in the bag and shake it to get the salt all over the skin. (All Lordship plugs are made with 100% stainless steel Krok swivels.)
Now I put this bag in a 2nd bag and toss it in the fridge.(An understanding wife is very helpful!)
Update-Fishing season 2009: In early spring of 2009, our fridge needed replacement and my understanding wife became slightly less understanding when it came to storing eel skin plugs in our brand new fridge.
I now store my skin plugs un refrigerated in a Tupperware container with kosher salt. I kept the container all season long in the garage. Even after several days of well over 90 degrees, the plugs showed no ill effects as long as I kept them dusted with the kosher salt. (I also kept them out of direct sunlight)
These are my own eel skin plugs and they are all 2 seasons old. (Normally, I would replace the shredded skin on the Jr plug on the bottom, but this plug keeps out fishing everything else so I'm not going to change the skin until it gets chewed off!)
I also now store my extra skins in a glass jar filled with brine, un refrigerated in the garage.
Another great discovery came to me in the 2009 fishing season: Luretubes! These ingenious tubes are made of molded PVC plastic and have done away with zip lock bags for carrying my skin plugs! Now I just grab the skins I want, slip them in the Luretubes and clip them to my belt! Luretubes keeps my skin plugs out of my surf bag and makes fishing skins totally hassle free! They slide on & off a surf belt very easily so I keep them on my back when fishing. When I'm done fishing, I just toss the plugs back in the Tupperware and I'm ready for the next trip. Because I take my skin plugs on every trip, I would vote Luretubes as the best new product to come out in 2009!
When the fishing season is over, I remove the hooks for the winter so the skins do not get rust stains.(No need to ever remove the skin unless bluefish shred it up)
Before we put this plug away, there is one more thing we need to do.
TEST IT! (click here to see one swim!)
Gotta make sure it swims good!
YUP! Looks like it swims just fine!!
