Frequently Asked Questions

  • You can always purchase directly from us at our Shop. OutCast Lures are also available at many tackle shops around New England and beyond. If your favorite shop doesn’t carry them yet, ask them to give us a call.

    We also attend a few tackle and fishing shows around the east. Look for us at your favorite shows, or find our dealers there.

    Be sure to add your info to our mailing list. We send out notices on new shops, new lures and other Outcast news periodically.

  • This is one of the most common questions we hear from our users. And the answer is often dictated by the equipment you will be using.

    OutCast Lures are designed to maximize the casting distance of our plugs, but a lot rides on matching the lure weight to your particular rod/reel combination, namely the characteristics of the rod. Most (if not all) commercially manufactured and custom built fishing rods are designed to handle a specific lure range. This info is often listed on the rod blank along with suggested line weight (given in “pound test” range). A 10’ surf rod might specify a lure weight range (ei: 3.0-5.5 oz). Or the seemingly same set-up might have a higher or lower range. This is most often based on the “action” of the blank, which indicates how the fibers and layment of the rod are triggered to perform at their best.

    While casting lures lighter than the recommended range can have some minor issues (the rod may not fully “load” in the casting action meaning lure speeds might be slower, leading to poor line flow) you can often make small adjustments to your casting style to compensate for underweight plugs. Additionally, lure presentation may be effected, as stiffer H & HL rods may not have the proper give to allow the lure to “twitch”.

    Casting lures that are heavier than the specified range can lead to serious damage to the rod itself. If you feel like you are struggling to get your casts to reach your intended targets, it may well be that you are overloading your rod.

    All OutCast Lures are individually weighed and marked on the packaging with the finish ounce weight. If you have a variety of plugs, you may want to use a sharpie to mark the plugs themselves for future selection. When buying OutCast plugs at a dealer, be sure to look for the weight information and use only those plugs that will match the set-up you plan to fish them with.

  • The pencil popper is a very popular lure, and the OutCast Pencil is legendary. The lure is designed to be retrieved along the surface, darting and skipping all the way.

    The plug may stay below the surface immediately following a cast. A fast pickup of slack line will help to minimize this.

    Once the popper is on the surface, keep your rod tip high and start a steady retrieve with your reel handle. A slight twitch of the rod will help to induce more action on the surface. If you find fish are striking at the plug but not getting hooked, try slowing the retrieve but add more rod twitches.

    We’ve found that keeping your rod tip pointed just over your rod hand shoulder, you’ll be able to retrieve the lure at a slightly slower rate, leading to fewer missed strikes. This also allows you to take a few quick turns on your reel as soon as the fish strikes, helping to drop the rod angle to a better hook setting angle.

  • OutCast Lures began offering the Mag-Neat® feature in 2022. This system incorporates a small but powerful magnet into the body on our Danny and Surfster lines of lures. These bodies are keel weighted (for better swim action) and are subject to less stable aerodynamics during casting. This unavoidable side effect can lead to "leader tangles", fouling the presentation of the lure on retrieval. We found through extensive testing that we could lessen the tangles, and also improve the chances that the lure will clear itself by stabilizing the forward hooks during casting and retrieve.

    We have seen marked improvement in percentages of "clean" retrieves, with no affect on fish attracting or hook setting. The system allows anglers to make the most of every cast and minimize lost time and wasted effort.

  • I like where your head is at! Let’s consider a few simple questions before we fire up the diesels, shall we?

    Many offshore game fish will readily go for our plugs. And the hardware is up to the task, up to a reasonable point. Our plugs are built around fight fish up to about 100 pounds. So if you’re going to throw plugs at fish in this range, you’re probably good to go. Dorado, Wahoo, and “schoolie” tuna will come to fear you.

    The stainless steel thru-wires are rated well above the #100 range, but the hooks and split rings may need to be upgraded to withstand the hard mouths and wild ride they will face if your target fish are on the bigger end of the scale. Consider swapping the supplied hooks with a welded ring eye 8/0 or 9/0 VMC 3X Strong Siwash hook paired with 300# class triple split rings. Heavy wire leaders and robust connectors will significantly restrict the action of any plug, so where reasonable, try crimping a heavy monofilament or fluorocarbon leader (with chafe guards) directly to the plug. This will allow the lure freedom of movement, while also adding an abrasion guard to your set-up. A 3’ pre-rigged leader will be sufficient on most cases, giving you a good landing or tagging grip, but still allowing for a solid casting drop.

    Keep an eye on our website or sign-up to receive our newsletter to learn about more offshore gear from OutCast Lures planned for 2020.

  • We appreciate that everyone wants to fish their new lure immediately, but keep in mind we are a custoo lure shop. Each of our lures is meticulously handmade and hand-painted, ensuring the utmost quality. While this process may require up to 5-7 days before your order is ready to be shipped, we do maintain stock of our most popular bodies and color options, which may result in a quicker delivery time for your order.

    Rest assured, we strive to expedite your order and get your lures to you as quickly as possible.

  • The Danny Swimming plug is a great option for targeting big striped bass and other pelagic game fish. The metal lip provides the action to these iconic plugs, and each OutCast Danny is balanced and tuned to swim right, right out of the package.

    But you may want to adjust the plug to match your preference for depth. Many people try to bend the metal lip to accomplish this, but we don't recommend this.

    It is best to not mess with the lip, but rather make adjustments by bending the front connection loop (where you tie the leader).

    Holding the body steady in one hand, use a pair of pliers to bend the front loop eye. Bend this up slightly to drive the lure deeper, and down to stay closer to the surface. Small bends is all it takes.

  • We deliver our lures rigged standard with VMC® treble hooks for their superior saltwater endurance, their great hook setting design, and their reliable high quality that truly matches the OutCast commitment to the best components. However, we know that many anglers are seeking improved survival rates for fish after release, and minimizing point contact has been demonstrated to help with post landing mortality. If you're intention is to release the fish you are targeting, using single hooks is the demonstrated way to give them the chance to fight again.

    Through exhaustive research, we have found that our lures are nearly as effective at hooking and landing big fish when we swap out one or both of the treble hooks with VMC® Inline Single 3X ILS hooks. When selecting a size for your replacement hook, remember the general rule of "Plus-3+". For example, on our OCHB-03 Medium Hybrid Popper, the stock rigging will be a 2/0 VMC treble hook. We recommend using the VMC ILS size 6/0 or larger on these lures. Using the larger sized single hook will offer a better hook sets, and will more closely match the weigh of the stock hooks, lending similar lure performance in the water. Some anglers may choose to use small elastic hair bands to hold ILS belly hooks into a fixed position on the lure. This can also improve the lures swim characteristics, while having little to no effect on hook ups. It also helps to reduce hook chafe on the finish, lending to longer life of your OutCast Lure.

    Additionally, anglers can also replace the tail hooks on our lures with non-hook flags, or bucktails. These synthetic or natural hair attractor devices simulate the drag of a hook, allowing for continuity in lure swim action, and add a little teaser to the slipstream wake.

    Lastly, if you choose not to replace the treble hooks, but still want to make releasing your catch considerably easier, you should simply crush the barbs on all hooks. A few lost fish during the fight are a small price to pay for keeping the fish around for future anglers to enjoy.

    We recommend using a high quality VMC Siwash hook with closed ring eyes for both tail and body hook positions. You can reuse the split rings furnished with your plug, or upgrade to larger split rings to accommodate a heavier gauge hook. Most of our plugs come with either 2/0 or 3/0 trebles, in 3x gauge. Be sure to match equal of better grade when making the change. You don’t want to risk loosing the fish of a lifetime with a lesser strength hook and split ring. Also be sure to keep an eye on how the weight difference my effect your casting efficiency, and in some cases, how the lure “swims”. If you find that a swimming plug like a Danny or Surfster isn’t acting the same after changing out the hooks, consider adjusting the metal lip to compensate for the weight difference.

  • Fishermen are notoriously secretive about how, when and where they catch their biggest fish. Our staff has enjoyed many successful days (or more likely nights) targeting big bass and other predator sport fish with our lures. We often find that in side-by-side circumstances, our lure designs out fish many mass market products.

    The reasons can likely be supported by the many hours and days that go into each and every design we bring to market. Details matter when you are targeting big fish, and things like being able to reach fish farther away, present lifelike colors and body profiles, and know that the components of your lure are going to stand up to the worst conditions can make the difference between a personal best catch and just another fish story.

    We regularly hear from our customers about how well our lures preform, and occasionally they share some impressive statistics. Striped Bass over 50 lbs are not that common, but we get emails about them frequently throughout the year. Additionally, many of our customers take our lures to more exotic fishing destinations, and we get to hear about huge Tuna, Dorado, Jacks, and many more.

  • Ordering a custom lure is a breeze! Simply visit our order page and select the "(CX) Custom" option from the color menu. After processing your order, we will reach out to you via email to gather details about your desired custom color and finishing preferences. Please allow an additional week of processing time for us to ensure your custom order is delivered on time to your specifications.

  • First, we hope you had a great day. Maybe you didn’t land as many fish as you had dreamed of before you rolled out of bed at 2:30am, but hey, YOU WENT FISHING!

    All OutCast lures are built from durable materials, but these will benefit greatly from a little care and maintenance along the way. First off, salt is the enemy of all fishing tackle. Make it part of your routine to rinse off all lures you’ve used (and even those that may have been exposed to other wet lures) every time you get back to your home. This can be a simple spray from the garden hose, or a dip in a bucket of fresh (and freshly filled!) water. The best option is to rig up a drying line where you store your gear. Hang lures by the tail hook to allow them to dry fully before you put them back into your tackle bag.

    This is also a great time to inspect your plugs for nicks, dings, tooth marks or other damage to the finish. Typically these are not deep enough to effect the lure’s outer coating, but in cases where bare wood is showing, you may want to apply a small dab of clear nail polish, or if you’re a fly-tyer, some head cement. This will help to keep water away from the plugs wooden core. Cedar is naturally water resistant, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a little help.

  • Glad you asked. Well, at least we’re glad we have an answer since you asked. It ain’t pretty, but it is strait forward, honest and provides you with some autonomy lessons. Click here.

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