# Gotcha Plugs



## blue1705 (Feb 22, 2014)

Let me hear your favorite gotcha sizes and colors... Haven't fished these so I'm looking for some suggestions.

Thanks


----------



## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

I seldom throw any less than an ounce, but of those greater than an ounce, you can't have too many of any color. Everything from blues to Spanish will tear them up, and anyone can fish them. Once upon a time, before some sorry thief stole my tackle boxes, I kept about 25 to 30 brand new ones just to give to kids I would see eyeing other fishermen catching fish when they were not. To see a young person light up when a Spanish mackerel smacks a gotcha plug is a pretty cool sight. If it makes them want to continue fishing, I'm all for it.


----------



## ncsharkman (Mar 12, 2011)

Just go with the best and that would be the unbeatable "ELECTRIC CHICKEN"!!!


----------



## wettahoook (Jan 22, 2014)

Classic red head white body, gold hooks. 1 oz
although there was a day late last year where no one was catching anything on gotchas or anything else, so i just started casting out lures id never used before. Well after trying a few to no avail i picked out a green gotcha plug with a full metal body ( made a joke to mythe girlfriend about howto it lookedto like nothingto in the ocean) and black stripes down the side, casted it out and as soon as it hit the water i got hit. And caught one on every cast, and then everyone else started catching. Ended up catching about 40 to 50 blues that day. ( 15 of which i kept) caught so many that the lure broke, i took the body to my tackle shop just to find out gotcha discontinued that lure color... :/


----------



## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

What I carry on me most of time.
Got a drawer full of them in the package waiting for their time.

Red / neon green has caught the most for me, red / white classic has caught the biggest.
Tend to gravitate to ones made in the US, which are harder to find.


----------



## dialout (Feb 5, 2011)

You need a mix of colors and size. I was throwing a chartreuse one with a red head once and tearing up blues and Spanish...a guy right next to me had a white body/red head and didn't get hit at all...he put a chartreuse one one and broke it off. Guy was so pissed he packed up and left...about 10 mins later I caught a blue and he had a chartreuse gotcha stuck on the side of its head. BONUS


----------



## wettahoook (Jan 22, 2014)

Also snagged a skate one time with a gotcha, and he already had a gotcha in him. So i caught a free gotcha!


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Sunny bright day,ALL white,as well as my favorite metal gold with red head.. Cloudy day pink with the dots,chartruese red head,and electric chicken as obx sharker said.. There are many colors that will work when others don't though.. Can remember one instance when alberts were thick and I was throwing regular red head white body (the main gotcha back in the day) well,it had to be white body with Carolina blue head or they were not going to touch it... Like was said buy plenty of color variety..


----------



## Carolinadyrty (Feb 25, 2014)

I've always used real bait and i do own several gotchas because of their noted success rate, but I'm not sure how to fish them.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Carolinadyrty said:


> I've always used real bait and i do own several gotchas because of their noted success rate, but I'm not sure how to fish them.


 Several ways to fish it.. For spainish and blues,you can vary from fast retrieve jerking in regular intervals,to slow retrieve just jerking it once and a while.. Main thing is that the lure has that "side to side" while retrieving.. I've caught grey trout,speckle trout,and flounder by just allowing the gotcha to sink to the bottom and barely moving it along the bottom,kinda strange but sometimes that does work..


----------



## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

Always gold hooks:

red head/white body.......red head/gold body.......red head/black body.......chartreuse head/white body.......chartreuse head/white body with black spots


----------



## fishinbob (May 27, 2011)

Fishing with gotchas are my favorite type of fishing. Talking about this makes me miss the warmer months fishing with these. I like to use a red head with a white body, or a green head with a white body. When the blues and spanish macks are running thick, the color doesn't matter too much.


----------



## Ghostrider (Jul 27, 2010)

Nothing beats the feeling of when the gotcha plug is hit...love red head white body...my favorite time is when the Spanish are running...you cannot get the gotcha plug out of the way even if you wanted to...


----------



## Carolinadyrty (Feb 25, 2014)

Buck tail or no bucktail


----------



## Rockfish1 (Apr 8, 2005)

Carolinadyrty said:


> Buck tail or no bucktail


yes...


----------



## Ghostrider (Jul 27, 2010)

Is there a way to clean the hooks so that they do not lose their shine...especially gold color hooks?


----------



## sunburntspike (Oct 4, 2010)

Green head/green glow body; spanish &squid. ...Carolina blue head/white body; blues trout flounder. ..smallest gold (5/8?) ; pompano. ..original orange head/chartreuse body; I swear this combo kills everything...


----------



## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Ghostrider said:


> Is there a way to clean the hooks so that they do not lose their shine...especially gold color hooks?


Tie directly to your line with out the 25 pound test leader


----------



## wettahoook (Jan 22, 2014)

garboman said:


> tie directly to your line with out the 25 pound test leader


haha!


----------



## Carolinadyrty (Feb 25, 2014)

I'm definatly gonna stock up on a few more colors and some heavier ones. Two weeks till my first coast trip, hoping for warmer weather. Tell you what being a hvac tech, we generally dread the summer but I'm soooo ready for this cold weather to be over


----------



## mountainmike (Apr 8, 2009)

I am partial to the Carolina Blue White when the Spanish are hitting. At times All White. As everyone stated keep a wide variety.


----------



## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

This is gonna sound kinda fruity.......i like the pink ones. Caught my first spaniard on a red/white, so i always have those and pink and usually some outrageous colors as well


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

NC KingFisher said:


> This is gonna sound kinda fruity.......i like the pink ones. Caught my first spaniard on a red/white, so i always have those and pink and usually some outrageous colors as well


 Almost forgot,pink with black dots CAN be a killer at times as well..


----------



## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Yeah i lost my last pink one this year to them dang cownoses........and i actually caught the pink one that got me turned onto them when it snagged on a shark bait i was reeling in


----------



## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

Although any color or combinations of color will work, I always start out in the spring with all white for blues and those early spanish. Summertime is a mix bag of color from day to day or week to week. Fall is time for pink and those big spanish and pomps. After losing enough gotchas , do like me and use a 2 to 3 foot 30 lb. flouro leader tied line to line (no swivels) and tie the lure on using a loop knot if you prefer.


----------



## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

Along the upper gulf coast, I have noticed that the only color that matters when color matters is solid gold. I generally use a chrome body with any of the fluorescent colored heads first. If it isn't productive I switch to the gold.


----------



## yerbyray (May 18, 2010)

I like my Gotchas like I like my women....Redhead with white body. Do they make a crazy Gotcha?


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

plotalot said:


> Along the upper gulf coast, I have noticed that the only color that matters when color matters is solid gold. I generally use a chrome body with any of the fluorescent colored heads first. If it isn't productive I switch to the gold.


 It is the same with me here in NC.. Gold is my favorite,although I do use it with a red head.. Some of the other colors mentioned here work well here also though in differing water conditions.. Have found the metal bodies on both gold and silver to have a faster and better action than the plastic bodied ones though.. I have been in a boat catching small kings from 10 to 20lbs (back when there were no limits) on gold gotchas and had every cooler on the boat full.. You could not take a step in that 20' wellcraft without worrying about stepping on a king..... We went through a card,12,that day.. Kings would chew them up so bad you could not use them..


----------



## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

yerbyray said:


> Do they make a crazy Gotcha?


Yes, but you can only fish it for a few days each month . . . LOL !!!


----------



## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

Carolinadyrty said:


> I've always used real bait and i do own several gotchas because of their noted success rate, but I'm not sure how to fish them.


ideally a 6'6 to 7 ft fast action rod with a spinning reel works best. use 10 or 12 pound test mono or 15lb braid. You slam it out there and retrieve it back with snap jerks. At times, they 

colors- red/gold. red/silver, red/chartreuse, red/white, and i always keep all white around for overcast days.

If i could only have 2
1. red/silver- all baitfish are silvery
2/ red/chartruese- best overall visibility


----------

