Classic cedar plug.                      Photo by Tim Simos

How long have cedar plugs been around?

A fruitless investigation into the history of these lures led me to this conclusion: They were invented before papyrus and, therefore, have little recorded history—except in modern times. The Egyptians probably invented them and towed the fish-catching lures behind their multi-oared, captive-powered boats as they navigated to distant conquests.

That said, what is the draw of these cigar-shaped, leadhead fish-catching wonders? From what I can tell and other reliable dock talk, it’s the action. Cedars shimmy and sway, darting to and fro like some kind of crazed baitfish on the verge of consumption. They’re great surface lures that also bubble and burp and vaguely imitate small tuna, frequently referred to as “bullets” by offshore fishermen.

Cedar plugs know no bounds. The easy-to-rig artificials catch fish just about anywhere beyond the surfline ’round the world and they really shine in blue water—the primary feeding grounds of tuna, wahoo, dolphin and billfish. Using these simple lures, Florida anglers record impressive catches every year in the Gulf, Atlantic, Mexico and The Bahamas.

To better understand the dynamics of a modern cedar plug, pick one up. You’ll immediately notice the heavy head, streamline shape that resembles a torpedo without a propeller and the hole that runs the length of the lure from stem to stern. Not much there to provide any action is probably your first thought. And you’re right. That is, until you throttle the boat up to eight or nine knots and drop that puppy in the wake and push the lever drag into gear. Then that hunk of wood, metal or plastic takes on a different character, dancing behind the boat.

Catches made with traditional cedar plugs and their newer aluminum and plastic counterparts border on the fantastic. Charter skippers and tuna fanatics around Florida and up the Atlantic seaboard regularly run cedars in lure spreads. The reason? It’s hard to argue with success.

A lower link to the offshore food chain.

“Cedar lures are part of my daily lure spread,” attests St. Augustine charter skipper Robert Johnson. Johnson, like many other Ledge and Rolldown trollers off Northeast Florida, breaks out the lures when tuna—blackfin and yellowfin—migrate into local waters. Same story for wahoo. Standard practice when adding a cedar to a lure-and-bait combo spread up here is to run it long—way behind the boat on the shotgun line. On days when tuna seem to be everywhere, local skippers often run a spread of cedars tight to the boat. Many trollers say that positioning the cedars between the first and fourth waves behind the transom gives the lures better action.

Palm Beach county captain and Florida Sportsman Radio Show host George LaBonte had great luck recently trolling aluminum cedar plugs in The Bahamas. LaBonte focused his efforts on yellowfin tuna traversing the Northwest Providence Channel close to Port Lucaya, on Grand Bahama Island.

“We went over there rigged for bear,” LaBonte began. “We had everything—lures, ballyhoo, feathers, cedar plugs—you name it. The most consistent tuna catcher? A light blue aluminum cedar plug measuring 1 inch around by 5 3⁄4 inches long—the Yellowfin model—manufactured by MP Lures in Stuart.” LaBonte normally mixes in a cedar plug or two in his Bahamas trolling spread, except when tuna crash the party in force. On those days, he runs a spread of all MP Yellowfin lures and staggers them evenly behind the boat. In other words, left and right flatlines are the same length as are the short ’rigger baits and long ’rigger lures.

This brings us to another question: What is the best position to run these lures? That varies according to conditions and how the tuna are feeding. LaBonte typically positions flatlines loaded with cedar plugs about 100 feet back. Short ’riggers are between 200 and 250 feet and the long ’riggers are way out there, approximately 350 to 400 feet behind the transom. This arrangement seemed to work time and time again for Northwest Providence Channel yellowfins, but it’s not carved in stone.

Many veteran trollers run cedar plugs tight to the boat, particularly off the Outer Banks and other Mid-Atlantic ports where yellowfin tuna are a daily regimen throughout summer and early fall. Typical drill here is to position the plugs between the first and fourth wakes. Outer Banks guys say this makes the plugs run better. Sure, they pop out of the water a little more, but near the boat cedars swim like crazy and when the bite’s red hot, fish don’t seem to mind swinging close to nab plugs.