Why cedar lures?

A plain unpainted cedar plug with a lead nose and a single tail hook has been a mainstay in offshore fishing for years. There is no decoration - no eyes, no paint, no fancy markings, no perfect finish for the fisher (man or woman) to admire - yet it consistently catches lots of fish. Cedar’s great natural buoyancy works with the lead weight of the lure to create movement it the water that fish find irresistible It is the action of the offshore cedar plug in the water that makes fish strike it, not a lot of fancy decoration. If you want fish to strike, offer them a lure that acts like something they want to eat. If the lure looks "pretty" to you, that’s nice, but "pretty" is probably more important to you than it is to the fish.

Why hand-made, hand-carved cedar lures?

The tradition and success of offshore cedar plugs caught my imagination, so I have transferred their mystique into hand-carved cedar lures designed specifically for inshore fishing. I’ve concentrated on lure designs that have action in the water which attracts fish strikes. I also like the idea of lures made-in-America by hand as opposed to mass-produced, mostly foreign-made lures primarily of plastic. (In fact, I made hundreds of lures from scrap wood over many years for personal use before first making cedar lures in 2006.) Our lure designs incorporate colors proven to attract fish under various water/lighting conditions. Every lure design and color we offer has caught fish before that particular lure is offered for sale.

Phase II Lures are created first and foremost to catch fish - they are simple in design, modestly decorated, individually made and fish tested. They catch fish. Try our hand-crafted, hand-carved cedar lures and see for yourself.

Each lure is unique.
Every lure we offer is based on extensive testing/trial, through several prototype stages before a final design is determined. Still, though more than twenty precise production steps are followed in the lure-making, each lure has slight variations - that’s the nature of hand-made,hand-carved, hand-crafted (and sometimes because of the characteristics of the particular piece of wood). I am the first to tell you these lures are not for every fisherman or fisherwoman. Phase II Lures are for the fisher who wants to fish something unique that catches fish and extends the long tradition of cedar lures.

Fishing Phase II Lures.
These lures are intended primarily for light-medium casting with spinning gear or casting reels, 10-20 lb. line. The swimmer lures as indicated below, also catch fish extremely well when slow trolled, with these rigs, or with boat rods or wire line.

What are the lures?

Dancer is a topwater needlefish, tail-weighted, swims nose up with a nice wake in the water.

Junior& Poppy are darting/diving shallow swimmers, nose-weighted.
Mongo is a jointed needlefish, weighted for long casting, deep/medium swimming depth and a side to side swimming action.
Scooter is a floating popper for topwater action, tail-weighted for long casting.
Surf Dawg is weighted both for long casting in wind and a darting/diving swimming action, can run from deep to shallow.

How are Phase II Lures Made?
Every Phase II Lure is individually hand-made, hand-carved and hand-crafted. After carving, each lure is belt-sanded once, then hand-sanded twice during the finishing processes.  Each Phase II Lure is through-wired, with 100lb.saltwater split- ring, and a 4/0 single tail hook with hand-tied natural buck tail. Dancer, Mongo & Surf Dawg also have a treble body hook. Lure finish is hand-brushed, with five varnish coats on clear lures, four paint and two varnish coats on painted lures.  White lures receive two coats of non-yellowing hi-gloss lacquer in place of varnish. 

Lure pictures are shown on the specific lure pages.

Fish like these lures.
While lure colors play a part, it’s the action of Phase II Lures that make fish strike them. The lures act like fleeing bait or look like an easy meal (and fish are lazy, the bigger they are the more they know how to grab an easy meal) moving through the water. While Phase II Lures have primarily been fished for striped bass and bluefish, there are plenty of other fish types out there, in both salt and fresh water, thinking about food and looking for the easy meal/fleeing bait action of these plugs.

Give us your feedback.
Your comments/suggestion are always welcome. Send your fishing reports anytime, and we will be glad to publish them with your permission. Happy fishing and catching, carefully release fish you don’t keep, and enjoy eating the ones you do.

Placing your order.
You can go directly to the “Ordering” page of the website, and, there are links on all the individual lure web pages to take you to ordering. For your convenience, the PayPal system is used. You can also order by U.S. mail/check (if a Connecticut resident, include 6% sales tax on your order, plus shipping/handling/insurance). If you would like to see what other fishers and tackle dealers have purchased, current statistics are on the “Lure Sales Statistics” page.
FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $150.00.

Take some Phase II Lures fishing - you’ll be glad you did!
Dick Fincher, Phase II Lures, 25 Stonybrook Road, Westport, CT 06880.
203 226 7252, dickf@phaseiilures.com