Saltwater Edge Podcast - Sharing Our Passion For Saltwater Fishing

Alex Peru invented one of the most versatile lures in Northeast saltwater fishing — the Albie Snax — and he did it by asking a question nobody else was asking: how do you make a weightless soft plastic that actually casts?

In this episode, Peter sits down with Alex to unpack the design decisions behind the Albie Snax, the Super Snax (which actually came first), and the Fish Snax XL. Then Alex breaks down his new company, Clobber, and The Freak — an 11-inch, 4-ounce sliding-weight spook with a baitfish profile and a nose-rigged single hook, built to convert the big striped bass that follow a Doc but won't commit.

Along the way: why stiffness (not weight) is the secret to casting distance, how to rig soft plastics for weeds and mangroves, why squid are always in the bait ball, reading a fish's body language, the cat-toy theory of triggering strikes, and why big stripers hit a baitfish in the head.

• Clobber (The Freak) — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clobber_company/
• Fish Snax Lures (Albie Snax, Super Snax, XL): https://www.fishsnaxlures.com
• ZipChip pocket frisbee: https://www.zipchipsports.com/

• Albie Snax — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/albie-snax
• Fish Snax Super Snax — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/fish-snax-super-snax
• Fish Snax XL — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/fish-snax-xl-albie-snax
• Albie Snax Hooks 4/0 — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/albie-snax-hooks-4-pack
• Fish Snax Twistlock Hooks — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/fish-snax-twistlock-hooks
• Owner Twistlock Beast Hooks — https://www.saltwateredge.com/products/owner-twistlock-beast-hooks

(Timestamps are from the raw recording — they'll shift after you cut the ending and any mid-roll edits. Re-check against the final export.)

• 00:00 — Intro: the story of the Albie Snax
• 01:19 — Origins: starting the business in 2011, the albie lures of the day
• 02:44 — The design problem: a "weightless" soft plastic that casts
• 04:34 — More plastic, not more weight — why cylindrical, and the two-piece mold
• 06:11 — The red-head prototype era and hand-pour war stories
• 07:20 — Rigging mileage: rotate the bait a quarter turn and re-rig
• 08:01 — Skipping into mangroves for snook
• 09:15 — The original colors (amber, white, bubblegum, olive) and the two-tones
• 10:49 — Rigging: screw-lock swimbait hooks, plus a nose-rig trick with a thin-wire hook
• 12:28 — Squid, the amber Snax, and jumping the ladder of the food chain
• 14:35 — From albie lure to year-round striper staple; selling the company
• 15:18 — Surprise: the Super Snax came before the Albie Snax
• 16:43 — Fish Snax XL and the rat tail: a lure that folds in the air
• 20:32 — ZipChip: fishing-lure engineering applied to a pocket frisbee
• 25:20 — Clobber and The Freak: reverse-engineering why the Doc works
• 28:35 — Profile matters: why a spook shaped like a baitfish converts more fish
• 31:13 — The sliding magnetic weight: casts tail-heavy, swims level
• 33:50 — The skip: very bunker-like, and perfect for casting into boulder fields
• 35:07 — How to work a glide spook: rod tip down, watch your line (not your lure)
• 36:42 — The Freak: 11 inches, 4+ ounces — and a 14-inch prototype
• 39:58 — Curiosity vs. commitment: converting follows into strikes
• 43:58 — The cat-toy theory of triggering a predator
• 46:34 — Why big stripers hit the head — and the nose-rigged single hook
• 49:13 — Hook mechanics: gap, wire, and why you stop dropping fish
• 51:06 — Where to get The Freak (hand-made drops for now)
• 52:02 — Wrap-up: Alex's two lures, two resources, and one last day on Earth

Pete Utschig — the surfcaster behind Phase Gear, Project Magic Hour, and the Surfcasters documentary series — sits down with Peter Jenkins in Newport, two weeks into his annual pilgrimage north from Florida.

They cover how one weekend trip turned Florida into Pete's winter home water, and how a spare-room guide service became a full surf fishing lodge: all-inclusive, 20 minutes from the water, 45 minutes from three or four inlets, running December through April — exactly when nobody wants to be in the Northeast. Rods, lures, and food are provided; you bring board shorts and a toothbrush.

From there it's Pete's bucket list, which is organized by fish rather than by country: cubera snapper on topwater, GTs in Indonesia, corvina in Ecuador, giant tarpon in Gabon, and bluefin tuna busting sardines within casting distance of a European rock. Along the way: why daytime fisheries beat vampire hours for actually enjoying a place, what guides learn from their guests, and the line that sums up the whole episode — the best time to fish is anytime you can.

To fish with Pete in Florida, reach out to @phasegear on Instagram or through phase-gear.com.

Mentioned in this episode: Phase Gear · Project Magic Hour (dir. Mikko Huttunen) · the Surfcasters series · Kyle Schaefer / Soul Fly Lodge (Bahamas) · Larry Dahlberg's The Hunt for Big Fish · Steve Huff on the Mill House Podcast

(00:41) Project Magic Hour — FL, the Northeast, Alaska (02:58) Discovering Florida surf fishing (03:56) Building the lodge (06:08) December–April, all-inclusive, "Get Tight" (11:43) Bucket-list fish: cubera, GTs, corvina, tarpon (16:44) Bluefin from shore in Europe (20:33) "Do you want to catch, or do you want to fish?" (22:01) "The best time to fish is anytime you can" (24:16) What's next for Pete

Peter sits down with Chris Bishop, VP of Sales & Marketing at Yo-Zuri, during his annual June swing through New England. A 15-year company veteran and obsessive angler (snook and tarpon at home in Sebastian, FL; stripers at the Cape Cod Canal on the road), Chris explains the technology platforms behind Yo-Zuri's most trusted lures and how he actually fishes them.

Covered in this episode: how the patented magnetic weight transfer system delivers distance and accuracy in wind; the difference between the Mag and Hydro platforms; why the Mag Darter's swim-plus-dart action excels around bridges, inlets, and shadow lines; fishing the swing in moving water; the Mag Pencil and the durable pearl-in-the-plastic finishes; the shallow-running Hydro Minnow LC and a quick lesson in lip design; the Hydro Monster Shot's dying-baitfish fall (an albie killer); the 3D Inshore series; and Chris's top Northeast colors — and the logic for when to match the hatch versus stand out.

Every lure discussed is available at saltwateredge.com.

• 0:00 — Intro: learning the "why" behind 20 years of products

• 0:48 — Chris's background; 15 years at Yo-Zuri; medical device sales roots

• 1:53 — His territory: national chains, product development, and keeping the Northeast

• 4:00 — Developing colors and baits specifically for New England, the Vineyard, and Jersey

• 5:59 — Mag vs. Hydro platforms explained

• 6:37 — The magnetic weight transfer "snap" and how it works

• 7:34 — Distance and accuracy in 20-mph wind

• 9:36 — Florida life: snook, tarpon, topwater jacks on the Surface Cruiser

• 11:23 — Hydro weight transfer vs. Mag: how to cast each

• 13:00 — Sled weight transfer in big pencils; why most big topwaters "cast like a potato chip"

• 14:12 — Mag Darter deep dive: swimming action + dart, four sizes

• 16:19 — Bridges, shadow lines, breachways: where the darter earns its keep

• 17:53 — Technique: the slow swing, the eddy edge, ricocheting off structure

• 19:38 — Floating it out to unreachable fish; tarpon technique

• 21:13 — Mag Pencil: 98% Northeast; pearl powder-in-plastic finishes

• 23:25 — 3D prism finishes and matching water clarity

• 26:34 — Hydro Minnow LC: runs in a foot of water; boulder fields and flats

• 28:40 — The Mag Speed for staying deep

• 29:37 — Lip design 101

• 30:36 — Fishing the LC as a wake bait at the Canal

• 31:23 — The Canal love-hate: "hustle and effort"

• 32:56 — Hydro Monster Shot: 10 years proven in Japan

• 35:10 — The shimmy on the fall; why it out-fishes a tin

• 36:33 — Sizes: albies to tuna; sand beach distance technique

• 39:35 — 3D Inshore series: shallow water, durable internal finishes, under $15

• 42:26 — Top Northeast colors: yellow, bone, bronze/bunker (ayu), green mackerel

• 45:47 — Flash, gradients, and when to stand out vs. match the hatch

• 48:06 — Under $30, ready out of the box — closing thoughts

Tony Friedrich of the American Saltwater Guides Association returns to break down a disappointing loss: Rhode Island DEM's rejection of common-sense bonito and false albacore regulations for 2026. Despite a proposal built on the state's own data, a compromise to match Massachusetts' five-fish limit, a generous commercial cap, and public comments running 60–3 in favor across two packed hearings, the effort was misrepresented and dismissed. Tony and Peter walk through the timeline, the advisory council's conflicts of interest, the tautog precedent that proves this approach works, and why this fight is far from over, including new bonito acoustic tagging research and a promise to return next cycle. To everyone who wrote a letter or missed dinner to attend a hearing: this one's for you. Stick with it.

Pete Utschig spent 22 years with the New York City Fire Department before retiring to chase fish full-time. Today he's the founder of Phase Gear — a technical apparel company built specifically for surf casters, by a surf caster. In this conversation, Peter from The Saltwater Edge talks with Pete about: - Why his snowboarding business partner kept asking "why is all your fishing gear so heavy?" — and what they did about it - The list of grievances every surf caster will recognize (hoods that blow off, soaked cuffs, gasketed necks, pockets that fill with water) and how Phase Gear engineered them out - What it's like to fund a company out of your pension and keep inventory on the shelf one retirement check at a time - Why Pete has turned down investor offers - The single hardest skill to learn — in fishing and in business — and how it's the same answer twice - What's next for Phase Gear as it expands beyond the surf Show notes and the full conversation at saltwateredge.com/blogs/saltwater-edge Shop Phase Gear: https://www.saltwateredge.com/search?q=phase+gear Learn more about the brand: https://phase-gear.com

In this episode of The Saltwater Edge Podcast, Peter sits down with Captain Greg for an in-depth conversation about one of Rhode Island's most iconic spring fisheries: squid.

Greg shares decades of experience fishing squid from both shore and boat around Newport and Narragansett Bay, covering everything from lights, tides, and jig selection to squid behavior, seasonal timing, and why Rhode Island offers such a unique squid fishery.

The discussion also explores:

• How squid react to lights and shadow lines
• Why foggy nights can produce incredible fishing
• Best tackle and jig setups
• Mono vs braid for squid fishing
• Spring and fall squid runs
• Squid as a key forage species for striped bass, tuna, and more
• Rhode Island's trophy tog regulations and conservation efforts
• Favorite ways to cook and prepare squid

Whether you're a longtime squid angler or someone looking to experience the spring calamari run for the first time, this episode is packed with practical knowledge and fascinating insight into New England fishing culture.

We dive deep into:

• Why kayaks give anglers a stealth advantage
• How to target giant striped bass in shallow water
• Soft plastic retrieves that outfish plugs
• Jig head weights, tides, and current strategy
• Reading sonar and finding fish others miss
• Why conservation matters and how lure choices affect release survival

Whether you fish from shore, boat, or kayak, this episode is packed with actionable striped bass knowledge.

Link to OTW Articles: https://onthewater.com/author/eric-harrison

Link to Hogy Lures YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hogylures

What matters more in fly fishing: the pattern, or the presentation?

In this episode, we sit down with Maine guide and highly regarded fly tyer Capt. Ben Whalley to talk about the small details that make a huge difference when targeting striped bass and other saltwater species.

Ben discusses the influence of legendary fly tyer Bob Popovics, his approach to designing large-profile flies that remain castable, and how observation and experimentation lead to better fly design.

The conversation also previews the upcoming Saltwater Edge Fly Fishing Expo, where Ben will join a panel focused on one of the most important parts of fly fishing: the final 40 feet of presentation.

From neutrally buoyant shrimp flies to triggering strikes from fish that are locked in on bait, this episode dives deep into the real decision-making that happens when fish get a long look at your fly.

Topics include:

• Why large flies don't have to be hard to cast

• Lessons from Bob Popovics and hollow fly design

• Matching movement instead of just matching size

• When to change flies and when to change presentation

• Why observation is the most important skill in fly fishing

• Techniques for triggering bites from pressured fish

If you enjoy problem solving on the water and learning how great anglers think through a fishing situation, you'll enjoy this conversation.

In this episode, we sit down with John L. Field, author, conservationist, and FFI Master Casting Instructor, ahead of the Saltwater Edge Fly Fishing Expo on March 14th.

This year's Expo shifts from tactics to skill building, breaking down the habits and mechanics that consistently lead to success. John dives deep into:

• Why too much false casting costs you fish

• The mechanics behind tight loops and clean tracking

• How rod loading really works

• The difference between leverage and momentum in your stroke

• The building blocks every fly caster needs

• Knot logic and leader design fundamentals

If you want more distance, more accuracy, and more opportunity on the water, this episode is a must listen.

Join us on March 14th for the Saltwater Edge Fly Fishing Expo, with hands-on casting and rigging clinics the following day.

In this episode, we sit down with analytical angler Dan Wells for one of the most detailed breakdowns of nighttime striper fly fishing you'll ever hear. Dan combines military-grade strategic thinking with years of obsessive local scouting to build a system for understanding tides, bait cycles, estuaries, and nighttime feeding behavior.

We cover everything from silver-side patterns to herring runs, eel and squid behavior, two-hand casting for big flies, and how to build a 30-minute fishing radius that consistently produces. If you love the craft of surfcasting or fly fishing — especially in Northeast estuaries — this is a masterclass.