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.
Guest Links
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/
Shop the Episode (saltwateredge.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
Chapters / Timestamps
(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
Timestamps (podcast apps)
(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.
Show Notes / Timestamps
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