Tips & Tricks

October 31st

Berkley Fireline Braid

I am what you would call it an old-fashioned kind a surfcaster. The kind that doesn’t like “change” of any kind. I don’t like when the fish shift gears and I have to go look for another successful patterns. I don’t trust new plugs in my bag until they impress the heck out of me first. It doesn’t impresses me that you outfished me a 100:1 on your plug. What works for you might not work for me 

I am definitely unimpressed with all the gibberish about which line casts better, which lays on the spool more evenly, which one is thinner. It seem to me that we use to be trilled to use 15lb mono and now a 60 pound braid with a diameter of a 6 pound test is “too thick”. Am I missing something? Is the  line suppose to be so thin where I need magnifying glass to tie a knot? I don’t think so.

As such old and cranky person, I am set in my ways. When super lines first came out I tried a bunch. Hated the Spider wire, Power Pro I detested from day one. Fireline however I found to my liking. Its not smoothest, thinnest or best looking line out there. Kind of like me …little round, little rough around the edges and definitely looking a little “spent” after few tides. Hey, the body just don’t bounce back the way it once did.

I accepted the limitations of Fireline because I always believed that too much is made out of casting distance, abrasion resistance and thinness of a line. Do I have to remind you that our fathers fished with a linen line and caught these same fish? Is anyone suggesting that the fish got stronger over the the years?  I love the argument about fishing on sand and which line is better for what. Who cares? Where exactly is this fish going that you need a titanium line to horse it in? Huge stripers have been landed on a 6 pound mono and K-Mart rods in the past on sand. I’ve even heard some chunkers suggest to fish chunks on sand with a lock down drag. Huh?

So what you might calla  limitation, in my mind is really  not limiting in any way. Fireline casts good enough, abrasion resistance is excellent and yes, it does look a bit worn after some use but the reason I never changed was because IT NEVER FAILED ME. EVER. That counts a lot in my book.

I don’t pay much attention to internet debates or even advice from my close friends.  I am much more receptive to trying a plug from a builder whose mojo plug is already in my bag then someone’s  I am unfamiliar with but who makes gorgeous looking lure. So when Berkley came out with Fireline Braid I took notice. Which I almost never do, just ask my wife and she’ll give you an earful. I checked it out at one of the shows and went out and bought a thousand yard spool. After some early season testing, I was so impressed that I spooled all my reels with it, including ones my guiding clients use. I am happy to say that I am trilled with its performance, cast ability and durability. Rarely is that I find a new product that becomes a part of my gear in one season but new Fireline Braid is an exception.

Some of you might (I know you will) ask what is about this line that makes it better the Power Pro, Suffix or other. I don’t know. And I don’t care. My time is too precious to try every line on the market. This is what I like a and I am sticking with it. Hopefully it will be another decade before I feel a need to change top something else.

October 15th

Aquapac

We surfcasters have a habit of calling many items we carry along on the trip “indispensable”. Boga Grip is indispensable for handling iwanttoeatyourfingers bluefish. Pliers are indispensable for removing the hooks, either from the fish or your buddy’s thumb. Jackets with latex seals are indispensable for those who fish rough waters and know that they will spend part of their trip rolling helplessly in the surf.

But there are few items that I find indispensable that you probably wouldn’t think off. Because they have nothing to do with the act of catching the fish, although they might help you get on the hot bite. But only if your buddy calls 

As your know, salt and water can destroy inferior products in a hurry. We all had reels that feel apart in one trip, pliers that started to rust when they heard the booming surf] or gloves that shred after a first cast with the braided line.

I know Aquapac is in no way used in same manner while fishing. In fact, it usually hangs around my neck, tucked underneath my jacket. But I’ve swam with it hanging outside of my wetsuit and been blasted by the waves in my waders. Yet Aquapack does what it designed to do, holding the water out and my equipment dry.

Here is a beauty of it. If you want to keep your keys, wallet or anything else dry, stick it in, close two levers and darn thing is as watertight as anything. Put your cell phone in there and you are up for a surprise. Why? Because you can talk through the bag, keeping the phone away from the elements. So when you buddy calls in a rainstorm about a massive blitz down the beach or your wife wants you to stop catching 30-pound bass because she needs a foot rub, you can answer the phone. Not sure you want to in the second case, but you can, without ever taking the phone out of the bag. Heck, you can even Tweet your reports from your rock, whatever Tweeting is. Sorry, I am a bit old fashioned when it comes to technology. But hey, I can master closing the Aquapack all by myself.

They make them in so many different sizes you can get one for just about any thing you want to bring into the surf. Don’t have a waterproof camera? No problem, stick it into the Aquapac. Need to keep those baby wipes fresh and smelling fruity in case nature calls? They make Aquapac in that size too. Want to bring your laptop along so you can check up who is ripping you another one your favorite fishing website? I don’t think that is a good idea. Then again, neither is posting on a lot of sites.

Full disclosure

I have no idea who makes these things and I am not affiliated, married into the family or a brother-in-law of the salesman from Aquapac CEO. I just love this product and hell yeah, it is indispensable.