Today we will share some stuff that ends up in our mail box..
First an email from Blog reader George Oikonomopoulus from Greece…yeah, that Greece, land of crazy good olive oil, scrumptious lamb on the spit and soon, drachmas . And no Euro’s?
Who cares as long as there is fish to be caught ! Not making fun of the suject at all, but I am glad that fishing is a big part of life in Greece too
Dear Mr.Hromin given the opportunity of your tasteful article about mighty branzino(lavraki or lavrax) I wish you one day to visit my country so we can fish and eat together branzino’s…(like the one in the attached picture)…it’s a female of about 10lb..was caught together with the male which is always smaller and was about 6lb.they were caught with a Rapala max rap 1oz.branzino’s are the primary target for every fisherman who is fishing from the coast with artificial lures and baits…I try to get them by using your way of thinking in surfcasting(east coast surfcasters).it’s hard to do, and success it’s not often, but when it happens it’s big!!!!no one here is fishing with a 7inches lure. I tried it with success as you see and I would like to thank you and the rest of your fellow surfcasters…bon appétit to all of us!!!
with regards George Oikonomopoulus
How cool is that! Not only do we get regular emails from Greece but Costa Rica, UK, and yes, Italy where they are as insane about surf fishing as we are here.
Now for a local flavor we go to Bob (not real name) with whom we corresponded few weeks ago.
- Bob …when can you set a casting competition? In NJ?
- SJ…why? what casting competition has to do with catching fish?
- Bob …I ‘m on the surf lot, I see a lot of surf rods. Every one say that this and that rod is the best. A casting competition with only 11ft surf rod to see, what is the best casting rod I have a ss1772 century surf n zeebaas zx 25.believe me nj have a lot of surfcasters. With high end gear only buy from fishermen supply. there is casting competition all over the world why not bring it to NJ…….. and it a good way to bring surfcaster together. Lamiglass st.croix ctx and century surf rods…what you think is the best?
- SJ …Ron is a good guy at fisherman supply, we love him…casting distance is a competition to see whose Johnson is bigger…no thanks
- Bob …What you mean whose Johnson is bigger! I’m talking about rods..u took it a whole new way…im @ fishermen supply every weekend .why don’t you stop by…..
- SJ …Fishing is about enjoying catching fish , not competition..all we are saying…why does everything have to be competition?
- Bob… It’s a good way on getting fishermen together!!! A competition brings out the best out of people.im just going 2 give up..but thanks for your time….
- SJ …Disagree..competition brings the worst in people..helping a newbie on a beach, that is what brings the good in people
- Bob ..help a newbie on beach with a Wal-Mart rod n reel?…yeah ok.people need better gear before going on surf ………cant show up with a b.s rod n reel..
That’s all folks
[issuu width=420 height=162 shareMenuEnabled=false showHtmlLink=false proSidebarEnabled=true backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=120707201511-7f8cda4eee37461cb729655825046239 name=issue14 username=surfcasters_journal tag=fishing unit=px v=2]
A BIG THUMBS DOWN TO BOB. First of , why casting comp ? Try casting school day to learn a thing or two hands on from seasoned sharpies . In regard to newbies and cheap gear, I was that kid with a ugly stick and a quantum bluerunner pounding NJ inlets and beaches for stripes and gator blues. Sure i had malfunctions, but that was my start to a life long passion, and i caught plenty of fish. Every surfcasters dream is a van stall on a cts. Thats not in the cards for all who share our passion to fish. My budget doesnt allow me to have such gear, but my triumph surf series and ss penn or lami surf king and my okuma dont catch less fish because they cost hundreds less they allow me to get to water, travel to find the fish. It makes you no less of a surfcaster to use such gear. It took years for me as a young fisherman to learn tricks of the trade because ppl like you think your better than others and stay tight lipped like we dont deserve “your fish”. I say share all you can to the newbie to make his time on the water better spent. Some of the best fishing experiences was with new comers helping them catch the fish of a life time.
↓Boooooo…..”Bob”…….Boooooooo
Fishing is about just that….the fish….not the name on the pole/reel it was caught on.
↓Hey Zeno you are right about Italy!!!!! i started to surfcast when i was 12 and only few people back then …..now it’s insane. Anyway the epicenter where it all started was Sardegna and a guy named Sandro Meloni considered the father of surfcasting in italy. I will thank this guy forever to show the way. He was a pure surfcastmen and somehow never got the recognition he deserves. A true believer of the food chain and a big fish hunter! It’s beautiful to see that picture of the branzino (we call it spigola)…..i’m headin to italy for 2 week and will try to catch one of them on bucktails…..i’ll let you know how that goes.
↓I also take a chance to say thanks to you one more time and my support to the journal….Keep it up! make it bigger like your wife suggested !!!!…..
Tight lines and always….. ” a funky good time”!!!!!
There was a casting compition recently in Jersey using any rod/reel combo you wanted to use if you fished with it. Maybe one of the guys will chime in here…
↓Compitition casting has bearing on surf fishing. 90% of the people cast over the fish white water is the area to play
↓bob has a small rod
↓I caught my largest bass to date (30#) on a okuma rod and reel bought at wal-mart for my grandson and while showing him how to cast a bomber 16 on it. it’s not what you have so much as being at the right place at the right time and knowing the difference. And yes quality equipment makes a difference, but Knowledge is the real tool. and passing that on to the next guy just learning is your way of immortality. That guy will remember the help you gave him, the knowledge he gained that he didn’t have and would have taken years to get on his own… well that is what this is all about isn’t it?
↓Tremendous fish George O.! During my honeymoon in Greece we took a break from the Islands and hooked up with a relative of the wife outside of Athens in a seaside town called Palea Foukea. Her great uncle was a gent who emigrated from a hot part of Greece to cold Oswego and Watertown, and enjoyed fishing Pulaski, etc. He survived Normandy with the 101st despite being almost too old to enlist, and retired back in Greece. He enjoyed the company and was delighted to have someone take him to the pier to fish. He was amused when I gave him a small freshwater rapala while I tried a tin with bucktail dressed hook. I got first blood with a 6″ fish that looked like a cross between a striper and a shad, and he had high hook with a 10″ same type fish. All were released but when I pulled mine out, it was amusing to hear car doors slamming and folks coming across from the tavernas to see what the newlywed Goog and an old sharpie were up too. From what I gathered, most of the shoreline was severely overfished, so anything was a big deal. Most of the guys did bait, netted from the shore but I had lots of inquiries when they saw the rap getting followers who wouldn’t commit. Beautiful water and a great time, not to mention big points with the Missus for future fishing trips. We hit a market the next day on the other side of Attica and I was surprised how much a good fish was, I couldn’t touch the Lavraki. We got something that resembled a red grouper and it was good! I’m always up for taking a kid fishing, but don’t forget the old guys too…
Great story Z, love hearing about your times in Croatia, and from the others as well. Can’t hear this stuff any where else, eh?
↓“bob” probaby can cast far, really far, i’d like to mail him a medal. He probably wants to show off how far he can cast… He desrves a medal. O_o
↓