I know many of you wonder, either out loud  or when you are alone, snuggled with your little blankey (don’t worry we won’t tell no one) about what is going on in Montauk in early May.

Are there fish there at all? Certainly it seems a little early. But you know that place is so fishy, if fish are already in Rhode Island then Montauk has to have few, no? What about the big ones? Any chance of catching those?

We don’t have the answers for you. We usually don’t have answers to most things you want to know. Hey we never claimed to be experts here.

But we know few who are experts. Like our buddy Surf Fishing Guide Extraordinaire Bill Wetzel. Who spends more time in the fall sleeping in his truck in the Montauk lot then he does at home. If you consider 20 minute nap between charters “sleep”.

Bill runs a great website Surf Rats Ball at http://www.longislandsurffishing.com/ and  within the website he runs one of  the best striped bass monthly contests on the east coast. With prizes to die for, shindig at the commencement with awards and food and a great time. Drop Bill a line at  bill@longislandsurffishing.com if you’d like more info about his services as a guide, his website or contest. Look for a ad on the contest in this upcoming issue

Anyway, without further distraction…here is the expert on topic. Another clip from our Seminar Series we conducted this winter

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_8DEelnxyU[/youtube]

I usually try to stay away from blogging in the afternoon, if for no other reason than the fact that you will hate my guts for multiple emails in your inbox folder…now , if your SJ blog emails are ending up in your junk folder …well , give us your address so I can send  Tommy to give you a beating…besides, you are missing out on a chance to win some great prizes during our giveaways

Like this one, new Belt Carabiner from Ebbpoint Surf Fishing

New belt carabiner

 Available in Limited Supply from Ebbpoint Surf Fishing at

 http://www.ebbpointsurffishing.com/Products.php

All type 316 Stainless Steel

-2″ x 2″ s/s plate

Mounts on all surf belts 

-Multiple uses when fishing surf or boat  

TIG Weld

Good luck ladies and gents and thank you Nick from Ebb Point Surf Fishing !

We loaded the kayaks and paddled into the bay. Because of the high winds and shallowness of the bay the water looked like a Yoo-hoo chocolate milk! And that is a very kind description….

I tried to keep up with him but after ten minutes I gave up. Al was moving way too fast in his canoe while I struggled to keep pace. Because he was far ahead of me he would stop and make a few casts into mangroves and yes, he managed to pull out few snook in the process. I don’t know how far we paddled; all I know is that I could barely lift my arms the next day. Finally we arrived on small island and pulled up our kayaks. Al was more than content taking pictures and watching me fish…which was a good thing because every time he made a cast he more often then not caught a fish!

After dropping my first 5 (ouch) fish I finally managed to land a snook. And then few more, a healthy looking redfish and even a saltwater catfish. Considering the conditions, I was more than impressed that fish were  in these muddy waters. We’ve seen  eagles, all kinds of birds, manatees, millions of jumping mullets and scenery to die for.

Paddling back into the wind as sun was setting was no picnic and every time we would round an island he would say “few more points and we are there”. Darn it, I thought that was a last one.

I cannot fathom how someone who only spent few months (and on and off at best) in a place and already knows it like a back of his hand. Although I have known Al for many years this is only the third time we fished together and I have to admit the man never stops to amaze me. If they ever find water on the Moon I fully expect Alberto to be the first man to pull a fish out of it. Dude deserves all the props he gets.

Most of you know about his line of lures and clips under the name Tactical Anglers. I am only going to tell you one thing, when it comes to fishing I am very picky of what I use. Nobody I know was more reluctant to use clips then I. I tried another brand and they absolutely sucked as a 3 pound fish straighten them out. This past spring , out of my respect for Al more than anything else, I decided to give then an honest try.

For a guy who used duo lock snaps for more than a decade I was sold as soon as I managed to get a giant 9/0 VMC swash with a rigged eel on the clip and land half a dozen fish, many over 40lb one night on that eel without ANY damage to the clip. I have not used anything else else since then. Nuff said. Great product !

http://tacticalanglers.com/index.html

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New issue of SJ Magazine coming up in few days…plug some very neat and new giveaways right here on the blog

stay tuned..

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When I made plans to go to Captiva Island in Florida during spring break, I had no idea where the “Crazy” dude was. All I knew that he was in somewhere in Florida for the winter and racking up crazy frequent flier miles traveling to shows in the northeast in the winter.

One day in February he drops me a facebook message asking me when I am coming down. Coming were, I asked? I don’t even know where the hell you are dude.

I would have never guessed that he was staying 30 miles away from our vacation spot. Not in a million years. But then again, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Three people have told me over the last few months that Pine Island Sound, Estero Bay and Port Charlotte might have the best fishing in Florida while much less crowded then east coast. In fact, that was the reason we decided on Captiva. I’ve never heard about this little piece of heaven till Joe Mallat, the fellow who wrote few books on surf fishing and who runs a surf fishing school out of Hatteras told me about it while we discussed an article for Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. His article will appear the upcoming issue….

Anyway, I decided to take Crazy Alberto up on his offer of kayaking and fishing for reds and snook. It was difficult to ask the wife to sneak out for the afternoon on your vacation, really hard. You guys know me by now, family is always first. But I had a ton of stuff planed with them so on one very windy Tuesday I meet Crazy One at the local boat ramp.

Now let me profess my complete unfamiliarity with who can do what with a fly rod and what is a long cast or what is an expert level. All I can tell you is that I never seen anyone do what Al did on a boat ramp, a single stroke backwards, load a rod and empty out all the line in one shot. Holy smokes! He was trying to teach me and if we didn’t have the windiest day of the year he probably would have successes in at least teaching me how to cast further than 10 feet but on this day it wasn’t meant to be. I tried to soak up the motions of the fly line and hopefully use it at some future date. Needles to say, the man is a virtuoso with long rod and a long wand….

How about kayak?

After all, although he is known’s as a big fish hunter with a long stick and has a series of rods with his name on it, I never really considered him a kayak guy….and yet again I was wrong…. so wrong.

coming tomorrow, part deux with Crazy one

BTW

This is for those of you who think we are experts here at sj 🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkCnPH70MY[/youtube]

We figured we do something special for the weekend by offering you a chance to win a autographed book  Saltwater Flies of the Northeast  from the acclaimed Fly Fishing author, our friend Angelo Peluso.

 Here is Angelo’s website http://angelopeluso.com/

Angelo has new book in works , a companion to Saltwater Flies of the Northeast of sorts but his upcoming book will cover from Virginia to Texas Coast. So he’ll have Main to Texas covered. Sometimes in late summer,early fall.We cant wait.

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We haven’t seen these new $130 bags from our supporter MAK Surfcasting in person yet. But they look like a darn winner at that price point.

The info below is copied from Saltwater Edge Website in RI.

 Here is the link to the product page

http://www.edgeangling.com/MAK-Surfcasting-Plug-Bag.html

like we said, we haven’t seen them in person yet but we though you should know about them

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Mak Surfcasting is pleased to announce the introduction of MAK ANGLER, a new line of plug bags for the serious surfcaster.

The Angler Bag is Made in America, with the same quality construction as all the bags in the MAK Surfcasting line. Their new innovative design however, allows MAK to offer this new bag through retail outlets at an affordable price.

They start with a single layer of 9oz Dacron fabric for strength, and hook resistance. The bag has 6 inches of Industrial Strength Velcro on the main flap, and convenient Velcro tips to hold your side flaps out of the way when accessing your plugs. The bottom of the bag is reinforced with 3 strips of 2″ belt webbing to protect against wear and tear. The seams and binding, as in all MAK bags, are double stitched, with an additional 4 rows of stitching on the corners, and additional backstitching at all stress points.

The thread is an important component of the bags. They use a bonded polyester thread known for its high strength, stability in sunlight, and resistance to heat, abrasion, salt water and mildew. The bottom of the bag has 5 solid brass grommets for quick drainage, with additional grommets in the side pockets. Two belt loops secure the bag in place on your belt, and of course, it also has an adjustable shoulder strap attached with double buckle loops and multiple layers of stitching at all attachment points.

On the inside, they have included bucktail slots, an closed pocket for leaders or other terminal tackle, an open pocket for soft plastics, along with four strong, but flexible tubes for your Continue reading →

I was going to ask this question beforew, but my buddy JohnR from www.striped-bass.com  (one of my  favorite internet fishing forums) beat me to it…you guys should visit and say hi

Anyway, with the risk of being redundant…what effect do you guys thing this oil price surge will have on your fishing this year if it stays this way? Will you fish less? Closer to home? No changes?

I just drove 1200 each way to Florida last week because I refused to get robbed by an airline….well, we did saved some money which we used to book a fishing charter BUT my kids insistence of taking my Suburban had a negative effect…I felt I was getting robber by gas stations. Every fill up between $90 and $100 and there were many…so i do feel your pain

Since I am still trying to unbury myself from avalanche of mail and emails from vacation, you will have to excuse me for maybe bringing “old” stuff.

I read with amusement Fred Golofaro’s article about spring, not fall, giving you a best chance to hook into a larger fish. Funny, some schmuck wrote an article “is spring new fall?” few years ago and they almost laughed him out of town. Very amusing stuff

I for one will keep my subscription to the Fisherman as long as Fred is around. I love that man. Honesty, integrity, compassion, reasonable..the dude is an epitome of a great man and a hell of a surfcaster. I also like that he can see through bullshit when he sees it. Like in recent letters to the editor reply. Glad Fred seen right trough it…and very diplomatic about it, skill I obviously lack

Back to big fish and spring….where will your best shot come?

Depends where you are. Jersey boys will be licking their chops and dreaming about big bass pushing  bunker into the jetties. Canal Rats will be dreaming about herring or mackerel being slapped around in the Big Ditch. And I am sure Montauk, Block or Cutty crews will get their share of slobs by swimming to outer rocks. But very of these few spots are a “sure thing”. Nothing is a sure thing in life other than a fact that your wife will spend at least twice as much as she “estimated”.

There is one spot that coughs up more cows with regularity than any other type of structure, every year, every decade, every generation. With consistency. But it’s not an easy place to fish or learn. But once you get a knock for it, you will keep coming back for more…

I am talking about inlets that dot Northeast barrier beaches and inland. River mouths, canals, anywhere were wicked currents are formed and baitfish travels to and from back bays to the ocean. But don’t take my word for it. I am just a dude behind a keyboard.

Here is the Master speaking of his craft

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYQ1p_7vWiA[/youtube]

Since now I am officially been christened with powers of moving plug sales across eastern seaboard (still one of the nuttiest things I’ve ever heard!) let’s see if I can do the same for the stick makers :-)…lmao

How important is to have “your own” rod builder?

If you are into custom rods? Extremely. And even if you are buying a store rod they can help. How? They know their stuff and the rod builders I deal with will be able to tell you good, bad or ugly about any rod, not only the ones they build.

Take Lou Caruso, aka redhawk (http://louscustomrods.com/ )        as he is known on many websites. Not only is he our rod guru Continue reading →

you know what they say, you can lead a horse to the water but you can make them drink….

Many people feel that polarized glasses are unnecessary .

I don’t understand why all sunglasses are not polarized. Really, this puzzles me. I not only use a polarizing shades but I also screw a polarizing filter on my Nikon dslr and another on my Panasonic hd camera too.

Polarizing filters and sunglasses cut on the glare and allow you to see under the surface.They protect your eyes from the sun. I have been in love with my WileyX since I took them to Europe two years ago. I have two pairs, just got one for my son and now after visiting FL, my wife wants a pair too. The difference in wearing a polarized shads and not when looking at the Florida flats can only be described as heaven and earth. I’d be yelling , “redfish at 2 o’clock” or “manatee to the right” while my wife and daughter would helplessly stare in the water, the suns glare precluding them to see what I was seeing.

I could see the fish race towards my wife’s jigs and would tell her to slow down her retrieve….until she took my shades away and used them…such is life 🙂

What about looking for deep holes on the beaches you fish with your shades? The polarized pair will make a world of difference,. Sight casting on the flats for bass? Yup, tremendous help there too. Looking atop the cliffs at Montauk for fish gathering under surface before exploding or for sign of bait? Check….

I am going to make one lucky Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine Easter week a little more festive by awarding them this brand spanking new Flare  WileyX shades Continue reading →