Too Much Of a Good Thing?

By Russell “BigRock” Paoline

Last year I bought a used pick up truck from a close friend, an excellent fisherman and all around good guy. He had this truck outfitted for beach fishing better than most I have seen. It’s a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 with an 8’ bed, a cap, a custom tackle locker, and a raised padded sleeping platform. As I use this vehicle over last spring I slowly migrated my tackle into it, I mean almost all my tackle. If you even thought of it I had it.

The truck ran quite well and was mechanically sound but just didn’t have the get up and go I felt it should, so I did a full tune up, cleaned the fuel system, full oil and filter change, air filter, etc. until any potential performance robbing problem was removed. Still the truck had little power, at least not enough to convince me there wasn’t something wrong. I had to get to the bottom of this!

I was at a friends auto salvage yard looking for a few light fixtures when my buddy commented on how big the truck was. He asked what it weighed, and suggested that I put it on the scale to see. I don’t remember the actual weight but it was really heavy! Heading back home after not finding the fixtures I began to wonder if there were any other problems I could remedy before they started or got worse. I wanted to check the bed of the truck for rust so I decided to remove the contents and prevent any further damage if there was any.

When I arrived home I emptied the tackle locker, which took enough time for me to work up a sweat, pulled out the raised platform, pulled out the tackle locker, then realized I would have to remove the cap to get the bed liner out without destroying it. I climbed up into the bed of the truck and unbolted the cap and tried pushing it up to release the seal, which was not happening. After 10 minutes of pushing and cursing, I stood up bent over at the waist and pressed my back against the roof of the cap. Squaring up my body and pushing with my legs all the while sounding like a pressure cooker blowing steam the seal broke and the cap lifted.

I walked with the cap on my shoulders down the street and through my gates, as though my neighbors didn’t already think I was a lunatic. I finally pulled the bed liner and saw a scratched up but good bed with only a little rust, so I sanded it out, primed and painted it. I couldn’t believe the pile of stuff I took out of that truck! The amount of fishing tackle was disturbing to say the least. My wife came out, surveyed the situation, shook her head as she handed me a glass of iced tea, and wandered back into the house mumbling something under her breath.

I took a ride to show my friend at the salvage yard my work, and he said it looked like a different truck. The truck sat at least 2” higher and the ride was so much smoother, but most amazing it had excellent pick up and felt like a new truck. Somehow I found my horsepower!! We weighed the truck and to our disbelief it was 990 lbs lighter!! The truck is rated for a 1000lb load and I was running it every day at a full load rating!!

Now my point to all this is why was I carrying all that stuff? I carry my basic fishing tackle appropriate for the day’s activities and permit gear with tools and a few rods and reels, rounded out with waders and accessories and a cooler if I’m going to keep a fish for dinner, all in all probably less than 100lbs of stuff. How much stuff do you haul with you and out of it how much do you really need? What do you carry that you have never used and probably never will but carry it anyway? I refine my selection and try to pare down my load with each passing trip, and it has made my fishing much simpler and eased the stress of worrying that I forgot something. I strongly suggest to anyone reading this to carefully and honestly go through what you carry and reconsider the need for some of it!

No one does these videos like John Skinner…and no one certainly makes it looks this easy.

The man is a  fish catching machine !

Except now he is on the weakfish bite

Enjoy and have a great weekend

[youtube]http://youtu.be/_rgTaDrBLwc[/youtube]

The Midnight Rambler
An Occasional Series by John Papciak

“Big Fish Spots”

Let’s cut right to the chase – there are spots and then there are big fish spots.

I can’t tell you why. I did not make the rules here.

I wish I could tell you I believe the crap you have been fed for years – That all you need to do was put in your time (presumably at any given spot), and you will eventually connect. We should all live that long.

I can’t, I won’t.

But I can tell you that if you put in your time at certain “big fish” spots, you will at least get to see just how strong your hooks and knots really are.

You may not understand why big fish like to be there, you might not be dialed in to the tide or the barometer or the lunar phase… but you are there. And if you are “there,” enough of the time, well, eventually, one of those nights will be the right time.

I wish I could name all the locations that are considered “big fish” spots.

(Now don’t get your knickers in a twist. I didn’t say I would publish them, I just said I wish I could name them.)

I can name a few, thankfully. Just enough that if I needed to go out and prove my manly-hood by dropping a big fish on some tackle shop scale, I would at least have a fighting chance.

Hold that thought, I’ll get back the manly-hood thing in a minute.

Let’s talk more about the spots

When I page through my logs, and consider fish over 30 or 40 pounds, caught by me or someone else I know (and trust), my own take is that those bigger fish tend to be coming from a very limited number of spots. True, most of those who seriously target big fish are concentrating their efforts on very specific types of spots – so much so that if they told me they could nail a cow just about anywhere, they would start to lose serious credibility. They don’t.

I remember moving to Long Island many years ago, and being frustrated that I had not taken a fish over 30 pounds in a long stretch of time. I was catching plenty of fish, I was having a ball, and by most other measures I felt that I was getting quite good at figuring out how to surf cast in my new home.

But as I got to know some of the seasoned regulars (They eventually talked to me – I guess if you are on the beach so much they feel sorry for you, and eventually clue you in), they began to say things like, “Man, why are you wasting your time fishing that [fill in the blank] spot…That’s not a big fish spot”

The reasons why a spot is a big fish spot? There has been plenty of ink spilled on this topic by some very capable fishermen and writers here. I am sure there will be more. I can weave my own tales about proximity to deeper water, structure, and unique currents.

And this is all very convenient because I can say whatever I want, and it’s impossible to call me out on it. No one knows for sure. The beauty of it is that most of us never tire from hearing thoughts on topics like this anyway.

This is not to say that you can’t get a 40 by just walking down to the water and start working a pencil popper. And I completely understand that if you have the mother lode of bunker moving along a stretch of beach, that spot temporarily can become a big fish spot.

It’s not the isolated landing of a 40 on some random day or night anyway, it’s the ability to repeat the trick. Year after year.

Resilience and intuition will eventually lead you to a big fish spot or two. You’ll either be there when two 30s and a 40 come up, or you’ll be able to connect the dots when you see a handful of guys – who obviously know what they are doing – staying put and continuing to cast with complete focus at 2am on a Tuesday night.

So after I listened to all the advice way back when, I changed my approach to local fishing. I added some big fish spots, but still no big fish.

“You keep fishing those kinds of spots, you keep working it the way you are, and eventually you will cop,” a would-be mentor finally told me.

If I only knew how accurate his prediction would be.

So when I was finally standing there holding a fish with a mouth so large that both fists could easily fit inside, what had changed?

Did it validate that I was capable of targeting big fish, and actually delivering? I guess to some, but not to that mentor who called it early on.

Did it make me a better fisherman? That’s a bit more complicated.

I remember celebrating a catch made by a close friend. A very large fish at a big fish spot, and a weigh in the next morning when very few fish in that class were reported anywhere.

“So you weighed that fish in, and you got the glory, but did it make your ^%$* grow any bigger?” was the gut reaction from one of the crew.

I have a “Love-Hate” relationship with big fish spots today.

For me, targeting big fish requires a relentless focus on certain spots and certain conditions, and the ability to drop everything when mother nature says so.

Its “Love” when you CAN be there, when it all works as it has in the past, and you repeat the trick.

Its “Love” when the trick works so well that you wonder if anyone will believe the night you are having.

Its “Hate” when there is someplace else you’d rather fish, but you know the clear odds favor going back to a certain big fish spot, again.

Its “Hate” when have to choose between your job responsibilities and a serious shot and your next cow. And your buddies won’t miss that opportunity to rub it in your face if they nailed that fish instead of you

You can choose to go to work or you can choose to stay out there casting at the big fish spot. Either way you have to wake up to some potential bad news the next day

Either way your manhood remains the same.

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Due to busy schedules all around, this year’s trip is being auctioned off a
little late. But, Commando Surfcasting has once again put together a truly
unforgettable trip, fishing Block Island with some of the most knowledgeable
fishermen

Bidding will end on Saturday May 18th at
precisely 8 PM. (8:00.00)
Make sure to get your bids in early to ensure your
chance to go on this trip of a lifetime!
The
cause:
This trip will go to the highest bidder and will be to raise
money for the Home Base Program , to help soldiers and veterans suffering from
traumatic brain injuries suffered from their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The winning donation will be made DIRECTLY to the Run to Home Base Program and
will be a 100% tax deductible charitable donation for the highest bidder.

Your experience:
COMMANDO SURFCASTING SPONSORED
TRIP

Dates & Location: June 6th-8th (fishing the nights of the 6th
and 7th) Block Island, RI.

Details:Three day, two night, fully guided
surfcasting trip for one person. (Must be 18 to bid)
Note: If bidding
surpasses the $1000.00 mark the trip will be extended another day (June
5th-8th). If the bidding surpasses the $1500 mark it will be extended again.
(June 4th-8th)

Just fishing beneath the bluffs on Block Island will
have you instantly hooked. Whether you’re a hardcore wetsuiter or like staying
dry in your waders this trip will be something you remember forever.
Lodging
will be in an Island style home that sleeps 8. Amenities are not really
important because you will be fishing long nights and sleeping during the day.
Rest up and expect to be fully exhausted at the end of this trip. There will be
plenty of food and you are not expected to bring anything except your fishing
gear, a well rested body and a great attitude.
You will not need a vehicle
on the island. If you plan to bring a vehicle reservations must be made ASAP
with the Block Island Ferry once bidding closes and you will be responsible for
ferry cost.
The trip –
The Commando Pro Staff will pre-fish the island
for several nights prior to your arrival. They will have a full report and offer
you choices of where to fish depending on your fishing style or what you’re
comfortable with. You will fish many of the big fish spots that are known and
some that have never been heard of. If you want to fish plugs, eels (available
on the Island), jigs or tins it’s up to you. This is your trip enjoy it.
This
will be a great opportunity to ask questions, hear some stories, and learn some
history.
Total Guides combined experience of over 100 years of fishing Block
Island.

Guided by:

Tom White – Commando
Surfcasting, RH Custom Rods Pro Staff- CTS
Pete Lajoie – Commando Pro Staff,
RH Custom Rods Pro Staff-CTS
Will Sirotnak – Commando Pro Staff, RH Custom
Rods Pro Staff-CTS
Guest Guides:
Pat Abate – Rivers End Tackle
Dennis Zambrotta – Author
Gary Soldati – Big Water Lures
Toby
Lapinski – The Fisherman
John Hanecak – On The Water – Angler of the
Year
Bonuses:
Custom Built CTS CB1005-1 . 10′ 1
Pc. 3-6 Oz. Courtesy of RH Custom Rods. The rod will be built to the
winner’s specifications and will be awaiting them on Block Island when they
arrive. http://rhcustomrods.com/index.php
Guppy Lures http://www.guppylure.com/
4 Beach Master Atom
Jr’s courtesy of Bobby G from Beach Master
JoeBaggs Bucktails
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joeba…57208321020661
Linesider69
– https://www.facebook.com/Linesider69CustomPlugs
Left
Hook Lures
A private lunch/Dinner for the whole crew at the The
Narragansett Inn on Block Island and a donation of plugs
– AL Lemire from
Lemire’s Plugworks comes up HUGE again,,,, http://www.lemiresplugworks.com/ AL has been a HUGE supporter
in the past as well…. http://www.blockisland.com/narragansett/

The
winning bidder will be responsible to get himself to and from Block Island, his
own fishing equipment and any other incidental expenses he incurs.
Donation to RTHB must be within 3 days of auction
closing.

Disclaimer: Commando Surfcasting and
all other parties involved assume no risk or liability for any personal injury,
death, equipment loss or failure. You will also be responsible to sign a release
prior any activity.

Editors note:

Tom White from Commando Surfcasting was involved in this fundraiser last year and due to its success they put a package for you to bid on this year.

Please visit http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/stripertalk/82230-2nd-ultimate-block-island-trip-troops-auction.html to make a bid

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If you go to our facebook page today you will find that we have a special giveaway of Penn Fishing gear

Official PENN Apparel from PENN fishing. Tell us which one you’d wear on our FB page and PENN Fishing will
send two lucky winners the hat and tee of their choice.”

By Dennis Zambrotta

Florida Keys Tarpon from the shore. My son Nicholas recently received his
advance degree from Barry University in Miami, Florida. To celebrate the
family would take a side trip to Key West. This was to be my first visit
to the Florida Keys and I really wanted to at least take a few casts while
there. Having never fished for Tarpon I sought out the advice of
respected fisherman and author John Skinner. John and others gave me some
sound advice about what to use and when to fish. I knew the hookup to
land ratio with large Tarpon was meager at best so my milestones were to
at least hook a Tarpon, then maybe actually see it before losing it, and
lastly land it (hopefully).

After dinner and watching a Key West sunset with the family Nick and I headed out for some bridge fishing. We fished
a local bridge after dark from 10pm to midnight. It was a really dark new
moon night and there were no bridge lights. Casting 3/4 ounce white Andrus
Jetty Caster bucktails it took us an hour to get some action. We initially
were getting timid short strikes while using the bucktails tipped with
pork rind. I had no idea what was hitting them because there are so many
different fish around Florida bridges. I remembered that Skinner had told
me the Tarpon sometimes get very finicky and to downsize presentations
when that happens. It was hard to imagine these short strikes could be
huge Tarpon but I removed the pork rind so as to offer a smaller
presentation.

Casting just the bucktail I had an immediate hookup to
something huge that jumped 3 or 4 times then threw the jig. I have done
lots of bucktail fishing for striped bass and hooked many nice bass from
bridges but it’s impossible to describe a hook up with a Tarpon – it felt
as if I set into a concrete wall… that jumps!

The splashes when the
Tarpon landed shattered the silence of the inky darkness. I know you’re
supposed to bow to the Tarpon when it jumps but if you can’t see it jump
you don’t know when to bow. I looked at Nick in amazement and all I could
say was, “Can you believe the size of that thing.” Three or four casts
later I hooked up with another jumping freight train that completely
spooled my Spheros 8000 loaded with 30 pound braid – it took line so fast
that the spool was almost too hot to touch! After that hookup I was
completely intimidated by these fish – I was thinking why can’t I hook a
small one? I went back to the car for my extra spool and patiently tied
on another leader with shaking hands. A few casts later I hooked into
another freight train – into the mono backing it went. As I contemplated
purposely breaking the fish off so as not to lose another spool of line
the fish turned and slowly swam back towards me.

After 30 minutes
including a close call with getting tangled in some nearby mangrove
branches I landed and released my first tarpon. Not sure how large it was
but I couldn’t lift it out of the water so my best estimated guess was
around 70 pounds. After releasing the Tarpon I sat down and shook – it
kicked my ass. At that point Nick managed a hook up with his own Tarpon
and jump it 6 times before it threw the jig. My one bit of advice to
anyone after Tarpon – do not use too much backing on a reel to save money
on braid – you may need all the available line capacity to land one of
these monsters. Bring heavy tackle – a rod with a lot of backbone. You’ll
need all the help (and yes, even luck) you can get. There is a reason
boats always chase hook ups with large Tarpon – you don’t have that luxury
from the beach.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/EON7UPjcir4[/youtube]

Editors note :

Dennis Zambrotta is well know Rhode Island surfcaster and friend of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine since our humble beginnings.  He was fortunate to be one of the major players during the great Block Island Giant Striper Blitzes in 1980′s and he has recently wrote a  book about his experience,  Surfcasting Around the Block. A good read for any surfcaster.

It’s the weekend and we hope you guys are catching. My week long weakfish bite came to  scratching halt once the wind shifted, not totally unexpected either. We shall see what the future will bring after the wind lays down and tides go late into the night. I guess I am curious if this is just a fluke or there will be some legs to this weakfish bite….because if this thing is for real I need to seriously consider getting another 9 foot set up, bunch of small swimming plugs, bucktails, lead heads….and rigging my bike to go to places I have not visited in years,

I would like to thank few people while I am musing about this. First , all our supporters and advertisers. We truly could not pull this off without you. Putting together an almost 200 page issue magazine with bunch of original videos takes a lot of effort with help from all the contributors.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Red Top Sporting Tackle on the shores of Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts. I will forever be gratefully to them for taking my first book, The Art of Surfcasting with Lures into their store when no one even knew my name. Salt Water Edge or “Edge” as it’s called these days do not need any introduction. As you might notice Edge will be no handling all SJ gear in their store. Hopefully Tommy will make some stickers soon, I know a lot of you have been asking for them.

You will see changes on the blog starting this week. We decided to get columnist involved a little more. After all, you can only read what I have to say for so long before wanting to take a  fork and stick it in your eye. I have blogs lined up from John Papciak, Roger Martin, Big Rock, Lou Caruso and Dave Anderson will be a major contributor going forward. In addition we have guest blogs coming up from Dennis Zambrotta and Bill Wetzel. And as I told you before, if any of our readers want to contribute, feel free to send me your submission and if we like it, we’ll publish it on the blog. We hope you are enjoying reading the new issue and we know that you are catching fish. They are all over the Facebook!..ha-ha

[youtube]http://youtu.be/RXRbhKzYbkg[/youtube]

Speaking of Facebook, we are going to give you a chance to win some sweet stuff on our Facebook page starting in a  week or so. In conjunction with PENN Fishing, we are going to award not one, or two, but nine lucky winners a brand new Penn Prevail surf rods. The way it’s going to work is that every week or so we will ask you to post the pictures of your catches on our Facebook page and you will have a week to do it. After that period is over we will use SJ SuPeR cOmPuTeR to pick three random winners. Folks from PENN Fishing will then ship the Prevail Surf Rods to your house. How sweet is that, you get to fish, catch it, take a picture of it for posterity, post it on one of the most popular FB fishing page around AND a have a chance to win a new Prevail Rod and have it shipped to your doorstep.

Let’s get your weekend started on a right track.

As you know, Surfcaster’s Journal staff is a big fan of Super Strike Custom Lures. On many days and nights we have used nothing but their stuff and caught a ton. I don’t need to tell you about the benefits, the fact that they are affordable, almost indestructible and designed to catch year after year. You know all this.

My job is to make you aware of things about Super Strike Custom Lures that you might not know. Like when they came out with a 2 3/4 “Heavy” popper last year. You can tell the ‘heavy” version by its red eyes. It quickly become one of our favorite lures

Now they did it again. Super Strike Custom Lures is introducing a “Heavy” version of their 3 ounce Little Neck Popper. This latest incarnation weighs in at 3 3 /4 ounces . It shares the same body with its 3 ounce sibling but its heavier, obviously. I have not had a chance to cast it yet due to my elbow pain but I am hoping to get a cortisone shot on Monday and hopefully be able to cast soon…..I hope

In the mean time Steve Musso, the driving force behind Super Strike Lures  sent me a package during the week containing these new Super Strike Little Neck “Heavy” Poppers. I am sure he thought that I was going to hide them somewhere where the sun don’t shine and hoard them for myself. But that is not my style.

So today, we are going to give two readers of the Surfcaster’s Journal Blog a chance to win one Super Strike Little Neck “Heavy” 3 38/4 ounce Poppers each. To enter just say either that you are a Super strike fan, that you want one, that you need one, that you are in, that you need to lose few pounds…ha-ha..just enter any way you want. This giveaway is open to all readers.

The winner of Salt Life Venice Zeiss shades giveaway from last week is bruce@bmwoodworking.com

You have 5 days to email us at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your address.

Good Luck and have a great weekend

[youtube]http://youtu.be/uy2lqdLWywk[/youtube]

Go.  Read . Now

https://surfcastersjournal.com

More fish ….

I am going to keep this short and sweet. Salt Life shades winner AND new issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal are coming up. Magazine is done, we are just putting it together.

Few more thoughts on spring fishing.

I waited for my son to get up so I can ask him AGAIN if he wanted to go fishing for an hour. First time I asked him he told me he has to study for AP all day . But after he woke up and saw the excitement on my face, he said yes. So around 2  we headed out into the inlet.

Long story short, windy as hell, we were freezing our asses off. To make matter worse, NO FISH. Figures, I said to myself. Once I think I got something figured out, it changes on me. We casted bucktails for an hour until he said he was too cold. Ok, I sad, few more casts then. Bam, he nails a fish. Thank You Lord, I said to myself. Only after he brings the fish closer, I staring at it and rubbing my eyes. Weakfish? Are you fing kidding me!!

Yup, kid nails a weakfish on his first trip of the spring and that is the only fish we had. Let’s just say I was more pumped then he was. After we ate dinner I took a quick ride to the inlet where I found Silver Fox banging at bluefish. I took a short rod because I am petrified to cast anything over 9 feet and nailed few myself until bite died quickly at sunset.

Today, I was going to sneak out after dinner alone because my son does not like to be disturbed after school until he is done with his homework and studying, which sometimes means 10 o’clock. I was floored when he texted me from school on his lunch break and asked me if we can go again after school because he did not have a lot of homework. Do you have to ask ??

So we went out again today and although the winds were lighter, the fish were still not cooperating. I missed one fish on the bucktail because I am having hard time setting hook with this damned elbow. Then I had another hit and then it got quiet. Just as I was going to mention to him that maybe we should split I nailed a small blue. Then another except this one fought differently and alleluia, it had fangs! Another nicer tiderunner on a bucktail and then my son nailed one which he dropped at his feet.

I cannot tell you how happy I was to see weakfish again after all these years. About eight years ago I landed about 300 weakfish during the summer months. Mostly smaller from 3 to 6 pounds but I bought a bag of a thousand Mann’s strawberry jelly worms, dozens of jig heads and light rods. I was obsessed with weakfish. I spent more time in the State Channel, on the flats of OBI and Captree than at home. I ate , slept and dreamed of weakfish. And then the bottom dropped out..I have not caught a weakfish in at least two years or longer. Maybe four, I am not sure. I asked my son if he wanted to keep his for dinner and he said “Dad, why would we kill the fish that we barely ever catch anymore?”

I could not agree more

Yesterday I was mussing about fishing up front this time of the year. Now keep in mind that conditions and fishing itself are rapidly changing. Guys in New jersey can have a vastly different bite than guys in Rhode Island. I mean , it can be a BIG difference. In few weeks , all will more or less be the same, the migration and water temperatures acting as an equalizer. But I just wanted to kind of  show you why I write the stuff in my head…

After picking up my kid after he took his SAT test I headed to fish market to pick up two branzinos to grill  for dinner for my wife and I. The plan was to eat around 4 30 because at 5 30 we had to take him to his Junior Prom. Yes, I feel even older now. It was around 1 30 when I got home with fish and I looked at the tide chart. 4PM hi tide at Jones? Perfect. I could shot down Meadowbrook, ditch the truck in weeds, take the bike out of the back and pedal to a sweet little spot just inside the inlet.

I literally had one hour to fish because I had to be back by 3 30 to start dinner. I was stunned when I found an old-timer with a 1970’s Lami rod that looked like it weighs 3 pounds, casting a bucktail with a giant fluke belly instead of a pork rind in the inlet. He informed me that he caught a whopping 10 pound fluke in this spot last night. I thought that he was casting just about 20 yards off from where he should have but I said nothing. Last thing I wanted was to be perceived as some know-it-all jerk-off. I walked to my spot with a 7 foot St Croix Legend and started casting small 1/2 ounce bucktails. But first I had to deal with a wind loop on my vs 150. I swear, this reel is going to drive me @##$%^ insane. My big VS reels, the line lay looks like crap but I never had problems. This thing? It’s terrible with all line bunched up on the lip and if you look at the bottom of the spool it looks under filled. And this is after I cut back 6 times when with Silver Fox in Little neck the other night because of line coming out from underneath on a cast. Oh brother.

Anyway, I was looking for bluefish. I knew that they were not going to be showing, no splashes, no birds. In the spring the feeding frenzy can be so darn understated! Often time in this spot they will ignore every popping plug but they never ,ever ignore a bucktail. Sure enough on second cast I tried to set a hook on small bluefish. I say tried because although “pitching” a cast with a  7 foot rod with my elbow is doable, setting a hook proved to be as painful as hell. Anyway, all the fish I catch usually hook themselves (thank God for that otherwise I would have skunk every night). I landed the blue, released it and cast it again. Bam, another one, almost the same size, about 4 pounds.

I motioned to the old-timer to come over and join me. Obviously fish were in the hole and he did not get a bump yet today where he was. By the time he came over I had landed few more and then the strangest thing happened. Not strange if you been fishing for awhile but to me it’s still one of the most starling things. We stood at water’s edge and I was ready to pull a bucktail out of the water when dark shape rose from the bottom and nailed it. Now the fish is trashing not a foot from shore and it had stripes! I never let him ran and within seconds I had a 14 pound bass on my Boga. I had some thoughts of keeping it but the idea of driving a bike with rod in one hand and bass in the other….no thanks. So back in the drink he went.

We casted for about half an hour. We seen two more bass follow the bucktail right to the shoreline before turning away. I landed eight blues and two teen bass, the old-timer had a bluefish and we both missed some hits. East wind put a good belly in our line and it was hard to set the hook. If I was alone would have compensated by fishing with my rod down and setting hook “freshwater” style , sideways. But with two of us in close proximity, I did not want to take a chance taking his ear off on a hook set.

I started to deliberately under cast in hopes of getting another bass close to shore. He said after few minutes I guess the bite is over?I dont think so i said.  I cast into the hole, counted to four and did a twitch. Bam, bluefish on. He said “you are putting on some show, huh? ” I said no, I just know this hole like a back of my hand. Fifteen years of fishing this hole and getting skunked plenty here thought me where they will be and when. The only strange thing was that I would never fish this spot on east win. And it was east yesterday. So why did I go? For the same reason the bluefish will show at every sunset and sunrise this time of the year inside the inlet. It has very little to do with tide and wind. It all had to do with migration and empty bellies.

The last bluefish was much bigger than all others. I grabbed the leader but the leader broke and it swam away with my favorite bucktail in its mouth (Al, if you reading this I need a refill on those Liberace bucktails pronto). For you that do not know, our columnist Al Albano ties some of the sweetest bucktails in the world. I didn’t even bothered retying, I jumped on the bike and drove to my car. All I could think of was, I need to get my kid here tomorrow. He would have a ball.

Now that I snapped 3568 pictures of him and his date, I am sitting at home with iced elbow at 1 am writing this and waiting for a text to pick him up from his Junior Prom.

Was it worth the pain ?

Do you have to ask? 🙂