need I say more ?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMUFA26ZBlU[/youtube]

You remember the other day when I was wondering out loud where the hell do all those commercially caught striped bass end up since I never seen it on any restaurant I frequent? You are going to get a kick out of this news story posted on Yahoo Health yesterday about fish sold in NY.

Fish sold in New York is routinely mislabeled: study

By Peter Rudegeair, Reuters
Dec. 11, 2012 8:25AM PSTDec. 11, 2012 8:25AM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly three in five New York City grocery stores and restaurants that sell seafood have mislabeled part of their stock, substituting varieties that could cause health problems, according to a new study.

Some 39 percent of the fish obtained for the study by the ocean conservation group Oceana was inaccurately identified, Oceana said. Sometimes cheap fish is substituted for more expensive varieties or plentiful species for scarce ones.

Forensic DNA analysis revealed 58 percent of 81 New York retailers and eateries sampled incorrectly labeled the seafood they sold, according to the study released Tuesday.

“It’s unacceptable that New York seafood lovers are being duped more than one-third of the time when purchasing certain types of fish,” Kimberly Warner, a senior scientist at Oceana and an author of the study, said in a news release.

In some instances, consumers unknowingly purchased fish that could pose health risks.

Blueline tilefish masqueraded as halibut and red snapper. The FDA urges pregnant women, nursing mothers and small children to avoid tilefish given its high mercury content.

All but one of the 17 white tuna samples obtained from sushi restaurants turned out to be escolar, a fish whose diarrhea-inducing properties earned it the nickname the “ex-lax fish.”

Mislabeled seafood can present a public health concern because many hazards are species specific, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokeswoman said in an email. Allergic reactions and food-borne illnesses are some of the possible health hazards, the spokeswoman said.

New York’s rate of seafood mislabeling was higher than Miami’s (31 percent) but lower than that of Boston (48 percent) and Los Angeles (55 percent), according to recent Oceana investigations.

What distinguishes New York’s seafood marketplace from those of the other American cities Oceana tested is the presence of smaller, independent food stores, 40 percent of which sold mislabeled fish, Warner said in an interview. In contrast, only 12 percent of seafood bought at national chain grocery stores in New York were labeled incorrectly.

The problem is not new. A study appearing in a 1992 issue of Consumer Reports found about a third of the seafood sampled in New York, Chicago, and San Jose was incorrectly labeled.

Nor is seafood mislabeling an issue that has gone unreported. The discovery in August 2011 that Zabar’s, a gourmet food store on Manhattan, had been passing off crawfish as lobster in its lobster salad for at least 15 years was the subject of multiple, high-profile media stories.

(Additional reporting by Sharon Begley; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

Lots of stuff rattling in my brain, some good and some less so but very little time to put it on the paper..or in my case MS Word. I will fill you in hopefully in the next few days on what is going on with the mag and bunch of other stuff but let dedicate today to “news”.

First, I just learned , which probably means that is an old new to you guys, Super Strike Lures Boy Wonder Mr. Steve Musso announced recently that in the 2013 Super Strike will be featuring VMC hooks and Roscoe split rings. He is hoping that my mid 2013 all production would be done with VMC. This is  good news for all the Super Strike fans like myself. Glad to hear it.

Two, East End Bait and Tackle in Hampton Bays is having a blowout 50% off sale on all Wizard swing hook bucktails. You can visit them at http://www.eastendbaitandtackle.com/

Three…BDOutdoors.com on the West Coast is doing something with Sandy Relief on the East Coast They’re selling t-shirts with all proceeds going to Restore Our Shore, an NJ org that aids smaller local charities that don’t qualify for Red Cross Aid. The artwork, was special draw by NJ shore artist Skullboy just for this project. For $20, you get a wicked shirt and help Sandy victims.

http://www.bdswag.com/Rebuild-N-Fish-T-Shirt.html

and four, the winner of two sweet Line Stretcher Surface Tension lures is ….Myerst22@yahho.com

you have 5 days to contact us with your shipping address at info@surfcastersjournal.com

Although I believe that fisheries management scientist work hard at trying to figure out just how many fish are left in the sea, I still think that most of their “conclusions” are just best guesses.

And two, I have a soft spot for commercial fisherman. I come from culture where you ate everything you caught and yes, because of it they are paying a steep price today. Very steep with almost barren Adriatic Sea. But commercial fisherman are a hard working bunch which have very hard quotas in place. Do they cheat? I am sure some of them do. Do some recreational fisherman cheats? Do you really have to ask?

My point behind today’s post is that I noticed that more than 4000 people watched this video. It must have struck a nerve.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Cc8bCOOfFs4[/youtube]

Now when you are having a discussion regarding stocks, all you can voice is your “opinion”. These are not facts. These are opinion of people who spend a lot of time on the water, people we respect.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrezl5zU6fI[/youtube]

Take a look at this chart. Yes, we take more fish than commercial sector. Way more. We as a whole are more responsible for the fish wellbeing than they are. But don’t think commercial guys don’t care. If striped bass fisheries collapse again, they will take a big hit in the wallet. So they know that healthy fisheries are good for them.

Party boats and charter boats on the other hand… As long as there is something to catch, they could not care less. If there is plenty of fluke but no bass, who cares, we are sailing full anyway. They purposely target big fish to kill and  only few captains are preaching leaving something for tomorrow. To most this is a business, you get up, pick a gps spot, take your customers there and drop an anchor or drift. Then take them home and start tomorrow all over again. What species they catch, it doesn’t really matter as long as the boat is full. Why would they?

My point is, forget the charter and party boat fleet other than we should make an effort to reclassified them as commercial operators and ad their catches on the top of the commercial quota. It’s us who kill the most fish and we should admit this already and when it comes the time to set the new rules, we should be adamant we want less not more. Unfortunate in this dumb world, what we don’t want it gets to be added to the commercial side. Sick

Someone should sue the government and force them to adapt same regulations for every state. That should be a start. This is a migratory fish, for every state to make its own rules and seasons is insane. Striped bass as a gamefish to me is a no brainer. Look to what extent Florida goes to protect their fish. Gamefish status did wonders for the snook. And although I admire the commercial fisherman and find that kind of way of earning a living to be a hard but honest, they will have to accept the fact that ever-increasing population and more and more pressure on any species is not sustainable…And I do not accept their argument because they supply “the average Joe” in the seafood market with fresh fish. There obviously is not as many fish as there used to be. How in the world Costco sells tons and tons of fresh caught flounder while I have not seen one in years in mind boggling. Not that I tried. I assume that these flounder are from other places ?

Can someone please answer me where do over 1.3 million dead bass harvested by the commercial sector end up? I am not being a wise ass, seriously. I am curios as I never got a good answer to this. I have yet to walk into restaurant that had striped bass on a menu other then few places in Montauk. I have never seen one, seriously. My local seafood stores never have any wild stripers either. Where the hell to they all go?

Do they cover them with sauce and call them grouper filet? Cat foot? Fertilizer? I have no idea but it seems strange to me.

Just something to think about. The only reason we make these videos is to bring attention to what we feel is a alarming decline in the species. We let you draw your own conclusions. You don’t need some industry rep pulling the wool over your eyes, or some tree hugger on the opposite side telling you that the world of striped bass fishing as we know it is ending. Do what your heart is telling you is the right thing.. just keep in mind that not everyone has your best interest in mind. And even less people have the fishes best interest in mind. Which might be the saddest part of all this.

Today we have a special giveaway, courtesy of Line Stretcher Tackle Co. I always insisted and do to this day that these lures might be the most misused lures by surfcasters…ever. Yeah, they will outcast any lure of the market just about every day of the week in their size.

Yes, they are killer for blues and bonito when retrieved at slighlty faster retrieve…BUT ..they catch a ton of bass if you just sloooow down your retrieve. Capish? 🙂

Next time you need a long cast, toss one of these suckers and then slow down your retrieve and be prepared to set a hook…on a bass.

Today’s giveaway is for 3 ounce pink Line Stretcher Surface Tension lure and 2 ounce one, courtesy of Line Stretcher Lures. Yeah, SJ Sticker too

[youtube]http://youtu.be/VhVgL6xsz5I?hd=1[/youtube]

A lot of people ask me why I do what I do. Why mag, why blog, why book, why this or that. You might think I am a publicity hound but nothing could be further from the truth. I am never in any pictures and you don’t see me in videos either unless I make one at home. I kind of like the idea of promoting the sport and creating quality content. No, I have not retired yet, my stupid truck only starts after I turn the key three or four times, and seats are covered so it hides all the rips in leather. And yeah, still on a five AM train to Penn Station every morning…with two kids ready for college in a year or two, none of this will change. Heck, I might have to start driving a bike 🙂

Lately I got few “why’s” on the new Montauk project. After all, Rich worked on his Montauk Rocks for 5 years, is it really necessary for me to do same thing. If it was a same thing, I would say resounding no. But I wanted to do something different. I think he succeeded in bringing the Montauk surf  to your living rooms and I think he did a hell of a job.

I on the other hand had other motives. My hope was to preserve the history for the future generations. As Rich found out, getting some of the older regulars on camera is a feat in itself. Charlie Ruger, Donny Musso, Vito, Bragan, Schwab….even Many Moreno who is as closed lipped as they come. They are not from “look at me” generation, they don’t care what you think of them, they won’t be in a blitz line up, they just want to fish. And be left alone. And although they can’t seem to stop talking amongst themselves, you say “camera” and their faces drop faster than you can say “smile”. I know Rich tried to get them on camera for 5 years and did not succeed and it wasn’t for the lack of trying. It might be because they didn’t really know him and they did not exactly know what he was doing with the footage. I am sure after they watched Montauk Rocks today , that if he would ask them again, they would agree to talk.

Ok, maybe they would. But that is about as good as you are going to get with them.

By now you are probably wondering why did they all decide to sit with me.

Grandchildren.

What, you don’t get it? I am getting to it.

My idea was to try to capture some of the historical perspective, a stories from then to today, about people ,gear, place. After all, no one is getting any younger. And every day we probably lose another caster that fished the beach in the old days. We can’t stop life. But we can try to bottle it, preserve it for the future generation. How sad would it be if  my kids don’t have any reference or idea what the fishing was like in the 50’s or 60’s. Like I said, these guys won’t write books. Hell, most of them refuse to use a computer.

So how did they all agree to sit on camera? I told you, grandchildren. I had to invoke that sacred magic card on numerous occasions. At first, I got rejected for usual reasons. “I don’t like camera, I am a nobody, talk to someone else, I don’t have the time”. But then I pulled the grandkids card and told them “Look, I don’t care if you sit with me or not. But I am going to leave you with one thought. Imagine your grand grandson watching you on the screen fifty years from now, saying ” that is MY grand grandfather. He was a Montauk Regular”. It worked when nothing else did 🙂

And that is why I do what I do. So my kid can say, my dad took time to document this for future generation of surfcasters. I know it sounds corny but they don’t make men like those salt-crusted old surfcasters any more.

I apologize if we have been a little quiet but we have been as busy as we can be, working on creating a better Surfcaster’s Journal magazine.

You’ve seen our new platform with a past issue. We can now embed videos into the pages, flash or animation, we can do other creative stuff we are still learning. One disappointing thing, that has nothing to do with software but more with the way the world works….our landscape layout. What we did not realized was that regardless which platform we use to publish our magazine, you just can’t fit two landscape pictures side to side a create a “flip” viewer. Not unless you are going to make a font so small you won’t be able to see it at al. So we decided that as of January issue, we are going to switch to vertical format. Tommy is super excited by the challenge which is a good thing because he is the dude that makes magic happens in the magazine.

That is only one of the changes. You’ve already seen the video but you have no idea what is coming your way in 2013…more on that in a minute. I do not want to forget to mention of addition of our great friend Al Albano who is our new beach columnist and we are lucky and proud to have him. Big Rock is still around, writing on plugs from plug builders frame of mind which I find to be very interesting and refreshing. I always loved stories..I guess that is why I wrote HOOKED?  Sorry, just could not resist. 🙂

Blog will look a bit different after New Year but that is something we have not wrapped our heads around yet. Lots of things are still up in the air. But there are changes coming for sure. There should also be some key new people involved with SJ in the 2013.  I sincerely hope that all our plans come to fruition because if they do, you will love your SJ Magazine even more. The small fortune I spent on camera equipment and what we spent on the new platform should really pay dividends in next year. I got to see the first sample of SJ in vertical format on my IPad last night and it made me smile. That for the first time we have e a true flip viewer on IPAD. Yes, there is the other side of this which is the cost. We are seriously taking advice many of you have given us over the years about initiating a  small subscription fee for the magazine. Maybe $20 a year to offset some of the cost.

I know some of us at SJ are excited about this or that, we all have our own favorite corner of the world where we like to hide with doors closed. In recent years my interests have veer from photography into the video. I don’t know why , and I might be wrong but to my video is something that is still unexplored and underused in the publishing. Why? Probably because its expensive as hell to do it right, its mind numbing time consuming and most people do not want to change the way they do things. They are happy to just plug in their columns in the little boxes, ad few shots and call it a day. After all, their interest lies in how many people they can sign up so they can charge more for ads. We on the other hand are more interested if you say “wow” after you read the Journal. And we got some wow’s coming in the upcoming issues.

I manually we have a exclusive, no-question-unasked interview with legendary builder Donny Musso. You want to know what was the first plug he had carved in the crawlspace of his house in 1961? It’s in there. You want to know what plug he loves to fish with? That is there too. How about that notion that it was him who came up with a design for a lure we call Danny today? Yup, in there, the whole story. As are his reasons for breaking up with Danny Pichney ( it’s not the Danny plug and it might be one of the most heartbreaking plug story you’ve ever  read), first lures he sold on his own, his groundbreaking needlefish design in wood and then plastic, testing darters, catching largemouth’s, military service and just about everything you wanted to know. Yes, even including Campo, his crew and jointed bottle plug. Stay tuned..

Next, we are planning two exclusive how-to video series that will appear only in the pages of SJ. We have not wrapped this up yet so I will leave you a little short on details for now. I hate to make promises and then have to apologize later.

I have dropped some hints this fall about the film project I been working on. Yesterday I filmed my last interview so now I am a little more confident that this will be what I envisioned it to be. My original idea was to create a documentary on the history of surf fishing at Montauk Point, NY. Yup, I realize that Montauk Rocks film by Richard Siberry just came out for holidays. I knew it was coming but I wanted to do something different. My idea was to take you along on a ride from post WWII Montauk to today, a story told by those who walked the walk. Ambitious? Sure. Am I competent enough to pull this off? Hell no, but that never stopped me before…ha-ha

After some soul searching and a lot of advice from my Art Director Yo Dude I decided to alter my plans for this project and you, the readers of the SJ will be the beneficiates of Tommy’s wisdom.

Surfcaster’s Journal is proud to announce that each issue of our magazine in 2013, starting probably with March issue, will feature original video series on history of surf fishing at Montauk Point. In each issue, there will be an imbedded short film aprox 10 to 20 minutes, by yours truly on history of surf fishing in Montauk Point. Who are the stars of this non-chic flick? 🙂

The people most of us want to be when we grow up.  Or at least I can say that about myself. Legendary surfcaster Fred Schwab who was Jack ” The Professor” Frech fishing partner in Montauk surf  in the 60’s and one of the first to wear a wetsuit there. Richie Gerbe has been fishing Montauk beaches since 50’s. Donny Musso needs no introduction as his lures are the only lures some guys use in Montauk. Vito Orlando is another caster who needs no introduction and neither does Jack Yee. Will Young is another who agreed to sit in front of the camera as did, yup, Charlie Ruger. For those of you who never met Joe Bragan you are in for a treat. Not many guys have a rock in Montauk named after them, but Joe does and you will hear why so many hold him in such a high regard. I didn’t think that this would be a complete project without bringing in some of more younger regulars, those who have left their mark on surf fishing in the Mecca even if they hung up their rods today. Bill Wetzel is the one and elusive Manny “The Surf Ghost” Moreno is another. And to my surprise, I even managed to make a man everyone knows only as “Foul Mouth Bob” tongue tied. Camera does strange things to people.

So there you have it, the first original programming created for Surfcaster’s Journal is coming your way in few months. I told you we are different and that we will stop at nothing to make SJ even better than it already is.

I better get my ass back to editing room.

The winner of the Montauk Rocks giveaway is michael6064@gmail.com

Please send us your shipping address within 5 days to info@surfcastersjournal.com

We are going to make someone’s Christmas List a little shorter today by giving you a chance to win a copy of the Montauk Rocks, a Film by Richard Siberry. This giveaway  is a courtesy of Oscail Films.

And we will toss is 2 Montauk Rocks stickers so you can let everyone know that you watched it 🙂

“For decades professional filmmakers and television producers, from Van Campen Heilner to Jose Wejebe, have tried to capture the action, the culture and the aura of surfcasting in Montauk. But nobody has managed to do it as comprehensively or with such insight as Richard Siberry has done with “Montauk Rocks”
– Michael Wright, The East Hampton Press.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/lWw_atk4ZW8?hd=1[/youtube]

you can find it at

Amazon.com

Surfcaster’s Journal Online Store

Fisherman’s Headquarters Ship Bottom NJ

Saltwaters Tackle West Islip NY

Paulie’s Tackle Montauk NY

East End Bait and Tackle Hampton Bays NY

River’s End Old Saybrook CT

Causeway Bait and Tackle Wantagh NY

J&J Sports Patchogue NY

J&H Oakdale NY

Capital Tackle NYC

Terminal Tackle Kings Park NY

LI Outdoorsman Rockville Centre NY

Camp Site Sports Huntington NY

Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle Northport NY

The Surfcaster Stratford CT

Saltwater Edge Middletown RI

Ramsey Outdoors Paramus NJ

Fisherman’s Supply Point Pleasant NJ

L&H Woods & Water Belmar NJ

Harry’s Army Navy Robbinsville NJ

Fisherman’s Line , MA

Red Top, Buzzards Bay MA

I been working like madman last week or so, every time I come up for air, I get pushed back down. I am not complaining however, this is the season..for us to work so they can spend:-)

But I been thinking about things I would like Santa to leave me under the tree. First on my wish would be a ZeeBaaS reel. I feel in love with that reel last few years. Next would be a pair of waders that don’t leak. I know ,wishful thinking. Some Guppy pencils would be nice, maybe get restocked on TA clips . I am definitely buying few more Super Strike Heavy Poppers, very impressed with them this fall. The rest of my “wish list” is filled with stuff none of you care about like ND filters, Final Cut plug-ins and lenses and lenses. But after spending my son’s communion money on camera gear this spring for a project that I might have to abandon, wife said that I was over my limit 🙂

So, while I browse in the B&H Photo catalog and drool, tell me what you are hoping to find under the tree or what you are buying this winter

BTW..I’ve seen this on surfrats so I figured to pass it along

Speaking of shopping

East End Bait & Tackle’s Annual End of the Season Sale.
The entire month of December.
Save 20%-50% on most everything in the shop.
check outtheir website for more info. www.eastendbaitandtackle.com

East End Bait & Tackle 170 East Montauk Hwy. Hampton Bays, NY 11946 631-728-1744

Wow, this was like a mini vacation , we should do this more often :-). Ok, not really. I just got my check in the mail and was trying to figure out why I only got paid for 4 days, then I remembered that it was Veterans day. And this week only three days…but I always counted with joy days I am not working. Who wants to be the richest dude in the commentary anyway?

Ok, let’s get down to business. The winner of Pelican light is joegp17@optonline.net . Please email me at info@surfcastersjournal.com and include your shipping address.

Business number two, the winner of PENN SPINFISHER V contest is Steve Jaccino. Steve , please email me your shipping address and I will forward this to the folks at PENN. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the PENN REEL company for making this possible.

If and when we fold, we will never be able to say that Pure Fishing, which includes PENN, Berkley, Stren, Sebile, Abu and on and on, have not been supportive of SJ. They have went above and beyond what I expected, which is a lot more than I can say for some others…on to better and more interesting things. I told you that we will have some announcements in the future and we will also try to keep you up as with what is coming up in the future

Next at bat, in the January issue of the SJ Magazine, exclusive in-depth interview with Don Musso, the founder of Super Strike Lures. From the days he started fishing for striped bass,to hand carving lures, to his lure partnership with Dan Pichney, reasons behind their break up, to his favorite lures, birth of a needlefish as we know it and much more. Really looking forward to this myself.

Here is a short sneak peak at the upcoming interview with Don

[youtube width=”535″ height=”400″]http://youtu.be/gYzL-15_gY4?hd=1[/youtube]