STRIPER SURF DAY ..This weekend at River’s End Tackle
March 24th, 2012 10-4
It won’t be long, the first migrating schoolies will be at the wall and the long wait will be over. Until then join us in celebration of surf fishing. It’s a great day to hang out, take in a seminar and just get reacquainted with some old and new surf rats. We’ll have great speakers, demonstrations, factory reps, sales, door prizes, barely edible food and good friends.
FEATURED SPEAKERS, John Skinner – Fishing the Bucktail. John just wrote the definitive book on how to fish one of the deadliest striper lures.
Tony Stetzko – Reading the Beach. Tony will show you how to determine what’s going on under the surf
Steve McKenna – will demonstrate Slug go rigging. Steve has mastered the rigging and fishing of this “must have” in your bag.

One of the reasons I liked Dennis’ video  was that he talked about one of my favorite things…and color wasn’t it.

I am talking about a needlefish. It has become one of my favorite lures which is kind of silly thing to say. Because at different point during the tide, even in the same location, different plugs are my “favorite”. But needlefish gave me  fits much longer than most lures. I just could not “feel” if I was doing it right. Until I realized there really was no wrong way to work a needlefish Just compensate for current speed and most retrieves work. Twitch? Yes. Straight? Yes. Pump and reel in an sweep? Yes. Fascinating lure and besides a darter, probably have caught me most fish in last five years. In fact, it comes out of my bag at night usually first these days. Which ones? Super Strike most of the time. Many wood guys make great needlefish these days but I been partial to Choopy lately because of its thin profile and loads of sand eels in our waters. Charlie makes great needlefish. Lots of time you might want a wood because of slower sink rate over the boulders or shallow sandy beach. Choppy needle fits the bill nicely

And color? Continue reading →

First, I’d like to welcome new supporter to the Surfcaster’s Journal Blog, crew from The Surfcaster. You will notice (and can click on ) their banner on the right hand side. I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I received my  Surfcaster catalog this year. I missed it for the time they did not make it for few years. It’s something special as it takes me back to days when I got started and my wife would call on the phone (this is pre-internet kids) and spoke to a nice lady (was it Barbara or something like that) and surprised me with some stuff on special occasions. And I always admired some of the original stuff they carry, particularly their roof racks, sand spikes and bags. So join me in welcoming Doug and a crew to the Surfcaster’s Journal Blog

Its said that world is paved with good intentions… I am tell you from  a personal experience that it’s a true statement. I tried to make a Montauk blitz video to fit the Crazy Train by Ozzy. Unfortunately after uploading multiple versions with different versions of Ozzy’s song, and having them all blocked by YouTube on copyright grounds, I gave up. Not that is anything wrong with what YouTube is doing, not at all.

But I kind of lost my mojo to redo it. It took me an hours upon hours of building each clip to fit the beat so after halfheartedly trying few different tunes and realizing I would have to re-do the whole thing over, I added some ZZ Top and went to bed..then changed it over to AC/DC,,then back to ZZ then back again..you got the point …… The intentions were good…enjoy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv8HXFJDX2g[/youtube]

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Did you ever think about how some plugs got their names? Not in a sense of who named them first , although I think that is cool, but names like Block Island green needlefish. Why green and why so bright? You would assume it would have something to do with maybe …mackerel?…and you’d be so wrong.

I always felt that best answer are given by those who knows what they are talking about. Instead of guys like me that are guessing half of the time.

I found this video in my files, recorded two years ago at Block Island. Rhode Island sharpie Dennis Zambrotta talks about his days at Block Island. I sure hope Dennis gets his book into the print this year..I will be the first guy in the line to get it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfCFaUi86n0[/youtube]

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We got two winners who will each receive three packs of new Spro Split Snaps. They have 5 days to contact us with their shipping address at info@surfcastersjournal.com

Jim B jbraack@yahoo.com

Robert Y Robdog130@aol.com

We spoke about Cuttyhunk at length last year. I don’t know what is about the place that I can’t wait to get there. Maybe its because its always been so good to me. Maybe I stepped into crap on few magical nights when fish were large and plentiful. Yes, there has been trips, on prime tides too, where I never got a touch for days at the time too…it’s all part of the game. Continue reading →

I been thinking a lot lately about how the sport (and life in general ) has changed. When I grew up, there was no “sport” in fishing, it was just fishing. Anything caught it was eaten, from a bergal to the biggest fish. We are paying a price for it today , not only where I grew up but all around the world. But this really wasn’t a malicious raping of the ocean, it was just a means of survival
But I can go back only few decades…and I have seen the world change tremendously. I see changes in myself, the way I look at the fisheries, the way I see surfcasting now as just a pure enjoyment. Not that I am saying you should never take a fish home to eat. I do and I will on occasions..it’s not about that
For me it’s about the history, about those who fished with oil skins and linen lines, those who drove the first jeeps on the beach, those who camped with their families in the cramped Volkswagen little buggies for days at the time..
With all the lures at our disposal today , and more new ones appearing daily, I often wonder how would it be to walk a beach with only lures you make at home.? I am sure that I would have a hell of a time mastering the conventional rod the way old-timers did. Imagine if every guy in a Montauk blitz, hundreds of them lined up side to side used a conventional reels? Now that would be a sight to see.
Or if you walked the beach at night and were not allowed to put on a flashlight. No, not because someone would get mad at you, or some other surfcaster would see you, but because German U-boats would have reference where the shore was. This was a reality at one time for the pioneers.
Here is legendary angler, Fred Schwab, called the world most decorated surfcaster by many, tireless worker in Albany and Washington in protecting striped bass over his illustrious career ,talking how he got started. I can listed to this man for hours and never get bored. One of the primary reasons why I joined High Hill Striper Club

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=104YMF1klVg[/youtube]
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I know if I post the link to the article, 90% of you won’t click on it so instead I copied and pasted this article from High Hill Striper Club website…there are more wonderful articles by Fred and you can read about the club rich history …there was a time when High Hill WAS Montauk surf. The club has a insanely rich heritage and tradition.

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Wetsuits in Montauk Surf “The Early years “   By Fred Schwab

      One cannot explore the history of High Hill Striper Club and not speak of Montauk at great lenght,the two go together. High Hill, thru the 1970’s had always had at least a few Montauk “regulars”. In terms of surf clubs High Hill was the most dominant from Shagwong to the Fort during much of the 60’s and into the 70’s. A small club with a large presence.       I don’t know who was the first to apply a wetsuit to fishing in the surf , but I’m certain that the birth of it’s use was at Montauk, and that it’s use was finally honed there.  From a club standpoint High Hill did the honing.      When I obtained my first suit in 1965, I knew of only 4 guys that already had them.  Jack Frech, George Jones, “Tin Cans” Beckmann and Whitey Pawelski and it’s been said that Joe “The Pro” Rohan also had one. The first guy that I ever saw using one was George Jones, fishing from a small table Bar at Overlook, probably in 1961, you could only get to that Bar by swimming.  That was also the year that Frech “The Professor” began wearing the suit.  I “think” at first Jones and Pawelski used the suits at Montauk principally to dive for lobsters and some daytime plugging from offshore rocks.  While Frech and his partner in the early 60’s, George Pavis (62-63), swam to rocks along the north shore and Montauk mostly to plug bluefish during the day. With respect to “Tin Cans”, he “may” have been the first.  He is one of those individuals whose nickname came from the use of out of the ordinary gear.  Instead of a plug bag his lures were carried in a sizable number of metal tubes affixed to his waist belt and I never saw him with the standard brass or stainless steel fish chain, he seemed to prefer a stout piece of rope with a small block of wood at the end.  In addition, he wore a rain top and slicker pants over his wetsuit. While I fished along side of him on several occasions, particularly on the Reef at night, I never really got to know him.  He was a loner but a hell of a good fisherman.  When Frech and I fished together we were secretive as hell and we took great pains to conceal our movements, but “Tin Cans” seemed, at least to me, to have the ability to become invisible. The first time I actually met “Tin Cans” was on a pitch black night while fishing under rather nasty conditions on the Reef.  Frech and I were alone and had missed one or two hits.  Out wades “Tin Cans” who immediately begins taking bass in the 20’s.  We eventually took one or two fish each, but “Tin Cans” really did a number.  At that point in time, about 1967 he was mostly fishing the Block Island surf,…he said Montauk had become too crowded!        But regardless of who was the first, it was Frech who on an individual basis was the first to fully exploit the use of the wetsuit in the surf.  Without question he was a hard fisherman and deserving of being called a Montauk sharpshooter.  During the 2 or 3 years that we partnered together, mostly at Montauk in the fall I, 20 years younger, found Jack’s stamina and determination equal and on some nights, superior to mine. In the early 60’s most guys could not afford, or were hesitant to lay out the bucks required to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle.  By “about” 1963 the first Volkswagon Bus appeared on the beach.  With deflated oversized tires, the weight of the engine in the rear and it’s driver making sure to stay in the track as much as possible the VW could grind along on most beaches.  But you held your breath when negotiating the slightest grade or jumping the track where the sand was soft.  In terms of soft sand the stretch from Oyster Pond to Shagwong Point usually had a few tricky spots and the beach from Gilgo coast Guard Station to Cedar was often very difficult to travel on (in those days there were no restrictions on the use of two-wheel drives on the beaches).        In 1964 fellow club members Artie Glass, Adam Miechowski and I negotiated a reasonable price with a dealer for 3 brand new VW’s, paying about  $2,100 dollars apiece complete with oversized tires. We insulated them, built slide-out bunks, cabinets, hinged tables on the side doors, incorporated a large combination food and fish ice box and added a large removable box on the rear bumper for storage of waders, other fishing gear and miscellaneous stuff.  Rod racks were mounted on the roof and rod holders on the front bumper. I believe that Artie, as was the case with most who had a family in excess of four, added a clamshell bed to the roof.  The floor, which was corrugated, was leveled out with a flexible rubberized cement and covered with linoleum.  When finished, there was a space for everything, it was not cluttered.  (In 1972 I purchase a 4/wheel drive Chevy pickup and 10’ slide on camper, we’d outgrown the VW.  That camper had all the conveniences, but we had a lot more fun roughing it in our little VW).       Within a year or two at least 10 members of High Hill were running the sand in VW’s.Those VW’s became not just beach transportation but, with a few scattered exceptions, Long Island’s first family beach camper vehicles. Not only did they increase the comradery among a segment of the club membership but they brought their families closer together.  From 1965 into the early 70’s during summer months, from Friday evening through much of Sunday one could find anywhere from 4 to as many as 10 High Hill families on the beach from North Bar through Shagwong.Regular High Hill weekenders were the Glass, Hausler, Ottesen, Schwab, Pawelski, Murray (64-70), Hasenzahl and Knowles families and always there, but in jeeps, were the SanFratello’s and the Gerbe’s (62-67).  Some 4 or 5 other High Hill families showed up on a less frequent basis .
Adopted  from a book  “The Complete History of the High Hill Striper Club ” by Fred Schwab

 

 

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Now that I have somewhat recovered from the weekend…few thoughts

First, I like two welcome two new supporters to Surfcaster’s Journal family. Steve Adams who makes AOK Tackle has been a friend for a long, long time. His metals are gaining popularity and after last year’s insane sand eel run in NJ, he will have a hard time keeping up with orders. I also like to welcome Al Lemire from Lemire’s Plug works. We are looking forward to tossing his plugs into the water this season. He has some incredible videos of his plugs on his site, produced by Mike Laptew.

It was great seeing them both at the shows in the past few weeks.

btw..taking about old  friends…. I just got The Surfcaster catalog in the mail few days ago. All I can say is NICE JOB!…I can’t believe how much I missed having it in my hands over the years

I am working on a project in my head that is consuming me from the minute I get up, till the moment I get into the bed. Literally and figuratively obssesive ,emotionally and physically exhausting. So if you don’t get your usual serving of Zenoisam, my apologies an advance. I am sure everything will work itself out sooner or later. I will try to at least finish Doc’s Video Interview soon for you guys. Talking about videos, I am reading a book on documentaries and almost in passing the author mentions that the ratio to footage used to footage shot is about a 100 to 1…and this is for the pros making motion pictures. Meaning for every hour of filming you get 1 minute  of footage you can use. I thought that was insane…of course, us who are just looking to entertain our readers are much more lax with “art” and “cinematography” part and more interested in finish whatever we are doing and making dinner for the family…lol

We haven’t had a giveaway in awhile so here is a chance for two readers to be winners.

Each one of them will receive a 3 packages of Spro Snaps in 45, 90 and 125lb test

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Do I really have to say more?
The new issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal is up for your reading pleasure
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I would like to thank members of Asbury Fishing Club for organizing a great show. We had a great time and did not expected to be cleaned out SJ Night Shift shirts…again..we literally have 2 left which we put into online store..we also added few of the New SJ Time and Tide shirts to our online store. Again, only few and only few sizes. Grab what you can….once we regroup we will take a look at what will we be ordering for online store now that the show season is over

Click on either shirt image and it will take you to the store. That is all now…need some sleep

I am glad some of you like to be ball breakers with “Ken Burns” comments. I can’t say I am very familiar with the man’s work as I watch maybe an hour of TV a week but I am trying to brush up. I did watch part of his baseball stuff years ago if I remember correctly

But it made me think (which is not necessary a good thing..lol).

If you were Ken Burns and you wanted to do a story on historical perspective of sport of surfcasting, let’s say at Montauk since Jerry brought that up…what would you ask the fellows you were interviewing? About the old days, would it be gear, fishing, old trucks, cranky tackle shop owners, lure makers, fast chicks and cheap scotch?..lol

What is one question (or two) you are dying to hear the answer too.

This should be fun

See you guys tomorrow in Asbury

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We always like to get you into the weekend on the right note so today we present to you a special video with maker of Commando Bags Tom White

For those of you that are venturing out and hitting your neighborhood tackle store to replenish your supplies, East End tackle in Hampton Bays,NY is running a sale including VS and ZB reels

10% OFF REELS-INCLUDING VAN STAALS & ZEEBASS,20% OFF EVERYTHING ELSE- ALL CLOTHING, RODS, RIGS, LEAD, LURES, CUSTOM PLUGS, ROOF RACKS, AND ANYTHING ELSE

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

Our good friends at Saltwater’s Edge in Rhode Island have a special on terminal tackle.Just in time for spring we’re running a special on all items in our terminal tackle category at www.EdgeAngling.com. Simply use the coupon code TERM15 during checkout to receive 15% off any items you purchase from the terminal tackle category on the website. Now is a great time to stock up on any snaps, swivels, clips and split rings you need for the upcoming season.
Coupon Code: TERM15

Coupon is valid through Sunday, March 11th.   http://www.edgeangling.com

And last but not least, we will be at Asbury Fishing Show on Sunday, stop by ,say hi, pick up some free stickers. Wewill have both shirts in limited quantities at the show so come and support us,..these videos dont make themselves..lmao..just busting, see you guys on Sunday

The new issue of your favorite magazine in the world is due to appear any day now…

And now, a video that I can say with ease, it does not not suck

This is the first time I used footage from multiple cameras and tried to sync the sound. I just wish we shot more b-roll footage..Anyway enjoy listening to Tom, you will figure out fairly quickly why his bags are held in such high regard

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jYXKKYQIo[/youtube]

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