Issue #36 of the Surfcaster’s Journal Online Magazine is up, including 4 new videos in Surf Fishing 101 series, and short surf fishing film by Stephen Gallant, Hard Days Night

Enjoy

http://www.surfcastersjournal.com/

The new issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine is finished but unfortunately Tommy’s PC keeps crashing all week during the upload process. We are cautiously optimistic that it will be live tomorrow or Saturday

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience

Zeno

This article has been adapted from “Doc” Muller’s Surf Fishing Annual, originally published in 1994. Doc’s publication served as our inspiration when we started the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. We are proud to feature this classic article by Doc Muller in past issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine and on our blog. It originally appeared in Volume 1 of the Surf Fishing Magazine.

ARTIFICIALS for BIG BASS

Patience and Discipline are Keys to a Trophy

By William A. “Doc” Muller

The quickest route to a trophy bass is to use bait, and I don’t think too many experts would disagree with this statement. However, many surf fisher people prefer artificials and want a sound plan that will put them into an out-sized bass using artificial baits.   Oddly, for all the bait fishing I do, and I do a lot, the biggest bass I’ve caught using bait has been 35 pounds.   The 53 pounder that graces the wall of my office was caught on an artificial. In fact, all the fifty pound class bass I’ve caught have been caught on artificial lures.

I share this with you so you’ll be confident that it is possible to catch very large bass on lures. However, there is a hitch. That is, you’ll likely work a lot harder at catching those monsters when you use lures as opposed to bait.

KEY FACTS

1. BE PATIENT!

If you like lots of action, these techniques are not for you. Inevitably, lots of action involves small fish because there are so many more small fish than large ones.

2. DON’T FISH AROUND SMALL FISH

Yes, big fish do swim with small fish, but the smaller fish are so much more aggressive that it becomes next to impossible to catch a big fish with a lure. One Halloween, my friend Brian and I were into a load of bass and blues that were running baby bunker up and down a beach all day. Finally, as the tide neared flood, the fish cornered a load of bunker against a jetty. It was cloudy and the water was gin clear. Brian climbed up on the jetty for a look see and his eyes almost popped out of his head. Mind you, the biggest bass we’d caught was 14 pounds.

“Bill, there’s a school of 30s and 40s lying on the sand! Throw your plug over here.”

I did as I was directed. Standing on the sand, I angled a cast towards the jetty and began cranking the plug down.

“Good! One’s coming off the bottom. Almost there. Keep reeling, almost on it. Damn!”

Brian’s play by play told me what my eyes could not see. Although the slower large bass were very interested in my 1 ounce plug, smaller fish beat the big fish to the plug every time. Just in case you’re wondering, we also tried big plugs, tins, and bucktails, but the results were the same.

3. USE LARGE LURES

Although it is quite possible to catch a big fish on a small bait, big lures discourage small fish and big bass are often angered by the noise and gaudy action of bigger lures and they will attack them. As you can tell from item #2, it isn’t a perfect world.

4. BE DISCIPLINED

If you are unable to stay focused and make every cast count, cast after cast, hour after hour, then your presentation will be sloppy and your odds of fooling a trophy go way down. It takes discipline to concentrate thoroughly on what you’re doing when nothing is happening, but it is an essential ingredient for success. When, after two or three hours, a 45 pound bass wanders into the strike zone of your lure, two things must happen to be successful and catch that fish. One, the presentation must be perfect. Imperfections will cause a fish to either never become curious or lose interest sometime during the pursuit. Second, you must be ready for the hit so you can strike quickly and hard. The mouth of a big bass is tough and you’ll need very sharp hooks and a quick strong set to put the steel home.

5. FISH WITH APPROPRIATE TACKLE.

I see so many anglers on our beaches who are under-gunned. They may have fun with the little fish, but the big ones give them and their tackle fits. Look, just because your rod is eleven feet doesn’t mean you’re automatically outfitted correctly. Rapid taper rods, so common everywhere, can not deliver big baits for distance, and they can’t drive even sharp hooks into tough jaws. If it’s a trophy you seek, please get a parabolic eleven foot rod that will allow you the opportunity to hook and land your trophy.   While we’re at it, your reel and line must match the rod.   I prefer Penn’s recently reintroduced 706Z because it is rugged, casts far, and is reasonably priced. The Daiwa BG 60 and BG 90 are also serviceable reels at a reasonable price. There’s also the Van Staal reel which is a precise instrument but costs up to $400.   The Penn 850 SS is another solid surf reel. Please don’t use the 750 SS reel on an 11 foot rod because you’ll be under-gunned. Whatever the reel you use, fill the spool with 20 pound test line.   Although you’ll gain some distance with 15 pound test over 20, it isn’t a lot of yards in the final analysis. However, what you’ll gain with 20 pound test line is the ability to really lean into a cast with a wind in your face, maintain a 7 or 8 pound drag with confidence, be able to make a solid hook set, and have some insurance against sharp gill plates, rocks, and shells. I like Berkley’s Big Game Line and Fenwick’s Salt Line.

FIVE GOOD LURES

There is almost an infinite variety of lures to choose from in today’s technologically oriented marketplace. However, technology doesn’t necessarily produce a better product, and some of the best lures available are traditional standbys. They work and are still around because they have never stopped catching fish.

SEVEN INCH REDFIN

          I have been high on this lure for daytime big bassin’ for years.   At first I thought I’d stumbled onto something that only I knew. However, the last few years I’ve watched fishing videos where others use this lure to catch big bass in fresh water at places like Norris Lake in Tennessee, the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, and Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. They use the lure the same way I do, catch bass, and have the same problems I do. The biggest problem with this lure is that you lose a lot of fish because of the way the fish rise to, then roll over, the plug when they hit. However folks, this minor drawback is offset by the fact that this lure will attract bass and trigger them to strike when nothing else will in daylight. Further, it will catch them when they are in a neutral or negative feeding stage. I am talking exclusively about the floating model of the lure. It should be retrieved so that it wiggles on the surface, leaving a V-shaped wake.   The lure is not suitable for big wave water, but try it in sounds, bays, and inlets. You’ll like it!

BUCKTAILS

          No one knows for sure how long bucktail lures have been used to catch fish, but I’ll bet the precursor of the modern bucktail has its roots in primitive society. Bucktails catch all species of predators in all kinds of water, and all over the world.   However, they are not idiot lures.   That is, you can’t just cast them out and reel in. They must be worked properly. The biggest mistake I see people make is they give the lure too much bouncing motion.   A bucktail should flutter, not bounce, for best results. Simply twitch your wrist slightly from time to time. Most hits will come when the lure drops back an inch or so. If the bucktail bounces wildly you could actually spook a predator.   The second biggest mistake I see involves the speed of retrieve. If you don’t lose at least some bucktails to rocks and clutter, then you aren’t fishing them properly. For peak effectiveness, a bucktail should be worked close to the bottom.   Bucktails work best when there is some depth to the water such as in the inlet channels, under the light at Montauk, off jetty tips, and around bridges. Attach a strip of porkrind for added attraction and action.

METAL LIP SWIMMERS

          This is another plug that requires reasonably calm water, so inlets, channels, bays, and sounds are appropriate places to try them. There are, however, calmer days when big bass chase big bait into the ocean wash or near it, and big metal lips will work great at those times.

Although you should feel comfortable adjusting the eye of the plug up and down, don’t bend the lip. Only very experienced surf fishermen can get away with doing this. Most often a bent lip renders a metal lip useless. Bend the front eye down to get the plug to ride higher, and bend it up to get the plug to dig deeper into the water.   There’s a time and a place for both.   Calm water in daylight, it seems to me, is the right time for a surface swimming plug. On the other hand, night time with some wave action seems to suggest we get the plug a little deeper. Big metal lip plugs like the Atom 40, Atom Junior, Danny Plugs, Larry’s Lures, and Bob Hahn plugs are quality products. Incidentally, metal lip swimmers are the best choice for making an eel skin plug. More about that another time.

BOTTLE PLUGS AND DARTERS

          These two types of swimming plugs are ideal for rough water and rip fishing. For that reason they have been mainstays at Montauk for years. They cast well and “bite” well. That is, they catch the water well enough so that even the rise and fall of waves doesn’t stop their action. In order to get the most out of them in rough water, stay in touch with the plug at all times. That is, increase and decrease the speed of retrieve as the waves push and pull on the plug so that the plug works at the same speed at all times. In a rip, cast out and retrieve slowly. These big plugs can be used to tempt a trophy at any beach and under any type of water conditions. These plugs should be in your bag at all times from September 1 until the end of the season. Old reliable models such as the Gibbs and Super Strike brands are excellent choices and they have caught a lot of big fish over the years. I recently helped develop and test a new breed of lures called Strike Maker, and this line includes the Throttle Bottle.

Believe it or not this is the entire recipe for catching a trophy bass on an artificial, the rest is up to you. Remember, there are no secrets spots or secret lures. All the lures I’ve discussed will catch a wall hanger, but only if you supply the most important ingredient of all. You must not only put your time in, but you must invest a lot of time with discipline, focus, and patience. Hey, if you do catch one, think about letting it go to fight another day. I can tell you from experience, it burns a life-long memory into your brain.

Bill “Doc” Muller is one of the most dedicated and successful surf fishermen on the east coast. He is also an accomplished author, publisher, editor, and lecturer. He was a college professor of biology for 35 years and recently retired. Doc joined the High Hill Striper Club in the early 1970s and was a member until 2001 when he, along with six other surf anglers, founded the Traditional Surfcasters, a club committed to preserving the philosophy of newly redefined post WW II surf fishing.

As I chatted with Wayne and Peter Hess, makers of Guppy Lures  at RISAA Providence show, they commented on how people always say nice things about SJ and our giveaways. That we never ask for nothing in return. Well, to be honest, people reading our publication, contributing content and buying SJ gear, inset that enough? We think so.

Then they stuck some plugs in my hand and said this is for your readers.

While we are waiting for Tommy to finish new issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine this weekend, lets have a nice giveaway of these two Guppy Pencils.

Two winners, each one will receive one guppy Pencils, courtesy of awesome Hess brothers from Guppy Lures

Enter the giveaway bellow

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh yeah….and this little announcement

See you at Asbury

New issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine should be appearing after this weekend. A show season has us a little backed up but we are making progress

Here is a 5 minute look at almost 40 minutes of  Surf Fishing 101 Videos included in the March issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine

I wrote about this product in the past, so some of you are probably familiar with it. We also shot a quick video. This is the most simplistically brilliant cell phone holder design I have ever seen. No more wondering if your phone case is sealed tight, its automatic.

Today we are giving one away to our readers. So here is the video on the product and bellow the video you will find the SJ Giveaway entry app for StormR Waterproof Cell Phone Holder

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show season is kicking in the high gear, but the end is near. No doubt company reps are looking forward to weekends at home and some resemblance of resumption of normal eating habits. Yeah, I get that “pro staff” guys get hammered on fb by keyboard fisherman, but I got to tell you, they are probably worth their weigh in gold. Being able to attend multiple shows on a same weekend and have competent representatives at each event is not that easy for any co. My hat is off to all those for whom your “off season” is a busy season. Almost there boys. Two Sundays from now, on March 13 Asbury Fishing Club will hold their annual Flea market but this Sunday there are two pretty big shows on the schedule

First, Ward Melville Fishing Expo on Sunday at Ward Melville HS. This is now THE biggest fishing show on Long island in the winter and its FREE. Yeah, there is no admission charge, plenty of parking  and vendors and seminars up to wazoo. This is a fundraiser for Ward Melville HS Fishing Club, one of the very few HS fishing clubs on LI. How do they raise money if there is no admission? By having so many raffles it will make your head spin. So buy few waffle tickets and support the kids and you might win a VS reel, plugs, Flatlander bags, waaaaaay to many things to list.

The second show is annual Berkley Fishing Club Flea Market at Toms River in NJ, Sunday from 9-2. Admission is $4

I think this year is going to be the most insane plug spectacle of all time at Berkeley. Go to their Facebook page and see who is coming and what kind of plugs are they making. The level of the talent this year is even the above usual norm. We are having bets on which dude will sell out fastest….lol…i am sure the line to get in and get a first shot at prime plugs will be insane. As it was at Asbury last year..or Surf Day few weeks ago

Wait, you mean other shows other than Striper Day had lines to get in? And people were perfectly content waiting in line for a shot of sought after plugs? And at Berkeley they have to stay outside? I’ll be damned, I thought only NY guys had to stay in line to get into Striper Day.

Yeah, I am being sarcastic. Today is not a good day in my world. We spoke to every single college on LI that had any type of venue for rental. Not a single one had a big room/gym AND a theater for seminars in close proximity. I guess jocks and conferences don’t mesh well. Hotels? Check. Every single one. Did not realized that Huntington Hilton, although they had that big room for vendors only ,have very small rooms for seminars, like really small.I am sorry for me not knowing this but I am usually at vendors table at Fisherman Show. Btw in case any of you are interested having your daughters sweet 16 or you just want to throw yourself a big birthday bash at Hilton, that empty room will cost you about 10k to 15 k without food…. in January!!!…and that is only for one room..I’d “lol” if I thought it was funny. How about giant sport complexes, you know like indoor soccer fields and such? Check. Did you ever see the size of their parking lots? What is that like a joke or something? But then again, only 22  kids are on the field for a soccer game so how many parking spots can they need? Please don’t say firehouse or some dimlit VFW hall. SJ is a little classier than that, besides those places get crushed by flea markets shows, never mind Striper Day. So all the colleges are out, as are hotels and sport venues. Public HS do not lease their space (why would they, they just ask for 8k in property tax every year from every resident..need more? raise taxes). They don’t need a stinking rental. Catholic HS? Still working on it but one snowflake and they shut down the school and the event. So Tommy and I went to see Suffolk CC in Brentwood . Right off exit 53 off LIE, GIANT venue, almost 10 times Hofstra. We would only need about 2/5 of space, would have to carve out a seminar area on the floor with curtains and pull bleachers to create seating. Yeah, everything we said we rather not do, but hey, we are out of options. Additional 150 theater on premisses. Like Tommy said, if two months ago someone offered us a 150 seat theater  we’d be “hell yea” we don’t need anything bigger. But after you guys packed a 350 seat Hofstra Theater we know we need to think bigger. It could work I told Tommy who was a little hesitant….ok more than a little. He Liked the tight feeling of Hofstra, he Loved the ability to show movies in dark pro theater (suffolk big theater is a walk across campus., no good), he just Loved the vibe and “feel” of Hofstra. If you know Tommy, you know that dude is all about the feel of things, its reflected in his designs. He was freaking out if Suffolk cc is too big, too kind of “trade show” and not enough “surf dude show”. Well no need to worry about that after today. Suffolk CC gave us a cost estimate and its “only” 4 (yea, you are reading that right) four times cost of Hofstra.

So I do feel today that I failed you for the first time since starting SJ. But I really did try and I really did give my all in effort to find, bigger, affordable venue so NY guys can have a show of their own. But its not meant to be, and as Kenny Rogers sang, “You Got To Know When To Fold Them”

I am folding my cards and I will never, ever ask why LI does not have its own Surf Fishing Show or why is the Fisherman Surf Seminar admission $25. If I was The Fisherman I’d change $50.

Welcome to life on  Long Guyland  my friends

Surfcaster’s Journal Crew will be at Ward Melville and Berkeley Flea Market in NJ. Stop by and renew your subscription. If you signed up at any of these shows last year, its probably expiring

New issue of the magazine will be coming out in about a week, along with 4 new Surf Fishing 101 videos

Have a Great Weekend

I am drinking tonight. Not everyones taste buds can take it, but mine seem to agree with it

Here is another video in Surf Fishing 101 series, just in case you missed it in the pages of SJ

Needlefish, metal lip swimmers, darters, Redfin and bottle plugs are almost always in my night bag with the exception being those night when I fish shallow sandbars in which case bottle plug might be supplanted by a surface swimming metal lip. All these lures, except surface metal lip swimmer, benefit greatly by a sweep, current or any type of moving water. This is the typical content of my bag when fishing sandy beach at night. If I am fishing close to the inlet, where there usually is strong current present I will load up my bag with more darters and heavier needlefish, which tend to work better in faster water then lighter ones. The surface swimming metal lip will usually be the casualty and its left behind. They tend to wiggle excessively in these same fast waters. The problem presents itself (and by the way, this is why you can never have enough lures) when you walk a hundred yards into an inlet and onto an inlet jetty. Here you will find a strong rip at the tip and much deeper water. Your needlefish and darters will be marginally productive if at all. Your surface metal lip swimmer would be useless here as fish are almost always hugging the bottom but you sure could use some sub-surface metal lip swimmers. Few of those 9-inch Tsunami shad and heavy bucktails coupled with pork rind would also fit this location well. Inlet jockeys often fish with nothing but bucktails and assorted leadhead with rubber all night long. Maybe you should ask your buddy if you could borrow his golf caddy for a night to carry your lures? Trust me, there is nothing funny about trying to load up a bag for every possible situation. Particularly, shallow water/deep water scenario during the same trip presents the most difficulty. No wonder suitcase size surf bags are gaining in popularity.

My daytime bag is packed with poppers, pencil poppers, surface metal lip swimmers, bottle plugs and tins. Redfin is there on occasion but since I use it in the same manner I use the metal lip swimmers, it’s often left behind. What you won’t find in my bag is subsurface metal lip swimmers, which I find to be poor producers during daylight hours. Lets be honest, besides few magical week during fall run the daytime fishing can be extremely tough. Even the deep-water spots are usually devoid of fish, as high temperatures and boats zooming over their heads chase the fish in to deeper waters. About the only consistency that I found over the years during daylight hours was by concentrating on fishing white water. Of course, casting into an acre of menhaden that is being mauled by striper and blues is certainly a nicer occurrence but unfortunately, those things don’t happen too often.

The reason I find white water so appealing is twofold. First, every wave that rise over the sandbar stirs the bottom underneath, exposing sand eels, crabs, sand fleas and other crustaceans. Your friendly neighborhood striper holds all these tasty morsels in a high regard. This highly oxygenated water stimulates feeding even during the warmest days of the year. The second reason I go out of my way to fish the patches of white water is the tendency of white water to mask our lure. Stripers and blues often follow the cresting wave, or swim right through it and feed in the foam, feasting on disoriented baitfish or unearthed crustaceans. Once the foam has dissipated, they retreat to deeper water. This is why your lure will get annihilated in the foam more often then in flat water. They know they have a limited time to feed in that particular wave sequence and your lure is wiggling, sloshing or popping in the foam. They’ll hit it first and ask questions later. Hey, they can always spit it out if they don’t like it. Unfortunately, they did not count on sharp hooks.

While speaking about the white water and wave periods I should mention some things that many surfcasters take for granted. First, all waves are not created equal. If the waves are large with a short “period’ or duration in between the waves, you will have a hard time working any surface lure as wave will fold on it frequently. Under these conditions, I always elect to go with a bucktail, tin or a bottle plug, and bury my lure underneath the waves. On the opposite side of the spectrum are lazy waves, one that roll slowly over the bar like a slinky, with a long period in between them. You will not be able to employ the white water strategy effectively under these conditions either. I find that forceful white water is much more productive and makes fish much more aggressive then when flat water is present.

One thing many surfcasters lack when casting their lure towards the coming waves is a lack of focus. They try to make the longest cast possible without regards as to where in the wave period it will land. This is a big mistake. You should never let your lure land in front of a folding wave. If it does, the wave will fold on your lure and your will lose contact with it. No contact means no fish, as simple as that. By the time you regain contact your lure will be far from its original destination, and you will be ceding some prime real estate to a wave. Timing your cast so your lure lands behind a wave will eliminate this problem and will help you catch more fish. How can I be certain? If you time your cast so your lure lands in the water behind the wave it will land in the…white water, of course.

Few times a year, particularly during fall months you might encounter a riled up water, courtesy of a nor’easter that is moving up the coast. You might drive to your honey hole, see the crashing waves, feel the stinging rain and decide to head back home. Fishing rough water is not everyone’s cup of tea but it can be a very rewarding experience. As I am writing this the first nor’easter of the season is building outside my window. Winds out of northeast are currently sustained at 22 MHP and gusting to 40 MPH. And it’s just a beginning! Yet I salivate at prospect of fishing this evening. If you concentrate at the onset of the storm, before the water is too riled up and off color and still weed free, you might encounter some phenomenal fishing. Large stripers will often charge beach, cruising effortlessly though big swells generated by a storm. Yet smaller baitfish will helplessly tumble through the turbulence akin to a sock in a dryer. That, and the fact that game fish might sense that feeding might be difficult for the next few days when the water turns to mud is what often makes bass and blues put on a feedbag. When it comes to choosing a lure for fishing during these periods two things should be foremost in your mind. First, how does it cast into a howling wind and how quickly can you bury a lure underneath the waves. You can eliminate these issues by fishing close to the mouths of inlets, where waves generally do not build up as much as they will on open beaches but even there, two plugs will get most plays from the veterans. Because of its ability to be cast into a strong wind and still be kept in contact after it enters the water, bucktail is always the first lure out of my bag. If you are not reaching the fish, you might try a heavy tin instead. The second lure that I always carry for these types of situation is a bottle plug. Cast it into the wind and quickly jerk your rod to dig the lure into the wave. It is a phenomenal producer under these conditions, particularly when there is large baitfish present in the surf. Don’t fret too much about your casting distance or lack there off. The same wave that is pushing your lure backwards will also be pushing the baitfish right at your feet. Do think how you are positioned on the beach in relation to wind, current or sweep. My favorite scenario is to have a wind come diagonally onto the shore, while the current and the ebbing tide is flushing the baitfish out of the bay in a same direction. This way the wind will push in the bait tight to the beach and increase the current speed or sweep. The reason I don’t mention other lures is because most cannot hold their own under these extreme conditions and will get tossed around. You will consequently lose contact with them and most likely go home fishless. Don’t fight the condition or argue with the fish about what they should eat. Feed them what the conditions are calling for and your bent rod will tell you when you got it right.