Rollin' with The Rock

Posted on June 17, 2011 by zhromin — 15 comments

We recently asked for your suggestions on how we can improve the Surfcaster’s Journal magazine. Regardless of ideas we might have, the only way we can make this better if more of you decide to contribute by sending us ideas for article and writing the stories yourselves. We are big believers that surfcasters who write are much more interesting then writers who surf fish. So if you have an idea or story you want us to follow up on or you want to write the story itself, please drop us a line. We are all ears…

One thing that has been missing from the magazine has been coverage of our beach buggies. After all, every surfcaster either owns, is looking to own one, or dreams of getting a beach buggy. We are happy to announce that this will be the thing of the past starting with our next issue.

New Jersey surfcasters and custom lure builder Russ “Big Rock” Paoline has graciously accepted our offer to write a beach buggy column for the Surfcaster’s Journal magazine. Many of you know Russ as very popular lure builder whose wooden creations are always in demand. He will share his thoughts on truck maintenance, beach driving, customization or anything else that relates to beach buggies.

Please join us in welcoming Big Rock to the Surfcaster’s Journal family of contributors who toil in obscurity to make your day a little brighter and you fishing experience a little more satisfying.

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The far away places

Posted on June 16, 2011 by zhromin — 16 comments

Ah, the Promised Land…if you never fished the Fabled shores of the island of Cuttyhunk, you are probably asking what is a big deal. After all, isn’t Montauk the Surfcasting Capital of the World? It sure is a lot easier to get to then Cuttyhunk….

They best I could describe the experience of fishing the rocks at Cuttyhunk would be to imagine being somewhere on the south side of Montauk…but alone. The place is often so darn quiet its unnerving. And every cove and point seems to be hiding secrets , there for you to uncover. And there is no attitude like some places, not many Alpha males with balls hanging to their knees trying to put you in your place. I hate being put in my place! I hated it since my mother would stick me in a high chair when I was a baby.

What is it that draws me back here? I’ve caught fish here but I also went on trips where I went fishless . The place is certainly not an easy place to fish. The bubble weed forest will wrap around your ankles as you wade out on the rocks. If it happens at the same time as the rushing wave hits the shore, you are in for a world of pain. The points are not as easily wadeable as they are in Montauk Point. Instead of smaller rocks and then a handful of decent size boulders you will find few, but huge rocks at Cutty. And instead of water being fairly shallow at the points, expect it to drop fast and furious. The wetsuit are a recent addition to Cuttyhunk shores. Just like Montauk , plenty of fish were caught in waders for at least a past century. Today’s surfcaster is a bit more aggressive, he pushes a little further out but this is one place were even those whose casts leave a little to be desired, can get into productive waters from the shore. Of course, it helps when fish are there 🙂

I love seeing Bonnie’s face in the morning after breakfast as she runs the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club like a field general.

I love sharing stories without fears that twenty guys will be at my spot the next tide. I love that there is no tackle stores and that internet sucks on the best of days. I love the quiet, the golf carts locals use the get around, the friendliness of people. The only thing that can be unnerving is trying to get off the island in the emergency. That is the price you pay for being in a secluded and out of the way place . I love climbimg on rocks that are as big as my house 🙂

I can’t wait to go there again. And I was there just three days ago in a nasty weekend storm…Lol

I hope it won’t be long. I did make a phone call last week to inquire about taking over the club for a weekend in September. What we thought was to get some of you to come with us and fish. We get to meet and fish with you, noting more ,nothing less. We can show you how to rig eels or tell you were we like to fish

we grill some good food and hopefully catch some nice fish.

Nothing in it for us, just a chance to meet some of our readers. But because there are only 8 rooms at the Fishing Club, we found out they are all booked already. Major downer…not sure how many of you would consider a trip during the week.

We lost a true Legend today…RIP Mr. Al Pelini

Posted on June 15, 2011 by zhromin — 14 comments

We are saddened to tell you that surf fishing community has lost one of its most admired members today, Mr. Al Pelini.

Al passed away today doing what he loved the most, fishing the rocks on Cuttyhunk island. In coming days many of you will learn more about this gentle but great man. I can only share my thoughts on Al with you. Although I’ve meet Al only on few occasions, he left a lasting impression on me. In fact, there is no surfcaster today that I would put him on par with, that is how highly I thought of him. Maybe I am biased, but Al did it all, and did it his way. He was there for a great giant striper Block Island bite in the 80’s, he was roaming Cape Cod sand during its glory days, he swam to every rock I was afraid to in Cuttyhunk and he caught unbelievable numbers of large fish .Trough it all he remained modest and sincere. No one ever had nothing but good to say about him. In my book, he was a special man, one that is born only once in a generation.

There are others who are more known, who yearn to have their name in the lights. But ask any seasoned and well traveled surfcaster who do they admire the most, and I would bet that 9 out of 10 would say Mr. Pelini.

All of us at Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine would like to offer our sincerest condolences to family and friends of Mr. Pelini.

May you Rest in Peace, Al

You will be missed by many

Win a Guides Choice Swimmer and PB for one of our own

Posted on June 14, 2011 by zhromin — 188 comments

Few weeks ago I wrote a little something about Guides Choice Old School swimmer and how productive of a lure has it been for me at times. It was Lou Caruso, our Rod Guru who piqued my interest in this lure by telling me how well he has caught with it last year. I don’t know about you but I am a big believer in lure’s “mojo”. Once your lure gets some mojo, it becomes a totally different animal. You not only cast it when you should…but also when you shouldn’t, AND still expect it to catch fish

As always, when I want to learn about a new lure, I include it in my rotation. Now you might say what is the big deal, we all have rotations…. Well, I don’t know about you but I use a one row bag these days and my rotation is harder to crack then Philadelphia Philly’s starting 5. To get in one of the slots I will probably have to squeeze out a Super Strike plug, lures that represent at least 75% of the rotation. So yeah, it’s a big deal for a plug to be added to the bag. I am sure it’s same thing for many of you.

Few nights ago I was fortunate enough to fish with Surfcaster’s Journal Chef extraordinaire, Andrew Chase. We were sharing a rock at Cuttyhunk Island and Andrew was having a challenging night, to say the least. Fish were just not responding to what he was throwing. I offered him my yellow Guides Choice Old School Swimmer and at first he declined. But after I had few more fish on it, he accepted my offer.

I am glad he did because few casts latter something very wonderful happened to Andrew.

He caught his personal best on it…the fish was released after a quick photo

So, in honor of Andrew’s personal best, we at Surfcaster’s Journal will give one of our readers a chance to win this Guides Choice Old School swimmer, courtesy of our friends and supporters from Guides Choice Tackle. Check out their website at http://guideschoicetackle.com/ for all the fish catching colors of the Old School Swimmers. The full story of adventures with chef Andrew coming up in the future edition of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine

Good luck and tight lines

We love big fish…

Posted on June 13, 2011 by zhromin — 16 comments

The winner of Superline Braid Shears from Berkley Fishing is Mathew Vaccaro

Matt, please email us your shipping address at info@surfcastersjournal.com

Matt guessed two of my three favorite pictures, cover and page 95

Now for the main course

We love Big fish….especially the ones that go back in the water after a quick photo

it is our pleasure to announce the winner of May STRIPERTHON 2011 Catch and Release Photo contest.

His name is Ron DiCostanzo and he is a plug-ho 🙂

….ok , he is more than that, he is a guy behind Lordship Lure Co.

In early May he made his maiden voyage to Promised Land, aka Cuttyhunk, MA. He was told that he was too early in the season, that the water was too cold, that he is wasting his time, that bait is still to the south….

He didn’t beat his personal best once….he did it twice in one night.

Including this beauty,, congrats Ron

you’ll find out the whole story in future edition of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine

How big is your rod

Posted on June 9, 2011 by zhromin — 17 comments

I guess it depends. If you bought an camcorder with a mission to get the highest ranking video on youporn, then every inch in length might be huge. But we the surfcasters rarely talk inches, our rods move in a ½ a foot increments, sometimes even a foot.

I am often asked at seminars “how big of a rod should I buy for XYZ place I fish”. And I always respond the same way….first I gave the guy (or gal) a boilerplate answer only to catch myself somewhere in midsentence, realizing I am feeding them crap.

The problem is that we have certain “rules” that have been established over the years or common practices that have been repeated so many time they have become facts…but are they?

For example, people will tell you that Montauk rod is an 11 feet. You can get away with 10 but 11 will give you more versatility. You will often hear that New Jersey beaches are best fished with a 9 or 10 foot stick,… 11 is often an overkill. People north of New York rarely carry an 11 foot stick….because then don’t need too.

But although general consensus is a good starting point I think the better way to approach this trick question is by honestly asking yourself what are you going to be casting with your rod. If you are a bomber, mambo minnow and redfin dude, even if fish Montauk every day of your life, an 11 footer will do more harm than good. Plugs that light won’t go much further with an 11 than they will with 10 and even 9. What I am trying to say is that matching rod to style of fishing is better suited then matching a rod to the place. After all, who cares where you are fishing if you are only going to use particular plugs?

Having said that, you should fish whatever you want. The worst thing you can ever do it try to be something that you are not, by following what someone else is doing.

I think Lamiglas GSB blanks were a HUGE hit for Lami. We all bought a bunch, when I guided I owned 5 of them ,all 1321M. There are like mono, sloppy but very forgiving. You want to throw a 7/8 Bomber. Doable. You want to throw 3.5 ounce Surface Cruiser.? No Problem. You want to sling a 8 ounce rigged eels? Been there, done it and it works.

After owning dozen Lami rods I think I might be down to one. However I do own more than half a dozen St Croix Mojo and Legend rods. After our Surf Guru made my two St Croix Legends custom rods last week, I think Lami is not going to see the light of day.

Yes, there are some challenges of using a two piece rods. People say what about if the line wraps around the tip and during cast flies off into the water? You are up the creek with no paddle…

Hmm, it’s possible for that happen but I’ll take my chances after seeing at least five very expensive Lami Super Surf rods explode on a cast right above reel seat. At least if my rods separates it will be operator error. I’ll take my chances.

Casting St Croix Legends is like a dream. I’ve read somewhere where ¾ to 4 Legend had a sweet spot around 2 ounces. I disagree. I threw small stuff to 7 ounce rigged eels this week with it, caught some nice fish in a nasty current and I don’t think two ounce is a sweet spot at all. Not that I would encourage you to cast 7 ounce rigged eels with ¾ to 4…For that Lou built me 2-6 ounce Legend, much more better suited for the task.

Again, you should get a rod that suits your style. Lami GSB has been my go to stick for 10 years or more. It has done everything I asked and never gave me any headache. Now it’s time to consider lighter, stronger, more responsive rods with less weight, made out of newest materials. CTS, Century are just two of the companies that are being mentioned a lot these days.

Me, I am more than happy with my new Legend blanks. And I am thrilled with our Surf Guru’s Lou craftsmanship. And I love the St Croix warranty. It fits the way I fish, it makes my trips more pleasurable, it makes the whole experience more enjoyable. You should find a rod that does this for you, not blindly follow advice of net gurus who have invested significantly in their rods and now want to tell you that you should do the same.

It’s your life, live it, don’t follow it.

No need for words

Posted on June 8, 2011 by zhromin — 14 comments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS_ICP9ybz8&feature=player_embedded#at=81[/youtube]

Win a Superline Shears from Berkley Fishing

Posted on June 7, 2011 by zhromin — 25 comments

the winner of EbbPoint Carabineer is …. captainjack608@yahoo.com cpt jack

you have 5 days to send your shipping address to info@surfcastersjournal.com

Thanks again to Nick at Ebb point Surf Fishing (http://ebbpointsurffishing.com) for his generosity

Some of you have asked us to make the giveaway a bit more “challenging”…I guess luck alone is not enough, some of you need to show you “skills”..lol

So here is the deal. I am going to pick three of my favorite pictures of this issue

You have to pick not one but two pages where two of my favorite pictures in this issue are located. Get it, I pick three, you have to guess two? Am I going too fast for you?

Let me slooooow it down, I need to get my proofreader involved

Ok, get set , Go!

What will you win ?

How about these SuperLine Shears from Berkley Fishing Products ? http://berkley-fishing.com/
…
oh..btw..its 6 am and I already deleted 10 “I am in” posts…and they call me slow ?….lol

Spaghetti chronicles part 2

Posted on June 6, 2011 by zhromin — 23 comments

The monofilament snapped right above the swivel and the big bluefish fell in between two rocks. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the swell building and I was aware that within seconds these rocks will be under water. I also knew that although the fish was jammed in tight, once the water floods the rocks it will lift the fish and it will be gone. Which was perfectly fine if my favorite bucktail was not attached to its mouth!

I drooped on my knees and lounged for the tail. At the same time the wave came over me, almost sweeping me in the drink. I managed to get my hand around the base of the tail and I just held on to the fish with one hand while with the other hand held a death grip to a rock. My left flip flop came unattached and it was gone, never to be seen again There was really nothing to do but to wait till wave receded. I was already soaked from head to toe, almost shoeless and crouching in almost fetal position. Finally, the wave abated and I scurried back to the top of the rocks carrying what still was an very angry fish.

For some strange reason I felt victories. Yes, I lost flip flop to the seas but I managed to save my lucky bucktail. After unhooking the chopper and tossing it back into the water I tied on a fresh leader, clipped on a bucktail a made a cast. A smarter person would have quit while ahead but I didn’t…but I should have.

The whole point of me coming here was to test the reel but instead the monofilament, or my lack of familiarity with its properties after fishing with braid for years, because the overwhelming factor. I was cursing out loud as I tried once, two then three time to set the hook while the rod and monofilament acted in unison to crate strech-o-rama. Unfortunately for me ,these blues were big and they weren’t going to left my incompetence prevent them from hooking themselves. I said unfortunately because next thing I know is I had a fish on and then all I had is slack. The bluefish swallowed the whole bucktail and cut the line instantly. So much from going through all that torture to save a special bucktail…

Now I was pissed and often the upset mind does not make good decisions. After attaching a new leader I decided to cast a popper instead. Not often will you get a chance to cast a popper no more than 20 yards and have gigantic bluefish explode on them. With that in mind I clipped on a Guides Choice Popper and cast it ahead of the rip. Only working a popper with mono proved even more challenging then working a bucktail. The darn stretch in the line, coupled with cross wind made working the popper almost impossible! Try it as I may, I could not get a popper to “pop” properly. Not that the fish cared as it lunged at the lure as it was racing across the surface. Although the Guides Choice popper is not a small lure the big bluefish had no problem engulfing the hooks and half a lure. I instantly with my right hand tapped the place where my Boga Grip is hanging of my belt and cold sweat started to run down my spine when I realized I left my Boga in the truck.

Oh boy, is this going to be fun, trying to land a teen sized bluefish , on the rocks, in the swells, almost shoeless, without a Boga Grip and with two sets of trebles imbedded into its mouth. As I stood on the rock ,enveloped in the fog I pondered what my options are. Breaking off the plug on purpose is not an option. Maybe a single hook that would fall out of its mouth , but two sets of trebles and a lure? I looked at the swells and tired to time them to see how many seconds are in between sets and if they are coming in sequence. I needed any edge I can get under the circumstances.

Of course I said few prayers to good Lord, hoping he would make the fish come unbuttoned and save me from this ordeal. But I am sure he had more pressing matters to attend to

By now the moon tide was almost at peak and rock I just stood on few minutes ago lading the fish was underwater. I decided to just play the fish into the rocks and then lift it onto the rock I stood. The big bluefish was tired of fighting the swells and current and she came is surprisingly well behaved. Until I grabbed the line…

I use short leaders with short rods and I couldn’t reach far enough to reach the leader. So I did next best thing and grabbed the line. Bad idea! Two head shakes and the line popped like grandmothers dentures when she bites into an apple. There goes plug number two…

I’ll spare you the details and only tell you that I lost another two plugs before I went home. Yes, 12 pound mono on the rocks with one flip flop and swells is not something I’d recommend you try. But I was there and these fish were big. And hungry. Needless to say I came with right stuff the next evening on a same tide and got skunked. And the next night, and the next night. Consistency has not been my friend this spring that is for sure.

Anyway, back to my original point of writing this. Monofilament. Jesus, anyone still uses this for plugging? It’s like fishing with a linguini wrapped around your spool. I found it impossible to work the bucktail the way I wanted. Granted, this has a lot to do with habits and use of braid in the last decade. I know plenty fish were landed on mono for years before braid came on the scene. But if I had to go back to monofilament for lure fishing I could envision a lot of missed fish…a lot.

I made some changes in last few years. I gave up on super duper surf tops for a simple Grunden splash top. I am back to using a two piece rods instead of custom stick. I am back to taping my finger for the first time after using a glove for casting for years..but mono for plugging? I don’t think I can.

Now I have to admit that I prefer 40 pound mono for chunking, even if I toss bait infrequently. I never warmed up to increased sensitivity when using 12 ounces of lead and a half of bunker. I feel the mono and the fact it stretches actually helps me when allowing fish to swallow bait…because if I can feel the fish instantaneously with braid…it means it can feel me too….and I didn’t like it. Plus, the 40 pound braid is so thin the backlashes which happen to me more than any other person alive are a major pain in the ass. Some people say, use a 80 or 100 pound braid instead, you’ll like it. Not my thing but neither is mono for pluging

Spaghetti chronicles

Posted on June 5, 2011 by zhromin — 2 comments

On a recent afternoon I decided to head down to a local inlet seawall to test a reel. I bought this reel for my trip to Florida few weeks ago , mainly for my son to use. I wanted to test it myself, and possibly write a review in the future issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. But I wasn’t willing to strip the 12 lb mono and fill it with braid. Not only because I was pressed for time but because I feel that my son can use some give of the mono.

My problem was, I forgot what that feels like…

Last time I used mono on the spinning rod was at least ten years ago, probably more. To be perfectly honest, I could not tell you what does it feel to fish with it.

But I was going to find out …

Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong it usually will. This day there was a good heave coming into the inlet and crashing into the rocks. It was also a day of the full moon and wind has been blowing out of easterly direction for days.

Let’s put this together, easterly wind, full moon = astronomical high tides and swells coming from the ocean and crashing along the seawall. Why did I decide to go in my flip-flops and shorts instead of waders? Because I am stupid….any of you tried to navigate rocks in the crashing surf? In flip flops? ..I didn’t thinks so

But I thought hey, I can always move back into the inlet where water is calmer. But before I do that I have to make one cast into my honey-hole. After all, I didn’t drive half an hour to water to not make a cast into my favorite little rip. Besides, it was the best place around and if there was going to be any fish, this was the place. How can you test the reel without catching fish anyway ?

I got onto the seawall and looked into the water. The swells were coming from the ocean and crashing along the inlet rocks. It wasn’t your standard calm conditions that you are used to finding in the inlets but it didn’t look THAT bad. So I crawled down on my ass, just in time to see a large swells heading in my direction. Oh shit, I said to myself as I reversed the course and tried to crawl back up the rocks…did I mention I was in flip flops? I did managed to get high enough were my shirt was dry but the wave got my shorts, and underpants…!#$%& great. Haven’t made a cast and I am already soaked. But I am here, I am already wet so might as well cast.

I attached the bucktail to the clip and made a cast with my trusty the 7 foot St Croix Legend. Except the cast felt weird…it was like casting a lure attached to a string spaghetti ..wtf !!!

I closed the bail and started to work a bucktail with a short twitch of the wrist. What is going on here? The bucktail is not responding the way I am used to. I have to lift my rod almost two feet to replicate the action I get with a braid and a short twitch. Has it been that long since I used the mono that I forgot completely? I guess I did.

After about third crank I got a hit but because my lift was so high up I got no leverage to set a hook! Not for the lack of trying as I tried to drive the hook into the mouth with my rod now extended over my head. Then bang,bang,bang…I missed all three hits. I reeled the bucktail in and checked my hook, sharp as a tack. I let the bucktail sail and this time I changed my rod angle, keeping it pointed at the water while twitching. I figured this would give me more room upwards to set the hook with a spongy mono.

Success ! I hook into the what I can tell immediately is a large bluefish as it breaks the surface and tries to spit a hook. Only this bluefish is well in excess of ten or twelve pounds, I am standing on the top of a seawall, looking at the frothy water underneath me, while holding for dear life to my seven foot rod and 12 lb test monofilament. How am I going to land this fish if I can bring it close without getting cut off on the rocks below? Did I forget to mention that I am wearing flip-flops? …oh man, this is not going too well

While bluefish is peeling the drag heading away from rocks my pocket is buzzing. Now what? I remembered that I put the phone in the buzzing mode because I did not thought I could hear the ring over the crashing surf. Should I attempt the fish it out of my soaking pants and possibly drop it in the rocks, never to see it again? Sure ,why not ? It could be President Obama looking for an advice of how to deal with Mideast crisis. Or even worse, it could be Da Wife telling me that I forgot to turn the dryer on….again. As if it takes less effort to push the ON button then to call me?

I was relieved to see “Lenny” on the caller ID. Lenny Ferro or “Silver Fox” as we like to call him is my occasional fishing partner and a hell of a surfcaster. We fish the same areas so we often run into each other and fish together, but we never call each other to chat about God, politics or weather even though both of us are ardent conservatives. We only talk when we got something “fishy” to say. So you could say this was an call I just could not let go into the voicemail box.

I pressed “TALK” with one hand while holding onto St Croix with a very pissed off bluefish on the other end. Lenny informed me he was on the beach about five hundred yards to the west killing big bluefish on pencil poppers. Not one under ten pounds and some pushing over 15 pounds. I thanked him for the information and informed him of my predicament to which he replied “got to go, got another fish on”. You got to admire a man who makes a call while casting, working a pencil popper and hooking up without missing a beat!

Now it was time to concentrate on task at hand. The bluefish was getting tired but as we all know, never surrendering. I finally got it within ten feet of the rocks but I knew that if I brought it any closer that I am risking a change of monofilament touching a rock and snapping off. Losing a fish wasn’t really what bothered me but the thought of losing my favorite bucktail was freaking me out.

I timed the waved and leaned on the fish hard while at the same time jumping down the rocks to the water’s edge. If I could grab a 50 lb leader and lift the fish before the next set arrive I might be able to get out of this predicament without any further damage. I muscled the fish towards the rocks, putting a bend into my St Croix Legend that I did not though was possible. I was almost home free, the bluefish ,still trashing, was at the base of the rocks. Because I use a short leader however I had a hard time reaching it so I decided to pull on the monofilament and lift the fish onto the rock. Bad idea!

part two tomorrow