I found out yesterday that I created quite a stir among certain part of surfcasting community…unknowingly mind you. It seems like some people got their panties in a bunch because I opened my seminar at River’s End last Saturday by saying you can’t catch a big fish on a plug.

Except , I never said that.

What I said that if you are going to hunt for big fish your best options are in this order, live bait, cut or dead bait and then plugs. No surprise here to anyone who has been fishing for more than five minutes. There are very few spots were plugs are the only way to reach a fish and even there, the wetsuit will usually taker care of that

However, someone obviously wanted to twist this to benefit them. As if the guy who wrote a book on fishing with lures would ever make such a statement? The easy thing to do would be to call these fellows out but that is not what we do here.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me resume my regularly scheduled broadcast. Maybe we should be giving fresh bunker away or live eels instead of plugs? There is an idea

It was also brought to my attention that whatever I write here or talk in seminars could affect sales along the coast. Wow…we knew we were good but not that good. That is just silly however

Our job is to bring information to you, about lifestyle, conservation, new products, new places. But that is where we end and your research begins. Don’t ever let something written on this blog serve as a only reason why you bought a product or went to a certain place. You should do your own diligence on any products we feature on blog or mag.

Remember, your grandma silver spoon with attached hook  will catch a fish in  blitz.

As you can tell, today is a kind of a day when I wondered why I spent more than half a day making a 2 minute video on tuning a metal lip swimmer…or why does SJ still exists ? I am thisclose from walking away from all this…. 

Speaking of big fish…there are different views on how to set the drag. In fact there are different views on how to release the fish, hook a bunker, sharpen your hook, what waders are the best, what broad casts better and most importantly and something that keeps most of us up at night, who makes the best wood plug ……..right.

Who do I listen  to ? The people I respect. Like John Skinner

So here is yet another video for your amusement and education

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs2etM4Ls9Q[/youtube]

Not quite sure how , but no one guessed that my second picture in the magazine was one of Flip Pallot, staring in a rearview mirror on page 191. Not only its different and well composed but I love the dude…

So we well put you all out of the misery and award the Super Strike Killer Bee darter to the fellow who came closest which was a guess of a page # 188.

That would be a fellow by the name of  MattD

you still have to furnish us your shipping address however….within 5 days

Fishing is picking up in lots of places and it won’t be long before bluefish are found in the inlets. 80 degrees today ? Figures. God forbid it would be on weekend.

oh yeah I didn’t you to miss  this post from another blog thread

My fellow surfcasters,

I cannot thank you enough for kind words & support.
I will be the first one to tell you that I am not a hero.
But I have the privilege & honor to take care of our wounded heroes
as a mobilized Navy reservist nurse working in the NATO hospital here.
I am still proud of serving our country for 27 years,
also prior service w/ the USMC & NJ Army Guard.
Once again thank you for your support of our troops everywhere.
God Bless America!

Sincerely,
Vince MIralles

In other news….I figured you guys will get a kick of out this poorly made quick video…it’s the thought that counts 🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a6dFgNY2C8[/youtube]

To what extent do you modify your lures?

Even the lure like  a darter,  which mostly people find to be too temperamental to be tinkered with benefits from few modifications. Adding a single hook with a bucktail or a feather improves a profile and makes it appear the lure has a “tail”.

Adding a 4/0 or even 5/0 hooks makes a darter run deeper and dig better in the waves. And that only on the darter…all lures can be modified in some ways, regardless if you are trying to slow down its action with bigger hook, cast it better by adding a slip ring to back hook or add a split ring to a nose of a pencil popper to make it dance better…then of course there are modification that lets you add a fast clip easier to your lure..and on and on

One of the lures that I get asked about  most when doing seminars is a metal lip swimmer. We all know that you can make your lure swim “down” by bending a nose wire up and consequently the opposite will happen when you bend the wire down. But sometimes I think the words just ring hallow and some of you need a better “visual” of what I am talking about.

So here is a short “in water” demonstration.

I will apologize for a lousy edit in advance..unfortunately Mac  does not want to play nice with my avchd files that come out of my hd camcorder so still have to make everything on Corel garbage. I am not sure what I was thinking there, I didn’t have a time to buy a single permit this year, never mind leaning final cut. I do  have to admit that I am intrigued with the idea of fishing a whole year without a permit. that would obviously limit my mobility but on the other hand it would make me learn few spots that I fish better. It would make for an interesting year now that Lou is building me not one but two, two piece St Croix Legend rods.

.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAu4Yygu9MA[/youtube]

You figure with internet and print, by now you’d know every lure maker from Delaware to Maine, right?

Or at least those who are in the shops and whose plugs are highly regarded.

I have one lure maker in mind that I would bet good money flies under the radar.

Few years ago at Asbury show, Ryan Smith of the RM Smith fame, good friend and a very popular lure builder brought over the lure in a package and put it my hand. “Try this” he said” it’s my secret weapon when I fish the Cape Cod Canal”

it was a canal style pencil popper that was made by Hess family. On the package it said Guppy Lure Company. As usual , being that Asbury is in winter I didn’t even think about the plug till one June morning when I cast it into the Jones Beach surf. I knew immediately why Ryan had such a hard-on for this plug as plug sailed and sailed. Slanted pencil poppers or “canal style” are best suited for areas with current or moving water and that one was no exception.

Being that I fished close to the JI inlet I had plenty if current to work with and plug preformed beautifully. Over the last few years I fished a bit at the Canal and talked to many who swear by Guppy’s pencils. In fact, you can see the picture of Ryan Smith dragging the big fish out of the water at  Guppy Lure website.

www.guppylure.com

So today , in honor of undiscovered gems, we will give you a chance to win this yellow scaled 3 oz Guppy Lures  JoBo Jr. Pencil Popper

I would like to thank CT Surfcasters Association for inviting me to speak Wednesday night. Always a pleasure  hanging with  those fine folks. If you are not a member and you live in CT you should definitely check them out at http://www.connecticutsurfcasters.com/fishing-club/

500 miles of driving in two trips to CT sounds like a lot but an upcoming trip to Florida with two kids will be much more painfull I am afraid 🙂

I am having a hard time believing that not one of you have guessed my second favorite picture yet ….I guess I’ll have to award it to the dude that came closest.

Some of you asked for the address of Mr. Vincent Mirelles in Afghanistan

Here it is, go make his day..

Vince Miralles
NATO Role 3 MMU
APO, AE 09355

you want to drop him a line ?

reynspooner@hotmail.com

Did you ever wondered what was the first  lure  legendary Don Musso made in conjunction with late Danny Pichney?

You can hear it from the man himself

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5suRBeR1S-s[/youtube] 

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 I received this note from Amazon.com the other day

Greetings,
I bought “The Art of Surfcasting with Lure” from Amazon but Mr Zeno Hromin
refunded my money because I am serving our country in Southwest Asia.
I would like to send him a personal thank you for supporting the troops.
If he will not mind. can I have an address to send it to him. Thank you
for your time & assistance.

Sincerely,
Vince Miralles

What Vince does not know is that he does not need to thank us, we should be thanking HIM for everything he does so we can enjoy our freedom at home. I think I can speak for all Surfcaster’s Journal readers in wishing Vince safe stay abroad and safe return home to his family.

It turns out, Vince if from  Jersey City, NJ 

He likes to cast his line in Hudson River, off Liberty State Park and downtown Exchange Place to catch stripers, blues and fluke.

These days Vince is in Afghanistan, and on his down time he enjoys a good cup of coffee

 a Cuban cigar….

and a good book 🙂

..

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Since no one guessed my second favorite picture (my favorite is page 84) I will give you a chance to guess again, and since the winner of Super Strike Killer Bee Darter never claimed the prize….you will have  chance to win it

but this time I will make your life even easier

these are the numbers that were already guessed so now you know which pages not to pick !!

140,157,143,51,84,83,140,145,78,137,187,154,75,88,82,51,141,57,82,13,163,75,78,146,185,170,183,151,167,91,54,51,154,155,91,14,82,155,80,6,7, back cover, front cover

Many of you have stated an interest in something more than just a giveaway so here is your chance to win Super Strike Darter Killer Bee..witha  little effort and a lucky guess 🙂

[issuu layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml showflipbtn=true documentid=110308003917-21741ced73f243ec859cfedc908ef1cf docname=issue6 username=SURFCASTERS_JOURNAL loadinginfotext=issue%206 width=420 height=162 unit=px]

The winner of Surfcasters Journal one of a kind embroidered hat is

Vic D’Annunzio

for catching and releasing this nice fish few days ago. Picture taken by his buddy Greg who had multiple entries himself in last year Striperthon contents

Congrats and NICE FISH !!!

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sent by the blog subscriber Mickey Melchiondo
 enjoy the action

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNx_wdpqs4I[/youtube]

Recent changes in the guidelines to beach and water access in NJ are being battled over in the NJ courts. Four groups of access advocates are fighting this fight for all of us who use the beaches in NJ. CRABS (citizens rights to access beaches) The American Littoral Society, The Surf rider foundation, and The NYNJ Bay keepers are spearheading this effort. I recently discovered this issue and thought as a surf fisherman what can I do to keep my access open so that I can fish?

Changes to the access in NJ are coming on fast these will allow each individual town/municipality to set their own rules for access. The following are examples of the DEP changes, which could be made by individual towns:

• Loss of 24/7 access to coastal waters
•        Loss of 24/7 access wow this is a big deal for us as surf fisherman. Imagine not being able to hit your favorite beach with a black SS needle after dark? Never again being able to see the sun rise on bird play while throwing that big old Big Don Pencil? I can’t imagine not being to eel off of the Manasquan Jetty through the night?
• Loss of the requirement for 1/4 mile access points
• Loosing access points to stretches of beach which we now use might just cause issues of trespass onto private property. I can’t imagine areas that are fishy being ignored because of limited access. Guy’s will just cut through private property.
• Loss of requirement Continue reading →