I know many of you are making plans for this 4th of July weekend, I sincerely hope you catch plenty of fish and have a great time with your families. Tommy is putting finishing touches on the new issue, you should see it in few days.

Here is a video preview of issue #26

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YGjRMR11yw&list=UUcdm2o9ggNaFzXclL0_HRlg&feature=share[/youtube]

As you see, there is a new video from SJ columnist John Skinner, in addition to all your other favorite columnists.

We also have a full version of this Cuttyhunk Aerial video

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

and also a full version of Canal Memories with Wayne Hess from Guppy Lures. In addition to that there is a video from Red Top Sporting in Buzzards Bay Mass and of course, articles

[youtube]http://youtu.be/4mZrVVegv2M[/youtube]

Frank Pintauro on Vintage Lures

Interview with new ownership of Gibbs Lures

The Bottom Connection by Dennis Zambrotta

Lights & Shadows – by legendary Frank Daignault

$#!+ Happens – by Bill Jakob

A Team Approach – by Jeff Lomonaco & Luke Gaddis

We also have a new product giveaway slated for a this 4th from Hansom Tackle, a fitting Made in USA product, stay tuned for that

The winners of two spools of Spider wire Ultracast Ultimate Braid are

beachfire@optonline.net

Fleckworld@yahoo.com

tjsteiner04@yahoo.com

All three of you have 5 days to contact us and to furnish your shipping address and choice of braid pound strength. Congrats

Since I have been fishing since last moratorium (but not during the last moratorium) I am pretty confident that what I am abut to write will hold true. And if it doesn’t, well,  then its going to be another prediction that never came true and I pulled out of my butt.

The schools of bass are getting smaller and smaller. The bite (if you are on it) is nothing like you are used to it. Often times its just one tide and fish are gone. Long gone are days of a week long solid bite where you could have tuned your clocks to the time the fish would arrive at particulate stage of the tide. I am truly sorry for those of you who have not experienced seeing a hundred guys lined up on a workweek Thursday morning in the inlet

The bass will not be extinct. I don’t think that will happen but you will have to search for them harder then ever before. And because there is less of them, the competition for available food will wane amongst them. No longer do they have to compete with hundreds of other bass in the school. Makes sense, no?

Now here is an interesting question. Will the bass sit on the bottom and ignore your lure becouse of less competition? Strangely enough, I would say yes. If bass wasn’t sure about your lure but another was going to beat him or her to it, they would reflexive react. Will they do it now? I don’t think so. I think there will be more fish in the area you fish and you will never know. Which means that your presentation will be even more important going forward.

Where will big fish be? I have no idea. But I can tell you with more or less certainty that they will become more active around new and full moon’s in May and June at Montauk. Check Paulies FB page and then correspond those dates with moon periods and you’ll see what I am talking about. (ps, I can only talk about places I am familiar. No desire to be like some keyboard fisherman who will give advice on Martha’s Vineyard from their home in NJ after they visited once). This happens just about every year and people then act like “wow, I need to get my butt out to Montauk”. How about a little forward thinking and planning? After all, same few guys cash in their chips every year.

Nor’easter, or hard sustained NE winds in spring will give up few big fish in Montauk. It never fails. In fact, a hard NE winds for at least few days will lit up the same place in the fall but you’ll have to find them. Last year fish were all over the south side for few days during hard NE in fall  but not in the lighthouse area. There are not enough fish/not big enough school size to be everywhere.

Fall run will be a shadow of its former self as it was last year. Other then two weeks in earl November the beaches were devoid of life where I fish. The days of getting to the inlet at the beginning of the outgoing in the dark and watching peanuts/mullet/herring gushing out and fish on their tails will be something we’ll have to explain to those getting in sport today. Bluefish might fill this void but they are not nearly as predictable as bass.

Place like False Bar, where you can almost guaranty some type of fish once the current turns to outgoing any time from mid September on is going to be something that we will fondly remember. Last year people were telling me they thought they had a bump. Or maybe they hit the rock, they weren’t sure. Fish will be there again once stocks recover and maybe bluefish will fill the void, particularly on full moon nights but that almost guaranteed action with bass will be thing of the past.

Sadly, I think two things that I enjoyed most over the years, mullet ruin and Nor’easters on South Shore are almost nonexistent already. Or I should say, have been dormant with action for many, many years now. So I don’t anticipate that to change. There has been plenty of mullet (and nor’easters) over the past few years but neither produced much of the bite.

Depressing?  Yeah to some extent. If you are a guy who likes nothing more than a good blitz you will pay the highest price. If you already prefer to hunt for your fish, you will be ok. You’ll get your share but the numbers will pale in comparison to years of abundance.

Unfortunately , this is how democracy works. If we had tyranny, a dictator dude would say ” No Bass For You” like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld and that would be that. Democracy on the other hand is made out of a lot of layers, trying to insure everyone has a voice. Buts its a slow grinding machine that does not often act in time when quick action is needed.

Keep writing letters, going to meetings and keep fighting for this great fish. No one else seems to be giving a damn which is a shame.

As Lee Wolf has said “Game fish are too valuable to only be caught once”

Here is the aerial view of Cuttyhunk, the full video will appear in few days in the issue # 216 of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine

Enjoy

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

Editors note

I know I am running little behind so here we go.

The winner of Rockhopper package of Surf Belt and Surf Clip is  Kevinsarz@comcast.net

You have 5 days to email us at info@surfcastersjournal.com and claim your prize. We need your shipping address.

The app…yes, I know we promised it in May. Lesson learned not to open my mouth before I actually see stuff. Tommy is in charge of this, I honestly do not know anything about it. All I know is that Tommy told me that it will be live and functional with July issue. Keeping my fingers crossed.

And now for today’s blog by SJ Rod Guru Lou Caruso

Zeno

By Lou Caruso

To all,
Here is your chance to be heard. If you have had it with  ASMFC, now is your chance to be heard. If you send the below e-mail or snail mail letter to Mr. Michael Waine it will be distributed to every member of the board for their next meeting. Now is your chance to be heard on the future of stripe bass. Every fisher needs to get off their ass, (not literally if your sending an email) and do this. It will take you less then 5 minutes…..

This letter was written by someone with far better writing skills then myself, obviously …. It was written to be sent by the NYSCRF but has been edited slightly to fit the individual user.

I am attaching My Waynes contact information, both email or if you insist, his snail mail address. THIS MUST BE DONE BY JULY 10th, so don’t put it off. As we all know, the longer we wait, the better the chance it won’t get done..I have made this real simple. You can cut and paste this right to the email you send to My Wayne. Just be sure to add your name and address at the bottom.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do it today…

Mr. Waine’s contact information is:

Michael Waine

Fishery Management Plan Coordinator

1050 North Highland Street

Suite 200 A-N

Arlington, Va 22201

Email: mwaine@asmfc.org

To Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Officials;

I am writing this letter to offer comments regarding proposed option changes and striped bass management.

To say that I am disappointed in a lack of action from ASMFC and its recent approach to striped bass management is an understatement. My disappointment is fueled by several significant factors. First, Amendment 6 (2003) states that when a trigger or triggers are exceeded action MUST be taken in one year. However, although triggers were exceeded, no action has been taken. Instead, there has been a seemingly endless array of motions that are clearly designed to delay action, alter amendment 6, and obstruct the proper management of the species. These delays run contrary to the ASMFC amendment rules and are potentially even more damaging to the striped bass population as it also struggles against poor recruitment since 2000, Mycobacteriosis disease, and intense fishing pressure on existing year classes. This failure to take action is an outrage. The failure to act is illogical, is a travesty, and recreational fishers up and down the coast demand ASMFC action now!

Second, it appears to the world outside of the ASMFC that a well thought out plan for management has been hi-jacked by representatives from the states for purposes of their own greed and the greed of their associates. We demand to know why officials in charge of ASMFC have allowed state representatives to delay action and attempt to misappropriate the plan and amendment 6 that is intended to protect and preserve the striped bass. Did we not learn a painful lesson from the 1980s when delays in action almost brought the species to endangered status?

Third, the ASMFC board has hidden behind a smoke screen of demands for precise statistics, studies of option effects, more studies to study studies, and the possible outcomes of “new” ideas that would permit the increased harvest of male fish purported to be in “excess,” and the exploitation of the 2011 Chesapeake year class before, God forbid, it “escapes” from the estuary and enters the coastal migration where all users might enjoy the resource. Have we conveniently forgotten that MANY MALES must attend a single female in order to properly fertilize her eggs? As far the 2011 YOY, why should Chesapeake fishermen be allowed a “privileged” harvest and effect future migrations thus depriving coastal anglers of equal opportunity? Every recreational angler knows, albeit in the absence of precise data, that the Atlantic Coast population of striped bass has declined and is declining rather rapidly. All one needs do is go fishing regularly for striped bass and compare recent results with their results from the 1990s in order to appreciate that reality. Also, although much attention is paid to the Chesapeake stock since it is the largest ask any Long Island angler and they’ll tell you that the Hudson stock is in even worse shape. In the western Long Island Sound anglers are dependent on the Hudson stock for their overall success. To make matters worse in the Hudson, the highly publicized 2007 Hudson year class has not turned out to be the predicted bonanza. There are some fish caught from this year class, but they are few and far between.

Fourth, when we blow away the smog and fog of misdirected studies and debates, the REAL reason for all the delaying tactics is the desire of some people to make MONEY from the killing of striped bass. We ask why ASMFC officials continue to move ahead at a snail’s pace in light of the extreme effects a declining population of striped bass has on the millions of non-dollar motivated anglers? Non-dollar motivated anglers sole interests lie in engaging in a sporting interaction with striped bass, a concern for the food species they need, and healthy ecosystems to support vibrant populations of marine life. Of course in the process, striped bass sportsmen contribute millions of dollars to coastal and local economies. These local and regional businesses include small family-run operations that have been harshly and extremely affected both by a poor economy nationwide and a decline in the striped bass population. Somehow, this portion of the economy doesn’t receive the same emphasis by ASMFC board members as does the demands from those who make money from striped bass. Yet, all studies have shown there is a straight-line connection between the size of the striped bass population and how much money sportsmen spend on their recreation. I do not represent people who wish to get rich at the expense of the striped bass population. Those who exploit the population are only interested in how many fish they can kill instead of how healthy the population is or the quality of the angling experience of non-dollar motivated fishers. There is an enigma in this and it is short sighted because all interest groups benefit most when stocks are at the highest levels. It is shocking in this era of supposed “enlightened” fisheries management to bear witness to the reality that the erroneous time-honored approach in fisheries of the “prisoner’s dilemma” is still alive and well when most thought it dead decades ago.

More disappointment.

So, with not a single dollar bill of motivation, here is what I support and demand. Yes, demand, because the time for tomfoolery and delays has past and the needs of the species MUST NOW COME FIRST!

1. I demand immediate action: One year and not 3.
2. I demand a 31% reduction in mortality in one year. Since any plan only has a 50% chance of success, delays will only reduce the odds of success, since more and more fish will have perished.
3. I support a 1 fish at 32″ per angler per day-regardless of where, how, and when the fish is caught. This regulation must be applied to all venues including party boats and charter boats. Making $$ on the fish does not justify providing these harvesters with an advantage.  Likewise, 1 fish at 32″ should be the standard in the estuary as well. The notion that only small fish are caught in the estuary is nonsense. All places have their seasons and that’s why anglers invest great effort in the estuaries around spawning time. Yet, be it Chesapeake Bay, the Hudson River, or the Connecticut River, it is true that fewer big fish are taken during off-spawning times, but they are caught. Stripers migrate from place to place and each area has its bigger fish season, all anglers in all regions should abide by the same regulations.
4. Minimize the dragger by-catch. Either directed or truly accidental.
5. Take immediate steps to end the severe poaching of small fish in the inner cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York.

Yours Truly,

(your full name and address)

I remember Spiderwire (was it Fusion ?) being THE braid years ago. Yes it was a lot bulkier then its current models, but it was still light years ahead of mono in those days. In fact, I believe its the first braided like I ever used. Eventually I fished with Fireline and Fireline Braid and bunch of other lines over the years.

Spidewire came back on my radar when they came out with Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid and Spiderwire Ultracast Invisi-Braid recently. Used it last year and had no problems and gained few yards on my cast, bad elbow and all.

I want some of our readers to try it so we are going to give two Blog readers a chance to win (2) Two spools each in line test of their choice ,either 20,30 or 50lb of Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid

Here are the specs

Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid is the BEST braided fishing line ever made PERIOD! Ultracast outcasts, and outlasts all the competitors. Unlike the other braids, Ultracast requires no break-in period. It is limp and ready-to-fish right out of the box. It’s stronger, smoother, and much more durable, while still amazingly thin and sensitive. With Spiderwire, Nothing Get’s Away!

-Ultra Smooth 8 Carrier Construction with Dyneema PE Fibers
-Extremely High Strength-per-Diameter
-Amazingly Thin and Sensitive
-High Pick-Count for Roundness and Durability
-Use Palomar Knot for Best Performance

[youtube]http://youtu.be/eNEDocGcF74[/youtube]

I know some of you will take exception to what I am about to write but its something that is rattling in my head and I want to see what everyone’s feelings are on it. Personally, I think there is way too much “where are the fish” instead of learning how to catch fish in your local spots. I been fortunate over the years to be clued in few things but I also spend many night intently looking at what other people are doing. I share as much as I can but sometimes I also hold back few things..

The other night, I arrived at one of my local holes in Jones Inlet to find three guys fishing were I wanted to fish. I was waaaaaay overdressed in comparison, waders, jacket, belt where they had shorts and sneakers. I know this crew from before and they always have tossed bait in the past and often leaving this spot looking like a pigsty. But now all three were tossing bucktails…hmm, that is interesting.

There are certain spots, pick any jetty from Montauk to Cape May where guys toss clams and bunker all day long off the jetties only to leave at dusk. I am cool with that (other then ungodly mess they leave behind). I rarely show up before dark and considering impending darkness and no cleats, a little after sunset they are almost always gone. They catch their share of sea robins, skates and occasional blue or bass. So far, I have never seen them graduate to plugs. Until this year…..when bluefish showed up few weeks ago they were all armed with tins and they were bailing fish. Yeah, having no cleats, they lost quite a few fish into the rocks. But once it got dark they were gone. They weren’t missing much as finding a bass has been tough here even at night.

So after exchanging pleasantries I also attached a bucktails and watched. They were doing everything right, casting far and in the right place but their retrieve was kind of wrong. I made a cast and about half way trough the cast I got a bump but I didn’t set a hook. On three consecutive casts I got a bump but again, I did not set a hook. I switched to tsunami Shad and again I got a solid bump but no hook up. However there was a reason to switching to a shad. If the blues were around that shad would have been cut in half but it was not. There were bass stacked up in the rip but If I catch even one these guys will never leave.

What to do?

I took a rigged eel and replaced a shad. I figured I’d toss this and if I do get a fish it will at least be a decent one. Small fish tend to shy away from the large rigged eels. No sooner as it hit the water I got a hit all right…but not the one I wanted…trrrrrr, trrrr…oh !**!%.

Bluefish , and small one by the bite marks took few chunks of it. Now what? I continued to cast the darn eel, it was already damaged. I got few more bumps from small blues but I managed to get it away from them by fast retrieve. About an hour in the darkness, they gave up and started to pack. I attached the bucktail with pork rind as they were about 50 feet away with their backs turned to me and BANG…fish on. I managed about a dozen bass in the next two hours, nothing huge, up to about mid teen.

I finally split around midnight as I had to get up at 4 am to go to work. As I drove home, my conscience was bothering me a bit. Should have I told them what to do? But then I will never have a piece and quiet at that spot. Its not like they were going to call me with reports in return. If anything they would bring even more people here. Not only that but one guy mentioned to me that he got a $300 ticket for an undersized bass last year and that bugged the crap out of me.

I don’t now what the answer is, helping a fellow human being was always a right thing to do but helping three of them catch a fish that you know will all end up dead didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Yet, they were so close in what they were doing, all they needed was to adjust one thing, be that a retrieve speed, pork rind size, depth, twitch…

PS

Winner of RockHopper package, some news on the app, new giveaway to coming later this weekend

Recently I was asked this question in the Surf Rats Ball and I thought it might be of interest for the readers of the SCJ blog.
“I usually schedule 2 trips back east. One during September and one in October. I spend most of the time in Montauk. Which dates would you prefer fishing Montauk and why. September 12-26 or October 5-18?”
September 12-26 or October 5-18?
Planning a trip is a difficult thing as it is impossible to predict a bite. However since it has been my job to help people plan trips for the past 17 or so years I will give you my thoughts. First let’s look at your September dates. You have a full moon on the 9th and the new on the 24th. First the white bait should be in full force after the moon of the 9th as it usually begins in late August. About 4 or 5 years ago I would have said that you have an excellent chance of blitz fishing any time after this first moon of September, however the fishing truly seems to be on a decline and despite massive amounts of white bait in the suds at this time the chance of blitz fishing has declined. However, if you do not have a major weather system swing through you should be able to target some resident cows around the full moon. Lots of snappers should be around and if you’re willing to do the work you may hook into a fish of a lifetime. By the new moon we should have plenty of mullet, and a possible migration of juvi weakfish, although I believe that will happen during the next moon. The striper migrators should be there in full force at this time, however if the past 4 or five years are any indication it will be mostly be a night bite, barring a nor’easter which would mean excellent day time fishing as well. Remember there is always a chance of masses blitzes this time of year, as they have been a consistent phenomenon, at least for the past 32 years ( except for the past 4 or 5 years) since I have been fishing there.
OCTOBER 5-18
10/8 Full moon and 10/23 new moon.
You might think that you will miss the new moon of October if you plan on coming this time of year. Indeed you will, but you will be there on the full for October. The fact that this is a full in early October makes it very likable for me. The water should still be warm probably around 60 degrees, and with this moon there should be a push of even more bait coming out of the bays. I suspect that if we see a run of juvi weakfish it will happen on this moon. On calm bright nights the white bait should be in the surf mixed with snappers, mullet and hopefully the juvi weaks. You usually will not find the white bait in the surf on darker nights. That to me adds up to some great fishing. I would not count on the day bites, but keep a close eye out as they could happen at any time, but remember even the blitzes are based on tides. Getting into them consistently is not idiot fishing like some think. I know you are not going to be there on 10/24 but I suspect that that weekend should be one of the best for Montauks fall run. We usually get a quick cool at that time of year combined with the moon it can be fantastic.
In conclusion, in the eighties I would have told you late October – Late November as being the best times for the Montauk fall run. In the 90’s up until 4 or 5 years ago I would have said, mid-September – mid October. Based on the last few years I would take the October dates, however that September new moon could be bad ass!!

Bill Wetzel is what we like to call “The Hardest Working Guide in the Surf”. A quintessential Montauk Regular Bill works hard at teaching his clients the secrets of Montauk coves and consistently puts them on the fish. No wonder most of his customers come back for more year after year. Bill also runs a Surf Rats ball, Subscribers only forum at http://www.surfratsball.com/ There he exchanges ideas with his subscribers and of course, logs each and every one of his trips for all to read. Check it out at http://www.surfratsball.com/

I am going to repost John McMurray Blog post here on SJ Blog to give it more publicity. I am sick of being told that fish are in EEZ, tired of few idiot pin hookers who are afraid they going to lose their tags so they are spamming website and telling everyone fish are offshore feeding on squid. I am sick of hearing how water is too cold three days before summer starts. I am done with excuses of fertilizer runoffs, dredging, weed, late seasons and I am sick of watching those around me struggle to get fish. Don’t tell me anymore its the affects of Sandy, please. There will always be striped bass, you will never kill them all. And the bites in some places will be intense although short lived as John’s post illustrates (which has been my experience too). But lets not hide behind what’s good for sport, for tackle stores, for manufacturers, for party and charter boats, for Surfcaster’s Journal and other publication. Its time to get our head out of our collective asses and do what’s best for the fish. I am not a scientist and I don’t know what that is but if someone tells me I cant never eat a striped bass again, I can live with it. Just for once, do something that is best for the !#%& species.

And no, this is not to encourage you to eat bluefish,

Zeno

This blog post is from reel-time.com…you should check out the other posts

Eat Bluefish!

Keeper stripers showed in good numbers this week, so why the F are we killing them all!

Photo by Capt. John McMurray

Yes, we finally had some good striper fishing this week, which is a darn good thing, as at least for a few days I don’t feel like strangling everyone.

What’s left of the last strong year class we had, the 2003s, seems to have finally stumbled across all those immense schools of bunker that have been loitering along the south shore of western Long Island. (The 2011s were strong also, but they have yet to recruit). It was actually pretty epic at times, with adult menhaden spraying out of the water as 25- to 35-pound bass boiled underneath them. They were taking surface plugs, even flies if you fished them right. Most people of course were live lining. … Pretty mucheveryone was killing fish. I mean a lot of them. Unfortunate that this exploded on Sunday, so there were a lot of boats out and a lot of guys on the beach. All of them killing fish.

I get it, man. Bass haven’t really been around in good numbers in the last few years, so when they did show, everyone felt they had the right. And I suppose they did. Still, it doesn’t make it right.

But before getting to that, lemme just talk about the lack of fish. Some of the unenlightened still blame it on the weather, confirming their armchair theories with the sudden onslaught of 2003s in June. But that ain’t it. There are simply less stripers around. We all see it on the water, and it’s been pretty well documented by the pointy-head science guys, also. But these infrequent slugs of fish moving though, while awesome even as they become more short-lived and infrequent, probably aren’t helping convince managers that there’s a real problem.

It’s not unusual for fish to be locally abundant, even when a stock is depleted overall, and such pockets of good fish stand out even more when they appear in an otherwise empty sea. They have become the new norm in the striped bass fishery, and it’s kinda a bummer. I pretty much built my business around the schoolie fishery. I really hate to be one of those old guys waxing about “how it used to be,” but we used to consistently catch a dozen, maybe two dozen fish in the 18- to 24-inch range, with the occasional good fish (in the 30- to 40-inch range) mixed in. Even if we didn’t catch a good fish, there was always the expectation that we could, and that always brought people back.

Now what we have are scenarios like the one I described above, where we have brief but extraordinary showings of fish, all of which are generally large. A couple of years ago, right around July 4^th , we actually stuck more 40 and 50s in the space of a just few days than I had ever seen in my life. On the third day, I ran out of Breezy Point after telling my clients how awesome it had been the prior two days to find the same sort of bait concentrations, identical conditions, but zero fish. The small but concentrated body of fish had simply moved on. There wasn’t much before them, and nothing came in their wake.

I’m all for extraordinary fishing, but it’s tough to handle the huge highs and then the low lows. I imagine it’s like coming down from a good crack buzz or something. Leaves you empty and just wanting more. For sure I’d rather just have the sort of consistency we used to have, which comes with a healthy fishery and a good distribution of age classes, so I don’t feel like I want to punch everyone during three-quarters of the fishing season.

But I’ve talked about all this stuff before, and I’m getting off track. The point is that when these fish do show up, why do we all feel compelled to kill them? I mean, come on man. Don’t we realize that these are the last of a great year class and it would benefit us all to just let them go so that maybe we can catch them again next year? For Christ’s sake, the big ones don’t even taste good! If you’ve ever eaten a fish over 40 inches I’m guessing you know what I mean. They have those thin purple veins throughout the fillet. I imagine it’s very similar to eating a ribeye from an 80-year-old steer. Yuck!

While we’re on the subject, striped bass in general doesn’t really taste like anything. Sure it’s “white” and “flakey,” which for some reason is what the magazines say we should want from our fish, but seriously, it’s relatively tasteless. Sure, it’s good when you fry it, but anything is good fried. I suppose all the chefs like it because it’s, well, bland and serves as a good medium for various sauces they’ve concocted, and I get that also. But I dunno man. When I eat fish, I kinda want it to taste like fish.

So … brass tacks. I’m sure there are some who may disagree with me here, but as a food fish, striped bass generally sucks. And as we all pretty much know at this point, the stock is in trouble. If all of you guys really give a shit about the stock as much as you say you do, then stop killing them! I know, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the hunt. Hell, if you don’t get all fired up when it goes off, then you shouldn’t be fishing! But take a step back next time you get into them good. And think to yourself all the reasons you should just snap a quick photo and throw that big beautiful fish back in the water, so it can spawn again, so that another angler can encounter it one day, when it’s even bigger!

Photo by Capt. John McMurray

Listen, there are plenty of bluefish around right now. In fact, I’ve been having some epic fishing in just a couple feet of water, fishing poppers for some monster bluefish. If you are turning your nose up right now, you are gonna have a really tough seven or eight years before the striped bass resource gets back to where it should be. And that’s assuming Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission does the right thing, and we all know it may not.

The point is that if you want to bring something home for the table, kill a bluefish.

Don’t give me that bullshit about how you simply “don’t like” bluefish. And yeah, I’ve heard the one about placing a bluefish on plank. Placing the plank and the fish on a grill. Cooking for 30 minutes, then throwing away the fish and eating the plank.

The truth is the stigma comes from all those jackasses eating bluefish that are either too large (and have been eating bunker their whole lives) or aren’t fresh. Dollars to doughnuts, if you don’t like bluefish, that’s because you haven’t prepared them right. So I’m gonna do you a huge favor and give you my double-secret bluefish recipe, even though I’ve been hoarding it for myself and my family for the last 20 years.

Trust me. If you like fish at all, you will like this!

First, cut the throat of the fish when you catch it and let it bleed out on the ice. Then,

• Take a “small” bluefish (5 pounds and under), fillet and skin.
• Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees or as hot as that MF will go
• Put a generous slab of butter on a 12 inch by 12 inch piece of aluminum foil
• Put the fillet on top of it
• Generously salt then cover it with lemon pepper (if you don’t have, then just use lemon juice and cracked pepper)
• Put two more generous tabs of butter on top
• Slice up some onions and place across the fillet
• Wrap up the fillet
• Place it on a cookie sheet
• Note: if you do more than one fillet, wrap each fillet individually
• Cook for 8 to 10 minutes
• Put on plate, open the foil and eat right from the foil (note: there is no reason to remove it from the foil. If you do that you will totally F it up).
• Note: Asparagus goes really good with this, and so does a baked potato … and, um, so does an ice cold Budweiser out of a can. You fancy beer snobs can drink whatever trendy IPA you might have in the fridge. And, um, the wife says pinot grigio goes well with it also.

Yes, bluefish is a “fishy” tasting fish, and yes, the big ones can be “oily.” But the ones under five pounds, if fresh, are really F’n good if you just give them a chance – especially when they are prepared in the way described above, where you are basically steaming the fillet in butter. I mean really, what could be better? There are a lot of other ways to prepare them. Capt. Paul Eidman makes ceviche, which I haven’t yet tried, but I’m told is awesome. (Hook us up with a recipe, Paul!)

The point of all this drivel about killing/cooking/eating bluefish is so you knuckleheads might think twice about killing bass in the increasingly rare instances they do show these days. Seriously, just because they haven’t been around, should we knock the shit out of them when they do show? Is that bland striped bass fillet with the gnarly veins running though it worth the spawning potential you just destroyed? The answer is no! All the talk means nothing if you choose not to walk the walk. Take home a couple of bluefish instead. Try that recipe, then thank me in the morning.

Peace…

About Capt. John McMurray

After obtaining an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Loyola College in Maryland, Captain John McMurray served in the US Coast Guard for four years as a small-boat coxswain and marine-fisheries law enforcement officer. He was then recruited to become the first Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association New York. He is currently the Director of Grants Programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation in New York. He is the owner and primary operator of “One More Cast” Charters. John is a well known and well published outdoor writer, specializing in fisheries conservation issues. In 2006 John was awarded the Coastal Conservation Association New York Friend of Fisheries Conservation Award.

Yes, 18 minutes of nothing but hooking and unhooking fluke in sequence. Yeah, its sick and yeah, you can apply this to surf.

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

First, I want to thank all those who made Spring Striperthon 2014 a success, primarily our sponsors, Craig from Van Staal, Ryan and Nick from StormR, Rich from RH Custom rods, crew from Guppy lures, Hansom Tackle, Barry from RockHopper Fishing and of course, the immortal Musso from Super Strike lures.

Second, I want to wish all dads out there a Happy Father’s Day. I don’t think there is more awesome (and at same time enjoyable) responsibility than being a dad. I look around at my wife and kids and say to myself , I don’t need anything more in life.

But I like catching fish. And the way we are going, there will be less and less fish around unless someone does something drastic. I am sick and tired of hearing wait till “next’ moon, being told the winter was cold, the season is late, the fish are offshore. I watched about half a dozen of best fisherman I know struggle to get a bump locally. Not one of them placed in the tourney. Its 6 days from beginning of summer folks, please stop telling me that everything is running “late”!!! So yes, I am glad to be able to do this tournament for our readers, with help from our sponsors to show people you don’t need to kill a big breeder so you can get your name in lights. I only wish other would follow our lead and stop this continual killing in the name of competition. Thankfully we also had some nice fish entered into the STRIPERTHON this year by our readers who no doubt fished their asses off.

First Prize – courtesy of Van Staal Reels

Lenny Gimmelfarb 43 inches

Van Staal 250 Reel vanstaal.com

Second Prize, courtesy of StormR http://stormrusa.com/

Choice of  one:

         STRYKR or Surf Top

AND

  Torque Gloves     Cast Gloves        Watchcap Beanie      Neoprene Socks       Stickers/Decals     UV Shield Performance Shirt

Frank Goncalves 41 inch  

Third prize, courtesy of CTS and RH Custom Rods http://www.rhcustomrods.com/

CB1003-1  10’ Surf & Jetty Series 2-4 oz. 1pc

Tyler Corsello 40 inch  

Fourth Prize , courtesy of Guppy Custom Lures http://www.guppylure.com/

Lure set 

Christopher Santos 39 inch  

Fifth prize courtesy of RockHopper http://rockhopperfishing.com/

Surf Belt a Quick Draw Pliers Holster and a Belt Clip

Kevin Judd 38 inch  

Sixth prize, courtesy of Super Strike Lures http://www.superstrikelures.com/

Lure Set

Stephen Gallant 38 inches  

Seventh prize, courtesy of Hansom Tackle http://www.hansomtackle.com/

Saltwater Pliers

Frank Murphy 37 inches  

Eight prize

Surfcaster’s Journal Swag

 Steve George 36 inch  

All winners please contact us with your shipping address and we will pass the info to our sponsors who will send you your prizes. Congrats to all

Again, my sincerest thanks to all sponsors and participants for a stress free STRIPERTHON