Since we often feature one giveaway a week, its time to play again. But first we need to announce the winner of last week Bull Nose Pliers giveaway, courtesy of Fisherman Headquarters in Ship Bottom , NJ. You can see a full description here http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/fishing-pliers.htm and they will have them at Surf Day in NJ in two weeks. The winner of the giveaway is roadrage79@comcast.net

You have 5 days to contact us at info@surfcasterjournal.com with your address.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/yhtAmd5voAw[/youtube]

Ok, on to other cool things. Like a chance to win these Prey Swimmers from Big Fish Bait Co. I’ve known Larry, the maker of these lures for many years now and his better half, the Fishchick. I just didn’t know both of them are more talented when it comes to editing videos than I am. Then again that is like saying that a fifth grader has better English spelling skills than I do. Whoever invented the MS Word spelling app saved my life!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Y9k4_zeGdjs[/youtube]

Back to Larry and his awesome plugs. I tried to go on his website but it does not seem to be working properly. Maybe its just me…again. But the dude makes some awesome plugs and I will never, ever forget a day at the Sewer Pipe few years ago with Silver Fox and Donny Musso when I was manning a camera during an epic blitz. The problem was no one could get a fish to hit anything and yet they were swimming around our feet. The water was flat, the fish were on tiny bay anchovies and could not care about plugs, bucktails or flies. Don’t ask me why I went back to the truck parked in lower lot and grabbed a while Big Fish Prey and a rod . Do ask me why I did not take my at least my pliers if not a belt, as I had to call Silver Fox on five consecutive casts to borrow his pliers to unhook a bass.

Then I put the rod away, gave the plug to Silver Fox and grabbed the camera again. I got on to the giant rook at Sewer figuring I’d get a really good angle to a fish crushing the plug for video. But as hard as Silver fox had tried, he could not get a fish to hit . He did get half a dozen of halfhearted swipes. I came of the rock , grabbed my rod again, took my plug back and made a cast. Bam!!! Don Musso said its the must be the orange sides on the plugs. It definitely wasn’t my skills. haha

Whatever it was, Pray has been one of my favorite metal lip swimmers for calm to moderate conditions since I met Larry many years ago. I know he makes plugs in fits and starts but I do hope he resumes his plug making in full one day.

Today , we will give two of our readers a chance for each to win one Big Fish Bait Co Prey swimmer, courtesy of the Big Fish Bait Co.

Good Luck

A Guide to Guides

by Bill Wetzel

There are many different type of guides, but I believe all of us should share some similar qualities to give our customers what they are paying for. But why the heck would you book a guide, especially a surf fishing guide? That is a question I often get asked, and hear tossed around in fishing circles as well. On a personal level I have taken out some very proficient surf casters, some were writers, fellow guides, and very salty sharpies. Some names I am sure most of you would know. The reason they booked me? Well, it varied. Some casters wanted to up their game by tweaking a few things. It may have been learning a bait migration that they did not know about, fishing a type of water that they had little experience with, a tweak in their cast as simple as finger placement, learning new retrieves, the list is long. For others it may have been that they were coming from out of state and wanted to learn as much as they could about the area that they were only going to spend five days or so out of the year fishing. Maybe they have never surf fished before, and just wanted to get that experience from a professional guide? The list is endless.

If you are going to book a guide the first thing I think you should ask yourself is “what do I want to accomplish?” After you figured that out, then I would recommend doing some research on the guide or guides you plan on booking. Most will have a web site, but I would advise going beyond the website, by finding others who have booked the guide. The main thing that you want to know is if others had a good experience. Some guides like myself do very different trips based on ability. Therefore if you get into a conversation with someone about specifics of their trip it will help you if that person is if your ability level, so that you can make a better assessment if the guide is right for you. Here are some questions and things you should consider when booking.

• Be honest with your guide. A good guide will ask you as many questions as you ask the guide. Be honest of your abilities. If you are not, you could find yourself on a slippery rock, one hundred yards or so away from shore, at 2am, with six to seven foot waves coming at you, when all you really wanted to do is some gentle sand beach or Back Bay fishing.
• In your research find out if the guide lives in the area he is guiding. If the guide lives in Kansas, and wants to guide you in Cape Cod, you are better off staying away. A guide should have the area he is taking you tweaked to the point he knows more about the area than just about anyone. He should be able to tell you specifics about winds, tides, currents, bait migrations, and very intimate details about the area he is taking you. Of course you will not get to know those details until you are out there with him, but you can get a general feel for him in conversation.
• 
• Price. Most guides in the area you plan on booking should be in the same ball park. I would recommend not letting a difference of 50 bucks or so sway you in the other direction. Book the guide you think is going to best suit your needs.
•  Equipment. Most of the guides I know in both fishing and non- fishing fields can supply some great equipment. Ask what they have and what you will need. If the guide has better equipment than yours and he recommends that you use it, then by all mean use it. In many cases it is true, better equipment will enable you to catch more fish. Believe me I have been there on this one!
• Perhaps there is not any better advice I could give you then to tell you to listen to your guide. You are booking a guide in part due to the specialized knowledge of the guide. If he tells you to take off the SP minnow and slap a yellow darter on because there is a presence of larger baits, I would recommend doing it and listening to the details.
• Some other questions that you may want to ask or get asked.  Are you in good physical shape? How often do you partake in the activity you are booking? What type of equipment do you have? How old are you? Do you have any physical problems?  Always be honest and give as much info as you can about your needs.
• Taking a buddy or two? Depending on the kind of trip you are booking it may be wise for you to book with a buddy of equal skills to yourself. As a surf fishing guide I will tell casters that if your buddy is a beginner and you are an advanced caster then more than likely the trip will be limited to the caster with the lesser abilities. Further the guy with less experience usually will get more attention, simply because he needs it.

If you are considering booking a guide that takes you on a high mountain top, or sight fishing on a South American flat, or even your local surf fishing guide, I hope this helps you in your decision. See ya on the beach!

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/

Release
by Dennis Zambrotta
An hour of casting plugs and eels into the teeth of a steady southwest breeze and I had not a touch. I was somewhat puzzled as these conditions were perfect for this location. Only 24 hours earlier I managed four bass to thirty pounds in the less than ideal conditions provided by a cold northeast wind. I kept one of those bass for the grill and noticed it was loaded with 3 inch sand eels and baby lobsters. With the wind going southwest and sand eels in the area I was ready for the big score at this location tonight – it didn’t happen. Such is the unpredictable nature of surfcasting for striped bass. Too early to quit and with four more hours of the ebb tide remaining I high-tailed it to another location some two miles distant. After a fifteen minute walk I was on a rocky perch with the southwest wind now blowing over my right shoulder. The nearly full moon did its best to brighten the night but was negated by a low level fog causing an eerie glow. The eel still attached to my hook since leaving my last perch showed a sign of life by curling just the last inch of its tail. First cast with it produced a solid strike and subsequent drop about twenty feet out. I quickly lobbed the eel into the same location and had an immediate take from a 15 pound bass that didn’t miss its second chance at dinner. Three casts later I felt the telltale “tap, tap, shake, shake” of a bluefish take. I retrieved steadily hoping the blue would drop the eel and it did, but only after taking 8 inches and leaving me with a 6 inch “cigar butt”. I’ve used cigar butts with great success in the past and continued to cast with the butt. To my surprise no other bluefish took the butt but I did get a few “grab and drops” from bass that were either finicky, small, or both. I was hoping just finicky…
Now somewhat confident there were no other bluefish in the vicinity I hooked up another fresh eel and cast into the fog. At the very end of a wind aided cast I had an immediate take on my eel. I set on the fish and watched the water erupt some 100 feet away. Judging by the splash I knew this was a “decent” bass. Not long after her first run against a very tight drag I knew the word “decent” didn’t do justice for describing this fish. It wasn’t until she stopped and I tried to recover line that I knew she had some serious heft. At that point I wanted badly to see this fish. My mind started to race as I began scanning the water for any lobster pot buoys I might need to dodge. The thought of the eel sliding up my running line as so often happens when hooked up to a large bass made me a bit nervous, this feeling justified by having lost two very large bass in recent years at this very location when bluefish chomped my eels thus severing my running line. Seconds turned to minutes as I tried to hurry her in. My first glimpse of her white belly reflecting the foggy moonlight provided a guess of 45-50. As bad luck would have it she swam to my right and into some submerged rocks instead of left into the shallow tide pool. These rocks were much tougher for landing fish and I slid down a steep barnacle covered boulder into two feet of water. I grabbed her with both hands and grunted while lifting and placing her on the rock perch above me. I removed the hook from her upper jaw and then dug into the surf bag for my 60 pound hand scale. I placed my rod alongside her and she measured out at approximately 50 inches, then hoisted her up and my scale read 53 pounds. I glanced around quickly to see if any other fishermen had witnessed the catch but not a soul was in sight at this late hour. I then hurried into the shallow water to revive her for release. It took about 10 minutes in waste deep water for her to regain strength and stay upright, all the while cold water seeped into new holes in the backside of my waders courtesy of my sliding on barnacles when trying to land her. I followed her into deeper water as she slowly swam away making sure she didn’t show signs of turning over. She began to pick up speed as I followed her progress with my neck-light. Then with a strong thrust of her tail she disappeared out of sight, but never out of memory.

Editorial – Some thoughts on Catch and Release
by Dennis Zambrotta
There has been lots of chatter about Catch and Release on striper sites and social media recently. This is very encouraging. It has taken a while but the surfcasting community finally seems to believe there is something wrong with the overall numbers of striped bass. But I caution readers that much of what you may read about C&R could very well be misinformation. Being an old school surfcaster who’s been around for a while I’ve been through this before during the striped bass swoon of the 1980s. Before then the only Catch and Release practiced was throwing back an undersized bass less than 16 inches. Everything else was kept and many were sent to the markets – that was the culture. When the striped bass biomass dropped to unsustainable levels many fishermen including I reformed our ways and would sell no more bass. The Catch and Release ethic caught on and picked up steam among the striper coast. My surfcasting crew lived in our own little world casting the mainland Rhode Island coastline. In 1985 we expanded our horizons to Block Island – why? Because the last of the buffalo (or striped bass in this case) were out there in phenomenal numbers….but existed almost nowhere else. Casting on Block’s SW bar one dark night we had a good pick of quality bass, suffice to say at the time a 20 pound bass was considered a Block Island schoolie. I was in the process of weighing and then releasing a very nice bass when two unknown casters came up to me from behind. Now you have to realize that Block was a magnate for rod and reel pinhooker’s at the time because you could easily make a grand during a week of fishing. This was the nature/culture of the surfcasting game at that time. Anyway, I was expecting to be harassed for letting $80 bucks go swimming free but to my surprise the two unknown anglers praised me and couldn’t believe that someone else besides them had started the C&R practice. We introduced ourselves – the unknown casters were Bradford Burns and his friend Fred Thurber. Yes, the same Brad Burns who is the founding member of Stripers Forever – it’s interesting to note that Brad has always been an advocate of C&R. We all became friends and were very involved in the striper wars which were raging at the time. As the numbers of striped bass dwindled C&R became very popular and it appeared that its practice would become the “norm” along the striper coast. But then came the 1990s and restrictions on striped bass were relaxed. Size and bag limits were increased and a new term came into vogue when discussing striped bass that has changed the way fishermen view the species – that word is “keeper”. From that point on any bass that was larger than the minimum size limit was considered a keeper – something to take home. It didn’t take the fishing public long to take advantage of the relaxed restrictions – fisherman would talk in terms of how they did – “took my two keepers last night” was a very common phrase. Some thought they were still practicing C&R by releasing smaller than keeper size bass…. but is releasing undersize bass or all bass AFTER you’ve already kept/killed two bass still considered C&R? It stretches the intent and definition of C&R for sure.
I’m often asked how I practice C&R and what I recommend. I have a fairly complex answer. I release all of the larger striped bass that I’m fortunate to catch. After all, larger bass don’t taste very good and they kill my back if I have to lug them to my vehicle. They also have the potential to add cow bass genes to the gene pool when released. For trophy bass my suggestion is to only keep a cow sized bass if it beats your personal best. This allows someone the flexibility of keeping a trophy. I can’t in my right mind give someone grief about keeping a fish they are proud of. The great thing about this method is it keeps raising your personal bar and becomes harder to do as you reach the 30, 40, 50, and if you’re fortunate, the 60 pound pinnacles. I’ve killed one bass over 50 in my lifetime and been very fortunate to have released three others. But what do you do when you want one for the table? This is when “selective harvest” comes into play. If my wife asks me for a bass for the grill I will target a just legal bass between 28 and 32 inches. They tend to taste the best at that size and still provide plenty of meat. Just remember “Limit your kill – don’t kill your limit.”
Does C&R make a difference? When you think of it being practiced up and down the striper coast it most definitely makes a difference. But all the practitioners of C&R do it their own way. Some anglers may even hang the bass they intend to release on, dare I say it, a boga grip or hand scale. Surfcasters should not bash these anglers because the spirit of what they’re doing is what matters here – they’re trying to make a difference. I mean which bass has a better chance to survive? A bass that is handled with a boga-grip and then released, or one that is placed into the bass coffin in back of your buggy? And before you start giving anyone a hard time about catching bass on a diamond jig because it’s “too easy” consider that in most cases this method uses a single hook vice a multi-hook trebled plug – diamond jigs are a very C&R friendly method. As surfcasters we may all practice C&R a little differently, some of us fish sand beaches, some rock perches, still others on jetties/bridges. Good practice and release skills such as limiting the time the bass is out of water, and avoiding gill invasion, will increase the chances of survival. Just remember – we’re not all perfect but the spirit of why we’re doing it is the most important aspect of C&R. Please respect that.

Dennis Zambrotta is well know Rhode Island surfcaster and friend of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine since our humble beginnings.  He was fortunate to be one of the major players during the great Block Island Giant Striper Blitzes in 1980′s and he has recently wrote a  book about his experience,  Surfcasting Around the Block. A good read for any surfcaster.

Today’s giveaway will be an item we never featured on the blog before. But before I get to that, lets pick a winner of that fancy $500 Lamiglas Infinity stick, shall we?

We put all the entries into the random number generator and it spit out number  which corresponds with a fellow whose screen name is jerryboy and email address is JERRRYBOY@OPTONLINE.NET

Congrats dude, you know the deal, you got five days to contact us at info@surfcastersjournal.com or you forfeit the rod. Not that I couldn’t have kept it but seriously how many rods do I need with this bad elbow? I see a little Zebco spinner in my future..lol

Ok, on to othere interesting things. Today’s blog giveaway is a courtesy of our sponsors from the Fisherman Headquarters in Ship Bottom, NJ. You can visit them at http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/

And you can also see the pliers we are giving away at  http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/fishing-pliers.htm

Why are these pliers different? Well, for one thing from what I can gather Fisherman’s Headquarters is the only place that has these Bull Nose aluminum pliers. The one weakness of  long nose pliers is that they are a little weak. There is no secret there. On a really cheap pair  the pliers will twist and bend when removing a stubbornly embedded hook (hopefully not from your buddy’s ass..although you can expect a decent amount of twerking if that happens).

I like the way they fit in my hand, and I particularly like the rubber grip. From what I have been told they are built to last with a little maintenance. Obviously, being winter and all we did not get to actually use them. The Fisherman Headquarters guys will have some at NJ Surf Day in few weeks so you can check out in person.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/HkLJX0RUGUY[/youtube]

Here is a full description

“Looking for a pair of fishing pliers designed for fishermen? Take a look at these bull nose fishing pliers. These pliers are precision CNC machined from heat treated aircraft aluminum. They are lightweight very strong and anodized (two-tone: half black, half silver) for corrosion resistance. These fishing pliers feature unique rubberized ergonomic handles for a solid comfortable grip even when wet. The pliers are spring loaded for easy quick action use. They also have replaceable tungsten carbide side-cutters that easily cut braided and monofilament line. Each handle arm has a hole for an easy and secure lanyard attachment.

These fishing pliers are made for saltwater fishing by an experienced award winning manufacture (who makes pliers for numerous major brand names in the fishing industry). They are about 7″ long and weight in at 5ozs. They are not the best fishing pliers for small freshwater species. However, they are exception for saltwater gamefish like striped bass and bluefish as well as pelagic species. These pliers feature texturized and tempered (hardened) carbon steel jaws for powerful gripping of hooks. Please note the jaw material is super strong however, with no maintenance, heavy use and exposure to saltwater the jaws will develop rust. To maintain, wash off and occasionally wipe down with a light oil. These pliers will offer great performance for many years. They out perform pliers twice their price!

Have you ever tweaked your pliers out of alignment when unhooking a fish? Common problem with most aluminum needle nose pliers. Not with these bull nose pliers! They are absolutely fantastic for unhooking quality gamefish.”

Again, you can visit Fisherman Headquarters at  http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/fishing-pliers.htm for more information. The retail on these pliers is $39.99

Chasing Large: Self Motivation and Dedication

by Crazy Alberto Knie

I often get questions about chasing big fish and how my success is better than most.  Well, the truth of the matter is, I am not better than others and the key to my success lies in the motivation and dedication to the sport. As to the common follow-up question – they tell me they are too busy and can’t find the time. Well, that’s not good enough in my book.  We are all too busy and have priorities in life… but you must and really need to set priorities and set time for it. If you are really serious about it – it’s that simple! 

There shouldn’t be any excuses because my records shows, whenever I am not motivated or don’t dedicate my time to it (which are the ingredient for failure).  Believe me, I’ve been there and done that. My advice is to treat it like a business meeting and setting realistic goals. And that is to motivate and dedicate you for the big hunt. Obviously you’ve must have some skill sets but without motivation and dedication you are setting yourself to disappointments.  Moreover, anything less is setting you to “luck”, and that’s a different story altogether.  While we are on the topic of luck,  I’ve asked a few high rollers to shed some light on the word luck, and although they credit it to some “luck”… but most successful gamblers relies and put all in on their motivation and dedication! 

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/lN4hAFZ6MH8[/youtube]

I read with great interest your replies of what you liked the most in the current issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine and not for selfish reasons. I am truly interested to know what our readers like. And I am glad there is such a broad range of topic and columns you guys cant get enough of.

On a purely selfish and personal level, I was surprised that so many mentioned Montauk Time & Tide videos. I often wonder if that is something people actually watch or is something that is dear to my heart for purely personal readers. I did get a very nice email from a gentlemen in Florida who thank me profusely for capturing part of the history that we will obviously lose in time. Because like great Vito Orlando always say, “Time and Tide waits for no man”. By the way, neither does Vito when is time to fish 🙂

But anyway, thank you for your kind words about all our writers, columnist and yes, even this videographer on the keyboard.

Speaking of videos..many of you have a Van Staal reel. A lot of you have many and from a personal experience I can tell you that there are not many issues with these reels if they are regularly maintained. Yes, I think we’d all prefer a drag that was a little more flexible from the totally tight to lose but you got to admit that the reel is solid. And them moving their production to China proved all the nayseyers wrong as there is no quality issues whatsoever that I am aware of between home or abroad made reels. Their rep, Craig VanStaalmo is always available for inquiry and super helpful. The only thing that bugs most people is the way the line lays on the spool in hourglass fashion.

Now lets be honest, I don’t know anyone who has lost a fish because of this. But it might bother you and we have an easy fix for you. Actually, “we” being our awesome rod columnist Lou Caruso. My skill level ends where his begins when it comes to tinkering with gear. But lets see him edit a video?

Haha..is better if we stick to our strengths I guess

This video was featured in past issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine at www.surfcastersjournal.com. You can log into your account and go to ARCHIVES and get access to all past issues, articles and video. You don’t need a lathe to do this, drill and a buddy, kid or Da Wife (this might cost you) should suffice.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/aQxEtRN56ws[/youtube]

The Midnight Rambler

John Papciak

Instant Islamorada

These days, it seems, everyone has his “bucket list.”

I never liked to think about fishing that way. What is the point of that dream trip if you might never return?

Give me realistic goals …places you can re-visit…assuming the place lives up to the billing.

Sure …there’s giant sea run Brown Trout in Tierra Del Fuego, Giant Trevally in Christmas Island, or maybe Salmon fishing in Russia. Then there’s the Keys.

It’s kind of embarrassing, actually. I think of myself as a salt water fly fishing aficionado. I’ve been to a few exotic places, but for some strange reason, I never made it down to the Keys. With a young family it’s easy to sneak in a long weekend in Montauk…But airfare and a week down to the Keys?

And so the years went by

But then as 2013 came to a close, I was hit with that corporate policy regarding vacation days – use em or lose em! And for the first time in nearly two decades, I got the green light from my wife to pick a vacation get-away that fishing featured prominently on the menu.

The catch? It had to be a warm place, and since we only had 4 days, it had to be reasonably close…, not to be consumed with time in the air, or at some airport.

In the end, we agreed on the Keys, Islamorada to be exact.

And since this was (a) near our 20^th year anniversary, (b) I wasn’t sure when I was going to get more time off, while (c) there was an excellent chance I would be leaving her for a day of fishing, I had to at least make sure the digs were quite nice.

We confirmed local coverage for our teen-aged kids that we would be leaving behind.  And at the very last possible minute, we found a reasonable flight, and booked the Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada.

The truth was, I had no clue where to go…Cheeca was the only place I knew of, and the only “fishing lodge” I was 100% sure would be female friendly.

No sooner had I keyed in my credit card, and hit submit when I got that sinking feeling weather would be a major factor, both in NY and FL.

We arrived at JFK at  6am on Jan 2^nd with snow swirling, and newscasters on various television monitors hyping the cancelled flights from the Midwest. A major winter storm was now bearing down on New York.

Weather in The Keys would be iffy as well, at least according to various sources. Clouds and a good chance of precipitation were expected every day. And if that wasn’t enough, each day included small craft advisories. As much as it hurt, I didn’t even bother trying to book a charter or a guide.

We did take off from JFK on schedule, and after a good nap, I woke to hear the captain announce we were getting ready to touch down in Miami…with partly cloudy skies, and temps now in the mid 70s.

“Any good weather is a bonus,” I said to my wife.  She agreed, this was the best way to approach the weekend.

 

In less than two hours we were at a road-side restaurant in Key Largo (Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen), in shorts and T shirts, enjoying local beer and conch fitters… the winter storm in the NE was the big news on TV screens, but NY felt 1000 miles away – and I guess technically speaking it was.

Temps were now almost 80…the sun was out…so why did it take so long for me to finally get down here?

The Cheeca Lodge lived up to the billing as well. Rooms looked more like suites. There was a long pier with kids fishing alongside a line-up… of pelicans… parents close by at a strategically located Tiki Bar.

We grabbed a couple of chairs under a palmetto tree. Fishing would have to wait.

I did want to make the most of the nice weather with my wife… while it lasted.

 

But in Islamorada it is virtually impossible to go more than 1/10^th of a mile in any direction without being reminded that it’s all about fishing. 1/4^th of a mile south of Cheeca we found Worldwide Sportsman, a place I’ve done plenty of business with by mail over the years. This is a tackle shop that feels more like the fishing shows I go to each winter, complete with a large wooden yacht right smack in the middle, and a fish tank holding live tarpon, snook, redfish and jacks.

By the end of day 2, thick clouds were moving in, along with the wind. I realized that coming home without at least TRYING to do some real fishing in Islamorada was totally unacceptable.

With drink in hand, I sat down at the Cheeca concierge desk and pleaded my case. This was a full-service resort, I reasoned, and if anyone could pull off a fishing trip on zero notice, they could.

“You are actually in luck,” she said. “We have customers from various places in the Midwest and Northeast, but with that crazy storm, now they can’t get down here. I just got off the phone cancelling some charters…Sailfishing has been pretty good, or you can try something in the back country.”

“I really prefer fly fishing,” I said. “I know the weather is getting bad, but do you think you have anyone who would still want to give fly fishing a go?” I asked.

And within 5 minutes I was booked with Drew Moret, who agreed to meet me at the Lor E Lei marina across the highway at 7:30 the following morning.

But when I met up with Drew the following morning, he was not looking like the pumped up optimistic Keys guide I was hoping for.

“John, before we begin, let me just ask…are you here for a few more days?”

He showed me his cell phone, the screen displaying a radar imagine depicting large bands of rain moving in from the southwest.

“It’s not looking good at all,” he said. “I don’t want your trip to be a complete washout.

“Well, you are already here…and I am here,” I said.

“I am not here tomorrow, I fly out later tomorrow…I am ok if we call it a boat ride… I would even settle just to get out on the water, and have a look,” I suggested.

He agreed. “Well, this may in fact amount to nothing more than a boat ride.. but hey …the rain is still a bit off, so maybe we can sneak in a few casts.”

And so we were off

And as we moved into the open bay, I could see his mood change as he refreshed the radar images on his phone.

“The water has really cooled down,” he continued. “Two days ago we had good shots at some resident tarpon, but at 68 degrees… it will be real tough to get them to bite.”

“68 degrees?” I laughed. “We just wrapped up the fall striper fishing in New York. This is wonderful weather, even with a little rain…We were striper fishing some November mornings with air in the 30s, and water in the low 50s…even a few days with some snow.”

I then asked about the Moret connection. I noted his last name on the reservation slip provided at the Cheeca concierge desk.

Drew confirmed his dad was in fact Sandy Moret… I remembered Flip Pallot sometimes fishing with a Sandy Moret on some of those memorable episodes of Walkers Cay Chronicles.

“Yep, dad still fishes a ton,” Drew proudly reported. “And he still runs the fly shop over by the Green Turtle.”

We talked about some of the personalities on Walkers Cay, all of whom Drew knew, and the impact that this show had on a generation of budding salt water fly fishermen like myself

And as we moved further out into the bay, with each refresh of Drew’s phone, the mood grew more and more optimistic.

“I think we can get in a few casts” …

“I’ll definitely be able to get you to some spots for at least a shot at some fish”

“I think we’ll get you some shots at fish on the fly rod, for sure.”…

As the drizzle ended, I unzipped my raincoat.

We would fish!

Drew handed me a spinning rod with a jig head, sweetened with a piece of fresh dead shrimp. The hit came so fast I was stripped of bait before I had a chance to set the hook. After a few jacks on each successive cast, Drew suggested I switch to Gulp. The bite cooled, but not by much. It wasn’t until a school of dolphins came through the channel a while later that things really slowed down

 

We then moved about 3 miles to another channel, just as the mist turned back to a steady rain.

 

I zipped up my rain jacket. It became clear to me that things might start to deteriorate rather quickly from this point, and I think Drew had come to the same conclusion.

After a succession of jacks and small groupers on the shrimp “jig thing,” he began chumming with bits of shrimp. He handed me a 9-weight fly rod with a shrimp pattern. I was told to cast out and let the fly sink a little. But a jack picked up the fly before it sank. After a swing and a miss, I was solid to a jack on the second cast.

Then another. Then another. Yes, I know what you might be thinking…Jacks? I did not see my backing, but they pulled and gave a great account of themselves…the fight was as strong as the 12 pound bass that made up the majority of my late fall fly fishing.

The trip could now officially be called a success, but Drew was not done. He offered to inspect the fly. When I lowered it toward him, he tied on a popper just as the rain and wind continued to build.

 

“Lot more fun to get them on the top, as long as we can keep ‘em here,” he said.

I was solid to a jack on cast #2 or #3, depending if you counted the botched back cast into the building winds. I did catch a few more on top, but then had a hard time hooking up for the next 15-20 minutes, despite plenty of vicious strikes. Drew offered to take a look at the fly.

He let out a hearty chuckle.

“John, you know it helps when the point of the hook is not broken off.”

Next he offered to tie on something entirely new, a larger streamer… but by now the wind driven tide was rushing under the boat … and it was now much harder to get a pattern down into the water column.

In between casts, and gusts of wind, we talked about the state of salt water fly fishing industry…what it was like be a real full-time guide (doing over 220 trips a year)…the status of the declining bonefish fishery – all that ‘pick yer brain’ the stuff that makes a guided fly fishing trip so valuable and so much more fun in the first place.

But as the wind and rain increased still more (almost now officially a downpour), we agreed to call it a day.

I pulled the hood over my head and Drew kicked the flats skiff into gear.

We were back at the dock by noon – not too bad for a half day, especially when most of the other guides had come back a long time ago – others never evedn bothered to head out.

As I bid Drew a hearty farewell, I got a text from my wife. She had taken our rental car down to Marathon.  It would be quite a while before she would be back up to get me.

Someone would have to twist my arm I’d have kill some time at the marina bar over a few drafts…maybe some shrimp wrapped in bacon… shooting the bull with all the other fishermen and guides.

I texted my wife back and told her to take her sweet time as I imagined what Islamorada fly fishing would be like on a “good” day.

Capt Drew Moret can be reached at  drewmoret@yahoo.com

I been meaning to do something special for our subscribers but as you know we have had some slight hiccups in the last weeks and I had more colds in the last month than I can ever remember. Fortunately the subscription software seems to be working fine and those of your whose cards are expired for whatever reason probably got notices to update your cards to renew your subscription. Fortunately, you are getting a single email unlike a little snafu we had on Monday. All a learning experience I guess. Glad that is fixed , now I just need to find someone to slice my elbow up and get rid of this tendonitis. I got to tell you, you don’t know what discomfort is until you physically cant open a bottle of soda for now almost two years. The fishing seems like such a stretch now but I am learning to live with it.

I have a Lamiglas Infinity INF 11 MHS11 foot rod, rated 2 to 6 ounces . It was given to me by Lamiglas to test two falls ago. It was the rod that was supposed to go to retailers before they decided to straighten the top portion of the rod before sending it into stores. I tested this rod on the hardest day of northwest wind I ever experienced in my life at Shagwong Point, NY. I still  have a sandblast damage to my car to prove it. Bunch of us were lined up at the tip casting pencil poppers into the wind. Wouldn’t you know it, that for a rod that had a “weak” tip and a guy who sucks at casting and has tendonitis, I was the only one who took two fish that evening as I was able to drive Surface Cruiser far enough into that wind. Go figure. In my opinion, the rod was just fine the way it was originally designed.

So today, I will give one of you a chance to win this Lamiglas rod valued close to five hundred bucks I guess ? Three rules, you must pick the rod up (a) either in person in Nassau County, or at the fishing show in  NY,NJ or RI. Rule number two, you must be a Surfcaster’s Journal subscriber to enter this giveaway.

And you can only enter this giveaway by telling us in your post what is your favorite column, story or video in the current issues of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine at www.surfcastersjournal.com

If you say “I am in”, I will delete your entry. If you are not subscriber, you are not eligible either. Its a little thanks to all of you from all of us at the Surfcaster’s Journal.

And while we are talking giveaways, the winner of Pelican Nemo flashlight is terry61

terryflynn61@yahoo.com

You have 5 days to contact me at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your shipping address.

Thanks to folks at Pelican products. You can purchase Pelican flashlights right on their website at  http://www.pelicanproducts.us/

picture copyright of  Nicola ZIngarelli

Hmm, lets see , what is one thing that would make you warm and fuzzy on this brutally cold day? I don’t drink so I cant offer you any of that and both Kate Upton and Amanda Drury have restraining  orders on me

Fresh video about catching a big striper?

Check

Here is Surfcaster’s Journal columnist John Skinner video landing a 33 pound striper on a pencil popper that he just uploaded to YouTube.

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

Need something more “artistic”?

Check

How about this new video from Larry Wentworth from Big Fish Bait Co he just uploaded top YouTube? I got to tell you, Larry much better half (trust me, I’ve met Angie. She is a doll and a hell of an angler in her own right ) has some very, very good editing skills.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/v5XlStPbc4I[/youtube]

Not only that, but he makes some mean wood plugs and I got a box from him this week which I will share with you guys in the days to come. Yes, your membership to SJ has its rewards beyond the publication itself.

After shutting down our automatic email notification service for those whose cards are declined or expired on Monday and after our web genius updated software, he activated it today. We wont know the results until after midnight but if ANY of you get multiple emails from the magazine after midnight that are identical please contact me at zhromin@verizon.net. He is pretty confident that all is well but to be honest with you, I have not slept well in days and I wont until I know this issue is resolved to my satisfaction.

And last…I don’t know why,  but these GT’s are spinning in my head last few days. My buddy Ray keeps telling me they are on his bucket list and I am starting to see why. The power of these fish is incredible. I need to go get a rag to wipe the drool off my face

Shark

[youtube]http://youtu.be/r90HZ-47-pY[/youtube]

Boat but what power !

[youtube]http://youtu.be/d8Th21yxD_Q[/youtube]

And why don’t we toss in the best short surfcasting movie ever made?

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/42129694#at=0[/vimeo]

Making Room
By Dave Anderson

In our sport you meet a lot of characters. I have so many stories from my years fishing the surf I could fill a book, some are scary, some are just plain awesome and some downright hilarious. My friend Don is the source of many of my most hilarious stories. I met him back in 2002 and despite being more than 30 years my senior, we struck an immediate friendship that lasts to this day. I have learned a lot about fishing from Don but what I’ve really learned from Don is that people will believe anything if you can sell it with a straight face.
One day while fishing the Canal, this was before the great invasion of experts, probably around 2005. Don and I were fishing in the vicinity of the Herring Run and it was already late in the tide with a high, hot sun. We were among the only people left casting, there were a few fish still trickling through, but the bite was mostly dead. And then I heard some commotion on the service road behind me. Three people with fishing rods, a rolling cooler, two brand new 5-gallon pails, coffee, doughnuts, suntan lotion, you get the idea, were making a beeline for the mouth of the Run. Don was stationed about 50 feet to the left of the outflow and this “ménage a trois” was hell-bent on staking a claim on that last 50 feet!
What I haven’t told you is that Don is THE master at messing with people. He takes on many guises to do so, from pretending he’s blind, or acting like a manchild or that he’s a halfwit, he’s a pro and he can keep a straight face through ANYTHING.

As the three stumbled down the embankment and set up camp in Don’s pocket I recognized a change in Don’s posture, his body went stiff, his head listing uneasily to one side, a look of pure vacancy washed over his sun-punished face and wide eyes. He started off by fishing with his Van Staal reel facing upward—reeling backward—and yelling out incoherent gibberish, casting his lure practically straight up and working it like he was trying to dislodge a rogue lobster pot. His neighbors looked over in puzzlement while I tried to keep a steady jaw. But they didn’t budge.
Don then brought his rod back to cast again releasing the line at the apex of his backcast, launching the lure backwards into a low tree. He then pitched his $1000 rig into the grass, lurched forward and half fell into the rocks. He began picking up garbage left behind by ignorant anglers, studying it closely (like 1-inch from his face) and then haphazardly tossing it around all the while squawking more of his odd ramblings. Our three friends started to look and sound a little nervous, but they again elected to stay.
At this point, Don was in it to win it and was not about to break character. On his hands and knees now and getting louder by the second, he crawled along the rocks staggering in a way that only Don can; and then, like a gift from the heavens, he found the prop that he was looking for. Don came up with a discarded beer bottle clenched in his fist, made a loud sound that I could only compare to drunken version of ‘eureka!’ and tipped the bottle back as if to feign a heavy swig.
What he did not plan for was the payload of brown, stagnant water and other gulge that had been swilling in that bottle for an untold number of days, weeks or months. A cascade of ick leached out of the bottle, onto his face, all over his neck and down the front of his shirt. Fazed only for a millisecond, Don spat several times, let out another squatchy yowl and C-R-A-W-L-E-D down the rocks to the water’s edge where he washed his face like a well-fed otter. At this point, I was in absolute hysterics—Don flashed me a satisfied smirk and crawled all the way back up the rocks to prepare to make some kind of insane attempt to retrieve his plug from the bushes. But there was no need as Don’s neighbors packed up their shantytown and hurriedly headed west.
Of course, they moved about 300 feet away and Don went right back to fishing like a normal person. As the bite had already fallen off to almost nothing, we made about six or seven more casts before heading to the Crow’s Nest for some breakfast. That’s just one of the many stories in the saga of Don, perhaps I’ll share more here at a later date. So if you ever find yourself taking surf fishing too seriously, channel your inner Don and remember it’s supposed to fun and it’s REALLY fun when it’s hilarious!

Editors note

 We had a major headache over the weekend when some of our subscribers whose credit cards were expired or they changed them from the time they subscribed last year received unnecessary emails from the magazine. The software went a bit crazy in spitting out emails one after another Monday morning. Although Tom and I already apologized to you privately I want to take this opportunity to do it again. We believe we isolated the issue and have our web guru working on fixing it. There is no way in the world we would ever configure this renewal system where you would get more that one email per day. That was a little disturbing and even more disturbing was that I did not know about it until an irritated subscriber contacted me at which point I immediately shut the system down and contacted our web guy. Guys, we know we are going to have some growing pains but please in the future, if you are receiving unnecessary notices from SJ of any kind, particularly same email over and over contact me ASAP. After all, I had no idea until I was told by our reader. Another egg on the face..but I guess we all have to take our lumps and learn from it.

Zeno