By Dennis Zambrota

A SURFCASTERS PUZZLE – THE GREAT UNKNOWN

In the modern era of sport fishing it is the striped bass fisherman who stands alone as an icon to the humble beginning of surfcasting. Although advances in his equipment have changed for the better, the surfcaster of today still encounters the same challenges of his predecessors that fished in the earlier part of this century. In constant pursuit of the somewhat unpredictable striped bass, a surfcaster must use all his knowledge, his equipment, and an understanding of a multitude of environmental factors to hook and land a striper.
Unlike pursuing stripers from a boat where bass can often be “seen” by using modern electronics before anyone even wets a line. A surfcaster must use knowledge gained through experience, trial and error, and often times, intuition. A surfcaster must take into account the type of shoreline, weather, wind speed and direction, water conditions, time of season, tides and currents, presence of forage, what lure to use and then how to present it. Most of this is done without having ANY true knowledge that there is even a striper to be had within miles of his location. Surfcasters don’t have the luxury of an electronic fish finder that will tell them if the bass are here. A surfcaster must use all the items mentioned above to solve the puzzle. What makes this puzzle even more challenging is that it can also change from moment to moment, and it can have multiple solutions. I call this puzzle the “Great Unknown.” Solving it has become my favorite pastime for the past 40 years or so. I’m faced with the following questions each and every time I head out to cast the beach: Are the bass here? If so are they feeding and if not, why? Will they be feeding on a different tide stage or when the wind changes? Will a plug catch them? If so what color and size? If they’re not here could they be down the beach on the next bar or around the next point? There are so many spots, they all look the same, but they don’t all hold fish. How come?
The following is a typical surfcasting scenario: How many times have you run into someone else who after having a slow outing would tell you that the “Bass weren’t hitting tonight”, or “There’s nothing around.” Did you ever wonder how they knew? I mean, how does a surfcaster really know that the bass are not there? There could be thousands of bass in the water they were casting into; all watching their plugs go by but for one reason or another wouldn’t hit. You know – bass don’t eat all the time; if they did there probably wouldn’t be many left. Maybe this guy didn’t throw the right plug, or maybe he got left his favorite rock perch one cast too soon. Here’s a good one: maybe he didn’t use eels! Using eels is as close to “automatic” as surfcasters get to ensuring success. I’ve watched a caster fish a particular area for hours, get off a rock and lament the lack of bass. Another guy gets on the same rock (the rock is still warm for crying out loud!) and proceeds to catch bass on live eels until his arms hurt. Just another unpredictable part of the Great Unknown puzzle.
I’m encouraged to say that I continue to uncover secrets to the “Great Unknown” each and every season. And while at it I’m treated to the best that Mother Nature can set out for me, crisp starry nights, the sound that cobble stone makes as a wave recedes, the taste of salt spray on my mustache, the northern lights, and fire (phosphorescence) in the water. Yes, even fire in the water – yea, I hate it too but fire in the water is oh so beautiful. Just think of how fortunate you are to witness it. You tell a non-fisherman about fire and most won’t know what you’re talking about never mind seen it. Don’t take your environment for granted – enjoy it while solving the puzzle.
As I get older I continue to encounter even more questions when a new set of surfcasting conditions set up another riddle. But these questions keep the surf casting game fresh and renew my vigor in trying to solve them. I figure I have 500 questions of the great unknown puzzle solved. Only thing is the puzzle has a 1000 questions – I hope I never solve it.

Editors note :

Dennis Zambrotta is well know Rhode Island surfcaster and friend of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine since our humble beginnings. Dennis is also a very popular seminar speaker and he will be speaking at Surf Day this upcoming Saturday. 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. You can find more information about the book by clicking on the cover. You can also purchase it from Dennis at Surf Day and other shows this winter

We’ll the time is finally here, the first big Surf show on tap this weekend in New Jersey. The Surf Day is a fairly new show but the guys behind it do  a hell of a job organizing it that most attendees and vendors can’t wait to get back to it. It is located in Lincroft, NJ in a high school and it’s not a terribly huge show when it comes to exhibitor space but they make up with kick ass seminars. Check out the website to get all the info here

I  am sure they will be looking for a bigger venue soon as they are growing fast

I still do not know why you could not post comments on John Skinner post the other day. Our web designer is an Australia of all places chasing kangaroos I guess. Sometimes getting answers takes a little time and I am clueless with this new design and controls.

After the Surf Day this weekend we really get cranking with shows for surfcasters from Berkley Fishing Club Flea Market, Asbury Flea Market, RISAA and River’s End Surf Day in CT.

I been chauffeuring my son to colleges this weekend I did not get a chance to post some stuff here that I wanted to. Boston is a darn nice college town. Tomorrow a blog post by  a guy you all respect, RI Dennis Zombratta.

Today’s post is just some info abbot SJ

Yes, we will be working on new issue soon. It will feature NE legend Charlie Soares, late Frank Pintauro’s works are back i the magazine, in particular his interview with late Stan Gibbs. There will be lots of new videos I this issue including a 30 minute interview with a local sharpie, all exclusive to subscribers. And other surprises are on tap

Two, we recently restocked the store with Night Crew shirts and we ordered few Night Crew Zip hoodies. There are only one of each size left in the store. When hey are gone they are gone.

Tommy also made a special shirt just for the shows. Right now, the shirt will be available at shows we mentioned before. More details coming up

Video of Surf Day

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Z4KKBywFvD4[/youtube]

My apologies for not being able to post comments to John Skinners post..we are still trying to figure out what happened.

By Zeno Hromim

Grandpa and Me

It was a late summer morning in its predawn glory with a gentle breeze coming off the ocean. The sweet smell of salty air was awakening all the senses in the body of a youngster. This was a special morning for this seven-year-old kid who had been waiting for this moment for a long time…forever it seemed. You see, his grandfather was a master fisherman, an old salt with no match, some say the best in town, and today he was going to accompany him for the very first time. Now, they had made plenty of trips together locally, but this was an overnight trip; a trip he always longed to go on. The night before passed agonizingly slow; every tick of the old clock seemed to take hours.  The kid was having a hard time containing his excitement. This trip held a special meaning, a promise of places never seen before and to a kid, it seemed so exotic and exciting. His grandfather was an old-fashioned fellow, a man of few words who never seemed to say more than he had to. That morning on the dock, he just motioned to the kid to get into the boat. The craft itself was not much to look at: a small 21-footer handmade out of wood and powered by a 7 horsepower Foreman German car engine which was loud and slow. It had a couple of bunks to sleep in.

But to the youngster, as he sat on the bow for the long trip to the fishing grounds, it seemed like a magnificent fishing yacht. Imagine his excitement when his Grandpa took out a small captain’s hat bought for the kid’s first trip and gave it to him. He loved this man like no one else because he had retired and given up his career early to take care of the boy after his parents split up.  In those magical two days they fished side by side, just the two of them, removed from thoughts of everyday life that waited for them back at home.

For the kid, it was an eye-opening experience. He knew that his grandfather was a good fisherman but he did not know that he could use objects on land to establish his bearings. As soon as he found the fish he was able to return to the same location on each consecutive drift without any electronics on board, while the boats around them seem to drift aimlessly with no apparent luck. That was something the youngster wasn’t prepared for. From that day on, he promised himself he was going to try to follow in his footsteps in life and fishing. There would be many more trips over the years, school days missed and plenty of fresh fish barbecued for dinner at night.  They would often take shelter in local ports after a whole day of hand lining and pulling up long lines. They were the best of friends, joined by a love of fishing and each other, for ten years. The youngster grew up to be a teenager and left for America in search of a better life. It took him a few years to get accustomed to his new surroundings but the passion for fishing was still there with him. Living in the city and having no command of the English language made his experience in New York limited to Jones Beach trips with his family. One day he was taken by a friend on a surfcasting trip to Gilgo beach. He marveled at the trucks lining the beach and the many anglers tending to their bait. He was fascinated by the gear employed by these anglers. Big rods and reels were not something he was familiar with. In his youth he was considered a good fisherman for his age but this was all accomplished using hand lines and winding them on a piece of styrofoam. A few days later, he took a trip to a local marina and discovered that local fishermen pulled the loglines with a winch. He and his grandfather had done it by hand. Grandpa was the one doing most of the work, pulling the lines and aligning each hook as it would come within reach while the boy was the gaff man. He stood at the rail with nervous anticipation, knowing that if he missed a fish with the gaff, the ride back to port would not be a pleasant one. Missed fish meant less money when they got back home. This often meant no new shoes for school or no good jacket for the winter.

This youngster continued his trips with his friend to Gilgo over the year. These were mostly afternoon affairs where they soaked some bait after work. Then one day they decided to head to Montauk Point, more out of curiosity than anything else. Talk about an eye opening experience! Although he was familiar with sandy beach bait fishing, at Montauk Point he found hundreds of anglers perched on the rocks tossing lures in the water. He had never seen anything like this before. He walked around the lighthouse rocks and observed surfcasters catching stripers almost at will. He and Grandpa caught fish, but nothing like this! As soon as he got home he opened an Offshore Angler catalog he had previously received in the mail, and with no input from anyone, he ordered a 10 foot rod and matching reel. He had no idea how to use it but he was determined to learn. Along with this, he ordered a surf bag and a few lures from The Surfcaster catalog. A few days later the packages arrived at his Astoria apartment.

One Sunday morning he took a ride to Jones Beach and walked to the jetty at West End. After observing a few guys at the tip catching a few fish, he reasoned that the end of the jetty was the place to be. Unfortunately, there were a few big gaps in the rocks that separated him from the other anglers. With no waders or Korkers he suffered many lacerations on his legs trying to cross over. Trying to time the waves, he crouched behind rocks questioning his own sanity but he pushed on. By the time he got to the tip, the other surfcasters were walking back, giving puzzled stares at his bruised hips and bleeding shins. One of them mentioned that the current was done, but he could have said anything since the kid had no clue what tide or current were. It was all foreign to him. In fact, he did not even know how to cast. His only experience was a few feeble attempts he made with his friend’s rod and bail-less reel. On the walk back to his car he endured a lot of puzzled looks and even his girlfriend at the time (now his wife) gasped at the sight of his bruised limbs.

This nightmarish trip, as bad as it was, did not extinguish his desire to become a surfcaster. Over the years, he improved his casting ability to a point were he caught some nice fish. The many hours he put into the surf started paying off as did his better understanding of the English language. This made it possible to read articles written by local sharpies that appeared in the Fisherman. He enjoyed the quiet time to reflect on life and the simple pleasure of finding the fish without the help of fancy electronics. This always reminded him of his grandfather. One recent summer night, as he stood on the jetty casting into an ocean that seemed barren of any life, suddenly he felt the unmistakable bump of a fish. He quickly set the hook but this fish was not going to give up without a fight. He struggled to gain leverage on the fish in the strong inlet current. Finally, after a few tense moments, he slid the fish onto a rock: a ten-pound weakfish. As he admired the stunning reflection of this beautiful fish in the moonlight, he thought about his grandfather.  Surely, he would be proud of him, the grandson thought; this was his biggest weakfish ever. When he got home that night , the teary face on his loving wife said it all – no words were needed. His Grandpa had left this world quite unexpectedly a few hours ago in a land far away. Crushed, he took the first flight home. He thought how ironic to be fishing while his mentor was taking his last breath a half a world away. He remembered a year ago the excitement they both felt over the phone when his daughter was born on his Grandpa’s birthday. But most of all he remembered all the trips they took together and he was grateful for the love of fishing Grandpa had instilled in him. After the funeral, he walked into his childhood room for the first time in many years. On the dresser he found his captain’s hat – the same one that Grandpa had given to him on their first trip together. He folded it neatly and put it in his pocket, hoping that one day his own son would share his and Grandpa’s love for fishing.

Today’s video blog post is by SJ columnist John Skinner.

This is about how to be lazy and still have a lure deadly enough to entice big fish. There are a lot of ways to catch bass on Slug-Gos, this is just one of them. The rigging can’t be simpler. You can buy similar hooks in different weights or weightless. I carry just two weights, the 1/4-ounce model in the video, and the unweighted hooks. I used to throw these on jig heads, but I like the swim bait hooks better because the weight is further back resulting in a more balanced bait. It’s one of the few artificials that you can give a twitch and it will keep traveling on its own in a very natural fashion. This is all about convenience. If my life depended on catching a big bass, I’d want rigged or live eels, but for the times I just don’t want to mess with eels, these are an excellent substitute.

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

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

John Skinner is author of A Season on the Edge and Fishing the Bucktail, his recent and very popular book. He also has a website at http://www.fisherslog.com/ where you can download a sick fish log to try for free. Find his book on Amzon, SJ store or your local retailer

By Bill Wetzel

I gotta tell ya I have had it with the non- faithful, no believing, no patience, I gotta have a fish right now type of high tech, million dollar gear wearing friends of mine. Every since I can remember, which ain’t long anymore, there has been that guy I fish with that wants to leave after 15 minutes because there is no bite. You know the
drill. The bite should start at about 130am and last until about 2am because that is when the rip sets up just perfectly over that underwater boulder field. You are completely stoked to get out there, and make the walk a tad early. You arrive with the bug spray on your fishing hat mixing with your sweat making a solid effort to burn your eyes from their sockets. Making the first cast at 1230am neither of you get a touch for 45 minutes. Your buddy with all the latest and greatest wants to go home, and states ” this isn’t worth it. I have to work tomorrow” You know that bite is going to start in 15 minutes, but your buddy drove and he wants to leave. Reluctantly you give in and
head home. You enter your cozy bed, but wake up your loving wife or God forbid the kids. That turns into a small fiasco that you will no doubt hear about the next morning. Too make matters worse you can’t sleep because you are haunted by the all the fish you missed and you know every one of them were potential world records. At least you don’t have to wake up in the morning, because you already have been up the entire
night. A shower, a cup of Joe, and you drive to work obsessing on how your going to sneak past your wife, and get back to the spot without your buddy knowing. Only now the tide is 230am, and you know damn well that you’re going to somehow have another sleepless night. Been there?

Editor’s note;

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 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 www.surfratsball.com

The winner of Sebile Magic Swimmer is  Necker1  . Congrats, please email us your shipping address at info@surfcastersjournal.com within 5 days.

Those of you who are old enough to remember Blazing Saddles will remember the song “I am , so tired’..we’ll if you have not seen the movie you should I don’t care how old you are! But yeah, I do feel a little tired. You have to understand that I been writing this thing for three years now just about every day. And yet a day does not pass by when I do not want to make this blog better than it is.

I can’t make myself better than I am. I always tell my wife, you are what you are. You always revert to mean. When weakfish show up (hopefully in my lifetime) I will leave the bass alone and go play with them even if the bass are giants. We are what we are. I will always have a soft spot for a chunk even though I haven’t tossed one in years. And I can’t wait to get back to Catty this spring.

So how do I make this blog better? I think that my video editing ability has slightly improved and I think videos have been a huge improvement. After all, who wants to read my Cringlish? Ok, I have my moments but it doesn’t matter what you think of me, I am only me. I can’t give you someone else opinion. I can only give you mine

I can tell you that I think St Croix, CTS and Century are kick us rods because I beat them up. I can tell you I love my ZeeBaaS and that I would never go fishing without a Super Strike plug. But I can’t tell you how to fish a live eel because I suck at it. And I can’t tell you anything about the hottest wood on market because I don’t pay attention to it any more. So how do I make this blog better.

Kate Upton? Oh, that would work….for a little while

No, I think the best way to make this blog even better is to bring some fresh ideas and I have some surprises up my sleeve. So there might be some guest popping in here so don’t assume that what you reading is written by me. Pay attention to the author. If it’s not half misspelled, it’s probably not me.

Now for the entertainment portion of today’s blog

The Chief Wabbit himself, Jack Yee talks about his first Montauk big Striper

[youtube]http://youtu.be/X7IWwsTZKyQ[/youtube]

Yup, you all heard the stories. He only knows how to fish bait. He only knows how to fish one spot. He only fishes by himself so that no one knows what he does (Jesus, it’s like he is A-Rod shooting roids in his ass!). And best off all, his Tactical Anglers SubDarters don’t catch…

I know that there is a lot of jealousy out there and I know Al has probably rubbed some people the wrong way along the way. But I am here to tell you that the dude is certifiably crazy, he fishes plugs like it’s no tomorrow, he fishiness in rotation and yes , his big Sub Darters catch fish …big fish.

I wish my elbow felt better last time I hanged with him but the truth is I made about half a dozen casts and then manned the camera all night. I’ve seen some monster redfish caught that night, one giant shook and some decent sea trout too.

I also got to see Crazy One nail a big red fishing on his TA Sub Darter, release the fish, strip some clothes off and make another cast and nail even bigger fish on a same plug. To be honest, I did not know that these darn fish eat big plugs, or that they got so big, or that people respectfully fish in rotation all night long.

For those of you who have recently took up surf fishing, I feel bad that you probably will not ever get to play the rotation carousel , at least not in the northeast. All you need is one ahole that refuses to do it and everyone is screwed up. Finding an ahole up north is like looking for snow in CT this weekend, you can’t get away from them sometimes..Having said that we sure hope all our friends that got hot hard get help soon and some warmer temps.

And just a  quick note about the giveaway the other day with question what did you like the best. No, I am not trying to put you on the spot to pick one thing over the other. We are glad that you like so many things in the magazine. But this is sometimes the only way for us to get sense what is working and what might not be. Glad you guys like it all

Carry on

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Ycq3uQXPFPg[/youtube]

First, all of us at Surfcaster’s Journal are hoping you get through this storm ok and we hope lights stay on for all of you. It’s getting nasty out there and there is not a gas station by me that is open. They are out of gas already. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

We’ll send you into this Blizzard of 2013 with a  giveaway. One winner will claim this Sebile 7 3/4 inch, 3 ounce Magic Swimmer

This giveaway is open only to the subscriber of the SJ Magazine. In order to enter the giveaway, you have to tell us what is you favorite part of this current issue. A picture, a video clip, an article, an ad, whatever it is. We will pick a random winner on the other side of this storm

Good Luck

I can’t be the only one, can I? To live in the most populous state where surfcasters often fish shoulder to shoulder, and beach parking is sometimes adventure of its own. But to then have to make plans to attend worthy surf shows, Surf Day in CT, Surf Day in NJ, Berkeley and Asbury Flea Markets in NJ, RISAA show in RI, Plum Island Surfcasters in MA and Mass Bass show in MA. Where are comparable (a very important word) shows in NY? I have no idea. Granted there are some small flea market type shows around that no one really gets excited about. And Willy and his organization have sure tried hard to do a show in different venues last few years but it has been hard for them , or at least I assume that because the buzz for those shows was not there.

It is very strange when you think of it, to have more surfcaster per square foot living on Long Island, NY yet that we have no show we can call our own. I wonder if this has to do with difficulty in securing a good venue, the fact that EVERTHING on LI is priced to high heavens. Or maybe Long Islanders rather travel to other state?

I know some of you who live in New Jersey find this perplexing with a show every weekend somewhere in Garden State. From Expo, to Flea Markets, To seminars, Kayak, boats, fly, it seems to me there is show in NJ every weekend I would like to attend. And New England have the granddaddy of all, RISAA, a show attended by more people that most other shows combined. It just seems strange to me that is all

Here is the list of shows that we feel are worth attending. We will be at some, not all but we always had a great time at all

• Jersey Surf Day in February 23rd in Lincroft NJ. We had a great time last few years and are looking forward to attending
• Plum Island Surfcasters show in Plum Island, MA on February 23rd. I spoke there once and I wish it was closer because it would be on my to-do list. This year featured speaker is Crazy Alberto.
• Berkley Club Flea Market on March 3rd . Always a good time, looking forward to this
• Asbury Flea Market on March 10th , equally as fun. We alway have a blast here
• RISAA three day show March 8 to 10th in Providence is a giant show where you can get lost browsing around. I am looking forward to going back after few years absence
• River’s End Surf Day in Old Saybrook CT on March 23rd. In Pat’s Abate shop always a great time with great food and speakers
• On the local level, Saltwater Edge in Rhode Island has frequent how-to presentations during the week
• Also in New York, Cow Harbor Bait and Tackle has a lineup of seminars just about every weekend this winter.
• We hope if you see us at the show, that you would  stop by and tell us how we are doing, what you would like to see more of or just shot the breeze with SJ crew
• 
• Cow Harbor Bait & Tackle
  2013 Seminar Schedule:
  1. Bruce Froh:  
  “Blue Frog Bucktails”
  Strategies for Targeting Spring Striped Bass
  (February 2nd 12 noon -2 pm).

  2. Bill “Doc” Muller:

    Fishing Northshore Harbors with lures #1 (February 9th   10 am- 2pm)

  3. Bill “Doc” Muller: 

  Fishing Northshore Harbors with lures #2  (February 23rd 10 am- 2pm)

  4. How to Rig Eels:

  “Hands On” Seminar  ($10 fee for material) (March 9th 12 noon – 2pm)

  5. Adam Sotiryadis:

  Wetsuiting Basics for fishing the East End (March 14th  12 noon – 2pm)

  6. Bill Wetzel:

  Reading the water & choosing lures  
  (April 6th  12 noon – 2pm)

  7. Ralph Votta:

  “Charlie Graves Tins”
  Targeting Fish with Tins (February 16th 12 noon- 2pm)

  

Cortisone shot..ha take that you darn elbow! Ok, that was not fun but I am hoping for some pain relief. It’s been a little over five months now. I was hopeful after months of therapy that I would be able to cast a long rod again but after trying few casts last week with Alberto I relegated myself to being a dude with  a camera watching him and his buddies catch monster redfish and snook.

Today’s blog will be a little dry because I need to get few things out there.

There are a lot and I mean a LOT of fellows that email me and ask me how do they get “in” to read the full current edition, see all videos and all 16 old editions.

Easy if you remember one thing. You always have to be logged in to read the new issue or access old issues.

If you are having problems, try this. Click on big MAGAZINE button in right hand top. After that click on LOG IN . Now enter your username and password. If you forgot or ever forget your password just enter your email you registered with into “lost password box” and new password will immediately be emailed to you.

Once you are in , you can also go to My Account. There you can change your password to whatever you wish to be. You can also edit some personal info. Remember, we don’t have your credit card info and have no access to it. That is handled by the biggest web processing co, authorize.net. We only get a notification of your subscription, we don’t have any cc info. And no, we will never share your email, address or any info with anyone.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest, something relevant. Some on this blog are still not aware that SJ Magazine is now a subscription publication at $20 a year for 6 issues. The subscription also gives you access to the current and 16 old issues. If you are not a current subscriber, you have a LOT of reading to catch up on. If you wish to subscribe, just click here https://surfcastersjournal.com/amember/signup and follow instructions.

I went through the headache of deleting many entries in the last Super Strike giveaway, manly to be fair to those who are subscribers to the SJ Magazine. It seems like some do not understand there are difference between SJ Blog and SJ Magazine. The magazine is for subscribers only and the blog is free to all. However, although you can read the blog without being a subscriber, you cannot enter the giveaways. Just wanted to make that clear.

Now here is a video still shot of the size of the snook I’ve seen that night shot trough IR night vision lens. That is a big snook in my book, its tail is still on the ground.  I  think he got yelled for catching fish that was “too big”.

Why too big? Because Florida has a slot limit. You really can’t take any big fish home, redfish, snook or whatever. It’s what happens when the state makes sure that resource is healthy first and then takes into account recreational and commercial sectors. Something of course you could not pull of here in Northeast were we are surrounded by morons, masquerading as recreational anglers and supposedly representing “us”.