I always found it perplexing when I would walk on the beach and found a guy chunking, with bunker heads scattered all around him. Granted when I fished with bait a lot I went all out to do it, what I considered the “right” way. This means nothing more than having the right tools for the job. Although I have caught a 47 pound doozie on a chunk with Lami GSB and VS the softness of a spinning rod, the feature that makes them great for casting plugs, sucks when you are lobbing chunks. In fact some times when I tried to lob a head with my GSB I thought the rod was going to snap like a twig ( big props to Lami here for just how versatile GSB is). So I bought myself GSB 136 1MH which many would describe as conventional “meat stick”. Be that as it may, paired up with Abu 7000, you can probably cast a live squirrel with that a  100 yard

Exaggeration?

Sure

But you get my drift

and just a note from SJ staff

Originally featured in 2017 issue SJ Online magazine.

I promised you few thoughts on Striper Day, so here they go before I get sidetracked by something else again.

First ,we’d like to thank you all who attended, the vendors and all the guys that tirelessly worked the show. Hofstra U in their ultimate visdom, after telling us a month before the show that the lounge is no longer available to be used, decided to tell us few days before the show that we can use it. This set off mad scramble to change the table location and vendors again but we gladly took it to expand the room. As in previous year, we had staggered entry, so the plug guys got their fill and those that wanted goody bags got theirs too. Crowd was noticeably higher than last year but no crowding whatsoever.

Hofstra told us that lounge area will undergo renovation this week and will no longer be able to be used for future shows as tables will no longe be allowed. To me this mean that Striper Day in its current form is no longer a possibility at Hofstra. I am mentally exhausted trying to fit a square peg in the round hole. If we overdo on promo, we have to worry about crowding. If we don’t , then vendors ask where are the people? You just cant win. And now without lounge it would mean that we had to squeezes another 10 tables in the main room and never allow anyone new to come in ? No thanks, I’ll like to sleep at night

Any other place we might possibly move to, will of course have its own challenges. But as of right now, the Striper Day IV only exists in your imagination. We are looking into few different options including one where there would not be (not by choice) room for any seminars but as you know our choices are limited and honestly, if I had to answer you today if next year Striper Day will happen, I would tell you an honest no. But that does not mean we will stop trying. Right now , our best option is somewhere mid Suffolk county, either south or north shore. Keeping fingers crossed but I am realist. If I was living in pretend land, I would have bough shit load of Bitcoin and have someone type this shit for me instead of pecking with this one finger.

Here is an interesting thought…why in the world do we have these shows till 5 pm when NO ONE is there after 3 o’clock? Its embarrassing to have your feature speaker go on at 3 with 6 people in attendance and this is not only NY, but NJ, CT ,RI you name it. Why are we making these shows so long and then get pissed when vendors want to leave after 3 o’clock because place looks deserted? It doesn’t make any sense. Everyone (yours truly included) likes to get his stuff done in morning and spend afternoon either at home with family or watching football. The RISAA show is brutal with this especially on Sunday till 5PM and then a mad rush for exits.

Maybe we should all think this…and maybe we actuality have better shows

in mean time I am dreaming about return trip mexico and roosterfish !!!!

its been uploaded and is now live for your reading pleasure

https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/

New video

Surf Fishing Tip of the Week # 45 How To make a Leader

grab a chair and a cup of coffee because you be about to be educated

by one and only

Rich Trox’

Some thoughts on Striper Day III when I come up for air.

Here is a board with raffle prizes. This year we called raffle all day long and texted winners right away which worked great!!

Here were are on the cusp of another show season and third edition of Striper Day this weekend at Hofstra University leads the way. A day dedicated to the surf fishing community with a full day of seminars from today’s best known surfcasters. There will be vendors of  surf fishing products, factory representatives, well known authors, guides, tackle shops, local plug builders and more. Come enjoy  seminars from today’s best known surf fishing experts.

I know that staggered entrance is a little confusing to some so let me try to explain it a bit.Due to overwhelming attendance , we are attempting to spread out the rush . The show hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4 30 p.m. For all you plug fanatics, the doors will be open at 8:30 a.m. sharp. BUT, if you like free stuff, we will be handing out complimentary gift packages loaded with items from our sponsors to the first 400 guests arriving AFTER 10:30 AM.

We are looking forward to seeing a lot of our readers and we think that you will enjoy many of the seminars and movie showing too. One big change this year is that SJ will be announcing raffle winners throughout the day and posted on board on SJ Raffle table. In addition, if you are winner and not present we will contact you via phone after the show. All you need is to put your phone # and name on back of a ticket. We even have giant ticket to help you write your # easier.

On a personal level, this has been the most difficult thing I have ever done with SJ. Due to lack of room, I’ve lost too many nights of sleep and had one too many Xanax to stay sane. If there is another Striper Day it will be held in another venue, most likely in Suffolk county. This is my last Hofstra Striper Day, which does not mean that its last for SJ , just last I am personally willing to plan. Hofstra decided that they no longer wish to give us the lounge area in 2019 which leaves the show to only one room going forward after this year edition, and in my mind that is unacceptable. We have few solid leads for places twice as big in Suffolk county but we can only hope that something good will come out of it. I tried to do the best I could with what I had to work with, with widening the isles and limiting tackle store presence to make the experience still unique but more comfortable. Forgive me if I have let you down along the way. I am hoping that best is YET to come. See you on Saturday

STRIPER DAY 2018 RAFFLE
Winner does NOT need to be present
Van Staal VSX Reel
Costa Del Mar Sunglases
Lamiglas GSB 108M Surf Rod
Fiberstar Predator SB – 1266 Surf Rod
ODM 2.5 SURFWAVE BAG
Tsunami Airwave Surf rod
Tsunami Shield Reel
ODM SURFWAVE BELT
J.Jaget Customs Lure Pack
CCW Lure package
Guppy Lures package
Tight Liner Lures Lure Package
Black Label Plugs Lure Package
YoZuri Lures Package
Tsunami Lures Package
Set The Hook Striped Bass Performance shirt and Long Island hat
and more to be added at show…

2018 Striper Day  Seminars
(subject to change)
Main Theater

10 00 AM- 11 15 AM
Bill Wetzel
Montauk Trophy Hunting
11:15-11:30
“Running The Coast “
Short Movie by Jamie Howard

11:45 AM- 1 PM
John Skinner
“Bending the Rod – Staying Happy in Today’s Fishery”

1:15 PM- 2 :45 PM
“Montauk Rocks”
Movie by Richard Siberry

3 PM – 4 PM
Elliot Sudal
Intro to Land-based Shark Fishing

 Seminar Room 143

9:45-10:45 AM
Al Gag’s
“Catching Stripers All Winter Long”

11:15AM-12:0PM
Matt Broderick
“Commonly Used Lures and Practical Applications”

12:30 to 1:15 PM
Pete Utschig
Plugs – “What,When and Why”

1:45- 2:30 PM
Al Albano
“Fishing Inlets”

STRIPER DAY 2018

 8.30 AM – 4.30 PM

Admission $15  Children under 12 free

The first 400 guests arriving AFTER 10:30 AM will go home with complimentary gift packages from

Super Strike Lures, Tsunami Lures, Otter Tails, MagicTail Bucktails, Hogy Lures, Gamakatsu, SPRO, Al Gag’s Lures & SJ

First 100 Gift bags $50+ value 

Next 200 Gift bags $35+ value 

Next 100 Gift Bag  $25+ value 

By Lou Caruso

I recently caught up with the owner of Lamiglas and Lamiglas rep Sean Kearney as they worked their way from shop to shop across the Island showing them the latest innovations Lamiglas has to offer in their revamped surf lineup. Some time ago I had spoken to Tom, and later to Sean about the outdated layouts Lamiglas used on their factory surf rods and the adverse effects they had. The big heavy guides were really slowing down the action and making the rods really sloppy to cast. I have done quite a few builds on Lamiglas blanks over the last few years using the newer smaller K-Frame guides with a new guide concept layout or a modified concept layout, and knew there was much more potential in Lamiglas blanks that was not being utilized in their factory rods.

When Tom and Sean reached into the back of their vehicle I was pleasantly surprised to see some really nice, revamped surf rods. From the ergonomic reel seat with a locking nut, to the ex-flocks handles to the smaller K-Frame guides they were all new. A far cry from the days of cork handles with the hypalon pieces on each end of the standard reel seat (boy did I hate those), and those huge guides.

These rods are much crisper then the originals and lighter in the hand. The blanks are still the same blanks used in the original lineup including the new GSB1321MOS and the GSB1201MOS for all the diehard Lamiglas Fans.

With the show season starting up this weekend, check them out for yourselves. Lamiglas will be at Striper Day as well as many of the east coast shows.

A WEEK AWAY