Everyone breaks a rod tip guide sometimes.

Surfcaster’s Journal Rod Guru Lou Caruso has a great idea about changing rod tip on location. You could (with no wind) change your tip on the rock !!! Ok, we would not really recommend that but you could.

Today’s Giveaway comes as a courtesy of Walter Kluge of Surfcasters Lures

You can find more about his products at www.surfcasterslures.com
We are going to change this up a little and instead of one guy taking the whole loot, we’ll draw 4 winners and each will win one lure. Looks like we got some large 3oz plus pencils and a metal lip swimmer

Good luck and thanks to Walter for the donation

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here is a video I shot today on this rainy Memorial day. I was hoping to get to the beach to do it, but weather was not cooperating .

New PENN Torque II or second generation is now shipping to stores. Lots of changes to go over it…

enjoy

I hope all our readers are enjoying this long holiday weekend and we hope you all got to reflect on what this Memorial Day means to many.

“The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we — in a less final, less heroic way — be willing to give of ourselves.” – Ronald Reagan

May God Bless all who gave their lives for our country.

This week giveaway on the blog is special to me in a lot of ways. Rarely do I after ever get psyched about a new line of lures, no doubt because i became so comfortable with lures already in my bag. And no, I will never be the first kid on the block when it comes to trying new stuff. I am very well aware that Cape Cod Canal rats love their Sebile lures. But I also know probably better than anyone that they are woefully underused in NY and NJ area. Its only my second season of “never ;eave home without some” and I only feel like I am scratching the surface. Super Strike will always  be a mainstay in my bag but I haven’t been this psyched about learning about new lures in a long time.

So todays giveaway courtesy of Sebile Lures (and special thanks to the inventor Patrick Sebile in particular) is a very nice set of Sebile Lures.

190 Sebile Magic Swimmer

165  Sebile Magic Swimmer

155  Sebile Stick Shad

114  Sebile Stick Shad

Best of luck, enter the giveaway by simply entering your email bellow. The app will pick and notify the winner upon conclusion and he winners name will be posted on the app.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here is a shark from the pier video I promised you few weeks ago

Here is a weird  thought for you

Have you ever walked away from your spot when you really, really wanted to catch the fish and you knew the fish were there…but you still walked away ?

Sound implausible?

I just did that . And yes, I lived to tell about it.
What would posses someone to walk away from a bite that he is desperately seeking after a long and hard week at work? When you finally find a constant bite and you “figured out” what fish want, what would make you walk away ? Bad storm? No such thing. Emergency phone call. It would be I my phone never rang. A prior commitment ? Nope, I had a whole evening free to fish.

Then why walk away after driving all the way there, casting for an hour for not a bump and now that you got three fish on three  casts, now you are suddenly going to pack your shit and walk away for no apparent reason? And you want us to think you are sane?
Yes and yes. Although the reason might not be apparent at first, there is always a reason. I have few spots that i hold near and dear. I do not invite good friends or acquaintances to fish them. Same goes for cousins, celebrities of any kind. Only my kids and few closest friends ever got the invitation. Is that place that productive? It can be but the honest answer is , not really. Its a good spot, it can be great if you are willing to downsize your tackle to 7 foot rod and a 3/8 or 1/2 oz bucktail. Its  too inconsistent to be considered  a great spot but you can fish it with hand line if you wish. And ninety nine out of hundred times, no one fishes the spot and all bass are under 10lb . Remember I said there is always a reason?
I am fishing  and I see a guy to my left about 100 yards or so.  We can kind of see each other but if you put a rod down when you hook a fish neither one of us can tell if the other one is catching. I (or he) can catch a hundred fish and the other person would never know. I am not sure how he feels but this is just fine with me. The less people see me catching fish, the less pressure a spot gets, Some spots can fish a half of a surf fishing club, a place like North bar in Montauk can fit a mob. This little spot I am fishing can fit two, three is definitely a crowd. And I prefer to be alone so i can fan-cast to a different angles and with different weights  until i figure out the presentation that works the best.

So suddenly I see him making the move towards me. I am still casting but at this point I wont set a hook although I am getting hits on every cast. He now gets uncomfortable close, like 4 rocks away close. I guess he was expecting me to make room for him but I am instead man spreading like hobo on a subway. And I am still getting hits and now getting pissed off. He is throwing what looks like a  big, 3 ounce popper. I am throwing 3/8 ounce bucktail with seven foot rod.
Damn, my jig is getting  bumped like crazy but if i hook the fish…I am screwed. Maybe if he’s thinking I am not catching, he will leave. This goes on for about 10 casts, while I purposely do not set a hook ten times. One time a bass inhaled a bucktail but I gave him enough slack to spit a hook

He never notices as I pretend I am untangling a wind knot.
I almost one motion, my buck is attached to my St Croix Legend guide, and i am hoping rocks and  doing it to avoid making eye contact. After all, I am trying to attach the line and not to kill myself on rocks (no flip flops yet, but give me few days)
And there I was , walking back to my truck, dejected, pissed and aggravated . Not really at fellow angler. He is perfectly entitled to fish wherever he choses. And I guess I am entitled not to share sometimes.

I would have liked to catch few fish, especially since they were all bass. But I could not take a risk of finding 10 dudes in a spot the next day. Wife thinks I am crazy but she admits I am right too.

Sometimes there is thin line between crazy and sane. For those of you that are new, you’ll think this is grossly unfair. But give it few years and you’ll undersrtand

As promised New Tip Of the Week

This time on protecting the finger

Will try to roll these out on a weekly basis going forward

Zeno

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=DqPYixvlsjs

Today’s giveaway comes courtesy of Line Stretcher Lures at www.linestretcher.com
A really an awesome giveaway package consisting of three (3) 2 oz Line Stretcher Surface Tension lures in white, yellow and gray, plus Line Stretcher Adams hat and t-shirt.
To enter the giveaway all you have to do is enter your email. That’s it
The app software will pick winner on on Thursday evening and it will be posted on the app. The winner will be notified via email

Good luck

Enter giveaway HERE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Online magazine is now live

Check it out at https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/

New issue is up and it looks very good. I did not get  a chance to read all of it yet but it looks very well put together (Tommy & Dave  are the ones who put stuff together and deserve all the credit).

There are some new videos from Surf Fishing 101 Video Series and there are also some accompanying videos to Alvey Reels article (very cool!!!) and first installment videos from Comanche Surfcasting.

There are some new things going forward to. One, we are bringing back the food column (as one who cooks in my house for 30  years I am psyched!). We are also talking to few people about writing a  4×4 column for SJ and  few more changes that we will tell you about it soon.

So go read and let’s have a nice giveaway tomorrow, followed by another Tip of the Week video on weekend?

Enjoy

Of course you can always find us at  www.surfcastersjournal.com

We are proofreading May 2017 of the Surfcaster’s Journal Online Magazine. While you wait for a day or so here is a new announcement of  SPRING STRIPERTHON 2017 (you can also click any time on big STRIPERTHON 2017 link on top of any SJ page for this info). We will ad more pictures of lure packages as they become available.

Zeno

Spring STRIPERTHON 2017 sponsored by ODM Rods, Van Staal, Super Strike, Guppy and Tsunami Lures, Costa Del Mar, Trailhead Deflators and Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine

June 23rd to June 25th ,2017

The STRIPERTHON 2017 is open to all Surfcaster’s Journal subscribers with active subscriptions. There is no entry fee, as a subscriber you are automatically entered. (Subscribe today at www.surfcastersjournal.com to become eligible).

Only saltwater Striped bass & may be entered into the tournament. All fish entered into the STRIPERTHON 2017 must be caught in a surfcasting situation. A surfcasting situation constitutes contacting the ground, rocks, beach or a dock with ones feet. Any means may be used to reach these destinations, such as boat, ferry, swimming or kayaking but the fish must be hooked and landed while the angler’s feet are in contact with the Earth or something permanently affixed to the Earth.

All fish entered must be caught using a rod and reel and a legal live (or dead) bait or lure.

The CONTEST TAG will be posted on the blog at 5 pm on Friday June 23rd. The TAG must be included in the photo for each fish entered into the tournament. You may also download it onto your cell phone and show the TAG on your phone screen in the photo as well

All measurements will be ROUNDED DOWN to the nearest whole inch. 

All qualifying fish have to be photographed with the CONTEST TAG and next to a measuring tape showing entire length of the fish in inches visible in the photo accompanied by a SECOND photo of the angler holding the fish. This event is intended to be a CATCH AND RELEASE competition, remember all fish must be photographed alive.

Striped Bass minimum size is  34 inches. 

The largest fish by length will win first prize, second largest second prize and so on. In case of a tie, the first entry submitted will be placed ahead of a second entry of the identical size.

You must send us your entry pictures by 1 PM on Sunday June 25th. Email pictures to info@surfcastersjournal.com with email heading “SPRING STRIPERTHON 2017″.  Include your name and phone contact.

Anyone caught cheating in any way will be disqualified, ejected and publicly shamed.  This means any photo editing, unannounced substitutions, entering fish caught by non-members etc, will result in disqualification. We reserve the right to disqualify any entries in which the measurements are not clearly visible without enlargement. The SJ tournament committee will have final say in all disputes concerning the legitimacy of photos, size of the fish and quality of the photo submitted. Photos entered without a CONTEST TAG shown will not be counted, no exceptions. 

Your CONTEST TAG must be printed at a size of 6 inches by 6 inches or larger.

You are urged to take whatever means necessary to protect the TAG. Designating a page in your leader wallet is a great way to protect the tag. It is also wise to print several extras because, water and paper don’t mesh well.

All anglers fishing in any STRIPERTHON 2017 tournament agree to do so at their own risk. Surfcaster’s Journal, it’s owner, partners, sponsors or employees are in no way liable for any injuries or accidents that may occur during the act of fishing or traveling, walking, boating or kayaking to or from a fishing location. By printing the CONTEST TAG you agree to indemnify and defend Surfcaster’s Journal, it’s owner and/or employees against all claims, causes of action, damages, judgments, costs or expenses, including attorney fees and other litigation costs which may, in any way, arise from your  participation in the STRIPERTHON 2017.

Prizes for the Spring 2017 STRIPERTHON

Largest Striped Bass

1. ODM 10’6 Frontier NXFX-1066 Surf Rod (www.odmrods.com)
2. Van Staal 7 inch Titanium pliers (www.vanstaal.com)
3. Costa Del Mar Sunglasses (www.costadelmar.com)
4. Super Strike Lures Set (www.superstrikelures.com)
5. Guppy Lure Co Set (www.guppylure.com)
6. Tsunami Lure Set  (www.biminibayoutfitters.com)
7. Trail Head Deflators (www.trailheaddeflators.com)
8. SJ Gear Package