I know many of you could not make The Fisherman Show, due to work, distance or other reason. So we are going to give three SJ Blog readers a chance to win each a new  show special shirt from the show this week. because you guys are worth it, you support us and love what we do and we will keep on doing it.

So go ahead, enter away and we’ll announce the winners in few days

These shirts are also now in our store for a limited time, while supply lasts

and don’t forget , SJ Striper Day coming January 9th, 2016

Get all the details at www.striperday.com

The newest SJ issue is up for your reading pleasure. See you tonight at the show

Editor’s note

Not sure if we will be able to get blog post before Thursday Fisherman’s Show so here is the new show shirt, only available at the show, yours free with subscription or renewal

now back to regularly scheduled programing lol

The Midnight Rambler

The Changing Face of Montauk

(Part of an Occasional Series)

John Papciak

With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, fall fishing on Long Island begins just as soon as you can get your truck loaded and headed east. (Remember, some years it only took one storm to get some fish moving.) And with this comes the 2015 installment on The Changing Face of Montauk. By now, pretty much every newspaper and blogger has smelled the coffee and picked up on what I’ve been talking about in this series over the last few years.

But none of them ever acknowledge that not all “changes” in Montauk have been bad. I’ve mentioned some of the good before. Access-wise, you don’t need to camp out on April 1st to get a key to Camp Hero. Remember that? Or perhaps you are old enough to remember not being allowed in there at all? There are now even more decent places to eat. Not many smelly delis or greasy food places left. Your doctor thinks that’s a good thing, even if you don’t. And there are now quite a number of really nice female-friendly places to stay, which is key if you want to fish your ass off and still stay married. (I think back to the days of camping in a tent at Shagwong, with a port-a-potty, I concede I was seriously pushing it then.) The Lighthouse parking lot facilities have been seriously upgraded from when I first started coming out – there’s an air station, a cleaning station, and the bathrooms are big and clean. But there’s still quite a lot of change happening in Montauk, some of this might spill over into the early fall. You might recall I wrote a column last fall where I talked about a silent war going on for the summer identity of Montauk. I talked about the three-way battle between the families, the hipsters and the partiers, and I defined each type.

http://www.surfcastersjournal.com/the-midnight-rambler-the-changing-face-of-montauk/

Well, as widely reported, the summer of 2015 has been all about the partiers. It hit me square in the face on July 2 while riding the Long Island Rail Road “Hamptons Express.” Painful as this sounds, I sometimes commute from Montauk into the city on the 5:39am. I’ve taken the same afternoon Express train back out, on and off over the last 15 years. This time, with a stunning weather forecast, my double decker rail car was standing room only for the 3+hour trip. The crowd was a bit younger than I ever remembered for a holiday weekend. They were drinking a bit more than I ever could recall. There were far fewer “working professionals” in sight. Nope, I sized this up to be heavily slanted toward a “share house” crowd.

What do I mean by that?

In the past, I might have overheard conversations about restaurants or real estate or even charter boats.  This crowd had more basic concerns, like sleeping arrangements. Much of the conversation also concerned what bars they were going to , all in Montauk. In case you were wondering, nobody was talking about fishing. To be fair, none of this was exactly a surprise. By now, I take it for granted that Fourth of July will be an utter shit-show. It’s just that the “show” has gotten quite “shitty” over the years, and it’s hard for me now to remember just how much has changed over a decade. I seldom visit the downtown area on any Saturday night after 9pm during the height of the summer season, and I know not to bother trying to bring anyone near the most popular watering holes. But even by these standards, there was more this year, stuff I didn’t expect. Taxi cabs had virtually blocked off several intersections as they competed for business, and they showed little interest in letting traffic pass. We did have one bonfire on a beach close to town, but we had a problem with kids coming out of the bars and walking down the beach trying to mooch beers. One very drunk young man insisted on buying some of our firewood while handing me a fist full of bills. There was peeing in the dunes everywhere. I guess this is what happens when the line at the door is ridiculous, and the line for the bathroom is even worse.

Some fell asleep on the beach. One group pitched a tent. I guess no room at the Inn, or maybe they spent all their money at the bar? I thought I had seen enough, but by most other accounts, I only saw a faction of it. By that Thursday, the local East Hampton Star was filled with stories and editorials about the beating Montauk took over the Fourth of July weekend. The following East Hampton Town Board meeting was taken over by several hundred Montauk residents, who all showed up at the Montauk Firehouse to voice their frustration over how the town was turning into a summer version of “Spring Break.” The reports of drinking and party buffoonery spread from one end of town to the other.

The Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and Chief of Police Michael Sarlo have been in crisis mode ever since, authorizing dramatic increases in police presence and enforcement. As of this writing it is too difficult to predict how this will ultimately play out. Montauk had been known as a laid-back kind of place, with a libertarian approach,  a land where fishing and surfing reign supreme. But somehow this lifestyle caught the attention of a much wider following, some with a specific desire to monetize the experience. While it’s hard to pinpoint a catalyst, the influx of new bar owners with Manhattan-caliber connections and marketing expertise played a huge part. The genie was out of the bottle (and on the dance floor) when they were finally able to convince thousands of 20-somethings from Manhattan to drive past Southampton and East Hampton, to a hipper and more happening Montauk.

Even some of the existing bars – who clearly saw the possibilities – quietly converted from restaurants and gift shops to “clubs” with live music and signature DJs. Most are now targeting the Manhattan singles 22-30 market those with disposable income and the willingness to spend it on the highest margin mixed drinks. Let’s face it, selling $15 vodka drinks to hundreds of 23 year olds,  who wait in line to stand elbow to elbow once they get inside, is a hell of a lot more profitable per square foot than dinner for a family of four, where two of the meals will be chicken fingers or Mac and cheese. (Sorry kiddies, come back when you are old enough to drink)

The “share house” rental market is also playing a part, reportedly pricing out families and locals (and maybe even some fishermen?). While fractional short term rentals are illegal per Town code, enforcement has been largely ineffective. Overall, the town will now have some very painful soul-searching to do in the months ahead. The good news is that a critical mass of people are now fed up, and are not willing to let a handful of bar owners dictate the future of Montauk. The Manhattan club people and their bar flies talk about the money they are bringing into the local economy, but clearly not all taxpayers and voters are feeling the love , and this is an election year. The only question now is how much of the anger will survive Tumbleweed Tuesday, and carry on through to Election Day. You can be sure that The Changing Face of Montauk (and what should be done about it) will be the primary campaign agenda for both parties.

The impact on you and your fall fishing?

Hotel room prices will remain a bit sticky in the upward direction, as more people linger into the fall. Restaurants prices might stay up as well (though they will hopefully drop by late fall). Enforcement at the town parking lots will remain up for at least the early part of the fall. This means higher risk of a ticket if you don’t have the town stickers. Don’t be so quick to park in a town lot, not if you can park somewhere else legally and avoid a ticket. If you do want to finish off a night of surf fishing with a beach fire, make sure you know the rules, and make sure the fire is in the proper metal container, not directly on the sand. And lastly, but most importantly, watch it with the alcohol. Tickets and arrests for open containers, consumption of alcohol in unauthorized areas, and of course DWI are up – and will likely remain up. Town Police have been proudly publishing the number of tickets and arrests each week. I seriously doubt they will cut you much slack or give you a warning just because you are a fisherman. If you visited Montauk this past summer, you know most of what I’ve shared above. For the rest, the good news is that the shenanigans Montauk is dealing with right now remain mostly a Memorial Day to Labor Day thing.

Most fall surfcasters will arrive to the same laid back Montauk you’d expect after Tumbleweed Tuesday.

The Seafood Festival is September 12-13

The Montauk Surf Classic is September 25-27

Paulie’s Tournament is October 2-4

The Fall Festival and Chowder Contest is October 10

Last fall the fishing ended early. But with some luck, we could be fishing under the gannets, and on hand for the Lighthouse Lighting and Christmas

Fair on November 28.

Editor’s note #2

if anyone is looking for a a sweet deal on VS200 contact J&H Tackle. They have last year models at low $

 

 

Tommy is putting finishing touches on the new issue and we have another edition of John Papciak Midnight Rambler ready to go but first we’ll give away some goodies and let you know about few things. There should be bunch of videos and two subscribers only videos in the subscriber section, one by Lou Caruso and one by Dave Anderson.  

Today’s giveaway is for these two large 3 oz Big Poppa Pencil Poppers by Guide Secret Lures. One winner, two plugs, rattles and all           

First, you know about The Fisherman’s Surf Show and Workshop on Thursday in Huntington. We’ll be there with yet another new SJ show special shirt. Hope we see many of you there. Its always fun to shot the breeze before fall run kicks into gear on LI. I do have to tell you that Saturday night was one of the wettest nights I’ve ever experienced fishing. We didn’t catch much but sometimes being with friends and enjoying each others company is as enjoyable as catching…almost..lol

Second, all SJ store items have been restocked. Any shirt that was out of stock is now back in stock

and yes, we brought a limited  creeping When You Sleeping shirt back for a limited two week engagement

You can see all of it in our online store at www.surfcastersgear.com

I also found few hoodies, few very old shirts, they are all in SJ Specials section of the store, in addition to some limited time sale items.

The winner of Guppy very special SJ pencil Popper is Fidel Cabrera

Congrats Fidel, you have 5 days to contact us at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your shipping address. We are few days away from the new SJ  issue and The Fisherman Show  is on tap next Thursday. In a lot of ways, The Fisherman’s Show has always been kind of an unofficial start to fall run.

There is an insane amount of bait in a lot of places and if you are living around Cape Cod Canal, there are actually really wish, with stripers feeding on them. Not so much in other places but hopefully that will change with cooling temperatures

Here is a video of SJ columnist John I-can-catch-a-fish-in-a-roadside-puddle Skinner, talking about the lures that you can find in the back of his truck. This originally appeared in the episode #2 of SJTV, i am working on some stuff for future episodes as we speak

Enjoy

[youtube]https://youtu.be/0lDrKwkIGSM[/youtube]

I know I have to pick a winner for Guppy Special Custom SJ plug, will do that when we do our next giveaway. Tommy is working like hell on the new issue. Unfortunately he and our managing editor Dave Anderson had death in the family recently so we are a little behind were we would like to be but we are getting there. And of course we’ll have something new for The Fisherman Show. We hope to see you there….stay tuned

2015 surf show and Montauk Classic 

contact: fred golofaro    631-345-5200

THE FISHERMAN SURF FISHING SHOW AND WORKSHOP

The Fisherman Magazine’s Annual Surf Fishing Show and Seminar takes place Thursday night, September 17, at the Huntington Hilton (quarter mile south of the LIE on

Route 110). More than 60 surf fishing related tackle manufacturers will be represented, and also displaying their wares and offering special deals on surf gear will be many of the best tackle shops and tackle vendors from the region. 

The first 500 attendees will go home with goody bags made up of an assortment of tackle items from Tsunami, Jetty Ghost, Blue Frog, Spiderwire, Hopkins, Spro, VMC, Suffix, Tactical Anglers, Owner, Storm, E-Poseidon, and Sea Striker. Every attendee receives a free chance to a raffle featuring great surf fishing related prizes, including rods, reels and surf fishing accessories from manufacturers like Penn, Tsunami, St. Croix, Century, Star Rods, Daiwa, Korkers, Cousins Tackle, Shimano,  AquaSkinz and many others. 

This year’s seminar series features an impressive array of surf fishing experts, including “Crazy Alberto” Knie, master plug maker Don Musso of Super Strike, The Diving Fisherman Mike Laptew, two-time winner of the Jamaica Bay Kayak Classic, Elias Vaisberg, surf guide Bill Wetzel and Fisherman Surf Fishing columnist Toby Lapinski.

“Crazy Al” will share tips on targeting cow stripers with plugs and bait; Super Strike Don Musso will host a Q&A on anything you want to know about fishing plugs; Mike Laptew will present stunning video providing valuable insight into the feeding habits and movements of stripers; Elias Vaisberg will cover fall striper tactics and opportunities in the Long Island, Metro area from a kayaking perspective; Toby Lapinski will cover what you need to know to be safe and successful at the wetsuiting game; and Bill Wetzel will clue you in on how to be successful in the Montauk surf.

Hands-on work stations will cover knot tying, surf rigs, and rod building, while Ralph Votta will provide tips on how to be successful with tins. If you’re into bucktailing, you can pick the brains of master bucktailer John Paduano of Premium Bucktails..Harvey Cooper will be tying up his popular teasers, and for the salty fly set, award winning author Angelo Peluso and Paul McCain of River Bay Outfitters will be sharing their extensive knowledge of saltwater fly patterns, along with showing you how to tie them. LIBBA members will be on hand to fill you in on what you need to know for safe and responsible beach driving.    

If you’re into surf fishing, or looking to join the ranks of the surf fishing fraternity, you won’t want to miss this show. It will be a great opportunity to stock up on your favorite lures and rigs, and any accessories you’ll need to get you through the fall action. It will also be a great opportunity to check out some of the 2016 surf products unveiled at this year’s ICAST Show in Orlando. Show doors open at 6 p.m. and the presentations get underway at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors 65 and over and $15 for children 16 and under,.

Montauk Surfcasters Association Fall Clean Up

Montauk Surfcasters Association  is holding its annual fall beach clean up September 19 th at

Montauk State Park

The clean up starts

At 10:30 am in the lower lot. Tee shirts and food provided by the SurfCasters Association and the parks dept.

All those participating in the clean up will also receive a ticket for a thank you gathering at 1:30 pm at Montauk brewing company, including a free beer sponsored by Montauk Brewing company Give aways for a – Van Staal reel, a fishing trip with the Viking Fleet , and an Aquaskinz plug bag full of Super strike fishing lures !

Be there to support a great cause and help show that it’s the fishing community that cares about the beaches of our state parks .

MONTAUK SURF FISHING CLASSIC

Hosted by The Fisherman and Long Island State Parks, this popular event always attracts a crowd, and should be well timed for Montauk’s traditional September run of bass and blues. This year’s contest is slated for Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27. The Classic kicks off at noon Friday, and continues through Sunday at noon. The awards ceremony will take place at the Point at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The first 100 attendees at Sunday’s awards ceremony will receive free tackle from Storm, Spro and Suffix, and all attendees will receive a free ticket for the awards ceremony raffle.

Weigh-in for this year’s contest will be Johnny’s Tackle Shop and the Montauk State Park office in the lower lighthouse parking lot. The in-person entry deadline is 9 a.m. at Johnny’s Saturday morning, or until 6 a.m. Saturday at the lighthouse lot. The entry fee is $15 per angler. 

The Striped Bass Release Division is once again being sponsored by Van Staal, with the winner taking home a VSX Series Van Staal Reel. There are three places in the Striped Bass Release Division, and the Striped Bass and Bluefish divisions. Winners of the striped bass (weighed) and bluefish categories will receive $750. Second and third place winners in all three categories will receive quality tackle prizes. In the case of a tie, the earliest fish checked in will take priority.  The minimum size for striped bass entries is set at 36 inches, while the bluefish minimum is set at 5 pounds. For more information, call 631-321-3510. 

1 PM
I knew that it would not take long for me to pass out in the truck. Between driving, rock hopping and running I was due to for a rest. I set alarm for 4 PM and settled in my front seat

I was woken by the yelling …..FISH!!

WTF

Dazed and confused I look at my clock and its 1 35.
I look outside the window to catch a glimpse of a boil in the water. Only one guy is fishing, Nick the son of the owner of Paulies bait and tackle. I am trying to figure out what it going on when I see his rod doubled over. I watch him land the fish and make another cast, all while thinking I should get back to sleep. Then he hooks up again and a guy walks up next to him and hooks up too.

Damn

Both of them land big bluefish, well in excess of 12 pounds and within ten minuted there is about 5 guys in the water. Mostly people with kids, to be honest, very few had waders or looked like regulars. The bunker is hugging the shore nervously and occasional leaping in the air, no doubt chased by big blues. I get out of the truck and look into the wave and you can see big blues racing through the waves. It was so cool to see!

I grabbed my camera and took some shots and then grabbed the rod and made few casts, and then camera and then rod and then camera and then rod. Mother of God, before I knew it, it was 8PM. So many big blues were landed by very few guys that were there and it was so awesome to see kids get into it. One young surfcaster was particularly impressive.
He was geared up from head to toe, had a mean cast and could work a pencil popper like it was nobodies business. I decided to hang around him a little with a camera and shot this short feature.[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-3i6X_B8W0[/youtube]

My sincerest congrats to his dad on a job well done educating this young angler. The bite kept going on and off all day and as you can see in the video, it was sunset and it was still going…remember I was woken at 1 35 ?

I tried to get a drone up as the sun was setting but all I managed it was crashing it into ground before it ended up in water. I had so many issues with it last few times I am afraid to put it where is should be…high above.

By 8 30 PM I am in town, back at 7/11 refilling my thermos and contemplating what to do. Originally I was going to just sleep in the truck, get up for sunrise with drone and go home. But all that bait, and there was spearing, peanuts, white bait and big bunker (in addition I heard of squid and tinker mackerel) made me think maybe i should suit up after dark? Besides, drone looks shot

I walked back to my truck, put the thermos down and keys into ignition and lights came on automatically only to light up a chick holding the other chick by waist who had two fingers in her throat. Of course she proceeded to puke on the front of my truck. Seriously ? Drunk at 8 PM? The town is a total shithole with man-bun wearing, lumberjack bearded looking 20 something year olds with absolutely no respect, sincerity or manners. They turned what was once a family destination into playground for citidiots. The line TO GET INTO the bars were 100 people deep. Can you imagine waiting on line for hour to get a drink? Are u kidding, I could ferment the wild berries in Camp Hero into alcohol faster! Anyway, I took the back roads back to the Point to avoid driving those two blocks thought the town as the cars were not even moving.

9 PM
Decision Time
Wetsuit was not going to happen. I was too tired, too cranky to be wet. If I was going to give a shot it was going to be in waders. There was half eaten bunker littering the shore where I pulled up. Good omen?
10 PM
After internal debate and cleaning up my truck a bit which now had cameras thrown about, I decided that I was going to try fishing. But it was going to be on my terms. Waders, no wetsuit. Two SS needles, two SS darters, and two SP minnows. That was all I was taking. I had no intentions or desire to fish under the light so few bucktails that were in my bag already were sufficient. Three flashlight, primary, secondary and God-forbid light that stays in the surf bag were laid out along with waders, belt, jacket, bag and of course SJ hat.

Now north side is a lot tighter than south side so I wont go into a specific names. All I will tell you is that I started in my most favorite and most hated spot on north side. I love fishing here because it can be so freaking good but I often wished I had a cup over my balls as every wave clips me in the crotch. You move back, waves seem to get bigger and you cant reach the promising water. You move forward and you’ll get slapped so hard by a wave you will wish you had a wetsuit on. There is not a single rock here to stand on so I fired up a SS needle up current and let it drift. I missed the first 2 fish, all while telling myself they are tiny fish that missed the hooks. Then it got quiet for awhile and I switched to SS Halloween darter (yeah I fish those crazy colors). Right away I got two bass but the third one will haunt me for awhile. It buried its nose into the rocks and I could not turn it. Next thing I know it came unbuttoned and i did not know why. After closer inspection I found out that one of the VMC trebles has been broken off the trebles. Sometimes you win, sometimes the fish does. I managed few more fish into teens and then the bite died. I moved around few spots on the north side for few hours and even tried the bars, not a place where I would usually fish the incoming but all the bait was there, but I never found fish
At 1 AM I am back by my truck and I say to myself, its time, screw the sunrise and avoid all traffic. By 3 AM, 24 hours after getting up I am back in my bed…The Circle of a One Day Trip Completed

Its been awhile since I had anything cool to report from a personal standpoint so here it goes

3 AM Saturday

Drinking my coffee and asking myself have you lost your f*** mind driving to Montauk on Labor Day weekend? But the crazy side of my brain won so at 3 30 AM  I am at 7/11 filling up my thermos.

Saturday morning I arrived at Montauk Point at dawn, just before sunrise. I heard that bluefish bite has been going on and off in daytime but that wasn’t really my reason for going. I really wanted to come on Sunday to take few shots with a drone when it was supposed to be flat calm winds. Saturday was a leftover blow from hard NE and E the day before. But I could not justify in my head driving two hours on Sunday, then flying a drone for 20 minutes and then driving back home for 2 hours. So I figured I come on Saturday,spend a day, take in some scenery, shot a drone in the morning and go home

It did not quite worked out that way

First stop North Bar 5 30 AM 

Few guys penciling at false dawn into sunrise, did not see a fish caught. It was supposed to be HARD NE wind but that never materialized. It was blowing but not as hard as I would like. And once sun came out it was a perfect bluebird summer day,,,,and that sucks when is coupled with NE winds..in my humble opinion

Someone asked me via text the day before how hard and nasty you want a NE to be to get psyched?That’s easy to answer, when I am seriously afraid for my life or broken limbs, that is the money weather, always have been for me. That does not mean that I encourage you to do stuff that you are not comfortable with. Please, do not get out your comfort zone, we all got mouths to feed. Having said that I remember a club member calling me few years ago during a noreaster from his room in Montauk and saying “Z, the trees are bent in an arc, I am not going fishing in this shit”

That turned out to be one of the most memorable days in Montauk in the last 15 years

Anyway back to my one day odyssey

6 30 AM

I was in no mood to suit up and throw pencil poppers, so I decided to head out to Camp Hero and put on a wetsuit. There was only a single truck parked by the Sewer Pipe, the regulars have not arrived yet in Montauk (I don’t blame them for that). As I was suiting up, a fellow whose truck I parked  next to walks up , also in wetsuit, and tells me he’s been fishing all morning without a hit. And to boot, the water is full of weed on the reefs, but not so bad in the coves. Well, that put my confidence level down on the par with the Mets winning a World Series as I really am not a fan of fishing the coves. I like to get on the points at bottom of tide and then I fish the corners “Vito style” the rest of the time. I decided to give it a shot because water looked good. Why didn’t it look great on NE wind instead of just ok ?

The wind wasn’t hard enough. When it would foam up it looked great but the period between the foaming waves was too long. In classic hard NE wind the water is white ALL THE TIME….I set myself up to fish across Rat Hole with a small bucktails but sure as shit I got weed on every single cast. Oh man, this is going to suck I said to myself. I decided to get on the lead rock in the same vicinity and try casting into the ocean instead diagonally. I was elated when there was no weed on the top of the reef and when the waves would crest the water looked GOOD…. the wave foamed and  I looked down at my feet and there are few small bass jumping in the milky foam. Few seconds later, I hooked my first fish, a husky schoolie but when no one is catching,one eyed man is a king. In  the next hour I managed three more fish but it was a workout to get them. Bite ended and I took a walk to Caswels, casting and walking along the way.

9 AM

I seriously do not understand why many complain about Caswels, calling it a “Death March” amongst other things. Its a bitch, but it is not like walking Cuttyhunk rocks on the south side where there is no sand to put your feet on, just big rocks. I got on the reef at Caswels and started casting but did not care the way the water was breaking. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either. It just did not give me a lot of confidence. I looked towards the corner where water was moving in same manner. Maybe I should give a shot there as the water is a little deeper? After about half an hour, I made a move to the corner rocks. No sooner than I found a rock to stand on, I was greeted by peanut bunker flying out of the water. In the next hour I managed another 8 bass, all on small side and finally by 11 AM I was ready for a break. I really was not expecting to make a cast this weekend but so far I had a dozen bass and I haven’t fell on my ass once and its was almost noon. That almost never happens !!

By 11 30 AM I was in the lower lot drying my wetsuit and putting on my running shoes on. Hey, you got to get your cardio in somehow. After a run to the scientific overlook and back on the Montauk highway I was ready for a shower. I drove through the shit-fest in town to get to Hither Hill State Park and after a shower and a lunch at 7/11 off course, I was at False Bar at 1 PM reclining  my seat and going off to lala land……Time for a well deserved nap

And then few minutes later all the shit breaks lose…and I am talking giant bluefish, leaping bunker and usual Montauk insanity when fish show….

Not only that but the night ended with hooks being torn off my darter…nothing like I planned, that’s for sure

stay tuned

The Midnight Rambler

John Papciak

A Fish (Not) Too Far

For most of the summer I’ve been having these chest pains. It felt like

draggers stabbing me in the chest. No, I don’t think I have coronary artery

disease. But I do have an acute fishing disorder. The stabbing pains were

felt whenever I’d see a Facebook post from Captain John McMurray’s of One

More Cast Charters.

Many SJ readers here know of John. He is quite active in conservation and

was particular vocal this past winter when new bass regs were being

discussed in public hearings. John’s One More Cast has been taking people

inshore for bass for over 20 years. I might have the exact math wrong, but

about 12 years ago he also started to do more offshore trips. A few years

ago he went “all in” on the offshore thing and upgraded to a 33 foot

Contender and twin Yamaha 300s.

OK Ok. Enough about the boat. Most readers here are surfcasters and insist

“boat fish don’t count.”

Besides, when most people talk about offshore, it’s about overnight

chunking trips, or maybe trolling. I love both, but there is a reason why

I’m primarily a surfcaster.

I love seeing the fish. I love sneaking up on them. I love casting to them.

I love casting to a swirl and getting goose bumps thinking “Oh man, that

plug is gonna get hammered.”

And for me, fly fishing is along these same lines, just takes it to another

level.

When John McMurray started to do these offshore trips, he approached it so

very differently than your average 6-Pack charter. His business model (in

my opinion) is all about catering to a clientele who wants to do the same

kinds of things done inshore and surf – topwater lures, casting, and fly

fishing. It helps when the fish are quite a bit bigger and stronger than

your average bass or bluefish, even more so on a pound for pound basis.

So when I’d see Facebook posts with John’s clients holding yellowfins –

caught on popping plugs- it was quite painful. About a week ago, I

concluded I could take it no more. I shot him a text: “Dude, you’re killing

me with the photos, do you have any openings?” And wouldn’t you know it, he

shot me right back. “Actually, now I have an opening this Saturday, trying

to pull together a crew, you interested?”

(Am I in?…  Really? …  I was all over this like a fat boy on an ice cream

cone.)

It took a couple days to work out the details, confirm a crew, confirm the

weather, and it wasn’t until Friday morning that we made it officially a

Go.

“Be at my house at 5am. If you have a 12 weight bring it too, just in

case.”

Fast forward to 11pm that night. The whole day was spent reorganizing the

weekend. I moved “date night” with my wife to Friday. Now picture me after

dinner, and after a few glasses of wine, trying to pull together an

offshore fly outfit… find the right sinking line, sort through hundreds of

flies, tie leaders, and re-tie a good strong Bimini for my backing. That

last part got to me. There I was, poor lighting in the garage, no glasses,

not having to worry about knots like this for the entire season – now tying

and testing my Bimini skills. I rejected about ten attempts before being

convinced I’d have a prayer should I miraculously hook a tuna.

So I got a bit under four hours of sleep – typical under these kinds of

circumstances.

John had plans to leave the dock at 5am, but it was only when I got there

that I learned  the first part of the trip was for hunting bait. We cruised

up and down a few canals before he found some peanuts worth throwing a cast

net on. And soon the live well was full. The plan was clear – if we get a

few fish around the boat, throw some live bait fish in the water to get

them panting. Ok, sure I’m a sportsman, but I also know how frustrating it

is to have fish follow your fly or lure and not eat anything. Think of the

peanuts as trip insurance. At least I did.

Our first stop was a buoy about 25 miles out, destination Mahi. The best

news was seeing that the twin Yamaha 4 Stroke 300’s could easily push the

big Contender to almost 50 mhp, and with reasonably flat seas, this was

about our running speed.

John got the boat to within 50 feet of the buoy, and we began casting. I

started with my fly rod, and actually landed the fly on the buoy (luckily

not snagging it). But it was not to be. We made cast after cast with all

make of fly and lure, John even threw out some peanuts. Nothing. Not good.

Like any fisherman hitting a spot that was always a sure win, we began to

search for answers. Did someone beat us to the buoy? (no we got there

practically at first light). Did the full moon throw the fish off?

John grabbed a few bean bag chairs and threw them in the back. “You guys

might want to sit on these and take a rest, we have quite ways to go now to

get to the tuna.” And so we did.

I tried to doze a little, but it was futile. My best bet was just to close

my eyes and relax.

It’s hard to say how much farther we ran, but when John slowed down about

30 minutes later, I got the clear sense that he either had mechanical

problems or he was about to call an audible.

“OK guys, let’s make some casts here. There’s some interesting signs of

life with these birds circling, and I’m marking a ton of bait.”

John handed me an outfit that I was all too familiar with – and very

similar to that used by many surfcasters. A silver Van Staal 250 was

spooled with 65 lb Power Pro matched with a 6 foot heavy boat spinning. (Ok

the rod was shorter and beefier).  The lure was different.

“You guys throw stuff like this in the surf?” he asked of the Shimano Orca

stick bait. “You cast it out and retrieve with a sweeping motion with the

rod tip… If you ask me, the action is not what I would expect to attract

fish, but the Yellowfin jump all over this.”

(Looked to me like a lipless loaded Redfin, with upgraded hardware, but

about $30 a pop.)

I took the stick bait and casted from the port side. Another took a large

popping plug to the bow. A third was jigging deep with a large metal. The

intention was to have all the bases covered.

We all know why they call it fishing: Some days we can’t arrested. Some

days we pick. Some days we do better than pick. But leave it to the fish

gods to always know just when to throw us that one day that seems to make

up for all the rest.

Little did I know it was going to be one of those days, and that we would

be “done” by 9am.

I had no clue. To be perfectly honest, I had no friggin’ idea whatsoever

that a yellowfin was following the popping plug up in the bow.

“Oh shit,” screamed John. “Keep popping… shit… oh man… Oh F***… look at

him… shit… eat it… eat it… eat it…”

Ok, I didn’t see the tuna, but I sure did see the explosion when the 40

pound class fish finally grabbed the popping plug.

My own “DUH” moment came about 30 seconds later, when it dawned on me a

yellowfin might very well be following my own stick bait too.  Another

explosion of whitewater 50 feet from the boat confirmed the obvious – and

now I was on too. Now our poor captain had two reels with drags singing and

fish running all over the place.

“Oh man, I love that sound,“ screamed John.

And then there were three – yes by the time the first tuna came boat-side,

next went the jigging rod.
I’ll spare you the pain and simply say that we circled the same general

area and sight casted to fish on the surface for the next couple of hours.

Many of those fish were quite eager to eat. The knots were fresh, the hooks

were sharp, the drags were set properly, and the anglers pretty much all

knew how to fight fish. That meant most fish made it into the boat.

By 9am the conservation voice in John kicked in.

“Guys, we now have enough fish in the box to feed you and your families for

quite some time, and besides, I don’t want to be cleaning fish all night

either,” he announced. “If you want to kill another fish, let me know,

otherwise I’m not gaffing anymore.”

That was quite all right with all of us. As hard as it is for me to think

about letting sushi and blackened Cajun tuna steaks go, it was stupid to

argue we needed more.

Truth be told, yes I did pick up on spotting a fish “pushing water,” and I

finally did notice the slight ripples of tuna up on the surface.

This was fishing 50 miles from shore, but the visual was so much like the

surf. See a swirl, cast to it, and then pop that lure. This was basically

surfcasting – only no land in sight, no crowds, and very few boats. (Until

John shared the numbers with a few Captains, there were NO boats).

By now I was looking to get creative.  What else could we get them to eat?

While my buddies continued with the poppers, I convinced myself to switch

to the fly rod for the balance of the day. Sure, I knew it would be much

harder, but as another friend of mine once said, “You can’t get that dream

fish on a fly rod unless you’ve actually got a fly rod in your hands.”

Luckily I didn’t have to wait long to connect. Based on the amount of

backing taken off the reel, I never would have known it would turn out to

be an Ablie, but a supersized one at that. Some that day were pushing 15

pounds. I finally did get a school bluefin, and a buddy got a yellowfin,

before most of the fish got finicky around mid-day.

The rest of the afternnon I gave the Van Staal C Vex drag a workout with

the big Albies as well as Skip Jack Tuna (which pound for pound were quite

a bit stronger than even the super sized Ablies). The C Vex was up for the

task, and my Bimini and leaders help up as well. (Maybe I should tie all my

leaders after a few glasses of wine?).

We came upon a floating piece of wood that yielded a few Mahi, but by 3pm

we were all tired and sun burned and more than ready to head back in.

The very last cast yielded a 60 pound yellowfin on a popper, and despite

the fact that there were now signs the fish were turning back on again, we

had plenty of fish to clean, plenty of sushi for now, and steaks for the

fall.

In case you are wondering, yes I did fall asleep in the bean bag chair on

the way in.

Despite Labor Day being upon us, the offshore calendar still has plenty

more to go.

John will be alternating between inshore bass and offshore tuna in the

fall, as long as the fishing holds up.

If interested, check his web site
www.nycflyfishing.com

Warning: Graphic content. Without taking the full-on clinical route, there really is no way to make the subject of chaffing pretty and politically correct, if you’re easily offended, you might want to visit Martha Stewart Living’s website for some delightful napkin rings that can really make your holiday table a ‘good thing.’ If you’re up for a dark and satirical look at one of the ugly truths of fishing in a wetsuit, please read on…

Call it what you want; wetsuit rash, crotch rot, thigh fire, bag drag… chaffage is the scourge of any surfcaster who walks anywhere while wet. I don’t want to hear about all you malnourished vegans with three percent body fat that can briskly jog four miles with a handful of chunky peanut butter smeared on your grundle and not chafe, this story is not for you and, seriously, go eat something real. But if you’ve ever spent the night walking around like you were trying to hold two rolls of quarters between your buttcheeks, doing ANYTHING to keep your sticky, raw and painfully tender thighs from touching… then welcome to the party brother.

I consider myself to be the undisputed KING of chaffing. I remember my first GOOD one… it was July of 1995. I was 15 years old and I had just really caught the striped bass bug. Growing up in central Massachusetts, I couldn’t just run down to the beach and go fishing whenever I wanted to. I had to beg my parents, under the guise of a ‘family day’ at the beach, to take us to The Cape for the day. Our beach of choice was Coast Guard Beach in Eastham and that left me with a doable two mile walk to Nauset Inlet.

In those days I didn’t have a lot of gear I wore my bathing suit and a t-shirt, carried my rod, a few lures, weights and hooks and a couple bags of fresh sand eels. This day holds some significance, because it was the first time I ever caught a striper without someone telling me how to do it. I only caught one, on a Slug-Go, I think it was maybe 24 inches but, it was a definite victory.

After wading for hours, I had been thoroughly brined, and it didn’t take long before some kind of convection in my shorts changed the cool evaporating water on my legs into something that resembled packing tape adhesive. With more than a mile and half to go, the pain just kept increasing—think road-rash blotted with rubbing alcohol. I distinctly remember jamming my hands into the crevices next to my manparts and praying for salvation… it never came. In the ensuing years, I have learned many dos and don’ts of chaffing. I also know the solution, but let’s take the long and painful road to that end.

DON’T pretreat with Gold Bond. I’ve seen it done. Guys that slap heaping handfuls of the wintergreeny powder onto their undercarriages so thick that they could raise a dense fog advisory with a single fart. I’m telling you this is a mistake because it will work. You’ll walk out there like your ailment never existed, fueled by thighs that glide like they’ve been lubed with Quaker State. You will probably loudly and proudly declare that you’ve licked your ball problems and your buddies will wish that you’d kept that comment to yourself.

However, after fishing a full tide and having several hours’ worth of lapping waves flowing through your skin-tight neoprene cat suit, the powder that had you singing the Lord’s Prayer will have turned into something that resembles the last bits of dough left on the rolling pin after mom makes one of her famous pies. Only this time, the floury slurry will be dangling from your leg hairs (and worse hairs) and smearing into your thigh skin setting the stage for you to do some slow-cook baking of your own. Good luck with that.

DON’T try to pretend that you’re not in pain. The only thing worse than watching someone perform the double roll of quarter buttcheek walk is watching someone try to pretend that they always walk like they’re trying to straddle a sleeping lion while pawing at their pant legs so hard that they give themselves a perma-Melvin. Yes it’s embarrassing, your balls and thighs and even less appealing parts feel like they have been zested like a lemon but don’t belabor the issue by trying to tough it out. There is a strange component of the male psyche that makes us not want to admit to feeling pain that the other men involved in the same activity are not feeling. How many times have you seen it? A group of guys out for a run and one of them is visibly not able to keep up—red face, shirt weighed down with 8 pounds of sweat, breathing like he’s giving birth to twins—but does he stop or ask the other guys to slow down? Hell no, he pushes himself to the brink of cardiac arrest and prays that his imminent death will be quick and painless. If chaffage is taking over your normal gait, say something, your pulsating thighs will thank you for it!

DON’T tuck and roll. The tuck and roll is a cheap method for temporary relief that involves gripping a handful of fabric from each side of your crotch and then tucking it into the dank crevices beneath. I suppose this would be a fine method if you were alone, but the resulting Bermuda Triangle of man meat alone is reason enough not to do it around anyone or anything with eyes. But when you add in the fact that you have to walk like you’re wearing a micro mini skirt and stiletto heels AND that walking like that will turn a 40 minute walk into a three hour runway show means that the tuck and roll is just plain, out of the question!

DON’T shave “it”. I have heard more than a few guys—desperate and in pain—come to the erroneous conclusion that the horrible raw, red rash must have been caused by their supposedly abrasive pubes. Maybe some guys really do have a puff of coarse grade steel wool between their legs, and if that’s the case I’m sorry—for everyone who has come in contact with that thing! But in my years of chaffing expertise, and mine settles on the inner thigh (thankfully) not my unmentionables, I have found that the harbinger of chaffing is that the hair on the affected area is rubbed away—leaving bare, vulnerable skin to fend for itself in the most inhospitable environment the human body has to offer. Whipping out the razor and turning your Mini Me into Mr. Bigglesworth will, I promise, only make things worse. I think most guys have tried it at least once and found out that the adolescent boy look doesn’t impress the ladies—and were then introduced, a week or so later, to the porcupine effect. There’s nothing quite like having 10,000 short, prickly hairs growing out of what is—let’s face it—the most delicate piece of equipment any of us own. Just… just don’t.

DON’T jelly leg it. I have not tried this method so I might be talking out of school here, but listen to this and tell me what you think. I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, he is a chaffing champion like I am and he swears that smearing a generous handful of Vaseline in between all of the moving parts “down there” will solve the issue. (For the record, he recommends coconut scented! Why? I don’t know and I was afraid to ask.) I will admit that this does sound like it would work! It’s an effective lubricant (keep the jokes to yourself), it’s inexpensive, it smells nice and it’s waterproof, so it’s not going to disappear and leave you ‘hanging’ when you turn around to walk to back to your vehicle. But that’s also the reason why I just can’t see myself shining up my lower extremities with a petroleum product. I’m spit-balling here, but wouldn’t that be like rubbing Rain-X into one of the places that needs to be washed the most? I think I just found the answer to the coconut scent question….

Now for a few do’s. A trick I learned from attending multi-day music festivals (summertime, no showers) is that baby wipes are soaked in a solution that breaks down human excretions—and sweat is not all that different than salt water. If you’re lucky enough to get back to the truck with just the beginnings of a case of chaffage, bite your lip, shield your pride and give your nether regions a quick once-over with a baby wipe—I figure they’re made by Johnson and Johnson for a reason and even though that unmistakable baby wipe smell might conjure memories of lying bottomless on your back in front of grandma, they really do help stop the advancement of the ‘disease’. (Don’t use disinfecting hand wipes though—bad scene). If you get back to the car and you’re doing “the walk”, this is the time to break out the Gold Bond. (Pro-Tip: do not apply until after you’ve showered. Thoroughly dry the affected area and then straddle the toilet while you apply the soothing powder so that the resulting snow storm doesn’t accumulate on the bathroom floor.) It will sting for a minute, but the combination of slick cornstarch and numbing, healing menthol will alleviate the pain and, if you go to sleep or sit still for a few hours, it will often heal your chaffing, post haste.

But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and since there is no cure, prevention is paramount to keeping your ‘gangsta walk’ in check. I have seen those deodorant sticks of glide lubricant surfers use to negate wetsuit rash and I have heard that they work pretty well. I would think that rolling that stuff on would apply a much more appropriate amount than would roughly groping oneself with a handful of Vaseline. But, you don’t need to experiment with salves and jellies—all you need is a tight fitting pair of moisture wicking boxer briefs; Under Armour is my preferred manufacturer. And ever since I started wearing them, I walk proudly, I don’t chafe and (welcome side effect) my wife thinks they’re sexy. That’s what’s known as a win-win-win.