As promised, here is a preview of SJ TV debuting on January 20th for the subscribers of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine.

I will be quiet now and listen to what you guys have to say

[youtube]http://youtu.be/smv6ISt7u5k[/youtube]

Stay tuned for a preview of SJTV this weekend. We have a 6 minute preview all wrapped up and ready to upload to YouTube. The full half an hour version will appear on January 20th for the subscriber of the Surfcaster’s Journal. I’ll tell you this, even if you never tossed a chunk in your life you will appreciate the knowledge of Bill Fischer as he is explaining in detail everything from rigs to bait cuts all while catching fish up to 30 pounds on camera. Bill Wetzel, Lou Caruso, John Skinner, Crazy Alberto and Dennis Zambrotta are also scheduled to appear in the first episode.

The winners of pelican Mega giveaways are

1960 LED LIGHT   rickfraelick@gmail.com

2710 LED HEADLIGHT sudsy1@optonline.net

iPHONE 5 CASE jamesbeinlich22@hotmail.com

All three off you have 5 days to contact us at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your shipping addresses. Congrats and thanks to fine folks from Pelican for making this possible
Today’s giveaway (you can tell was are in holiday giveaway mode here) comes from a guy who has been fishing Montauk beaches longer than I have been alive. I told you years ago that then current infatuation with custom this and that, particularly bags will not last. Neither did plug craze or recent rod craze either. Nothing wrong with these little moments of euphoria but they do all end sooner or later. What is important to me is who is left standing. Super Strike Lures are still here and still crazy productive. St Croix rods are not going anywhere and neither are VS reels. And Barry Kronberg from RockHopper Fishing has seen these things comes and go one…or twice. Considering he has been fishing Montauk beaches since 1961, he has seen a thing or two. And tried just about any new gadget that came on the market. And yet he still felt compelled to make his own as he was not satisfied with what he found. His belt clips are absolutely to me a must-have item on my belt. Often a bunch depending if I am wet suiting or wader fishing.

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Today we are going to giveaway a RockHopper Surf Belt, one of the finest surf belts we have ever used. Here is a description from his website

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Our Surf Belt is a really simple design that’s incredibly bomb proof and works the way it’s supposed to every time. Designed especially for use with waders and wetsuits, you can adjust your gear and make it as tight as you want while still wearing it. Move your gear around or lock it in place, your choice. It’s extremely comfortable, totally adjustable and incredibly secure. Made with Rockhopper’s attention to simple design and superior quality.

For more on these belts and his other products please visit

http://rockhopperfishing.com/

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and yes, we have MORE stuff for you coming up like this AWESOME plug from Guppy Lure Co

STAY TUNED

I want to fill you in on few things that are coming up from the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. We try to always improve on what we offer you for your subscription and we hope that these announcements would enhance your experience of being a subscriber.
Here is a preview of Episode Montauk Time and Tide documentary. The full 12 minute episode will appear exlusively for the subscribers in the upcoming January issue

[youtube]http://youtu.be/hPGa0z1uD3Y[/youtube]
We are also happy to announce that there will be a Spring and Fall STRIPERTHON Catch & Release Tournament Sponsored by PENN Fishing. As you know, we at SJ are big proponents of catch and release tournaments. We are in no way against taking a fish home for the table but we feel that current harvest levels are unsustainable. By running a catch and release tournaments, SJ in conjunction with our sponsors, hopes to bring attention to responsible harvest and current state of striped bass stocks in drastic decline. You will get a chance to compete for some great prizes, including PENN Torque reels and share some good nights with your friends.
There will also be a video column by our Rod Guru Lou Caruso and few other surprises.

We are currently making a list of shows we will attend, we hope to see you there and shake your hand and thank you for supporting us. You can renew your subscription at any of the shows and pick up some new SJ gear that we will be making for the shows.

Right now we are committed  to
CT Surfcasters Show in CT

Surf Day in NJ

Asbury park Flea market in NJ

RISAA in Providence

Berkeley Flea Market in NJ

Ward Melvile HS Fishing Club show in East Setauket NY

We are looking to add hopefully another show in NY in February or March so if you guys know of one , drop us a line
And last but not least, the first episode of SJ TV, approximately half an hour long will appear on January 20th exclusively for the surbribers of the magazine. We hope to have a preview trailer for you this week after we get all the graphics work done.

Let’s spread some holiday cheer with a really sweet giveaway from our friends at Pelican. I’ve been fan and user of Pelican products for many, many years and as impressed I am with their light I think their new premium coolers are absolutely sick. To think that you can have ice in a cooler for seven days before it melts is just insane. And i really like what they did with Hansom Tackle last year with their new light and lanyard combo. My fake very expensive teeth really appreciate the ease of turning the light on and off.

So here we go, three winner, each wins one prize at our discretion

First

Pelican NEMO 1960 LED Light

Second

Pelican 2710 LED  Headlight

Third

Pelican ProGear IPhone 5 CE1180 case

We are just few weeks away from 2015 (I know, its hard to believe) so I figured I would fill you in on few things we are doing for our readers. As you know, we never stop trying to make SJ better for our subscribers and 2015 should bring few new things that I am sure many of you will enjoy.
January issue will be packed with articles and videos including a full interview with our columnist John Skinner whose book Striper Pursuit seems to be THE gift of this holiday season.  We will feature the full video version later in the year too for those of you who are stimulated by a spoken instead of written word

[youtube]http://youtu.be/fYMo4wYyFog[/youtube]
Speaking of videos, our Rod Guru Lou Caruso’s column will now become a video column so Lou can save his typing finger for better things, like wrapping your custom rod. Speaking of rods, this might be the best time to contact him if you have a rod in mind for next year before the little bugger gets too busy with orders. http://www.louscustomrods.com/
The January issue will also feature Episode #5 of Montauk Time And Tide series. This 12 minute episode will look at how things have changed over the years.

We are going to try to make as many shows as we possibly can this winter and shake your hands and thank you for supporting us. We probably wont be able to make them all but we will do our best even if we have to split the crew on some weekends. For those of you that are looking for holiday gifts or cant make the shows, you can get 10% off on any order in our online store by using a code SJ10OFF.  The 10% off code expires Monday at midnight.

Another big news from us is SJ TV, a multi segmented video show for the surfcasters. The first episode, about 25 minutes long will appear exclusively for SJ subscribers around January 20th. You will be able to log into trough a link we are going to put up and watch the complete 25 minute episode in is entirety. The first episode of SJTV features Bill Fischer hammering bass up to 30 pounds on chunks, Crazy Alberto on Conservation, Bill Wetzel on bottle plugs, John Skinner and I make an appearance as does Lou Caruso with innovate way to protect your casting finger, and RI sharpie Dennis Zambrotta closes the first episode with The Last Word. I am hopping to have a trailer for you in few days.

Like every holiday season, guys from LIBBA are doing their annual toy drive. Here is the information
LIBBA Operation Holiday Spirit

20th Annual Toy & Food Drive
LIBBA is conducting its 20th annual Operation Holiday Spirit, Toy and Food Drive.  We are asking our fellow sportsman to help the needy children here on Long Island.  You can bring holiday joy by donating new unwrapped toys and nonperishable food (no glass please) to the Operation Holiday Spirit Drive.  Just bring the toys and/or food to one of our designated drop off sites which are listed below.  LIBBA Directors and volunteers will collect and distribute your donations in time for the Holidays.  You have no time to shop?  That’s no problem as we will shop for you.  All you need to do is mail us a check or money order payable to LIBBA.  Mark the check/money order in the memo area with O.H.S. or send a gift certificate to:  LIBBA, PO Box 816, Babylon NY 11702.

Thank you and from the LIBBA Officers, we want to wish all a safe and happy holiday season.

Trophy Tackle

The Camp-Site Sport Shop

Bob’s Bait & Tackle

Ralphs Bait & Tackle

Cow Harbor B&T

J&J Sports Inc

The Fisherman

Saltwaters Tackle

Lindenhurst Bait & Tackle

Sea Isle Tackle

L.I. Outdoorsman

Causeway Bait & Tackle

Bay Park Fishing Station

JJ Miles Truck & Auto Center

Crossbay Bait & Tackle

Harmony Bar & Grill

Fly Fishing Supply & Instruction

Those of you that are still fishing, lucky you. Those of us that are sick as dogs, well, get better soon. Most guys north of Brooklyn have given up although few hardy souls still are keeping it honest. Fortunately the weather has not been all that bad,. For those of you that are herring lovers, you should check out your honey holes. They are in so let the pickling begins.

We are going to have few announcements shortly when we put finishing touches on them but today I want to award the awesome C&R Surfcasting Custom Surf bag to one deserving veteran and pick winners of the Guppy Custom Lures giveaway. I don’t think I have to say this but I will anyway. Although this bag goes to only one person, to me all of you who have served or are serving now are heroes in every sense of that word. I’ll leave it at that

To make it absolutely random i took all the names, put them in a paper bag and got my lovely daughter to pick out a winner. And drum roll please..the winner is SGM George Simmons, currently stationed in Afghanistan ! I will get in touch with George to make sure we can deliver this bag to him. Again, thanks to all the veterans for all you did and for all you doing to this day. And special shout and thanks to SJ subscriber Gerard Doyle who donated this bag

Three winners of those awesome Guppy Pencil Poppers are

Ned Parillo

Joe Pinto

Daniel Menton

You all have 5 days to contact us at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your shipping addresses

Art comes in many forms…this is one way of presenting it. I thinks its awesome

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/112780298[/vimeo]

We are working on something that will hopefully blow your socks off. As Dave Anderson said, get ready for another level of SJ…..IF we can pull it off (granted its a big if) Details should be coming soon I hope. We have to announce the winner of Veteran’s Day C&R Surfcasting Gear giveaway and winners of Guppy lures giveway. We’ll do that during the week
Today on tap in a new video with John Skinner
I had a pleasure of sitting with john few weeks ago on a local beach and chat about the way he fishes, about his mind set, plugs and gear he uses and also about his new book Striper Pursuit.

Full interview should be appearing in January issue of Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine
Enjoy

[youtube width=”540″ height=”438″]http://youtu.be/fYMo4wYyFog[/youtube]

http://www.tacticalanglers.com/

Yes, we know you want to be the last one standing. But its ok, we wont tell anyone. You can try another clip other than doulock or cross lock or tying direct. And if you do, we suggest Tactical Angler clips. They came in range of sizes to fit your fishing style and they are so easy to use “ A Caveman can do it” without a light. Our apologies to the Caveman.

http://stormrusa.com/

We have been wearing a StormR fusion jacket all fall and love it. It’s not for you Navy Seal types that swim to every rock possible for no other reason but to have others watching you. The neoprene cuffs on the jacket are best suited for a  beach fisherman to use as a rain top. Ample pockets inside and out including a phone pocket so you can beam the pictures of your 24 incher to Instagram and FB in real time. The best thing about the jacket are neoprene panels on elbows that allow greater range of motion when casting and water shedding properties. Adjustable hood is pretty neat too.

http://www.superstrikelures.com/

To say that Super Strike lures should be in your rotation is like saying Kim Kardashian got a big booty. You seriously need us to tell you this? It does not matter if the fish are on skinny bait (think sand eels and needlefish lure), big bait (think bunker and darter), fast bait (think poppers and rooster fish) or slow bait (think new Super Strike Chunk lure) they got you covered. Ok, so we are kidding about the Chunk lure but if they came out with it ,we’d buy it, because they make good stuff.

http://surfratsball.com/

Subscription to Bill Wetzel site at http://surfratsball.com/ You will get access to his daily log, honest reviews and just plain good information sharing on the forum. No bs, no smoke and mirrors. Basically just like Bill..lol

http://www.saltlife.com/optics/optics-mens.html

You want to look good, protect your eyes with great Zeiss lenses and have a polarization that wont distort what you see? We like Salt Life shades a lot. There are a lot of great sunglasses companies out there these days and you really cant go wrong with most of well known brands but the combination of cost and performance of Zeiss lens, Salt Life Optics are hard to beat.

http://shop.coldavenger.com/

So you heard JJ Abrams is debuting a TRAILER to new Star Wars movie this weekend. Its still a year away from theatrical release but don’t let that stop you from looking like the Darth Vader of Surf with this stylish ColdAvenger performance mark.It supposedly bumps up your sperm count and makes the hair grow on your back. If you like that kind of thing, its a must have item. For the sissy in you that is afraid of the damp breath.

http://www.daiwa.com/

Who doesn’t own a Daiwa SP Minnow? Is there really a point of gifting it to someone? Not really. We suggest you keep this for yourself after you change the hooks of course. Daiwa hit the home run with this plug that does not have much action, has lousy hooks but catches the fish like mofo. Now they going to do what every giant corporation does, slightly change the product and try to catch lighting in the bottle twice with similar lure. We hope they at least change hooks.

http://earthroamer.com

Hmm, you  say you want something BIG ? This puppy will make your dreams come trough for a base price of  $280 000. Read about it here http://earthroamer.com , we are getting dizzy just reading about it features

http://www.stcroixrods.com/

http://www.advancedfishing-usa.com/

http://www.rhcustomrods.com/

http://www.biminibayoutfitters.com/tsuairwaveelite.htm

Is that a little rich for your blood? How about a kick ass rod for a holiday? St.Croix Legend Series, Century Sling Shot , Tsunami Airwave Elite and CTS Vapor Trail are some of our favorites. You really cant go wrong with any of them.

http://www.louscustomrods.com/

Do you need someone to wrap that fancy rod of yours to your specifications and wishes? We cant think of anyone we trust with out rods more than our own Rod Guru Lou Caruso

http://www.vanstaal.com/

Have you been lurching on that site where they would Hate on Mother Teresa if she ever comes back to this world looking to save mucho dinero on that Van Staal reel? This might be your lucky Christmas. Van Staal dealers are making room for new VSX models are deeeeeeply discounting current models. Might be the best bargain of this holiday season

http://striperpursuit.com/

Did you get the new book by our columnist John I-can-catch-fish-in-roadside-puddle Skinner? Not yet? Well then put it on your gift/wish list. The best and most complete how-to book we’ve read in years. The only thing that came close was when we read the Fifty Shades of Bunker. Get it, you will love it. 

http://www.aoktackle.com/

You trying to reach those crazy fast giant needlefish , roosters and jacks in tropical waters? Think AOK tackle. Trying to imitate sand eels on your local beach? Think AOK Tackle. Trying to reach the other bar with your fancy $785 six piece custom pink rod? Again, think AOK Tackle. Tin lures have been indispensable part of surfcasters arsenal since…we’ll, from what we know, they were the FIRST lures anglers used in the surf. And they still produce today and not only when fish are on the sand eels.

http://www.hansomtackle.com/

Tired of gnashing your teeth trying to turn on your flashlight? Check out the new Pelican light from Hansom Tackle. Its waterproof, it comes with adjustable lanyard and its approved by your dentist.

http://rockhopperfishing.com/

Were you frustrated last year with your surf belt? Were you at any point wishing you had more carabiners on your belt to you can either clip your surf bag or ad pork rind bottle or attach a  Boga Grip. Check our RockHopper Fishing. Barry Kronberg has been fishing Montauk beaches since 1960’s , he knows the punishment your gear can take and he designs his RockHopper gear to last a long, long time.

http://www.guppylure.com/

http://www.gibbslures.com/

Looking for a quality pencil popper to replace your beloved Yo-Zuri Surface Cruiser no longer in production ? We have suggestions, one old and one new. Both Gibbs Lures and Guppy lures make great pencil poppers that are proven fish catchers.

http://www.pennfishingstore.com/

Are you looking for a reel for light tackle angling that wont break the bank? Look no further then PENN Battle II,  2014 ICAST Best Saltwater Reel award winner. Priced from $99 to $129 this reel will be a big winner for PENN for years to come. For those you nonbelievers , we have to mention this. We recently interviewed John Skinner (interview coming in January issue) and dude had PENN reels up to wazoo  from 706z to spinfishers to torque. And yes, only based on his videos alone dude catches more fish than most of us.

http://dyavm.ftvcs.servertrust.com/

What more can we say other than this lures is listed for $435.99

Gasp?

Last Word

Kanye West wanted all of you to know that his ass is better than Kim’s. He is just being modest.

Hope you recovered from Food Coma. Go catch last few fish. Its a looooong winter

I been meaning to do this for a while, guys from Guppy probably think I stashed these suckers in my bag, but nothing is further from the truth.

I been a little too deep into a new project and a bit MIA I suppose but when you see what is in my head I am sure you will understand.

So these beautiful pencil poppers made by Guppy Lure Co have been hanging in my basement.

But they are made to be fished so today i will give three of you a chance to win one Guppy Lures Pencil Poppers each, the color of my choice. Always loved these plugs and after I really got to know the Hess brothers who make these plugs I have an even deeper appreciation of what they do.

and just a note that finally Skull oversized stickers and SJ Bass stickers are back in stock in our online store at www.surfcastersgear.com

Do we have a treat for you today!

We know many of you do not have a chance to hear Bill Wetzel talk at seminars. You get these bits and pieces of his well earned wisdom over the years here and there. I was honored when he asked me the other day to help him make a how to fish with live eels.

So pull up a chair, get a cup of LARGE coffee and sit back because twenty minutes of essential Mr. Wetzel is coming your way

Enjoy

[youtube width=”550″ height=”444″]http://youtu.be/2ydnIuExCRc[/youtube]