I remember Spiderwire (was it Fusion ?) being THE braid years ago. Yes it was a lot bulkier then its current models, but it was still light years ahead of mono in those days. In fact, I believe its the first braided like I ever used. Eventually I fished with Fireline and Fireline Braid and bunch of other lines over the years.

Spidewire came back on my radar when they came out with Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid and Spiderwire Ultracast Invisi-Braid recently. Used it last year and had no problems and gained few yards on my cast, bad elbow and all.

I want some of our readers to try it so we are going to give two Blog readers a chance to win (2) Two spools each in line test of their choice ,either 20,30 or 50lb of Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid

Here are the specs

Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid is the BEST braided fishing line ever made PERIOD! Ultracast outcasts, and outlasts all the competitors. Unlike the other braids, Ultracast requires no break-in period. It is limp and ready-to-fish right out of the box. It’s stronger, smoother, and much more durable, while still amazingly thin and sensitive. With Spiderwire, Nothing Get’s Away!

-Ultra Smooth 8 Carrier Construction with Dyneema PE Fibers
-Extremely High Strength-per-Diameter
-Amazingly Thin and Sensitive
-High Pick-Count for Roundness and Durability
-Use Palomar Knot for Best Performance

[youtube]http://youtu.be/eNEDocGcF74[/youtube]

I know some of you will take exception to what I am about to write but its something that is rattling in my head and I want to see what everyone’s feelings are on it. Personally, I think there is way too much “where are the fish” instead of learning how to catch fish in your local spots. I been fortunate over the years to be clued in few things but I also spend many night intently looking at what other people are doing. I share as much as I can but sometimes I also hold back few things..

The other night, I arrived at one of my local holes in Jones Inlet to find three guys fishing were I wanted to fish. I was waaaaaay overdressed in comparison, waders, jacket, belt where they had shorts and sneakers. I know this crew from before and they always have tossed bait in the past and often leaving this spot looking like a pigsty. But now all three were tossing bucktails…hmm, that is interesting.

There are certain spots, pick any jetty from Montauk to Cape May where guys toss clams and bunker all day long off the jetties only to leave at dusk. I am cool with that (other then ungodly mess they leave behind). I rarely show up before dark and considering impending darkness and no cleats, a little after sunset they are almost always gone. They catch their share of sea robins, skates and occasional blue or bass. So far, I have never seen them graduate to plugs. Until this year…..when bluefish showed up few weeks ago they were all armed with tins and they were bailing fish. Yeah, having no cleats, they lost quite a few fish into the rocks. But once it got dark they were gone. They weren’t missing much as finding a bass has been tough here even at night.

So after exchanging pleasantries I also attached a bucktails and watched. They were doing everything right, casting far and in the right place but their retrieve was kind of wrong. I made a cast and about half way trough the cast I got a bump but I didn’t set a hook. On three consecutive casts I got a bump but again, I did not set a hook. I switched to tsunami Shad and again I got a solid bump but no hook up. However there was a reason to switching to a shad. If the blues were around that shad would have been cut in half but it was not. There were bass stacked up in the rip but If I catch even one these guys will never leave.

What to do?

I took a rigged eel and replaced a shad. I figured I’d toss this and if I do get a fish it will at least be a decent one. Small fish tend to shy away from the large rigged eels. No sooner as it hit the water I got a hit all right…but not the one I wanted…trrrrrr, trrrr…oh !**!%.

Bluefish , and small one by the bite marks took few chunks of it. Now what? I continued to cast the darn eel, it was already damaged. I got few more bumps from small blues but I managed to get it away from them by fast retrieve. About an hour in the darkness, they gave up and started to pack. I attached the bucktail with pork rind as they were about 50 feet away with their backs turned to me and BANG…fish on. I managed about a dozen bass in the next two hours, nothing huge, up to about mid teen.

I finally split around midnight as I had to get up at 4 am to go to work. As I drove home, my conscience was bothering me a bit. Should have I told them what to do? But then I will never have a piece and quiet at that spot. Its not like they were going to call me with reports in return. If anything they would bring even more people here. Not only that but one guy mentioned to me that he got a $300 ticket for an undersized bass last year and that bugged the crap out of me.

I don’t now what the answer is, helping a fellow human being was always a right thing to do but helping three of them catch a fish that you know will all end up dead didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Yet, they were so close in what they were doing, all they needed was to adjust one thing, be that a retrieve speed, pork rind size, depth, twitch…

PS

Winner of RockHopper package, some news on the app, new giveaway to coming later this weekend

Recently I was asked this question in the Surf Rats Ball and I thought it might be of interest for the readers of the SCJ blog.
“I usually schedule 2 trips back east. One during September and one in October. I spend most of the time in Montauk. Which dates would you prefer fishing Montauk and why. September 12-26 or October 5-18?”
September 12-26 or October 5-18?
Planning a trip is a difficult thing as it is impossible to predict a bite. However since it has been my job to help people plan trips for the past 17 or so years I will give you my thoughts. First let’s look at your September dates. You have a full moon on the 9th and the new on the 24th. First the white bait should be in full force after the moon of the 9th as it usually begins in late August. About 4 or 5 years ago I would have said that you have an excellent chance of blitz fishing any time after this first moon of September, however the fishing truly seems to be on a decline and despite massive amounts of white bait in the suds at this time the chance of blitz fishing has declined. However, if you do not have a major weather system swing through you should be able to target some resident cows around the full moon. Lots of snappers should be around and if you’re willing to do the work you may hook into a fish of a lifetime. By the new moon we should have plenty of mullet, and a possible migration of juvi weakfish, although I believe that will happen during the next moon. The striper migrators should be there in full force at this time, however if the past 4 or five years are any indication it will be mostly be a night bite, barring a nor’easter which would mean excellent day time fishing as well. Remember there is always a chance of masses blitzes this time of year, as they have been a consistent phenomenon, at least for the past 32 years ( except for the past 4 or 5 years) since I have been fishing there.
OCTOBER 5-18
10/8 Full moon and 10/23 new moon.
You might think that you will miss the new moon of October if you plan on coming this time of year. Indeed you will, but you will be there on the full for October. The fact that this is a full in early October makes it very likable for me. The water should still be warm probably around 60 degrees, and with this moon there should be a push of even more bait coming out of the bays. I suspect that if we see a run of juvi weakfish it will happen on this moon. On calm bright nights the white bait should be in the surf mixed with snappers, mullet and hopefully the juvi weaks. You usually will not find the white bait in the surf on darker nights. That to me adds up to some great fishing. I would not count on the day bites, but keep a close eye out as they could happen at any time, but remember even the blitzes are based on tides. Getting into them consistently is not idiot fishing like some think. I know you are not going to be there on 10/24 but I suspect that that weekend should be one of the best for Montauks fall run. We usually get a quick cool at that time of year combined with the moon it can be fantastic.
In conclusion, in the eighties I would have told you late October – Late November as being the best times for the Montauk fall run. In the 90’s up until 4 or 5 years ago I would have said, mid-September – mid October. Based on the last few years I would take the October dates, however that September new moon could be bad ass!!

Bill Wetzel is what we like to call “The Hardest Working Guide in the Surf”. A quintessential Montauk Regular Bill works hard at teaching his clients the secrets of Montauk coves and consistently puts them on the fish. No wonder most of his customers come back for more year after year. Bill also runs a Surf Rats ball, Subscribers only forum at http://www.surfratsball.com/ There he exchanges ideas with his subscribers and of course, logs each and every one of his trips for all to read. Check it out at http://www.surfratsball.com/

I am going to repost John McMurray Blog post here on SJ Blog to give it more publicity. I am sick of being told that fish are in EEZ, tired of few idiot pin hookers who are afraid they going to lose their tags so they are spamming website and telling everyone fish are offshore feeding on squid. I am sick of hearing how water is too cold three days before summer starts. I am done with excuses of fertilizer runoffs, dredging, weed, late seasons and I am sick of watching those around me struggle to get fish. Don’t tell me anymore its the affects of Sandy, please. There will always be striped bass, you will never kill them all. And the bites in some places will be intense although short lived as John’s post illustrates (which has been my experience too). But lets not hide behind what’s good for sport, for tackle stores, for manufacturers, for party and charter boats, for Surfcaster’s Journal and other publication. Its time to get our head out of our collective asses and do what’s best for the fish. I am not a scientist and I don’t know what that is but if someone tells me I cant never eat a striped bass again, I can live with it. Just for once, do something that is best for the !#%& species.

And no, this is not to encourage you to eat bluefish,

Zeno

This blog post is from reel-time.com…you should check out the other posts

Eat Bluefish!

Keeper stripers showed in good numbers this week, so why the F are we killing them all!

Photo by Capt. John McMurray

Yes, we finally had some good striper fishing this week, which is a darn good thing, as at least for a few days I don’t feel like strangling everyone.

What’s left of the last strong year class we had, the 2003s, seems to have finally stumbled across all those immense schools of bunker that have been loitering along the south shore of western Long Island. (The 2011s were strong also, but they have yet to recruit). It was actually pretty epic at times, with adult menhaden spraying out of the water as 25- to 35-pound bass boiled underneath them. They were taking surface plugs, even flies if you fished them right. Most people of course were live lining. … Pretty mucheveryone was killing fish. I mean a lot of them. Unfortunate that this exploded on Sunday, so there were a lot of boats out and a lot of guys on the beach. All of them killing fish.

I get it, man. Bass haven’t really been around in good numbers in the last few years, so when they did show, everyone felt they had the right. And I suppose they did. Still, it doesn’t make it right.

But before getting to that, lemme just talk about the lack of fish. Some of the unenlightened still blame it on the weather, confirming their armchair theories with the sudden onslaught of 2003s in June. But that ain’t it. There are simply less stripers around. We all see it on the water, and it’s been pretty well documented by the pointy-head science guys, also. But these infrequent slugs of fish moving though, while awesome even as they become more short-lived and infrequent, probably aren’t helping convince managers that there’s a real problem.

It’s not unusual for fish to be locally abundant, even when a stock is depleted overall, and such pockets of good fish stand out even more when they appear in an otherwise empty sea. They have become the new norm in the striped bass fishery, and it’s kinda a bummer. I pretty much built my business around the schoolie fishery. I really hate to be one of those old guys waxing about “how it used to be,” but we used to consistently catch a dozen, maybe two dozen fish in the 18- to 24-inch range, with the occasional good fish (in the 30- to 40-inch range) mixed in. Even if we didn’t catch a good fish, there was always the expectation that we could, and that always brought people back.

Now what we have are scenarios like the one I described above, where we have brief but extraordinary showings of fish, all of which are generally large. A couple of years ago, right around July 4^th , we actually stuck more 40 and 50s in the space of a just few days than I had ever seen in my life. On the third day, I ran out of Breezy Point after telling my clients how awesome it had been the prior two days to find the same sort of bait concentrations, identical conditions, but zero fish. The small but concentrated body of fish had simply moved on. There wasn’t much before them, and nothing came in their wake.

I’m all for extraordinary fishing, but it’s tough to handle the huge highs and then the low lows. I imagine it’s like coming down from a good crack buzz or something. Leaves you empty and just wanting more. For sure I’d rather just have the sort of consistency we used to have, which comes with a healthy fishery and a good distribution of age classes, so I don’t feel like I want to punch everyone during three-quarters of the fishing season.

But I’ve talked about all this stuff before, and I’m getting off track. The point is that when these fish do show up, why do we all feel compelled to kill them? I mean, come on man. Don’t we realize that these are the last of a great year class and it would benefit us all to just let them go so that maybe we can catch them again next year? For Christ’s sake, the big ones don’t even taste good! If you’ve ever eaten a fish over 40 inches I’m guessing you know what I mean. They have those thin purple veins throughout the fillet. I imagine it’s very similar to eating a ribeye from an 80-year-old steer. Yuck!

While we’re on the subject, striped bass in general doesn’t really taste like anything. Sure it’s “white” and “flakey,” which for some reason is what the magazines say we should want from our fish, but seriously, it’s relatively tasteless. Sure, it’s good when you fry it, but anything is good fried. I suppose all the chefs like it because it’s, well, bland and serves as a good medium for various sauces they’ve concocted, and I get that also. But I dunno man. When I eat fish, I kinda want it to taste like fish.

So … brass tacks. I’m sure there are some who may disagree with me here, but as a food fish, striped bass generally sucks. And as we all pretty much know at this point, the stock is in trouble. If all of you guys really give a shit about the stock as much as you say you do, then stop killing them! I know, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the hunt. Hell, if you don’t get all fired up when it goes off, then you shouldn’t be fishing! But take a step back next time you get into them good. And think to yourself all the reasons you should just snap a quick photo and throw that big beautiful fish back in the water, so it can spawn again, so that another angler can encounter it one day, when it’s even bigger!

Photo by Capt. John McMurray

Listen, there are plenty of bluefish around right now. In fact, I’ve been having some epic fishing in just a couple feet of water, fishing poppers for some monster bluefish. If you are turning your nose up right now, you are gonna have a really tough seven or eight years before the striped bass resource gets back to where it should be. And that’s assuming Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission does the right thing, and we all know it may not.

The point is that if you want to bring something home for the table, kill a bluefish.

Don’t give me that bullshit about how you simply “don’t like” bluefish. And yeah, I’ve heard the one about placing a bluefish on plank. Placing the plank and the fish on a grill. Cooking for 30 minutes, then throwing away the fish and eating the plank.

The truth is the stigma comes from all those jackasses eating bluefish that are either too large (and have been eating bunker their whole lives) or aren’t fresh. Dollars to doughnuts, if you don’t like bluefish, that’s because you haven’t prepared them right. So I’m gonna do you a huge favor and give you my double-secret bluefish recipe, even though I’ve been hoarding it for myself and my family for the last 20 years.

Trust me. If you like fish at all, you will like this!

First, cut the throat of the fish when you catch it and let it bleed out on the ice. Then,

• Take a “small” bluefish (5 pounds and under), fillet and skin.
• Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees or as hot as that MF will go
• Put a generous slab of butter on a 12 inch by 12 inch piece of aluminum foil
• Put the fillet on top of it
• Generously salt then cover it with lemon pepper (if you don’t have, then just use lemon juice and cracked pepper)
• Put two more generous tabs of butter on top
• Slice up some onions and place across the fillet
• Wrap up the fillet
• Place it on a cookie sheet
• Note: if you do more than one fillet, wrap each fillet individually
• Cook for 8 to 10 minutes
• Put on plate, open the foil and eat right from the foil (note: there is no reason to remove it from the foil. If you do that you will totally F it up).
• Note: Asparagus goes really good with this, and so does a baked potato … and, um, so does an ice cold Budweiser out of a can. You fancy beer snobs can drink whatever trendy IPA you might have in the fridge. And, um, the wife says pinot grigio goes well with it also.

Yes, bluefish is a “fishy” tasting fish, and yes, the big ones can be “oily.” But the ones under five pounds, if fresh, are really F’n good if you just give them a chance – especially when they are prepared in the way described above, where you are basically steaming the fillet in butter. I mean really, what could be better? There are a lot of other ways to prepare them. Capt. Paul Eidman makes ceviche, which I haven’t yet tried, but I’m told is awesome. (Hook us up with a recipe, Paul!)

The point of all this drivel about killing/cooking/eating bluefish is so you knuckleheads might think twice about killing bass in the increasingly rare instances they do show these days. Seriously, just because they haven’t been around, should we knock the shit out of them when they do show? Is that bland striped bass fillet with the gnarly veins running though it worth the spawning potential you just destroyed? The answer is no! All the talk means nothing if you choose not to walk the walk. Take home a couple of bluefish instead. Try that recipe, then thank me in the morning.

Peace…

About Capt. John McMurray

After obtaining an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Loyola College in Maryland, Captain John McMurray served in the US Coast Guard for four years as a small-boat coxswain and marine-fisheries law enforcement officer. He was then recruited to become the first Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association New York. He is currently the Director of Grants Programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation in New York. He is the owner and primary operator of “One More Cast” Charters. John is a well known and well published outdoor writer, specializing in fisheries conservation issues. In 2006 John was awarded the Coastal Conservation Association New York Friend of Fisheries Conservation Award.

Yes, 18 minutes of nothing but hooking and unhooking fluke in sequence. Yeah, its sick and yeah, you can apply this to surf.

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

First, I want to thank all those who made Spring Striperthon 2014 a success, primarily our sponsors, Craig from Van Staal, Ryan and Nick from StormR, Rich from RH Custom rods, crew from Guppy lures, Hansom Tackle, Barry from RockHopper Fishing and of course, the immortal Musso from Super Strike lures.

Second, I want to wish all dads out there a Happy Father’s Day. I don’t think there is more awesome (and at same time enjoyable) responsibility than being a dad. I look around at my wife and kids and say to myself , I don’t need anything more in life.

But I like catching fish. And the way we are going, there will be less and less fish around unless someone does something drastic. I am sick and tired of hearing wait till “next’ moon, being told the winter was cold, the season is late, the fish are offshore. I watched about half a dozen of best fisherman I know struggle to get a bump locally. Not one of them placed in the tourney. Its 6 days from beginning of summer folks, please stop telling me that everything is running “late”!!! So yes, I am glad to be able to do this tournament for our readers, with help from our sponsors to show people you don’t need to kill a big breeder so you can get your name in lights. I only wish other would follow our lead and stop this continual killing in the name of competition. Thankfully we also had some nice fish entered into the STRIPERTHON this year by our readers who no doubt fished their asses off.

First Prize – courtesy of Van Staal Reels

Lenny Gimmelfarb 43 inches

Van Staal 250 Reel vanstaal.com

Second Prize, courtesy of StormR http://stormrusa.com/

Choice of  one:

         STRYKR or Surf Top

AND

  Torque Gloves     Cast Gloves        Watchcap Beanie      Neoprene Socks       Stickers/Decals     UV Shield Performance Shirt

Frank Goncalves 41 inch  

Third prize, courtesy of CTS and RH Custom Rods http://www.rhcustomrods.com/

CB1003-1  10’ Surf & Jetty Series 2-4 oz. 1pc

Tyler Corsello 40 inch  

Fourth Prize , courtesy of Guppy Custom Lures http://www.guppylure.com/

Lure set 

Christopher Santos 39 inch  

Fifth prize courtesy of RockHopper http://rockhopperfishing.com/

Surf Belt a Quick Draw Pliers Holster and a Belt Clip

Kevin Judd 38 inch  

Sixth prize, courtesy of Super Strike Lures http://www.superstrikelures.com/

Lure Set

Stephen Gallant 38 inches  

Seventh prize, courtesy of Hansom Tackle http://www.hansomtackle.com/

Saltwater Pliers

Frank Murphy 37 inches  

Eight prize

Surfcaster’s Journal Swag

 Steve George 36 inch  

All winners please contact us with your shipping address and we will pass the info to our sponsors who will send you your prizes. Congrats to all

Again, my sincerest thanks to all sponsors and participants for a stress free STRIPERTHON

This is your SPRING STRIPERTHON 2014 tag. It must be included in any fish submission

I want to spend few moments today on the this weekend’s SPRING  STRIPERTHON 2014, starting at 5 PM today.

I hope you enjoy a little friendly competition. The rules , they really are simple. so let’s go over some of them.

Use your measuring tape. I would suggest the bigger numbers are better. Do not put the tape on top of the fish. We will disqualify your entry immediately. Lay it alongside of fish.

Please do not keep fish out of the water for too long. And if you are alone, self shot of you and the fish is fine. Best yet, fish with a buddy

Do not send any entries without SJ TAG being clearly visible in the picture. If we have to blow up picture in Photoshop to read numbers on your ruler or tag, it’s getting disqualified.

You must be a subscriber at no later than 5pm this Friday  to be eligible to compete.

This is basically the gist of it. For complete rules go here http://www.surfcastersjournal.com/surfcasters-journal-magazine-spring-striperthon-2014-this-weekend/

Please read them, we will not except any ” I was under the impression or I misunderstood ” explanations. You have a question, ask it here. Will we try to update the leader board over the weekend? Possibly but if we are away than you’ll have to wait till Sunday. We would like to fish too . Just because we try to do this so you boys can have fun that does not mean we can’t have a little fun, right?

So have fun while I lather myself with more poison ivy lotion..damn, I thought I was getting better until I woke up with hundred blisters on my legs this morning. This is a nightmare.

Anyway, catch some fish, please don’t make us regret doing this and most off all, have fun doing it. Yes, we all like a little spirit of competition but none of us got into this sport because we wanted to compete. Hell, catching a fish is a competition against yourself, fish and elements every time you cast a lure.

Best of luck to all

And thanks to all of our great sponsors for making this possible

First Prize – courtesy of Van Staal Reels

Van Staal 250 Reel vanstaal.com

Second Prize, courtesy of StormR http://stormrusa.com/

Choice of  one:

         STRYKR or Surf Top

AND

•   Torque Gloves     Cast Gloves        Watchcap Beanie      Neoprene Socks       Stickers/Decals     UV Shield Performance Shirt

Third prize, courtesy of CTS and RH Custom Rods http://www.rhcustomrods.com/

CB1003-1  10’ Surf & Jetty Series 2-4 oz. 1pc

Forth Prize , courtesy of Guppy Custom Lures http://www.guppylure.com/

Lure set 

Fifth prize courtesy of RockHopper http://rockhopperfishing.com/

Surf Belt a Quick Draw Pliers Holster and a Belt Clip

Sixth prize, courtesy of Super Strike Lures http://www.superstrikelures.com/

Lure Set

Seventh prize, courtesy of Hansom Tackle http://www.hansomtackle.com/

Saltwater Pliers

Eight prize

Surfcaster’s Journal Swag

In case you are wondering what is the best way to take a picture for your STRIPERTHON entry take a look at this submission by Ryan from last year striperthon

Awesome clarity making my life sooooo much easier

We haven’t have a giveaway in awhile, kind of unusual for us but we been away and busy with fishing so lets have one special one, something dear to my heart.

Barry Kronberg has fished Montauk longer than many of you (including yours truly) have been alive. Yup, 1963 to today, Barry has sure paid his dues over the years in Montauk and a lot of other places. Along with bumps and bruises and gray hair came wisdom, the knowledge to know what works and what doesn’t. And I am sure in large part, the inability to be able to buy the type of quality product that he desired was why Rockhopper product line is here today at http://rockhopperfishing.com

Today , we are giving one of you a shot at winning Rockhopper Surf belt AND Rockhopper Solid Belt Clip. I use both of these products and love the belt but I absolutely cannot imagine not having a Belt Clip on my belt. To hang live eel bag, to pork rind, Boga Grip,  gloves, to clipping my bag when I am in a wetsuit, its would probably be one of my top ten products of last ten years if there was such a list. Total retail value of this package is over $85 and you can see the whole line of products at http://rockhopperfishing.com

The winner will have a Special Father’s Day thank to Rockhopper Fishing who incidentally have free shipping on all orders till June 15th

http://rockhopperfishing.com

Al you have to do to enter the giveaway is to post ” I want this gear from Rockhopper Fishing”

I am in entries will be disqualified

It was about 9 30 PM as I scratched my head on the rock. Was Ron right? Was everyone really afraid it was going to be too crowded so no one showed up? Someone should be here by now.

Let me get this out…I know some people have a different feelings on it. To me Cuttyhunk is a bit eerie to walk at night. There is no ambient light, you area walking over the path overlooking the cliffs in pure darkness other that you flashlight and from west end you’ll walk a good half an hour. There is nothing but weeds, ticks and few coyotes along the way, although we have never seen one. However you can see their crap occasionally on the trail. So as much as I love being alone, that much I am kind of paranoid of something bad happening this far from civilization. No hospital or ambulance, and God forbid something happens they might never find your sorry butt. So please be aware of this when you make plans to go here. So as much as I like the serenity, believe it or not, I get comfort in seeing few flashlight bobbing around in the area. Just in case you need helping hand. There is a lot of stuff that can go wrong here from bubble weed to rocks to current and even your health.

Water was starting to move and I attached Daiwa SP minnow and started to cast slightly up current. Few casts later I had a fish on that was talking a little drag. I said please Lord don’t be a schoolie with a hook in the dorsal. It wasn’t, a very respectable 20 pound striper lay at my feet few minutes later. On the next two casts I landed two small stripers, both hooked on the side of their face. They are here, just as I was hoping! I really did not expect any big fish so I reached out for a 3/4 ounce bucktail with a red pork rind. Unhooking small stripers on a rock, away from shore and have it trash around with trebles flying everywhere was not my idea of fun. In the next half hour I landed about half dozen fish on a bucktails when I’ve seen two light come down the path. I was hoping it was Tom and Boggie but these guys set up to my left and I knew Tom would come right up to my rock because there was another rock in water near by. I watched them hook few small fish but I didn’t think they knew I was a hundred yards away from them. I managed to land 17 bass on bucktails which were now on every cast, without using my light once. You got to love bucktails for so many reasons. The guys made the way to the left shortly and disappeared around the corner, never to be seen again. At this point I landed about 22 fish so I was happy like a pig in the mud. I tried rigged eel for a little while, hoping for a bigger fish in the mix but it was not meant to be. Lemire and Super Strike needles took few more fish as did Super Strike Darter. By the end of the night I counted 33 bass and up to about 20 pounds. Most fish were around keeper size or a little smaller, only few were teen size. By about midnight or so I was done. Action slowed down a bit and I debated what to do. I decided to work my way back to the house so I jumped off the rock and swam to shore.

Walking along the path in a hurry I heard same voice in the cove below . There used to be a path down the cliff to this cove but the storm washed it away. You have to go to the next cove and walk around the point to reach it. I stopped and listened trying to figure out if those are maybe my guys but could not make out the voices.

I proceeded to walk back to house and possibly give one last shot under the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club. The hard noreast wind laid down and fishing io\n coves protected by wind looked like fishing in the lake. So I was glad that wherever my guys went, they were able to fish.

At the house I found Charlie and no one else. This was good! They would not be out if they didnt found action. Ray was still with Wetzel and Tommy and Boggie were somewhere on the south side. Ray arrived within and hour and told me that Bill and him fished the sandy beach were big shad was present and he took a 27lb and a 24lb along with some smaller fish on Super Strike Darters. Bill Wetzel took the honors with 42 pound beauty , also on the Super Strike Darter, his biggest fish since hurricane Irene I believe. Bill has a synopsis on the trip in his own words on his website at http://www.longislandsurffishing.com/

If you are a subscriber, go check it out. If you are not, you should be. Bill writes a report of every trip he makes which is about every night. If he is having a hard time finding fish, then you know that action is fair at best. Dude is as honest as they get. And he tells it straight

Tommy and Boggie showed up a little later and they looked exhausted. Boggie had his head down and we found out why. He dropped a big fish only to see a guy next to him land a 42 pound fish on a needlefish,. It was Mike Roy, from Ron DiCostanzo crew. I believe the fish was caught on Habs needlefish. Rest in Peace John, your stuff is still slaying the big girls. Fish was released after a photo as it was Wetzel’s. Tommy had a bunch of fish up to 22 pounds so by the end of the night everyone had fish in 20’s and few cows were landed too. Not too shabby.

We had a 9 am ferry so we grabbed few hours of sleep and got up around 7 to clean house and pack. All in all, a much better trip than I expected based on the reports and my own expectations. I finally got to stick hooks into something with stripes, the guys had a good time and yes, even the lobsters loved the scenery. At least until they seen the pot of steaming water. Boggie, for whom was this second trip (after last year disaster) said” you know, to be honest I wasn’t really thinking about coming back until I experienced tonight”.

I knew what he was saying. I had bad trips, God awful trips and some once in a lifetime trips. But  I never felt so much at home in another place I ever fished. Its not for everyone, it requires long walks, bowling ball sized rocks that shift under your feet, some time off and planning. But for me, there is no place I look more forward to fishing each year.

If you ever wanted to make arrangements to fish there or just get information, here is the contact info

Cuttyhunk Fishing Club http://www.cuttyhunkfishingclub-bb.com/

phone 508-992-5585

Bonnie Veeder runs the club and can also set you up with private house for your crew (we usually rent her house instead of club for more privacy) email islclub@yahoo.com

Sea Horse Taxi with John Paul http://www.cuttyhunkwatertaxi.com/

there is a regular ferry that leaves at 10 am and returns in evening. We like Sea Horse because at same cost he will make a bunch of trips each day depending on demand and you can pick and chose your departure. No one want to wait till 4 pm to take a ferry back on the last day.

And here is a picture from what guys do when there a very few fish. Picture supposedly taken this weekend and yes, I was told that is a Commando bag

and a mellow taste of the Canal

[youtube]http://youtu.be/4mZrVVegv2M[/youtube]