The guys from Saltwater Edge and Red Gill are bringing you a contest. They had an idea where they wanted to do something to not only demonstrate the support from Saltwater Edge and Red Gill for Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine but they also wanted to have a contest that supports the efforts of Surfcaster’s Journal staffers. And we are very thankful that they think so much of us and our efforts. Hey, maybe we can fix that Panasonic camera LCD screen we busted by falling on it in Montauk last week 🙂 Continue reading →

Let’s get the winners of the last week contests out of the way

The winner of BigFish Prey Swimmer who guessed first that Larry’s favorite picture was on page 151 is matty1516@gmail.com

you need to get us your mailing address within 5 days and Larry will mail you the lure

The winner of Wolverine Split Rings is jnasokushner@yahoo.com

You also need to drop us a line at info@surfcastersjournal.com with your mailing address
Continue reading →

You might think that fishing is easy in the blitz. As I illustrated a week ago, finicky fish can make you pull your hair out. But to be in the blitz in the first place, you need few things to go your way. First and foremost, you have to be in the right place. Then you have to be there at the right time. And hopefully, after you get these two things accomplished, you will find yourself up to your armpits in bass that want to eat your lure.

But what are you going to cast your lure with, if someone steals your rod and reel? You think I am joking, right? I wish I was.

The rash of robberies in Montauk this fall is concerning and disgusting me at the same time. To think that most of us spend money on gas, lodging, gear, take unpaid days from work to hopefully get into some good action and then to have your stuff stolen right from your truck is insane. Repulsive. Disgusting. And it’s been happening more and more. What can you do if you like to hold your rods in the cooler rack while you fish? If this doesn’t stop you will never have to be able to get further then few feet from your truck. Forget chasing fish while leaving your stuff unattended.

I am going to guess this was on the mind of a fellow who just came out with a product called ComboLock. It’s a very simple design to secure one or multiple reels to your cooler rack. As the history has showed, there are no foolproof ways of protecting your stuff as rods have been cut with bolt cutters in the past and have been locks, the truck have been broken into.

But this product could give you a little piece of mind. We haven’t done extensively testing on this but from the looks of it, it seems that will at least deter the damn thief. We still recommend that you lock your rods in your trucks if possible when sleeping in the truck, not only in Montauk but at the Canal, NJ or anywere.

We have a two ComboLocks to give away so enter here and I will pick a winner in few days

For more information visit ComboLock website at  http://combolock.net/index.html

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We have really been lucky when it comes to reading material. Not only is SJ here for your amusement but this blog provides daily food for thought, contests and giveaways. We have also been fortunate in the book department as many books have came on the market in last few years. Many of them quite good, A Season on the Edge by John Skinner comes to mind, Surfcaster, The Ultimate Surf Fishing Guide by William Muller too. I am deeply involved in some of these books and I can tell you that I ship out more of The Art of Surfcasting, then all other books I’ve done over the years combined. There must be something that people like in that book, and I am glad. If I was writing it now I’d have to do few revisions, not so much to the content but whose lures I actually use. That has changed drastically since publication of the book. Regardless, it remains of the most popular book of the last half dozen years or so….but I think its ready to be dethroned by a new book.

You know John Skinner as an insanely intense surfcaster who catches giant fish seemingly at will, who yaks, writes for magazines and designed his own Fishing Log Software (you can download a free preview at fisherslog.com). His book A Season on the Edge was very ,very well received. It was only in few shops, so we would not be surprised if you didn’t get a copy. We just added limited number of the copies to our store. You can just click on the cover and it will take you to the store.

But just wait for what John has in store for you this holidays season…A book that once I read it, made me rethink everything I’ve ever done with a bucktail over the years. Might be the most influential manuscript I’ve ever read. John is self publishing this book,,, details to follow in few days.

Right now, enjoy some shots from this morning “Under the Light”

You ever wondered why the fish are so finicky when feeding on tiny white bait? After all, they are FEEDING! Why wouldn’t they be hitting your lure?

Ahhhh, if life was that simple. The prevailing thought is that they just open their mouth, swallowed as many little suckers they can and not pay attention to one lure. Quantity over quality ? Something like that.

Is it true? I think so

Last weekend we did something many of you consider probably stupid. We tied a loop onto our Go Pro camera and attached to a  Tactical Angler clip and cast the camera into a blitz…and because there was no tension on the line, the camera slipped off the clip…poof, there goes $300 in ten seconds…

We caught a break, because Silver Fox found it few minutes later in two feet of water. He is  a Fox, after all, great eyesight, cataracts and all…lol. Of course he yelled “no, please, no” when I cut the loop, tied the GoPro direct to a leader and tossed it into the blitz again. You would too. Nothing good can come out of this he said.

And then I did it again, and again, and again, about 5 times till I got bored with bouncing the camera off their backs. Have we accomplished anything ? Not really. But I did get to see a striper feed. I will get to working on that video at the latter time but for now, here is the shot of one frame of the video of a bass, with fulll mouth open, going through the school of white bait. Mike Laptew, I am not. And that is cool, I never realy wanted to be anyone other then me anyway…its hard enough…lol

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here is another shot

After Silver Fox spanked me under the lighthouse in the wee hours of the morning, by catching about 40 stripers, we went back to the lot to get some sleep. He said the only reason he spanked me was becouse i played the cameraman, but we know better. Dude was on fire! We slept for an hour upon arriving at midnight  the night before. It’s amazing how good one hour of sleep can feel…but by 8 am we were shot. Silver Fox was spread in his spacious Quigley while I stretched in my Suburban. After about an hour of trying to fall asleep , I got up at 9 and went to town. I never was able to sleep in daytime…

After devouring The Barge breakfast sandwich at Ronnie’s Deli (you don’t need a vivid imagination to figure out the size of this sucker) I went to Paulie’s Bait and Tackle and chilled with Paul and crew till noon. As I was heading back to the point, Silver Fox called. He was up and wondering what I was doing. I told him I will meet him in the lot in 5 minutes but first I wanted to stop by Camp Hero and take a peek.

After arriving on top of the cliffs of Camp Hero and taking a glance westward I immediately reached for my phone. There was a massive black stain in area called Sewer Pipe, thousand upon thousands of stripers ready to explode on the surface. I called him but as usual, the phone reception sucks there and I left a message. Then I texted him to get his ass down here as I drove to a lower area for parking. I grabbed my Panasonic HD camcorder and my Nikon DSLR. I left my rod and plugs in the truck. Getting some good footage was more of an interest right now…

As I walked to the edge of the water , the bowl erupted as bass were pushing white bait to the surface and bird were picking them off from above. I moved around guys casting into the melee trying to get different angles. Mr. Ruger was there pinhooking. Mr. Musso of Super Strike fame was there tossing his supersecretmetallipswimmer. Except, not too many fish were landed. The water was flat and gin clear and as its often the case with lack of white water and small, ample bait, fish were ignoring everything. Even the flies from fly fisherman, and small bucktails, teasers, tins, poppers, you name it, they ignored it.

Silver Fox arrived and managed a fish or two but considering the amount of fish in the bowl feeding heavily, no one could have called this a good bite. As the fish moved in and out the only people who were hooking up were two wetsuiters on the outer rocks in the middle of the cove. With my camcorder zoomed in I followed their metal lip swimmers, trying to catch the explosions as the stripers attacked them. The rest of about a dozen anglers were casting halfheartedly into the ocean with not much to show for it. And many of them casting metal lip swimmers too. After about an hour of watching these two guys catch fish I left my cameras with Silver Fox and walked back to my truck.

I grabbed one plug, still in package and my rod  and walked back to the water. In jeans and sneakers I cast the metal lip into the water. Within two cranks I was hooked up. I managed to land 4 fish in the row while the other anglers looked at me with a sense of curiosity. What the hell is he throwing to catch four fish on four casts ?…all in due time my friends.

On the fifth cast, for still unexplained reason my line snapped and my metal lip sailed toward Bermuda. !$#*(@!!&…..but wait, there is hope. A fellow next to me cast in vicinity of my plug and manages to snag my line and retrieve my plug. After I profusely thanked him, I retied, cast and caught a fish. Ok, I had enough of this. Five fish on five casts was good enough for me. I took the plug off and gave it to Silver Fox who was fishing a white Danny. I told him, you cast this and I will follow it with  camera . I want to catch the explosions on this metal lip. The insane trashing fish put up was too tempting not to record.

Of course Silver Fox was happy to oblige. First cast he got a swipe but did not hook up. Second case was a mirror image of fist. Third cast he retrieved the lure unmolested. In next half dozen cast he might have gotten a look or two. I knew he wasn’t familiar with this plug. I could see on camera that his VS200 was cranking too fast and lure was under the surface and not on the top. It was only an inch below but I knew that was enough. The wetsuiters were still hooking up so I knew the fish were still in the area but maybe they moved off further out where only they can reach it. After holding video camera for a dozen casts I got tired of inactivity, put the camera down and grabbed my rod. I walked over to Silver Fox and asked for my plug back. He pleaded for one more cast . Go ahead I said. But not even last cast produced anything. He gave me back the plug and I attached to the clip. It took less than three cranks of my Penn Torque for fish to start trashing wildly on the surface as it engulfed the metal lip swimmer. Now Silver Fox was hearing it from Musso and his crew. To add insult to injury on the next five casts I landed five fish, never missing a beat.

Why is this? Silver Fox is a hell of a surfcaster, an accomplished angler who knew his stuff. He loves his Danny and caught many fish on it over the years. So it definitely wasn’t his skills. It was probably his unfamiliarity with a lure.

This metal lip did not have a “z” lip like a Danny or Atom40 but instead had a cupped, Surfster lip. You have to work this damn thing like it is the extension of your hand, feeling every single rise in the water, compensation for every small wave. You want to reel just fast enough so that the head is buried in the water and the tail is slapping the surface , almost like a pencil popper. Granted, when the fish are active, you don’t need to be as precised but on this day, they wanted nothing less than  a perfect retrieve.

Who made this magic lure?

A friend of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine from day 1, Larry Wentworth, maker of lures under the by name Big Fish Bait Co. This particular lure is called Prey Swimmer and has been very good to me over the years in many places. Does it cast like a wet rag (or should I say like a metal lip)? Yup. Does it drive fish insane? Yup. Metal lips are not for everyone, and not all lures are good  for all conditions. But sometimes, in the hands of someone who knows their strenghts and weaknesses ,they can be deadly.

So what’s our lesson of the day boys and girls? The fish must be really thick If Z is catching them (this quote courtesy of immortal Vito Orlando). Mr. .Musso does indeed have supersecretmetallipswimmer. The Surfster type lures have their place and time. Glassy, flat surf and fish feeding on small bait is often a recipe for frustration? And then they ask me why I spend so much time obsessing about white water…if we had white water you could have caught fish on ever cast, all day long

Today I will give you a chance to win one of these Prey Swimmers, courtesy of Larry from Big Fish Bait Co.

But there is a catch

Larry picked one picture from issue #9 of the Surfcaster’s Journal current issue as his favorite. You have to guess which page is it on. First guy that does not read this and says, “I am in”instead,  has to post 5 times ” I am lazy” here on the blog before he is eligible to win anything…ever

You can visit his website at Big Fish Bait Co

It will be a mackerel one like the one in this picture

here is the issue
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How do you view your split rings? Honestly, have you gave much thought to this?

There was a time when I thought that split rings are not necessary on my lures. There was also a time when I thought that Duo Lock were superior to clips. I have came to realize that I was wrong on both counts. Is the split ring technically “another thing that can fail”? Technically, yes. Practically, no, especially if you use the Super Rings from Wolverine Tackle. Ever wonder why top lure manufactures put a little sticker on their lure packaging that tell you “VMC hooks” or “ Wolverine Split Rings”? It’s because they are confident in the components they use and feel that this is the best thing on the market and are proud to offer it to their customers.

I had cheap split rings fail in the past. They rusted, they pulled, they were mangled by the fish. Is there a chance that Wolverine split rings is going to fail you? Not likely. There is one exception. If you use a lure that has a fixed hook hanger (no swivel) like Yo-Zuri Surface Cruiser, there is no split ring in the world that will withstand a power of big fish if she gets the right leverage. Same goes for tail hooks on many plugs. once a gorilla blue gets a hold of that and spins it around, your split ring might fail to hold its original shape. But even in those circumstances, I still feel that triple split rings from Wolverine tackle will give me a best chance of landing that fish.

Why use a split ring? Many reasons

The hooks will not rust as fast

It gives better action to many lures when inserted in the nose of the lures

It gives better action to just about any tail hook or a flag on the back of the lure

It allows most hooks to fold against plug body during the cast reducing air resistance and increasing casts.

It makes changing hooks a snap

The only time I shy away from using split rings is on the lures on which split rings should not be used. For example, if you add split rings to your lure and the hooks marry, that is a bad candidate. If by adding a split ring you allow a front hook to be able to grab a nose of the lure and alter its action, that would be another reason. If you are a worrywart who carries toilet paper and a tube of Desatin in your waders because you are afraid of pooping in your waders….well, then you have bigger issues than we can help you with.

For all the rest of you, we will give you a chance to win these two packages of Wolverine Super Rings, courtesy of our friends from Wolverine Tackle

By all means, go to their website and check out all the lure builders that are use their products. I think you will be impressed. http://wolverinetackleinc.com/

Now that I got some sleep……Unfortunately I got up even more crankier then when I went to bed. I spent 80 percent  of my time with cameras last few days and about 20% fishing. Is it because I don’t like to fish? No, It is so we can bring you stuff no one else will. Of course, we only do this so we can “push” more products on our readers like some have suggested. What are you going to do, you will have haters no matter what. I implore you before and I will do it again, do not take anything that you hear, see or read as gospel. Take it as the starting info and do your homework. Do not take anyone’s recommendation as something that will fit the way you fish.

I will continue to write about my personal experiences. You take them for what they are worth. All I am going to say about two piece rod is this….I got to hammer the fish with GLoomis ten foot rod , out casting many with a one piece 11 foot rods. If anyone tells me that one piece rods are better than two piece when it comes to a purely performance, I will save them a  headache and tell them now to show it up their…..done with this.

So yes, I spent two days with fish boiling around my legs, with a camera in my hand. The bad part was that I took a dive in Browns and landed on my Panasonic HD camcorder which cost us few grand. That was a major downer.

The typical day involved going to 7/11,( best thing in Montauk since Paulie’s bait and tackle), about 3 to 4 times a day to fill thermos with coffee. Of course, in the morning, while sleeping at the “Truck Inn” at the lower lot you had to run like the deer  to the bathroom and start to pee while still about 15 feet away from the urinal. Any closer and you will crack the porcelain.

Friday night was kind of neat in a lot of ways. We fished on the north side and the only way that you would get bump is to make the longest possible cast you want with a darter. Then you count to three and usually you either caught a fish or got a bump. After that, the retrieve was useless so you raced the plug back and did it again. The fish were holding at the end of the cast. Not one bump came after three or 4 cranks.

Which can be a pain if you are a lousy caster like I consider myself to be. Of course, the fact I use a regular, nonsharpie like, two piece rods certainly is not going to help.

After fishing few spots and only had a single striper Silver Fox and I ended around the Lighthouse area. I got on a big slanted rock while he picked a perch about 30 yards to the west. I was in fish immediately, like I said, on the end of the cast. After 3 fish, I called over. You always want to make sure that the fish are not a fluke. Once I was reasonably convinced that I had a solid bite in front of me I called him over.

He came but insisted of fishing next to me. I said no, we will share the rock. It was big enough for two people. He was ready to get on the rock while I had a fish close to it. I grabbed a leader with rod still under the strain of the fish. No idea what happened,. I can’t explain it. All I know is that Super Strike Mackerel Halloween darter flew like the projectile and hit me square in my eye. I must be the luckiest sonofabitch in the world because it hit me with the side on which there were no hooks. Other than a nice bruise on my eye the next day, I came trough unhurt.

Anyway, Silver Fox got on a rock and I gave him a “preferred” spot, to my right. Which means he can cast freely while I have to make sure that I don’t hook him or slap his rod on my cast. Its ok, I am used to sharing a rock from fishing Cutty, I am not sure he was so I tried to make life easier on him.It’s cool, dude is my buddy and you give your friends always better then what you got. The cardinal rule, pay it forward.

So now you have to guys, fishing with two piece rods (Gasp, someone, call the one-piece police quickly) . I fished with a 10 6 GLoomis IMX and ZB25 while Silver Fox had 11 foot Ron Arra with VS 200. I consider Lenny a better caster then I am. I consider most of you better casters then I am. And it made no sense that I was bailing fish for the next two hours and Silver Fox never got a hit. No sense at all. He tried a needle and casted further but fish did not wanted. They wanted a darter. I ofered him my darter. I ofered him to change spots. He declined both

We gave up around midnight after we lost the tide and tried to figure out what happened but we came to no conclusions. Lenny took a shock leader off earlier in the day and maybe that was the reason he wasn’t casting all-out? Out of fear of snapping a plug…no idea but you always hate when your buddy cant buy a bump while you go, cast, one, two, three , I am in.                                                              

Then again, I stood next to him while he bailed a fish locally on a sand bar that I couldn’t reach with my cast.  How is Montauk in general? I know many of you probably were considering going but couldn’t, scared of weekend crowds, whatever…There is a blitz going on every minute of every day somewhere around the light, either on north of south side. The fish are plentiful but finicky and zoomed in onto white bait. The nighttime bite is not bad considering that when fish are on white bait, the nighttime usually shuts down. And yes, once it gets dark, the participation is down by about 95 %.                                                                    Ron Arra at Montauk recently

If you can get out, I suggest you do. Stop by Paulie and he will send you to the right spot

PS

What goes around comes around. Silver Fox spanked me last night at the local south shore beach. One thing he mentioned, that never crossed my mind was that he should have asked me to switch rods to see if that was the key. Darn, that would have been a good idea.

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We apologize for being MIA…we were busy recording if not fishing. We will fill you in on busted knees, bad elbows, darters in the eye, breaking a 2k camera by falling on it, casting a GoPro into a school of boiling fish and loosing it, having to pee so hard we almost cracked porcelain in the bathroom….and much more…right now we need some sleep

GOPRO….no one said we are bright

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As a recent convert to using clips instead of a snap, I am somewhat at loss for explanation why it took me so long to embrace the clips. I think it was because of one bad night on the Jones Reef at Montauk Point few years ago when I lost three plugs in one night that slipped off the clip. Not sure what brand that was, I know it wasn’t a Breakaway and Tactical Angler clips were not on the market yet. Since I am not, to this day a hundred percent sure of why did it happen I don’t want to assign the blame on the brand itself. For all I know, I could have tied the clip the wrong way. Hey, I never said I was a genius…it happens

But after that experience I stayed with Duo Locks until basically last year when out of respect for Crazy Alberto I decided to give them another shot. I can honestly say that I never looked back.

I never was a fan of tying direct unless it was to a bucktail in some very specific situations and places. I don’t see the point. Yeah, tying directly eliminates one more thing that can fail  you. Heck, I can eliminate ALL the things that can fail  me by just falling asleep on my couch instead of going fishing. Or I could spend more time retying the plugs then fishing….I’ll pass on both

I like to change plugs a lot, particularly when fishing jetties. Sometimes after every three casts. Don’t ask me why but every night is different, conditions are different, tide and current movement differs, wind velocity and directions are different…so are the lures that I use.

Having said that could I just use a bucktail 99% of the time? After all, aren’t bucktails by far the most productive jetty lures anyway? Yes and no. Are they the most versatile? Yes. Most productive? Not necessarily

Now if you are talking about inlet jetties  then they are both the most versatile and the most productive especially if the inlet you are fishing features deep ,fast moving water.

But I prefer jetties where I can toss a rigged eels and the inlet jetties are not well suited for this except for times of slower current. And since I like to use only 8/0 or 9/0 hooks, tying directly was usually the norm. Duo Lock snaps are not well suited for this type of fishing. Its thin wire can bend easy against giant thick hooks that can handle a tuna or a shark. Because I fish a tighter drag with rigged eels that I do with lures, the strain that is put on a Duo Lock increases. I’ve had quite a few Duo Luck straighten out over the years. They came back mangled up while my eel was somewhere out there hanging out of the mouth of a cow bass.

I know many guys who once they are convinced that their arch enemy is not in the area,( I am talking bluefish) they attached rigged eel directly to the mono and they will cast that thing all night long. I am not one of those guys, I guess I have a short attention span.

Many of you have noticed that clips can be a pain in the ass to put on some lures. In fact, some lures that have thick wire are almost impossible to get onto the clip. So you might be wondering how in the world would you be able to fit a giant 9/0 hook on a rigged eel onto a Tactical clip?

I thought you’d never ask…lol

It does help to have a right tool, in this case large clip from Tactical Anglers.

Here is a video demonstrating what works for me. I did this video in spring and forgot all about it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eXjj2WwzeQ[/youtube]