While we try to take a (well deserved if you ask me :-)) break
Enjoy SJ Chef Andrew Chase Beer Batter recipe

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

New issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine is now live at

www.surfcastersjournal.com

Have fun reading

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So,  here were are again. A year older and (supposedly) a year wiser. On the top menu you will find  a link to STRIPERTHON 2011 , or you can just click on this link

http://surfcastersjournal.com/blog/?page_id=4249

We decided that the contest is fine as it was last year. Personally I would like to see a Surfcaster’s Cup as a top prize, something that we might consider for next year.  I don’t know about you but to me this is a fun thing. The whole fishing thing is a fun thing. Once you bring in the competition, the fun quickly disappears, so let’s keep this fun, as it should be.

I should know. There was a time when I let the competiveness get better of me and almost lost it all. When I think about all the shit I put my wife trough, I realize I am married to  a saint. I know better now…

I like the idea of giving guys in CA a chance to enter their stripers. I think that is kind of cool. Please spare me the chatter that contest should start earlier because you are into the fish already. If that is what you are thinking then you are missing the point of this whole thing. Promoting catch and release of our beloved striper, encouraging younger ones to fish and have fun in process. That is what this is all about. And if you manage to win something, great.

I am not going to give you a speech of how you should release every fish you catch. I would be a  hypocrite as I love eating striped bass and anything else that swims including skate, sea robins, you name it. I never understood where it comes from when people say “remove the dark portion of the filet because it tastes fishy“. Huh?….why don’t you just buy a chicken instead ? I’ll never get that one

Anyway, you guys that are blog subscribers are automatically entered into a Striperthon 2011. No need to do anything. I tried to involve some other people this year so that it does not get stale. We are very much appreciative of our current and former sponsors of the contest.

So guys and dolls, after midnight tonight, your fish can be entered into our contest. Yes, I know that taking two pictures of the fish prolongs the time the fish is out of the water. And yes, I do understand that some of you are annoyed that is not the biggest fish contest instead of a best picture contest. I don’t share your feelings..

I don’t think no one is going to fish more because of the contest but I am certain many of you will keep it in the back of your mind. And that is all we ask for. So go out there and have a wonderful season and be safe. And most of all, have fun doing it. We are looking forward to seeing your submissions.

I promised you are giveaway every day till issue 7 debuts so here is today’s giveaway.

From our good friend and supporter Evan from Lure Tubes comes today’s giveaway. One of you will win a long sleeve Lure Tubes shirt, one Lure Tube to store your lures, skin plugs or whatever you choose to and a Lure Tube hat.

Check them out at http://luretubes.com/

Let’s get  a little crazy here…as we are few days away from debut of Issue #7 of the Surfcasters Journal magazine, and to celebrate the bluefish that have invaded the bays  , we will have a giveaway every day till new issue hits the web stand…then we will announce the winners in one swoop….sounds fair ?

First on deck, book you should have. If you are a newbie, you need this book. If you are more experienced, you are always looking to pick up a thing or two. If you are a sharpie, who are we kidding, you’ll read anything with surfcasting or surf fishing in the title.

If you are an internet hero, you don’t need any stinkin’ book. You are too cool for any publication that mere mortals read (btw, your claims are getting swallowed while you are reading this on your superduper cool iphone on the beach…tend to your rod…sharpie)

Joe Cermele is the Fishing Editor of Field & Stream, formerly from Saltwater Sportsman, in addition to articles published in Men’s Journal, Angling Trade and on the water. Local boy from Lawrenceville,NJ.

I have to give dude some props. His new book The Complete Guide to Surfcasting is BIG, 306 pages big in an oversized book format. This was a big undertaking, 200 photos, every species you can catch from Maine to California is profiled, dissected and covered. Riggs, tackle, lures, bait, knots, weather, reading the beach, pelagic, Mecca’s, rocks, sand, regions, you name it, it is in this book.

Where can you get this giant reference for the surfcaster in you ?

Burford Books…here is a link and more info

http://burfordbooks.com/books/CGTS.htm

And we will now give one of you a chance to win a copy. Compliments of Burford Books and Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. And look for our full review in the future issue..

Good Luck

We know a good thing when we see one. That doesn’t mean that we have the time to devote all our attention to it….not if we want to remain married.

I am talking about a STRIPERTHON contest….For me personally the STRIPERTHON is a fantastic way to raise awareness about importance of sustainable fish stocks, encouragement of catch and release, having great photos to document your moment in the sun and a chance to win some great prizes.

I love all of it and I am(and I think if speak for all us at SJ) eternally grateful to our sponsors and supporters for not only providing prizes but also encouraging us to bring back the contest for this year.

The rules have not changed much and  yes a junior category is still there, once again sponsored by fine folks at Tsunami who donated a Tsunami Airwave rod of winners choice and a basket of lures.

We left the rules more or less the same as last year. After all, this contest to us is not about more readers or promotional opportunity for SJ, it’s about bringing awareness that catch and release is what we encourage. Most of you know my feelings on the subject of poaching, party and private boats and charter fleet. I wrote about it few months ago and yes, took some abuse for it. It’s ok, if the message that we are killing too many stripers is what people hear, it’s worth it.

We get concerned when a dear friend like Vito Orlando writes that he has had the worst April in 27 years. Can it be that water is too cold, his spots are not productive or he is just a tide late? Or maybe he just forgot how poor fishing used to be? We doubt that considering that man has written ever fish in the log we ever seen him catch. It’s just an experience of one man, but enough to give us some worry. Let’s hope his experience is an exception

Stay tuned for all the details but for now, to wet your appetite here is one of our prizes in STRIPERTHON 2011, a white custom surf bag by Tom at Commando fishing.

Here is his website where you can check out a whole line

http://www.commandosurfcasting.com/

….

BTW

New issue  of the Most Awesome Magazine in the universe is coming your way in few days

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I know many of you wonder, either out loud  or when you are alone, snuggled with your little blankey (don’t worry we won’t tell no one) about what is going on in Montauk in early May.

Are there fish there at all? Certainly it seems a little early. But you know that place is so fishy, if fish are already in Rhode Island then Montauk has to have few, no? What about the big ones? Any chance of catching those?

We don’t have the answers for you. We usually don’t have answers to most things you want to know. Hey we never claimed to be experts here.

But we know few who are experts. Like our buddy Surf Fishing Guide Extraordinaire Bill Wetzel. Who spends more time in the fall sleeping in his truck in the Montauk lot then he does at home. If you consider 20 minute nap between charters “sleep”.

Bill runs a great website Surf Rats Ball at http://www.longislandsurffishing.com/ and  within the website he runs one of  the best striped bass monthly contests on the east coast. With prizes to die for, shindig at the commencement with awards and food and a great time. Drop Bill a line at  bill@longislandsurffishing.com if you’d like more info about his services as a guide, his website or contest. Look for a ad on the contest in this upcoming issue

Anyway, without further distraction…here is the expert on topic. Another clip from our Seminar Series we conducted this winter

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_8DEelnxyU[/youtube]

I usually try to stay away from blogging in the afternoon, if for no other reason than the fact that you will hate my guts for multiple emails in your inbox folder…now , if your SJ blog emails are ending up in your junk folder …well , give us your address so I can send  Tommy to give you a beating…besides, you are missing out on a chance to win some great prizes during our giveaways

Like this one, new Belt Carabiner from Ebbpoint Surf Fishing

New belt carabiner

 Available in Limited Supply from Ebbpoint Surf Fishing at

 http://www.ebbpointsurffishing.com/Products.php

All type 316 Stainless Steel

-2″ x 2″ s/s plate

Mounts on all surf belts 

-Multiple uses when fishing surf or boat  

TIG Weld

Good luck ladies and gents and thank you Nick from Ebb Point Surf Fishing !

We loaded the kayaks and paddled into the bay. Because of the high winds and shallowness of the bay the water looked like a Yoo-hoo chocolate milk! And that is a very kind description….

I tried to keep up with him but after ten minutes I gave up. Al was moving way too fast in his canoe while I struggled to keep pace. Because he was far ahead of me he would stop and make a few casts into mangroves and yes, he managed to pull out few snook in the process. I don’t know how far we paddled; all I know is that I could barely lift my arms the next day. Finally we arrived on small island and pulled up our kayaks. Al was more than content taking pictures and watching me fish…which was a good thing because every time he made a cast he more often then not caught a fish!

After dropping my first 5 (ouch) fish I finally managed to land a snook. And then few more, a healthy looking redfish and even a saltwater catfish. Considering the conditions, I was more than impressed that fish were  in these muddy waters. We’ve seen  eagles, all kinds of birds, manatees, millions of jumping mullets and scenery to die for.

Paddling back into the wind as sun was setting was no picnic and every time we would round an island he would say “few more points and we are there”. Darn it, I thought that was a last one.

I cannot fathom how someone who only spent few months (and on and off at best) in a place and already knows it like a back of his hand. Although I have known Al for many years this is only the third time we fished together and I have to admit the man never stops to amaze me. If they ever find water on the Moon I fully expect Alberto to be the first man to pull a fish out of it. Dude deserves all the props he gets.

Most of you know about his line of lures and clips under the name Tactical Anglers. I am only going to tell you one thing, when it comes to fishing I am very picky of what I use. Nobody I know was more reluctant to use clips then I. I tried another brand and they absolutely sucked as a 3 pound fish straighten them out. This past spring , out of my respect for Al more than anything else, I decided to give then an honest try.

For a guy who used duo lock snaps for more than a decade I was sold as soon as I managed to get a giant 9/0 VMC swash with a rigged eel on the clip and land half a dozen fish, many over 40lb one night on that eel without ANY damage to the clip. I have not used anything else else since then. Nuff said. Great product !

http://tacticalanglers.com/index.html

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New issue of SJ Magazine coming up in few days…plug some very neat and new giveaways right here on the blog

stay tuned..

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When I made plans to go to Captiva Island in Florida during spring break, I had no idea where the “Crazy” dude was. All I knew that he was in somewhere in Florida for the winter and racking up crazy frequent flier miles traveling to shows in the northeast in the winter.

One day in February he drops me a facebook message asking me when I am coming down. Coming were, I asked? I don’t even know where the hell you are dude.

I would have never guessed that he was staying 30 miles away from our vacation spot. Not in a million years. But then again, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Three people have told me over the last few months that Pine Island Sound, Estero Bay and Port Charlotte might have the best fishing in Florida while much less crowded then east coast. In fact, that was the reason we decided on Captiva. I’ve never heard about this little piece of heaven till Joe Mallat, the fellow who wrote few books on surf fishing and who runs a surf fishing school out of Hatteras told me about it while we discussed an article for Surfcaster’s Journal Magazine. His article will appear the upcoming issue….

Anyway, I decided to take Crazy Alberto up on his offer of kayaking and fishing for reds and snook. It was difficult to ask the wife to sneak out for the afternoon on your vacation, really hard. You guys know me by now, family is always first. But I had a ton of stuff planed with them so on one very windy Tuesday I meet Crazy One at the local boat ramp.

Now let me profess my complete unfamiliarity with who can do what with a fly rod and what is a long cast or what is an expert level. All I can tell you is that I never seen anyone do what Al did on a boat ramp, a single stroke backwards, load a rod and empty out all the line in one shot. Holy smokes! He was trying to teach me and if we didn’t have the windiest day of the year he probably would have successes in at least teaching me how to cast further than 10 feet but on this day it wasn’t meant to be. I tried to soak up the motions of the fly line and hopefully use it at some future date. Needles to say, the man is a virtuoso with long rod and a long wand….

How about kayak?

After all, although he is known’s as a big fish hunter with a long stick and has a series of rods with his name on it, I never really considered him a kayak guy….and yet again I was wrong…. so wrong.

coming tomorrow, part deux with Crazy one

BTW

This is for those of you who think we are experts here at sj 🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkCnPH70MY[/youtube]

We figured we do something special for the weekend by offering you a chance to win a autographed book  Saltwater Flies of the Northeast  from the acclaimed Fly Fishing author, our friend Angelo Peluso.

 Here is Angelo’s website http://angelopeluso.com/

Angelo has new book in works , a companion to Saltwater Flies of the Northeast of sorts but his upcoming book will cover from Virginia to Texas Coast. So he’ll have Main to Texas covered. Sometimes in late summer,early fall.We cant wait.

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