The winner of Ebbpoint Pliers Holster (http://www.ebbpointsurffishing.com/ )    is

 Tyson surfplug@hotmail.com

Congrats Tyson

Please send your mailing address to info@surfcastersjournal.com within 5 days

I am sure many of you are looking outside and feeling a little spring in your step. It definitely feels like we have turned the corner. It will be few more weeks however before many of us venture to the beach. The nights will still be knuckle biting cold for awhile and the water around your waders won’t be pleasing either. Cleaning your gear and crawling up with a good book usually gets me wired up for a new season. Although I always felt that my knowledge is very limited and there is so much more to learn, reading  a how to book rarely gets me fired up. What does get me going is books like John Skinner A Season on the Edge. Stories told by other surf rats are a sure way to get my juices flowing. The other way would be for you to call me and tell me you are crushing big fish 🙂

One book that hasn’t been publicized much but its definitely worth your attention is DJ Muller’s new book, Striper Tales. It’s a wonderful collection of stories from DJ and his friends. You will find stories from Don Guimelli from Afterhours lure, Gary Soldati from Big Water Lures, DJ Muller, our plug guru Dave Anderson, Aquaskins Kadir  , Larry Welcome from North Bar and many , many more.

I picked up a dozen signed copies from DJ at Surf Day and just added them to our online store

here is a link if someone is interested

 http://surfcastersgear.com/Striper-Tales-by-DJ-Muller-Striper-Tales-by-DJ-Muller.htm

in other news, we decided to raid our kids piggy banks last night after they fell asleep …the videos are becoming a big part of what we do here and PC just does not cut it anymore. Nothing is more frustrating then tiring to cut footage while its jerking around on your screen and you are not even sure what are you cutting. So we broke down and bought a Mac…any of you geniuses out there volunteering to come over my house and show me how to use this thing ?  🙂

from www.epicbiltz.com

Insanity: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Decides to reopen Trawl Fishery

This is an email I received from a friend.  These comments are from Rusty Dunnavant.

“I just returned from this meeting today and I am sick at the results and actions this committee has decided to take. This periodic committee meeting was obviously scheduled for other management issues than just the stripers, but I will only address the outcome of the striper issues.

Prior to this meeting we heard the Director, Louis Daniel, would try to down play the actual number of stripers killed. He did, saying the photos he saw looked like only several hundred fish. He also mentioned the photo take from the air, the one you have on your site here, looked to him like seagulls. He did say this was only his opinion and no actual analysis of the photo had been made.

Nancy Fish brought a box containing all the emails, letters and phone call notes that their office had received and offered it to the committee members for their review. Over 450 as I recall. Several committee members, mostly representing the recreational fishery, did discuss the hook and line option as many other Atlantic states have now and Ana Beckwith tried to introduce the concept of the hook and line option for the trawling fleet to use to fulfill the remainder of their quota for this year. She said this would provide a good test going forward into next year for any revision of these regulations. There is no down side to this option and it virtually eliminates any bycatch or the over capture of fish that must be discarded as these pictures show. This was also the recommendation of the CCA.

Bottom line, after all the public comments from last nights and this morning were heard, the vast majority against this form of commercial fishing, and after all the emails and other communications were presented, the committee voted to ignore this input and once again open this fishery to trawling for a day or two using the same gear, 2000 lb limit per day with the transfer option until the remaining quota has been reached. The actual day or days this fishery will be open again will be decided by the committee and it was mentioned “when the fish are within the 3 mile limit once again”!

It was a mockery of the process and a true indication of just how much influence the commercial industry has in North Carolina. The only good that came from this is creating plenty of ammunition to go forward now and try to make the striper a “sport fish” only in NC.”

It was pretty cool to see 3 custom surf bag makers at the Surf Day in NJ over the weekend. All three of them have fantastic products and I found them to be really nice people. It was a pleasure to meet some of them face to face for the first time.

Sometimes people will ask what is so special about  a custom bag? Yeah, I get the customization part but cant I just pick out a bag in the retail shop and be ready to go?

Sure you can but custom bags are much more than that. First of all, for many of these makers they are labor of love instead of business. People that make them generally have other full time jobs like pilots or pharmacists. The fact that they find time to stitch these bags in their “spare” time is incredible.

Second, yes customization is very important to some us. As we make transitions over the years from bait to lures to eels or whatever is currently rocking your boat, our bag often need to reflect these changes in the way we fish. For example, I like my removable rigged eel pouch more than any other feature on my bag, waders or jacket.

Third, the quality and willingness to embrace the suggestions of customers. There are some brands out there whose bags absolutely suck and the only reason they are made is to fill a gap in the line, theirs or someone’s else. There are companies out there who make bags which are more prone to get a hook imbedded into them then Lindsay is to end up in front of the judge…again. There are bags there that fall apart on the seams after a few days in the surf. And in some cases ,this is ok. If you buy a low priced bag, you should not expect a lifetime warranty to go along with it.

Fortunately , the three custom builders at the show, MAK, Ebbpoint and Commando all make quality products that I sincerely doubt will give you any grief with their products

Here is the video we recorded with Dave Rose from MAK on Saturday. I can almost guaranty that after looking at this video, you will understand what the hype is all about and the difference between a  high end bag and mass produced one

now the only thing left is to take the bags from all three makers, stuff m-80 in each one and see which one comes out the best  🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlH0DOzC-uA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

From NYCRF” On  behalf of the NYCRF here is a letter written for all of you that you can print out, sign, add your name address and phone number and then send to the NYS DEC in order to do your part in protecting Striped Bass. We need to defeat this issue long before it becomes a reality.”

Joe Martens 19 Feb 201 1
Acting Commissioner
New York State DEC
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-1011

Dear Mr. Martens,

I am writing this letter to express my opposition to recent proposals that would allow a directed trawl fishery for striped bass, and also to express our concern about a declining striped bass fishery.

It is important we face several realities about the east coast population of striped bass. First, the size of the population is declining and second, recent recruitment has been poor to bad overall. It seems to us that these two signals should give us pause, lest we put the population in jeopardy of another steep decline similar to that of the 1980s. In short, this should be a time when managers take a step back, increase size limits, and reduce bag limits across the board. A flexible management approach is, after all, a fundamental fisheries management strategy in both fresh and saltwater venues.

Furthermore, the harvesting of striped bass for money, regardless of the particulars: commercial, recreational commercial (ex. charter boats), guide services, etc; should not become an excuse to allow harvest increases or excesses in a misguided sense of protecting jobs. Many studies have repeatedly shown that the greatest value of striped bass to the economy isn’t found in direct and easily documented expenditures such as bookings alone or commercial landings; rather it is nurtured within the day-to-day activities of striped bass anglers. More than any other inshore species, anglers consider the pursuit of striped bass to be a special, even sacred sport: a sport that requires a large fish population in order to generate and maintain a high level of enthusiasm, and get the troops out fishing frequently. When anglers fish often, they spend money on tackle, line, lures, clothing, accessories, hotels, motels, gasoline and diesel, local eateries, books, videos, etc.

Also, the recently implemented saltwater license has had a subtle psychological effect on how anglers view their angling experiences. To be blunt, they expect more. They expect a change from the “old way,” where bureaucrats kow-tow to the demands of commercial fishermen and others who make a living from our fisheries resources. Sooner or later we all need to recognize the reality that if a species declines, fewer anglers hire guides, get on party boats, or rent charter boats regardless of how many fish they can theoretically kill. No one wants a day on the water where very little happens. Angling is a sport about fun, and secondarily about killing. Licensed anglers expect that managers will realize the importance of a robust and conserved population of striped bass. Furthermore, we must remember this reality: if the species anglers pursue aren’t nurtured and protected, there will be little reason to purchase a license or go fishing. At that point, not only will a rich tradition of pursuing striped bass in the coastal ocean suffer as it did in the 1980s, but all those who are part of an economy pursuant to angling for striped bass will suffer as well.

This is a time when we need conservation and protection of striped bass and not a liberalization of rules that allows for more killing. Anglers have become increasingly concerned Continue reading →

About these videos, ours and whoever’s else we feature here

I have a  favor to ask. Maybe I shouldn’t but I see what is happening on other sites, the ones that would throw stones at Mother Teresa if she ever wakes up from the dead…

I am not sure how many of you are aware the work some of these guys put into creating these videos. I can only imagine, as the quality is much better than anything I can do. Continue reading →

Sometimes you wonder why some ideas take so long to come to fruition, but when they do, you say “hallelujah”.

For years we all struggled with fishing in a sweep brought on by the inclement weather. We tossed the bottle plugs and bucktails because those two were the most effective in digging in and presenting our lures properly. Or at least adequately in my case, as everyone knows, I don’t do anything properly. Or know anything…but that is a post for another day.

Metal lips, plastic swimmers and even darters have a hard time holding in a rough water. Even needlefish had to be loaded (mainly with oil or mercury in the old days) to get under the surface and stay there. You might say why not toss a larger, heavier needle. Like those that look like police batons and weigh 5 ounces ?

The problem is the wind resistance. Often times, even although the lure might be heavy enough to cast into the wind or sweep, because its profile is so large it creates more wind resistance. What we really wanted was something with a thinner, compacted profile, that will cut through the wind and sink like a stone.

If you spent any times on the beach last fall you know that the sand eel bite was intense but so was the sweep. And yes, the tins were the kings but they also had issues of fluttering towards the surface in heavy sweep.

But that is not the only place where heavy, slim profile lure will excel. Anywhere where you have deep ,very fast water, a thin profile heavy lure will get down towards the bottom quickly, putting you in a better position to catch big girls that hug the bottom. I doubt any lure will ever replace the effectiveness of a bucktail in the inlets, but the new weighted Super Strike needlefish lures will definitely be used along side of them.

We at Surfcaster’s Journal are of course curios creatures by nature…however, instead of giving you our spin of these lures we cornered the Musso boys at Surf Day  for few seconds and asked them to tell you directly

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe3YYfTpp54[/youtube]

No, I am not going to say a Ebbpoint  Surf Fishing Custom Holster Giveaway in the title…too many see the giveaway in the title and just respond I am in

I want to thank members of JSS for another well organized Surf Day. Tommy, Ray and I had fun and it was a pleasure seeing a lot of old friends. As the show progressed through the day, the crowds got lighter so Tommy and I took the advantage of the less crowded conditions and conducted few quick interviews with some of the show vendors.

One of them , Nick from Ebbpoint (http://www.ebbpointsurffishing.com/)  has graciously donated the pliers holster and today , one of you guys will get a chance to win it.

But first , before you say I am in , you got too see this video that features Nick new “Montauk” surf bag from yesterday show

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W70jSFeL-vQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

pliers not included

lol 🙂

I think it’s only fair we pick the winner of the Super Strike Custom Lure Giveaway while the Musso’s are at the Surf Day in New Jersey 🙂

We are headed that way in few minutes, but if you get the chance to pick Don’s brain, don’t  let the opportunity pass you by. The man is encyclopedia of fishing knowledge.

I am looking forward to Surf Day . Seeing friends that I don’t get to see often like Big Rock, DJ Muller, Shell Caris, J.M., Sudsy and so many more…plus there are a lot of people i conversed via email but never got to meet…till today

Tom Lynch who makes these great surf videos, Scot from Hansom tackle that makes one hell of a pliers, Tom from Commando bags…this should be a lot of fun

If you are attending, stop by the Surfcaster’s Journal table and say hi to the Tommy, the dude that makes the mag so easy on the eyes.

And now, the winner of Super Strike Custom Lure giveaway is Continue reading →

In spirit of recent videos that appeared first on SJ Blog here is another one from Tom Lynch

Fly Fishing NJ for Striped Bass in the NJ Surf

This one featuring my good friend and world class angler Shell Caris.

enjoy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7BTdEs1UPI&hd=1[/youtube]