Obviously many of you have strong feeling on what is going on with fisheries today, particularly striped bass. Why is striped bass so important and why do we put such a value on this particular species?

Because we are surfcasters, and stripers are one fish species that we can catch from the beach with some regularity. They migrate along the beaches, many take residence in our bays and therefore are within reach of even the worst casters amongst us, including yours truly.

This blog is written not with purpose of antagonizing anyone but instead to bring issues to the forefront, to make you aware of some things you might not give much thought otherwise and to encourage honest discussion of what changes need to be made. Antagonistic posts, insults and jokes are better left for internet fishing boards. God knows there are plenty of them out there were you can insult or be insulted if you choose to do so. We don’t play that game here…

Party boat captains, charter and fly fishing captains and even surf guides jobs are no picnic. They don’t have a benefit of sitting in cubicle on a cold day, no  chance of joining company health insurance plans, no hiding from elements or getting away from cranky fares. But then again, like I was told many of times when I complain about my job, no one is putting a gun to your head to do what you do. This is America. Land of the free and land of opportunity.

What strikes me as odd is my naiveté about party boats fleet and their practices. I love taking my kids on party boats for fluke and porgy fishing. It’s a nice day on the water with family, albeit pricey if fillets for dinner are your goal but still, it gets the kids away from their XBOX and me away from my PC. I’ve never tried striper fishing on a  party boat but after reading some of your posts, I doubt I ever will.

This practice of encouraging patrons to keep fish after they already kept their limit because the “boat” hasn’t reach the limit is illegal. Or at least I think it is. Or it should be…. Continue reading →

Steve Adams, the maker of A.O.K. lures knows how to dress up a hansome face with a cool headgear 🙂

Winner of Guides Choice Bunka Boy Swimmer giveaway is ……………fishinthedark…sulmac@optonline.net

get us your shipping address withinh 5 days to info@surfcasersjournal.com

I get emails on almost daily basis from surfcasters who are asking about recommendations on rod, reels, lures and everything else under the sun. I try to answer these as honestly as I can. Just like when we write our gear reviews, we only recommend the things we actually use. Yes, that might leave a lot of products unmentioned but I always felt that suggesting stuff you only read about is better for shysters and internet know-it-alls.

One thing no one ever asked me about it is what kind of roof racks I use. Unimportant, you might say, after all ,they really do not help you catch any more fish. But you would be wrong…..

Are you good enough to catch fish with your bare hands? Because that is what you might have to do if the roof rack you use is just an afterthought. I used to have a rack that I made myself out of some PVC tubing, nailed to the wood. It did its job but then the rash of robberies started and lots of Van Staal’s disappeared from trucks and ended up on EBay and flea markets.

Let’s face it, we carry more bling on the roof of our trucks the Flavor Flav around his neck. Do you really want to leave those reels and rods unattended even for a moment? I wouldn’t.

I have two roof racks, one on each side of my Suburban, each carrying two rods. They are both made by the Rod Vault. Why Rod Vault?

Besides great looking powder finish and sturdy construction, what attracted me to these racks was the peace of mind it gave me. First of all ,they are mounted in a way where removal of the rack is impossible as the hardware is located within the rack. The only way to remove the reels from the rack is to cut the stem of the reel, something not even the stupidest thief will do. They also lock my rods in place at same time. They are easy to get rods on and off the truck, always important for a blitz chaser like me 🙂

Check their website at www.therodvault.com for more information.

Our supporter Paulie’s of Montauk carries them , as does saltwater Edge in RI. Their newest dealer is one of our earliest supporters, LI Outdoorsman in Rockville Centre, NY. Don’t quote me on this but I do believe the people behind the Rod Vault are looking for retail outlets in tristate area. If you shop doesn’t carry it feel free to mention to them to get in contact with Rod Vault via their website. This is excellent product without safety consideration, when you add those, considering some of you carry gross national income of a third world country on your roof, it becomes an indispensable thing for a surfcaster.

You got three days to catch a fish and send us a picture.

Who knows, you might even win a Penn Torque…that is if Penn ever send us one

LMAO

If I hear one more time, “its on order” I’ll strangle someone. Yes, you might have to wait few weeks to get your new super duper Penn but rest assure you will get it.

In better news department, the proofs for William Muller’s updated version of Secrets of Surf Fishing at Night with Fred Golofaro, Al Bentsen and Roger Martin went to the printer. I am going to guess about 2 to  3 weeks before its printed and hopefully in stores by Mid-November

Here is a little video preview

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m77_SfkxwVE[/youtube]

I’ve read something recently that got me thinking. A fellow on one of the internet boards laid out this scenario , based on recent events

A charter boat captain went out in the morning with a 6 pack…by 9 am they limited out with 2 fish each, all over 25 lb

The afternoon 1/2 a day trip resulted in the same score.

12 large stripers for 6 customers and extra 4 stripers ,two for a captain and two for a mate

So far, two trips resulted in  28 large stripers, all over 40 inches

But they are not done, there still is a night charter to do.

Since eeling on a boat can be like fishing in bathtub full of stripers, this resulted in another 12 slobs thrown on the dock.

So, we got 40 stripers killed, all over 20 pounds, majority of them females that will obviously will never get to breed again.

So in weeks time, one charter boat can slaughter more striped bass then a commercial pin hooker can do it in A YEAR. Same goes Continue reading →

Wow, the Ebb Point Custom Bucktail Pouch giveaway was by far the most popular thing we ever gave away according to number of entries. Unfortunately, only one will be a  lucky winner….so here is

The winner of Ebb point Custom Bucktail Pouch is …

Mr. Ron Hild   … rolandhild@aol.com

You have 5 days to get in touch with us …info@surfcastersjournal.com

Thanks to boys from Ebb Point for making this possible…check out their great bags at http://www.ebbpointsurffishing.com/

People say we give out way too many goodies, they say we give you a chance to win “good” stuff. Yeah? Let others give crappy stuff away that they don’t want to use it themselves…Besides, who else are we going to hook up then readers of the Surfcaster’s Journal, the universe best surf fishing magazine 🙂

Today giveaway comes from Guides Choice Tackle…We have recently been playing with their Bunka Boy. It’s the lure in their line that caught our attention the first time we saw it….for some reason I am having flashbacks, Big O’, big swirls, big fish 🙂

So far I only used it for few days so I’ll reserve my full opinion until I use it a little more but there is a lot of things to be impressed about. Wired trough with stainless steel wire Permasteel VMC hooks, Wolverine triple spilt rings, loud rattle and a tough clear coat finish. When I tell you it cast like a dream, I am not exaggerating….how does it swim?…you judge for yourself

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bowyTJ3bL4[/youtube]

By the way, if you visit their website at http://shop.guideschoicelures.com/main.sc you will not only get to see their entire line of product but you will also find out that you can win some plugs from them for sending them a picture of their lures in use. Pretty cool.

Today’s giveaway is for this bunker Bunka Boy from Guides Choice Lures

Just say “I am in” to be eligible

I got a little favor to ask….I am thinking about beer…No, I don’t drink much if ever. My grandfather used to say that I don’t know “how” to drink. So I stay away.

But I know many of you enjoy occasional cold one after the trip, while fixing gear or while just hanging.

Since a lot of you have issues of catching, photography and thumbs 🙂 I got an easier assignment for you.

Send me a picture of beer…..Guys drinking in their gear, sitting on the tailgate, penil popping beer instead of a lure, beer chilling in surf, beer on your work bench, beer and surfcasters in background, beer and whatever…you see where I am going with this? 🙂

Maybe you have a candid shots that you already took, or maybe you have a great idea for a shot….send me your photos at zhromin@optonline.net

I’d like to do a spread in future issue of the magazine on …what else BEER and surfcasting