Surf fishing, increasing the skill level

[Monty]

I have been fishing for 40 years.
Large mouth bass then trout (fly fishing) and then Surf Fishing.
The more experience you get in the type of fishing you are doing the better at it you should become.
But if you are serious about it, really enjoy getting better at catching fish, I believe you must make an effort to learn from the time spent on the water, not just putting the time in.
This year I believe I took a few steps forward, increased my surfishing skills:

Quick history, I surf fished lets say from 94-98, about 20 times per year.
Started again last year. So this year and last 1x per week since April except in September and November a little more (mostly in mornings (an hour before sunrise and then another 3-5 hours).
I fish plugs (pencils, metal lips, metals and teasers).
Last year and this year until August most fish (blues and bass) on teaser and pencil.
Mostly blues.
Used RMs, Basswoods and many of the name “custom” metal lips but not much success, hence no confidence (not the plug builder, clearly I was inept).
Started chatting with R-P (Rip Plugger) in June and in August got my hands on a few of his plugs. All this time chit-chatting on fishing.
So with a few of his plugs one morning (early August) an hour before sun rise got to the water, cove, with water dumping over a bar, casted a yellow rip runner in the area I thought a fish would be, couple of turns and the plug gets slammed by a bass. I’ll be the first to say confidence in what you are using is huge. So before August I caught 3 bass, after August 46 bass. 5 keepers total, all after I started using R-P’s plugs (and the fish were spread out over the time). Not all on Double H Lures, but I had confidence in his Rip Splitters, Rip Runners and Fat Mullets. And I caught fish on all of them and on teasers in front of them. That confidence and learning how to fish the plugs helped me find better water to fish and I developed a plan on how to fish different water.
Last year I ended up with 109 blues and 17 bass, this year 129 blues and 49 bass. I lost a bunch of fish this year also (added the barbs to my hooks after losing 4 nice fish in two days).
A much better year this year, but I feel with the confidence and what I learned this year, next year should be better than this year.
R-P really helped me out in a few ways.
Talking about fishing his plugs, then me fishing them, having success built confidence. His plugs had variety in color, shape and action. I fished them, really paying attention to when I was successful (type of water, plug speed, plug action). Learned I really need to start fishing at night next year (something I did not do this year). I have an enormous amount to learn, but the turning point this year was when I started catching fish with R-P’s plugs.
Anyone can catch a bass or blue in a blitz. But when they are hard to come by, it’s a rush pulling one from a rip or back of a wave or in the wash on metal lip (the success of tricking the bass).
Thanks R-P

So I feel I moved up a level. I increased my confidence in fishing certain plugs and in turn started paying attention to many other things that increased my success. Not even close to a sharpie, the size and quantity of the fish I caught are tiny to many others, but I advanced my surf fishing level, increased success and fun.
And cannot wait till next spring!

Anyone else increase there skill levels this year?
For the sharpies out there, was there one time when the light got brighter and you really started figuring it out?

[Rip-Plugger]

Monty,

thanks for the kind words.

I have been fishing since I was 11,I am 45 now.
years ago-1978] I saw something that amazed me,guys with telephone pole sticks of fiberglass slinging HUGE atom swimmers,danny plugs,stan gibbs and googoo eyes swimmers.

I looked at the lures and freaked out at the size of them.till then,I only did sweetwater for perch/bass crappies.

at that time I had only read about stripers and never seen one or heard of anyone that caught one.bass were not around those parts then.

after seeing alligator choppers slam a googoo eyes plug, knew I had to get into this.

so,I bought a St.Croix[yellow@9feet] glass spinning stick with a daiwa 7000-C reel,filled it with 25 pound ande[pink] and bought 6 plugs.
atoms in white,dannys in yellow and googoos in yellow.
I knew I was gonna get a big fish now!

first time out at 5:30 pm,standing on the bridge on my milk crate waiting like the other,older guys.
one guy was mixing something that smelled like fish and was ladling it over the side.I asked him what it was,he said chum.
then about 10 minutes later there was this HUGE smash and everyone started casting.
I slung my big daddy yellow googoo eyes plug out there into the current and cranked 2 times and BAM!

I was into the biggest thing I ever saw with fins.
I could barely hang on to the rod.drag peeling and I was crapping my pants.
that fish got off and I reeled in more and gotlammed again by a much bigger chopper.

after a long battle,some guy lowered his giant treble hook on a crab line and hooked my fish and pulled it up.

I was shaking from excitement and this same guy put it on his scale,the scale read 19 pounds.I was shocked at the size and teeth on this monster.

this guy is my friend Tommy pirelli,he's up in years now but still around.I still catch up to him every so often and I also buy some of his wood if he has some.

it was because of him that my first exposuer to saltwater went so well.I watched him and did what he did.

I still thank him when I think to and I honor him today because he helped me out bigtime even though He didn't know it.
today,I am in the class of angler I'm in all because he took time to show me a few things.
most of those guys are gone now,Ernie "the fly",Sam"bite on my line"D'urso,Art"King Arthur"King,Crabmeat,Freddie Beans,Blue eyed Tooty,Molly,Al the barber,the indian,shithouse Eddie to name a few.

those few that are still around fish as much as they can and they still smile when they see me coming.
for that,I must honor them all.

that was the best time of my fishing life,,fishing with and being a member of a fishing crew in New Haven,Ct.at such a young age.

All you new guys that are beginning and have the passion to add this to your life for life,just don't throw your line out there,learn and remember,you'll be a sharpie one day,like me.


R-P

[jimmy z]

I am blessed to have had, and today, to have good, fellow fishermen, as friend's. It's a blessing to learn, and than to teach. Very nice stuff, you both posted.:)
And for me, I'm always learning.

[Monty]

Well said., great post. I can identify with the excitement of catching a special fish (the adrenalin rush).
Two things that go hand in hand in surf fishing.
You don't know what you don't know.
Success breeds success.

[DarkSkies]

My skill set went up when I went over to the dark side. Darkness and dawn and dusk are some of the best times for fishing. If you catch more, as Monty and others have said, your level of confidence increases.

In the beginning, I was mostly fishing in the daytime, bright sunlight hours, and wondering why i couldn't catch anything.

I'm still learning. Some people have asked me for tips, and I always try to help, but never want to be at the level, in any field in life, where I have achieved all there is to know. If you did that, what else is left? ;)

Some good stuff said in this thread. :clapping:

[DarkSkies]

Monty,

thanks for the kind words.

I have been fishing since I was 11,I am 45 now.
years ago-1978] I saw something that amazed me,guys with telephone pole sticks of fiberglass slinging HUGE atom swimmers,danny plugs,stan gibbs and googoo eyes swimmers.

I looked at the lures and freaked out at the size of them.till then,I only did sweetwater for perch/bass crappies.

at that time I had only read about stripers and never seen one or heard of anyone that caught one.bass were not around those parts then.

after seeing alligator choppers slam a googoo eyes plug, knew I had to get into this.

so,I bought a St.Croix[yellow] glass spinning stick with a daiwa 7000-C reel,filled it with 25 pound ande[pink] and bought 6 plugs.
atoms in white,dannys in yellow and googoos in yellow.
I knew I was gonna get a big fish now!

first time out at 5:30 pm,standing on the bridge on my milk crate waiting like the other,older guys.
one guy was mixing something that smelled like fish and was ladling it over the side.I asked him what it was,he said chum.
then about 10 minutes later there was this HUGE smash and everyone started casting.
I slung my big dady yellow googoo eyes plug out there and cranked 2 times and BAM!

I was into the biggest thing I ever saw with fins.
I could barely hang on to the rod.drag peeling and I was crapping my pants.
that fish got off and I reeled in more and gotlammed again by a much bigger chopper.

after a long battle,some guy lowered his giant treble hook on a crab line and hooked my fish and pulled it up.

I was shaking from excitement and this same guy put it on his scale,the scale read 19 pounds.I was shocked at the size and teeth on this monster.

this guy is my friend Tommy pirelli,he's up in years now but still around.I still catch up to him every so often and I also buy some of his wood if he has some.

it was because of him that my first exposuer to saltwater went so well.I watched him and did what he did.

I still thank him when I think to and I honor him today because he helped me out bigtime even though He didn't know it.
today,I am in the class of angler I'm in all because he took time to show me a few things.
most of those guys are gone now,Ernie "the fly",Sam"bite on my line"D'urso,Art"King Arthur"King,Crabmeat,Freddie Beans,Blue eyed Tooty,Molly,Al the barber,the indian,shithouse Eddie to name a few.

those few that are still around fish as much as they can and they still smile when they see me coming.
for that,I must honor them all.

that was the best time of my fishing life,,fishing with and being a member of a fishing crew in New Haven,Ct.at such a young age.

All you new guys that are beginning and have the passion to add this to your life for life,just don't throw your line out there,learn and remember,you'll be a sharpie one day,like me.


R-P

Dude, the stuff you described here was classic. Those guys you described could be characters in a fishing movie. When I meet guys like that, and just listen and keep my mouth shut, there is an amazing amount you can learn about thre history of fishing.

Great stuff here, thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

[gjb1969]

well seid:clapping::clapping:u are never to old to learn i have bin fishin since the age of 3 the old timers i talk to show me things and they do work cus i do quite well both day and night:cool:hey dark the weathre got me now i have bin sick for two weeks and it sucks:(

[Rip-Plugger]

My skill set went up when I went over to the dark side. Darkness and dawn and dusk are some of the best times for fishing. If you catch more, as Monty and others have said, your level of confidence increases.

In the beginning, I was mostly fishing in the daytime, bright sunlight hours, and wondering why i couldn't catch anything.

I'm still learning. Some people have asked me for tips, and I always try to help, but never want to be at the level, in any field in life, where I have achieved all there is to know. If you did that, what else is left? ;)

Some good stuff said in this thread. :clapping:

DS,

you said it right,monty and Jimmy Z too,some people would not understand what it means or feels like to be in such a class,too bad for them,more space on the beach for us!
I am in for life!

R-P

[Rip-Plugger]

Dude, the stuff you described here was classic. Those guys you described could be characters in a fishing movie. When I meet guys like that, and just listen and keep my mouth shut, there is an amazing amount you can learn about thre history of fishing.

Great stuff here, thanks for posting. :thumbsup:


Ds,

those were the good ole days.
ya know what?,,back then,if ya needed to get in touch with one of the guys,all ya had to do was go to the bridge,park your car and hang out,every one of "the crew" stopped by before going home or turning in for the night,some even came out for an all night thing.

one of the nice things now is that one of those guys moved away for 25 years to florida,he was 5 years older than I and some of the young guys I knew.he came back and we picked up where we left off and he is now my fishing partner 2 seasons now.
so,I think I'm very lucky to get a small piece of the old days back again.
yeah,I'm schooling him but he is getting better after years of LMB fishing.

we talk about how it was and honestly it kinda makes me a bit teary eyed 'cause those are all great memories.

BTW,back in early october as I was drifting a big swimme out in a rip this younger guy come by,says hi and moves about 150 yards from me,there was something about this guy that was familiar.I noticed he kept looking at me and after about an hour half he was moving to another spot.as he got closer to me he stopped and asked me if I knew Cadillac George,I said yeah,I know him for years.then he said then you know me too,I said you lok so familliar,he siad I am George jr,his son!.
I remember this kid now,he was 9-10 years old then,he is 30 now!.

oh yeah,you and all are welcome,,,

R-P

[DarkSkies]

:cool:hey dark the weathre got me now i have bin sick for two weeks and it sucks:(


Sorry to hear that man, getting sick kicked my azz too. I lost fishin time and am behind in my work, such is life. I had a nagging chest cough for 2 weeks after I was better. If you want to get better quick, try vicks on your feet from a thread I started here. I think jimmyZ originally sent it. :HappyWave:

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=2319&highlight=vicks
I told a friend of the family about it, and she says it helped get her better quick. Feel better, man, March will be here before you know it.

[Rip-Plugger]

I am blessed to have had, and today, to have good, fellow fishermen, as friend's. It's a blessing to learn, and than to teach. Very nice stuff, you both posted.:)
And for me, I'm always learning.

you said a mouthful JZ.

btw,I have some links for you!

cheers

[stripercrazy]

Some of my buddies started making plugs. I test swam them before they painted. I think you when you swim a plug, you learn a lot about what's important to the fish. You pay intense attention to the movement and see the plug as it really is.

[Monty]

I agree 100%.


Some of my buddies started making plugs. I test swam them before they painted. I think you when you swim a plug, you learn a lot about what's important to the fish. You pay intense attention to the movement and see the plug as it really is.

[surfstix1963]

Rp makes some serious wood I am fortunate enough to have 1 of his and if I'm not mistaken another he has refinished from another builder.I hope my back can handle lobbing his plug because I won't be able to cast it.Theres just something about the design of this plug I just find myself staring at it every time I'm in the man cave & he said that was a small one because of my back.If thats small I probably couldn't lob the big ones w/o going to a conventional setup.Thanks again.

[surfstix1963]

Top:Rip pluggers custom
Bottom:A repaint and re-finish by RP.

[Monty]

Surfstix, I just got a sealed R-P plug to paint. Serious wood indeed! I'll post pics when done. There is a post on this sight of three of his plugs he did up in red that I think look awesome. I am looking forward to throwing his wood in some rips when the bunker are around.

[surfstix1963]

I saw that post Monty the red/wht. did look killer I also like the herring and the 2 wht. ones I think one had a chartreuse lateral line.:thumbsup:

[dogfish]

BTW,back in early october as I was drifting a big swimme out in a rip this younger guy come by,says hi and moves about 150 yards from me,there was something about this guy that was familiar.I noticed he kept looking at me and after about an hour half he was moving to another spot.as he got closer to me he stopped and asked me if I knew Cadillac George,I said yeah,I know him for years.then he said then you know me too,I said you lok so familliar,he siad I am George jr,his son!.
I remember this kid now,he was 9-10 years old then,he is 30 now!.

oh yeah,you and all are welcome,,,

R-P

And so goes the cycle of fishing, great stuff, rp.:thumbsup: