Winter Fishing Thread.....

[DarkSkies]

Glad you ^^^^caught fish.You make fun at us old timers most of which can put up the numbers fishing patterns in a matter of hours. Learn to fish smart not long. Guy's as in my friends are still catching more from 3:30 to 6:30 and eating a hot meal, showering and sleeping in a warm bed.

Sorry there OGB...that 3:30-6:30 window ain't for me,.....as I've said repetitively here....one of the biggest things that draws me out there in the middle of the night is the solitude...:fishing:.I don't know how to explain it any other way....:don't know why:

That showering thing...that's a bit over-rated...not taking a shower for a day or so gives me plenty of room from others out there...as for hot meals, a bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter is good enough....










**********
As for making fun of you old-timers?????:scared:
Ya wanna show me where you get that perspective from reading the posts below? :huh:



The point of this thread is to honor these old geezers, who have helped many along the way, and continue to set the standard of professionalism, etiquette, and old-fashioned respect, that many of today's younger anglers seem to lack....




As for fishing ability, these guys have it in spades.....

I'll put Finchaser, and the 4 current members of the OLD FARTS FISHIN CLUB against any 5 anglers out there, half their ages, and these old weathered geezers will dominate the competition and out-fish all comers....

And the coolest thing about it....is they will do it with class and honor, while honoring the time-worn standards of surfcasting, which is how things used to be....and handed down to them by the generations who came before....:clapping: :thumbsup::thumbsup:




Just a quick note about the OGB...what he's forgotten about fishing the salt, most guys would kill to know.....he is a frustrating Grouch at times....the name Gloom and Doom fits him well.....as he is one of the most pessimistic people I know....if ya want to hear about the worst in fishing, talk to OGB and by the time you're done you want to put your head in the oven....:eek:

Conversely, Fin is also one of the most generous, candid, (no diplomacy here), passionate, conservation-minded and honest fishermen and sportsmen out there.

I don't know if I've given him enough credit in some of the threads I put forth here, although Lord knows I try.....:fishing:

So today we're giving him a whole bunch of credit, for all he does...and all his ranting and raving.....95% based on facts....:thumbsup:



Just got word that the OGB did a good thing today..and took a new guy under his wing and gave him some pointers.....maybe someone can come up a cheer describing the old grouch....maybe I'll send the plug to the best one....ya's got till tomorrow...



Those came from the thread below...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8138-Tribute-to-OLD-FARTS-The-GROUCHY-BASSTARDS-and-the-CRABBY-OLD-BASSTARDS-out-there..

[xtreme_visions]

:skunk::skunk::skunk: nothing for me last night 7-9pm. tried a few things and not a bite! few other guys fishing near me got the :skunk: to

[mbo1971]

A little late, but thought I would throw this one in (and yay for my first post). Fished Sat am (2/4) from 545am to 10am. Still learning my way around MoCo and trip was a lot of just that. ***. Threw everything I have in the bag with no takers. Like I said - still very much learning the ropes up here. Coming from Maryland, the land of conventional reels and bait dunking, this pluggin' thing is taking some time. Still really enjoyable and how can you complain about a 45* day in Feb where you have a legit shot at a fish?

While out there early, I got to thinking. With the nature of trips this time of year being what they are, cold water and even colder air temps, slick rocks and often being out there solo, I was wondering if anyone out there is wearing helmets in the dark conditions. I am perfectly ok wearing my inflatable PFD under my shell, but is a helmet taking it too far? They are cheap ($50 for a good one on sale), offer insulation and can save a life. Does anyone here have a perspective they want to share?

[storminsteve]

Got skunked last night as well, don't feel bad xtreme that's why they call it fishing not catching.
mbo1971 welcome to the site. I never wore a helmet but have seen quite a few people fall out there. I might feel goofy wearing one, otherwise I think it's a good idea.

[Monty]

but is a helmet taking it too far? They are cheap ($50 for a good one on sale), offer insulation and can save a life. Does anyone here have a perspective they want to share?
Jettys aren't for me, I don't do them but I guess helmets would be a great idea for lots of guys out there based on reading all the wacky stories. Also if you are going to be out there at night a pillow may also be very handy (read here that some one took a little nap one night recently on a jetty). Mind as well be comfy. :HappyWave:

[xtreme_visions]

welcome to the site! great group of guys on here :cool: if u think u need to wear a helmet then maybe u need to stay on flat land

[porgy75]

:skunk:Well I fished last night in moco and got the skunk! I saw quite a few guys out and only one small fish caught. I tryed bombers and that daiwa plug that everyone was talking about and nothing for me. I fished from 5 to 7pm. It looked like the incomming tide. The water was very calm, maybe too calm? Dark Skies are you still fishing? I was hoping to read a report from you saying you are still catching. Good luck if you are.Welcome to the site mbo1971!

[skinner]

I fished 4-6:30 yesterday in MoCo as well. Nothing for me. I think the water was too mellow, hardly any waves crashing at all. It also seemed very cold. Maybe the fat lady is tuning up. Welcome aboard MBO.

[gjb1969]

welcome to the site and tite lines to u

[DarkSkies]

: The water was very calm, maybe too calm? Dark Skies are you still fishing? I was hoping to read a report from you saying you are still catching. Good luck if you are.

We haven't done well this winter when the water is as calm as you described...when the white water is in town, enough to make Monty drool...is a good time to be out there...but please be careful as the water is now 42 degrees....

Porgy, Finchaser's rants against the small fish I'm catchin have had an effect on me. :argue:
I've packed it in for the year, am thinking of selling everything and moving to South America to do missionary work...look for a huge fire sale on slightly used tackle in the future....:) :HappyWave:




**MBO, a warm welcome!
For those who don't know him, I met Matt one night in the Spring when a few of us were running around between Ocean and Monmouth counties...he's originally from Md, (now in NJ) is seemingly a good guy, and is pretty proficient at casting conventionals long distances on the flat Md beaches when the fish are there....

hoping maybe he can share some of those stories and possible tips and techniqes he uses with us.....Hope your seasons in NJ are productive, MBO, and welcome aboard!



As for the helmet thing. I know a lot of guys think it might look gay, or stupid..I can definitely relate to not wanting to look stupid out there...but if ya know me you should know that with the stories circulating about my stinkin waders and sleeping in my car to get "two bites out of one trip"...

It doesn't really bother me what people think of me...(other than the close friends I have, and Pebbles),,,,I have always marched to the beat of a different drummer, and sometimes it seems I'm the only one who's hearing the music...so I encourage all opinions here, don't hold back.,...but I also think it's time for a thread where we discuss this further...feel free to jump in and again, honesty is important here.....if you don't agree, that's a valid point and deserves to be heard...but please tell us why, as well....thanks for reading, folks!

[Monty]

...when the white water is in town, enough to make Monty drool...is a good time to be out there...


I miss the white water.....Miss your fishing reports
Tired of China.
Can't wait for this..
http://www.rocksimpson.com/images/2009_wwIB.jpg

Or this

http://www.rocksimpson.com/images/2009_sre.jpg

[surferman]

Beautiful pics Monty thanks for sharing!

[mbo1971]

thanks for the warm welcome guys.

extreme - i used to think people who knew how to ride bikes didnt need to wear helmets wither. Then one day at our shop we had someone who was an experienced rider fall riding in our parking lot without one on. Yeah - they almost died and that does not involve 42* water. I fancy myself pretty fleet afoot and still think it could make sense.

Dark - yeah, conventionals are the way to go for me. They catch bigger fish. Here is just one example.

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:) :) :)

[jonthepain]

holy mackeral, that's some drum!

is that NC?

[mbo1971]

Haha - yeah, she was a pig. Est @70+. Was October 10, 2010 and our goal was 10 reds. We fell 2 short. I myself had 6 amd 4 in an hour. It was an insane day. It was not NC, a bit further north in VA. It an amazing fishery. To Dark's point, this pic was taken late in the ebb, and we were a solid 200 yards out from where we started in the am at the top of the flood. Can't wait to get back down there.

[storminsteve]

mbo that is a serious pig! How long to get her in? What bait do you guys use down there? I would love to catch a drum that size, congrats to you guys.
I fished moco last night. You would have though they were giving away strippers rather than stripers. There were almost as many guys as the spring run out there! Found a quiet place and got 4 fish on a bomber. Lots of fun. Dark, some friends of mine were out there and said there was a pretty big argument where you could hear the guy yelling all the way on the beach. Was that you or did you hear that as well? I'm assuming that was because of the crowding. Maybe someone casted a line over someone else's head?

[DarkSkies]

Steve, you know better than that.:beatin: :)
I'm all about peace, harmony, and bird reports now...
I have no comment on what happened where you guys were...as stated,,,,I have packed it in for the year...based on Finchaser's constant gloom and doom reports...

I'm also selling all my gear and making arrangements to be a missionary in S America...:HappyWave:

Good luck out there, catch em up....:d

MBO, nice fish, thanks for sharing with us.

[mbo1971]

Steve - that was a good 30 minute fish. It's an interesting spot where we are - it's on an inlet to a back bay and just to our right is a sand bar that goes out a good quarter mile. Where we are fishing is a massive pocket that has a gentle slope all the way out to the tip of the sand bar. The point of all that - there is no good structure for the fish to dig into. In other spots, we likely would have never seen that fish due to all the structure they can dig in on. 30 min sounds like a while, but really, for a fish of that size is pretty quick. Scales on her were the size of half dollars. Truly a fish of a life time. Unfortunately for me, that's not mine, but my buddy Ben.

As for what and how we bait for big drum, well most of the time it's bunker that time of year. If we can net mullet, they are like red candy, but they are not a sure thing. The rigs we run are often called cannonball rigs. Start with 8/0 and 10/0 Gami Big Eye hooks snelled with 50lb fluro to 100lb swivel - preferably spro or something low profile. The length of fluro from the snell to the swivel is short - no more than 4" and most of mine are more like 2". From there, I run a short 3' section of 150lb mono where the fishfinder rig will run. This is Albrighted (leaving a 1" tag end on the 150# so the FF does not ride up over the knot) to about 60' of 30lb mono shock leader. Big reds get ornery in the suds and will really dig in (as discussed above) and getting a few wraps of heavy on the reel when they are in close means better pressure and less chance of suds release.

One thing to note - all my big dead stick rods are 13' and have conventionals on them. I know most guys up here dont run conventionals (or long heavers). South of the mason-dixon, its rare to see an 8nbait with a spinner and most are at least 12'.

As far as drag pressures, I run about 2lbs - just enough so waves wont make the clicker fire. If its late and I cant see the rods, I will bump the drag a little so fish is more likely to hook itself.

As for spikes - here is the homebrew I like to run. Go to Home Depot - the garden section. Get some of the 3" wide and 5' tall chicken wire fence posts. Then get some 1 1/2" PVC - need about 18" of it. Through-bolt the PVC to the post and there you go - 5' tall (when set into the sand) heavy duty spike that cost you about $8.

They wind up looking like this:
http://www.s4avant.com/FishinStuff/20101010_SouthMyrt/DSC_4373.JPG

[seamonkey]

Wow awesome pictures mbo1971! Thanks for sharing. That is a record drum for sure! And the pic of the poles, with the birds flying overhead, sure looks peaceful. I fish the Cape May area beaches alot so I know what you mean about flat beaches. You guys in northern nj sure are lucky to still have bass. Enjoy them while they last.

[gjb1969]

while they last its only going to get better for us spring is comeing backbays open up soon and the big girls will start moveing when the water temps get right

[captnemo]

Outstanding drum pics, mbo, and welcome. MBO or Dark Skies maybe you want to start a separate thread on drum fishing. I plan to go down there this year and would like to see more. I thnk others might as well. Just a suggestion.

[wish4fish]

Dark, some friends of mine were out there and said there was a pretty big argument where you could hear the guy yelling all the way on the beach. Was that you or did you hear that as well? I'm assuming that was because of the crowding. Maybe someone casted a line over someone else's head?

ha ha dark bet it wuz u, lol! why dont u tell them when you found 2 russian guys at the spy house peir and they wanted to keep a short striper and wat u said to them? it was awesome, if u don't tell the story i want to,:bonk:

[DarkSkies]

It's mostly over now, at least for the bigger fish that some of us have seen and landed....some small schoolies left, and you have to work for them, not worth the effort for 90% of the guys out there....

I regret I couldn't be completely honest....a few guys I know are still fishing, hitting it hard, and with the warmer weather and specific internet reports a lot of guys came out of the woodwork...as has been said, it looked like a May afternoon during the Spring bunker blitzes on Fri....and while 95% of those guys who came there because of the internet reports didn't catch anything....a few of us were putting in the time and catching steadily.....and I was asked to put off posting for a while until the weather got colder...:HappyWave:

Total for the past week...48 bass, it was a lot of fun, had a blast....:drool: :wheeeee: :cool: :fishing:



**************
2-4 Sat PM
Fished in the dark. The yakkers had done well that day. Didn't want to be part of the resulting internet fishing crowd so I procrastinated getting down there. Fishing was still good, fished for an hour...managed 6 bass to 26" on rubber.
Then the NE pattern kicked in with the tide change, making the swells constant and up to 5' high, unfishable...

For the log:
6 bass to 26", rubber
Wind NW, light seas, built to NE and heavy seas, the NE killed the bite
Temps, Air - 50-42
Water, 44

[DarkSkies]

2-5 Sun AM

I slept in the car for a chance to fish the sunrise...fished 5:30-7am.. for 1 1/2 hours...most of the water was unfishable with the big swells and higher tides...still gave it a shot..made 3 stops...at first place I had a few "lookie-Lou's" just watching me as I blind casted looking to find a stray fish or 2... I know the second I hooked up they would have been out of their trucks and rushing the beach.
No success at all in that rough water. :skunk:








***************
2-5 Sun PM

Came back for the PM bite...
A better trip, some good action. The big swells were still there so I had to use a different strategy than I usually do. Fish were there but it took 15 minutes to find them at first stop. Once I did, managed 6 fish in the first half hour, that was sweet. And yes, I was howling at the moon! :viking:
Action slowed down after that, fished for a total of 3 hours, managed 16 bass on rubber.
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For the log and the new guys:
16 bass to 27", rubber
Wind W, strong, steady 15+
Temps, Air 38-38
Temps, Water- 44-45, the NE did the trick of bumping up the water temp and fish were on the feed.

I gave it a shot with plugs, a few bumps, but the rubber was the key to provoking them.
They're primarily feeding on sandeels now, with small herring, squid, and tinker macks part of their diet as well.

[Monty]

It's mostly over now, at least for the bigger fish that some of us have seen and landed....some small schoolies left, and you have to work for them, not worth the effort for 90% of the guys out there....
Total for the past week...48 bass, it was a lot of fun, had a blast....:drool: :wheeeee: :cool: :fishing:



Great reports Dark, awesome catches, thank you for sharing.......Not worth the effort? LOL, fishing is supposed to be fun.

[DarkSkies]

2-6 Mon PM
" Dark, I can't catch fish on a full moon, the moon is too bright!"
Lots of guys out giving it a shot for the PM bite....unfortunately 95% of them didn't have any action as the fish weren't feeding at that time. A few friends and I came out later on...

Again, at the first stop I made it took about 15 minutes to find the fish...once I did they were pretty aggressive, it was just a matter of presenting correctly. Rubber again outfished plugs, although I got my biggest fish of the night on a plug.

A friend came out to join me. He had been somewhere else where no fish were caught. You have to remember that these fish are not everywhere, there are little pockets of them and you have to hunt for them...the locations, and feeding times, change from night to night, so that's what makes it so exciting to me...anyone coming out to fish for "just an hour" would not be able to see these things, and they usually give up..

My friend, with my instruction, fished rubber. It was tough for us as the wind was still SE...not really that great, and we had to fish into the wind, a little uncomfortable...once he got into the groove he started catching...I told him I wouldn't fish until he landed at least one, so the pressure was on...I can be a little intense at times. I knew he wanted me off his case, but the only way for him to do that was to get a fish....

14847

And he did, I think he managed about 4 or 5 total, and dropped quite a few more. He also lost one keeper sized fish because he wasn't ready for it...after that his adrenalin level pumped up and he definitely became more animated!

The best action was for an hour when he got there...after that it slowly diminished...he managed 4 or 5 to 27"...just for frame of reference, some people are dismissing this as a "schoolie bite"...for the most part, the bigger fish have left, that's true, but his 27" fish was about 9#. fat as a carp....

I'll take those "schoolie" fish any day of the week!

I managed 11 fish to 29 1/2". If I concentrated solely on my fishing I would easily have had over 20 fish, but I wanted to make sure he got into the groove first. He's a good friend, has invited me on his boat many times, and we just never seem to be able to fish together. He was ecstatic when we left, and I could tell he really needed these fish to put a little enthusiasm back into his life. :thumbsup: I was glad to help him out in that regard. Although I usually prefer to fish alone, we both had a blast fishin together..




(One that I kept....this was one of the skinnier ones for its size....)
14849






14846


14845

Fat belly........

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Striped bass aka Saltwater Carp....:)

14848



For the log and the new guys:
11 bass to 29 1/2", rubber and swimmers
Released one keeper, 28 1/2", kept the 29 1/2"
Wind - SE at first, not that great, 10mph, eventually shifting to W, which made it more comfortable.
Swell - there is stilll a big swell out there, the SE did not help it either...and you really had to pay attention to the swell to consistently present the right way to get the fish...

Temp- Air - 52-47
Temp - Water - 44, fish will feed aggressively at this temp and above as long as there is food around.,

[DarkSkies]

2-7-12 good action repeated, I missed the window....


2-7 Tue

My friend, who got "hooked" from last night's action, was out there early in the dark. I had to work late and couldn't get down there. He racked up 8 before I got there, including 1 fat keeper, and left soon after. The bite at that time had trickled, so I moved to another location.



His fish.....

14850




Fished 2 hours, not a tap for me :skunk:

[DarkSkies]

2-8- Wed
Fishing a Noreast pattern
Got down to the beach and it was getting ugly. The wind wasn't that bad, but the NE swells had started, duration every 2 secs, wave height 3', not good conditions. Despite that, wanted to give it a shot anyway.
I went through all my best producers with no results. Finally started catching fish on a herring profile swimmer, deep diver, crawled extremely slow near the bottom. The water with the NE blow seemed to be warming up a bit, but still around 43.

Managed 3 bass to 27" on that swimmer, had to work for each fish. Fish were caught 45 mins apart, no rhyme or reason.

Total fishing time 3 hours.





******
2-9 Thu
Got to the beach at optimal time, good white water and clear conditions. Only problem was the S wind, which eventually turned W. I hate S and don't usually do well at night in that wind. Fished 2 hours, hour before and after the top of the tide, threw all my most productive artificials. One missed fish at the first location, that was it. At 43 degrees the fish are almost comatose unless you can find a pod that is chasing bait...and that action eluded me although I fished 2 locations. :skunk:

[DarkSkies]

2-10 Fri, fish active again....

2-10 Fri
Big feed before the troops move out...
Got to the beach near dark..there were 5-6 guys on every rockpile...
Set up away from them as the tide was coming in and the swell was big...I knew a lot of guys, if they stayed where they were, would end up getting wet.
Went to some higher ground, started getting a slow pick of bass within 15 minutes. Switched back and forth between rubber and bombers.
Fished 2 hours of the flood, then went to take a break and grab pizza for the slack. Came back 1/2 hour later and continued to catch fish in various places.




It was a night where, if you love surfcasting, you didn't want to leave, because even on the slow periods, the worst action gave you a fish or missed hit every half hour. The best action gave you a fish very 15-25 casts if you paid attention to the tide and current.



There were 2 good feeding cycles during this trip. Most guys who only fished an hour would not have been aware of that. Most guys did give up after an hour, and 95% of them did not get any numbers of fish, despite the tackle shop internet reports hyping this bite.

14852












For the log and the new guys:
12 bass to 27 1/2", rubber and swimmers
Fish were not on top - mid level, slightly sluggish unless you hit them with rubber, you really had to work for each fish...for example, the first place I went to I got 5 within 2 hours...that was half the number of fish caught in a 2 hour period for that location...a lot of guys just couldn't seem to dial in to all the things you had to do to get a fish.
Dropped 2 nice fish additionally...still mad at myself for that...one was at least mid teens....

Wind - S at first, not that great, 10mph, eventually shifting to SW, which made it more comfortable.
Swell - there is still a big swell out there, the SE did not help it either...and you really had to pay attention to the swell to consistently present the right way to get the fish...

Temp- Air - 45-38
Temp - Water - 44f - it seems the water where I was had gone up a degree or 2 with the most recent NE pattern on Tue

[DarkSkies]

2-11 Sat PM,,,harsh NW Winds and Snow shut down the bite....

2-11 Sat
Fish were caught in the morning, but in the PM, after the NW was howling all day, the ocean temps had dropped, and conditions were rough. I timed my trip to coincide with the start of the ebb, as the flood tide coming off the full moon was high and dangerous.

Even still, it was dicey and I had to pay attention to everything I did. The surf was cold, wet, and angry if you accidentally made a mistake.
Fished 2 hours of the ebb, not a tap in that cold dark night.

Someone ended up out there with me, a guy I met the other night and helped to get him into a few fish...I was real impressed that he decided to give it a shot.... as we were the only fools fishing within a 12 mile stretch at that time. :kooky:
We had snow and sleet on our backs. Because of the harsh NW we could only fish half of the productive water.

The winds were relatively mild at first, but gradually became unfishable with the harsh W/NW. He left. I hit 2 more locations, with no action at all at each.









Footprints in the snow....bite finally shut down.....a sad sight to see....

14855

For the log and new guys
Air temps 38-28, snow and rain
Wind 15 mph variable, first W/NW, building to 25+, when it became unfishable
Swell, constant, and with the NW it became dangerous to fish certain areas.
Water temps around 42,

You really had to be aware of your surroundings, and the water's action, every moment you were out there. This is why I don't encourage new guys to try this type of fishing at night, as there is a considerable amount of risk if you are not careful out there. One wrong step could cost you your life.

Catch? - no activity at all in that frigid 42 degree water.

[storminsteve]

Wow dark awesome catching! Hope I didn't mess things up with my comments. Wasn't aware at first you wanted things on the QT. Congrats, it looks like you def put your time in.

[gjb1969]

cone on march i am going nutz i need to get a fish its getting to me now when i see ds getting bass and i hear of other fish cant wait till the back opens up evan if i am broke i can still wet a line and i mite get lucky:fishing:

[basshunter]

:clapping:Wow dark you are on fire! I dont think I ever caught 48 bass in a month let alone a week. Congrats it looks like you are having a great time, and thanks for the details to help the new guys. Keep up the good work!

[jonthepain]

Striped bass aka Tom Brady

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looks like he swallowed a football

[mick2360]

Dark, It has been great to know that you are out there slamming fish....in February for Pete's sake! I've been buried in a rockpile of work, reports, etc. It has been great to check in here and see your reports. I may catch a cod trip soon. See you in the spring. BTW, there was a report in Montauk about some yahoo with a kayak on top of his vehicle stripping down to his skivvies on Main Street. You don't know anything about that, do you? :ROFLMAO

[DarkSkies]

See you in the spring. BTW, there was a report in Montauk about some yahoo with a kayak on top of his vehicle stripping down to his skivvies on Main Street. You don't know anything about that, do you? :ROFLMAO


Mick, that could have been me, back when I was drinkin'. :scared:
As for the present day, I would say it isn't likely.... I think you are trying to create legendary stories, where none exist....;)
in much the same way that someone asked me if I was yellling at someone on a jetty last week, and I denied all knowledge of the incident (alleged).....but in the final analysis....I don't think it's a good idea to try and slide between 2 guys fishing when there is only 5 feet between them and a big sweep that affects presentation,,,,do you? :eek: :HappyWave:

Really wish ya could make it down here...bite has slowed for now but if I call ya again, you may be able to give those Korkers a workout.....miss ya....hope we can fish a tide this Spring......:fishing:





*******
**Disclaimer.....Folks should know, when I do have good nights out there, that I may take 3-4 quick pics of one fish (out of a dozen fish), and then at home switch them around on the axis with Windows Explorer photo program before posting.....rest assured that with the Finchaser rod I'm using, which is made like a pool cue, that most fish are reeled in, lifted out, unhooked and back in the water within 60 secs, as anything longer than that would interfere with the catching and affect their mortality.....

When I do take a pic, the camera is already out and wrapped around my hand in position to snap the shot as the fish is brought out of the water....

I would ask any of you guys who are taking pics and posting them to have the same concerns about mortality...remember the longer a fish is out of the water the higher it's mortality possibility will be...thanks for reading,. folks. :fishing: :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

I was looking at the weather for the next 3 days....not that great for bass from the surf..so I decided tonight was the night to be out there.

Hadn't been out fishing in 5 nights.
I can usually locate my Grundens by the stench, but tonight, to my surprise, there was no stench, first time in awhile......

Fished 4 hours of the ebb. Not a tap....:skunk:

The water when I started out was a little too calm for my liking....SE swell was welcome as it churned up the surf a bit...even so the water was the cleanest I've seen it in weeks...it reminded me of when you go on an offshore trip and leave the inshore waters...the water out there is a beautiful deep shade of blue-green, that's what it looked like tonight....clean and clear..blue-green...:drool:

Herring were in the area...I saw a loon come out of the water with one.
Apparently the bass weren't at home....later on I confirmed some bass have been caught in the last few days, but only by guys hitting them on the head.

The 42 degree water has given lockjaw to the fish that are left, and pushed a lot of the fish that were here in NJ, into the NY Bight/Hudson migration track..(A friend confirmed tonight it's 45 on the Brooklyn side at the base of the Hudson.)..which is where they should have been heading 2 months ago before they got sidetracked by the abundant bait....
Bass are being caught on bait by the Russians there, but those details are best left for another thread.








I may be out there again, but probably not until we get more current flow from next Monday's new moon...
For all intents and purposes, I think the robust bite we had for the last 8 weeks is over. Although there are still some small schoolies around, that great action is not likely to be repeated this month....

It was a blast while it lasted.....:drool: :fishing:... I have no regrets....:)


And, despite no action at all from the fish, it was an incredible night to be out there, Feb in mild 43 degree weather....fishing that cold clean beautiful ocean.....


For the log....
Air temps 45-43
Water temp 42
Swell, not much, the mid-period swell of 2' waves was a welcome chance to churn up the water a bit.
Winds, 0-5mph, E/SE, turning S, with light rain throughout the night.

[mick2360]

WTG, Rich. Glad to hear that you have done so well. I'm thinking of heading out on the IC next weekend to apprehend some codfish. You can use your stinky grunden's and you could make yourself useful and tape my new cod jigging video.

[crosseyedbass]

Bass are being caught on bait by the Russians there, but those details are best left for another thread.


The russians and the asians are notorius for keeping short bass and blackfish. I wish the DEC would check them more often. Congrats on the bass, looks like you had a good run.

[jonthepain]

around here it's the illegals with castnets. they've pretty much wiped out the black bass in my stretch of the Cape Fear, and decimated the spring striper run.

had to laugh when a couple of them netted a monster gar last year.

I was rooting for the gar.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Mick, I might hold off on the IC trip if I were you....
I hate to bring a negative slant to anyone's fishing enthusiasm, especially yours, which seems boundless....:)

The BI codfishing is pretty poor right now....
Reasons that have been given for that range from..

...warmer Winter water temps...
...scattered forage fish they usually feed on :kooky: (I'm trying to decide how this could be true if we have such an abundance of herring and mackerel now...)
...invasion of dogfish much worse than it's ever been...


Or the simple fact that since the fishery was opened to us Recs a few years ago, we've been taking more than we should, and have crushed the biomass once again...http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png
More on that here....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8169-Cod-Overfished-New-Quotas-proposed-Industry-shut-down&highlight=cod+overfished

I don't know which it is....but I'm leaning toward the fact that it's our fault ...you can't blame it on the Comms or the Russians this time....







*****
Jon, some of those gar can get to 5 feet, would have love to see something like that unfold....

[rockhopper]

^^ Mick, I might hold off on the IC trip if I were you....
I hate to bring a negative slant to anyone's fishing enthusiasm, especially yours, which seems boundless....:)

The BI codfishing is pretty poor right now....


What dark said. This was on the internet. From a guy who just went:

"Drove up to Rhode Island Friday at midnight for a 5AM cod trip. The reports were slow with mostly small market size cod being caught this year but I wanted to get in at least 1 trip this year. The fishing was poor. 1st drop I picked up 1 keeper cod and thought I could have a decent day. That was the last cod I was going to catch all day. The entire port side of the boat only managed 8-10 cod at best. It was elbow to elbow - the boat was jam packed with 65 fares. My buddy and I did manage a nice spot on the boat away from tangles.

Dog fish were a major problem in the morning and got a little better through the day. The entire fleet was on the move searching around. The mates were very friendly and worked hard chumming all day. The capt and mates did everything you could ask for to get a bite going. 1 drop had the starboard side with 15 cod - port side 0. Every drop was a few cod here and there and mostly doggies coming up. "

[DarkSkies]

Thanks for that Rockhopper. :HappyWave:

Mick, thanks for the compliments. :cool: We don't always score, as evidenced by my results below, but at least we're tryin....:fishing:



*********
Been fishing the last few nights, nothing at all to show for it...:skunk:
There was a small flurry of activity on Fri, where some who were standing in front of isolated pods of fish got into a few, congrats. :clapping:

Sat and Sun the weather and winds made things difficult, though the yakkers did get into some fish about 1/2 mile offshore. They told me the fish were into sandeels and herring where they were.
Those fish, for the most part, never came in to the surf zone.


Last night I found a good amount of sandeels. Another compulsive nut-case and I worked that area hard with no results. Hit a few other areas until the winds shifted N/NE at 20+ mph and made fishing impossible....Hey, that's fishin....:fishing:






**Don't believe the Hype....
the internet tackle reports and mis-information in reports has reached an all time high for February....where 5 to 10 guys are now standing on each rockpile in the afternoons, and 95% of them ain't catching....


I just want people to know that it's more than difficult now, and the real intel is that the fish are very scattered, isolated pods of smaller fish, and you may be lucky to catch a fish or 2..If you really want to learn it and put in the time, you will catch fish...but you won't learn that from the internet or someone telling ya's the fish are still there in the same numbers.....because they ain't...not at these temps, where the artificial bite, as it now stands (real intel) is about 1 degree away from shutting down.....That's the reality that guys need to be aware of, and the difficulty....

Some folks are driving great distances to get to the areas where some fish have been caught, and I feel we do them a disservice in hyping it up to more than it is...

I understand the cabin fever, sometimes ya just need to get out and wet a line....and being out there, is just the tonic ya need to refresh, recharge, and deal with the hassles of everyday existence...just that one fish,, even a schoolie., to put a bend in your line is enough to make your day..... :thumbsup: :fishing:

[storminsteve]

Fished yesterday afternooin, threw the bag, skunk ola.

[cowherder]

At least you are getting out there dark and storminsteve. I have been too much of a wuss lately. It is cold and windy! If the weather warms up a bit I might give it a try. Thanks for the reports.

[DarkSkies]

Cowherder, I don't wanna hear any lame excuses from you...too much of that going around lately....:laugh: :HappyWave:
If you want a fish you have to put in some time like the rest of us,...and lately it's been hard, real hard...the weather and offshore storms have made it extremely difficult and dangerous the last 2 nights....

A lot of guys, encouraged by the sunny days, have been coming out to fish, but the conditions have not been conducive to actively fishing at all....the swell killed it Tue, and the S wind killed it last night....


Tue PM -
Got out there for the ebb, it was more dangerous than challenging...there was a constant 4 sec swell, 4'...with a mid period swell
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7984-Stripers-amp-Anglers-Education-Series-groundswells-and-other-terms...&highlight=groundswells
of 2 waves that were 6-7', frikking intimidating and dangerous for sure....:scared:
This severely limited the options as to how and where you could fish...your casting window was only a few seconds once a minute, if you missed it you had to wait for the next one,....very inefficient way to fish....:kooky:


Wind was not bad at all, and air temps were so mild I had to take a few layers of clothes off....
Still, by moving around to 4 locations, and working at it, I managed 5 bass to 26" in a 4 hour period, rubber and bombers. Fish were not concentrated anywhere, the only way to get one was hitting it on the head.....







Wed PM -
Got to the beach and the S wind was howling 20+ mph,,,,the South wind is usually terrible for NJ fishing, unless you can hide in the bay or the tip of the Hook, closed until March 1...so I toughed it out in the ocean.... not a touch in 4 hours of fishing....the NE pattern from yesterday had turned the water dirty and murky...which severely limited presentation choices and colors....hey that's fishing....:skunk:

[jigfreak]

^ Oh, back to reporting again, are we? ;) :HappyWave:
Monday got 2 to 30", Tue got 1 rat, the swells like you said were insane. Last night goose eggs.

[DarkSkies]

People emulating others....
One of the reasons for trying to help build this site was for me to help spread my ideas about Fishing Conservation, Respect for the Limited Resource that we all must share, and to bring my fighting and support for Fishermen Access throughout the Northeast Coast to the minds of more anglers.....

To some extent I feel I have been successful as some of the most experienced surf fishermen here, too numerous to mention, have chimed in and tried to tell you folks just entering the game how important these above issues are, beyond what you are catching or not catching.....today and the day after.....

I never felt my voice or style would be emulated here or on other sites, anonymously, but as I have seen over the years, that has happened.

I don't personally know the angler referenced by some of you folks.
I do appreciate the head's up, however.









I hope some folks can understand that I make the following points without ego, they can all be verified independently, they are simply, to me, a re-statement of facts and things others have pointed out to me...

1. As I got better in this game, I did have my mentors, and my gratitude and humbleness extends to the philosophy that I feel compelled to help those just starting out. Some may disagree, as you won't see me helpful if you are asking me questions at 3am in the surf line...:scared:.I value that alone time and am not really looking for company or a "chat" at 3am, I'm looking to fish.... :fishing: :HappyWave:

2. It has frequently been pointed out that as the administrator of this site, and with some of the things that I've tried to promote, that some folks look up to me, and that I am an example for some of them.

3. I've had it mentioned by me more than once by different people...and to further explain the uneasiness with which I view this...I have to tell you that I'm not completely comfortable with it....I see myself as a regular guy who loves to fish (I am somewhat obsessive about the fishing, though...;) )

4. Furthermore, I have taken steps so I won't be recognized out there.

I don't post bragging pics of me smiling and holding a fish on the internet...most of my pics are cropped or sans head shots....
I don't weigh in fish for video weigh ins.
You won't see me weighing in fish in a tackle shop...Although at times I have reported a catch to a tackle shop that I know to help them with their business..and when I do, I use a psuedonym because I'm not in it for the publicity...I have my own goals when I go out there each night, and when I achieve those, I'm extremely happy.


5. I don't need to give surf seminars (though I try to maintain and foster friendships with those who do)..:HappyWave:.I respect their right to make a living, as long as they aren't giving GPS coordinates to the places I love to fish, (and have come to learn and understand through sweat, many hours, and putting in the hard work to learn them on my own)....
I truly feel for guys like Rich Swiss, Shell E. Caris, Crazy Alberto, John Skinner, and all of the other long-time surf fishermen, too numerous to mention here, who tend to be mugged and "shadowed" every time out because some guys feel they know where the "magic Red X" is that you need to stand on to slay the fish...:kooky:

6. Speaking of those who are "famous", there seems to be some hatred out there for guys who do well in the surf...instead of feeling happy when a guy catches a lot of fish, some secretly hate him. or think that he is lying....this all has bo be taken into account...when you fish out there if you're fishing for the approval of others, you can end up disappointed when you start to catch a lot...and others may not be....fish for yourself, be true to yourself, and you will be happy...

7. I have developed a certain style, or internet persona, that I feel is both informative and entertaining to folks, and helps get the message across.
That's why I don't mind comments about smelly waders, googans, googan buckets, or googan behaviors...I think one measure of a man is his ability to laugh at himself, and you will find a lot of us doing just that, daily, here at www.StripersAndAnglers.com (http://www.StripersAndAnglers.com)....:ROFLMAO

Those who would tend to copy that, I feel sorry for... because to me, it indicates they don't have enough self-esteem to have confidence in their own words and phrases...how sad....




8. Beyond that... I know that some have come to emulate some of the things I'm now doing...and if they do, I'm glad that I am able to have a postive influence in their lives....I get e-mails and texts all the time from those who I have helped to see fishing from a different perspective...those are honestly the kinds of things that make my day, more so than any video weigh-in I could ever do....and I hope to be able to continue to do those kinds of things, and help folks when I can...as long as God allows me to....:thumbsup:








**So, please, let's put this issue to bed, guys, get out there and do some fishin, it's the tonic for the soul.......:fishing: :HappyWave:

[mick2360]

It's 10:30 Saturday night. I have just spoken to DS who is perched on a Jetty as I type this. Dark, you are one of a kind and a great friend. Knowing that you are out there in a howling 40 mph wind makes me hope that King Neptune sends the one stray 50 on the east coast your way tonight. :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

^ Yup, been catchin a few small fish..(and the wind wasn't really 40mph, it was around 30..:rolleyes:..)..Mick I wish ya coulda been there, hope to see ya soon.:HappyWave:..I'll try to have some reports up tomorrow when I get a chance.....:fishing:

[DarkSkies]

2-23-12 PM trip - fish on the feed before a NE....

There was a pending NE storm system forecast for the next day. I just had to be out there that night. No idea if I would catch fish or not, but I had to see for myself...

It was a tough night as there seemed to be little or no activity. Picked up 3 small fish on rubber at the first stop, then nothing for the next 2 hours. I was getting tired and cold. I thought about calling it a night and heading home to my girlfriend and a warm fire....

Surfwalker and I were talking about the compulsivity it takes to get fish at times when it seems it just ain't happening...you wonder if that next pod of fish is around the corner, or if you should just pack it in and go home....and when it's cold and nasty out there, that often is the best option....

Yet my compulsivity persisted..."Just one more stop," I told myself...this would be the 8th area I fished at in a 4 hour period, finding fish at only one of them...the odds were not good....but I pushed on anyway, one feet in front of the other. I was tired and really wanted to go home to the warm fire.....

Within 2 minutes I found fish....they hit the rubber with aggressiveness. The only thing that prevented exact hookups each time was the cloudiness of the water as the E/NE swells were getting bigger.

The action was great, an hour of solid activity, 5. bass to 26"....a fish or missed hit every 10 casts....
I would have stayed out there all night with the action at that level...:drool: but the E/NE swells were building, along with the wind. I left as the winds built to 20mph E, and it really was unfishable. This was truly a night where a tally of 20 bass was possible, only to have those hopes dashed by the frikkin NE!










I don't understand why folks on internet fishing forums drool over the NE patterns. as it kills the bite for a few days after (unless you are a fisherman who only fishes clams and doesn't see the world of other possibilities out there)

West Wind Ralph agrees too...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D407OgrvfJA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKrVU8A1WU8










Enjoy, folks....


14907

White water pic for Monty.....:laugh: :HappyWave:
14908


















For the log and the new guys:
8 bass to 26", rubber.

Fish were not on top - mid level, you really had to work for each fish...

Wind - E/NE at first, not that great, 10mph, eventually shifting to straight E, 20mph, which made it unfishable.

Swell - there was a building swell out there, duration every 5 secs, very hard to fish.

Temp- Air - 40-35
Temp - Water - 44f and holding,





*******
2-24-12 skunk report...
Looking for a repeat...
The action that night was so robust that I slept in my car, Got up and saw the next morning was unfishable.

Went to visit Finchaser, hung out with some old salts at Castaways B&T, and then on the way home, tried to fish it again..still unfishable. :skunk: (but I tried anyway)

[DarkSkies]

It's 10:30 Saturday night. I have just spoken to DS. Dark, you are one of a kind and a great friend. Knowing that you are out there in a howling 40 mph wind makes me hope that King Neptune sends the one stray 50 on the east coast your way tonight. :HappyWave:

As I said Mick, it was pretty intense out there, but not exactly 40..;)..I would say the sustained gusts were only around 30-35mph....:kooky: :HappyWave:


2-25-12 good level of activity...

high winds, cold conditions....the fish don't know that we're suffering out there, they only know food and water temps...

The previous NE had churned up the water, it was still dirty.
The daily 40 (gusts up to 50 mph)since then had cut the swell down, but it was still there, still a bit dangerous...and the wind chill was a problem, down in the low teens with the wind chill taken into account.

But I was out there, up at bat.....

It took a long time to find fish...fished a total of 8 separate locations.,...fished the whole ebb tide....
It took 2 hours before I found any fish at all...and then only 2 on a yellow bomber profile plug....

Had to keep schlepping around....was getting tired...but a little later at another location I found feeding fish....they were stacked up here, small and larger, and the activity level was high...a fish or missed hit averaging every 10 casts....:drool:

Some fish were extremely small, and some were fat...I landed one 27" bass that was about 9#, and some real skinny ones as well.

Missed an embarassing number of them in that murky water...:beatin:
The majority of the times they barely hit the plugs...taps light enough that you think you are getting hit by hickory shad, but they are all bass.
When that happens, set the hook to cross it's eyes.

As I said the level of activity was pretty high, and helped me get my focus off how cold I was...:eek: In fact, I had to stop a few times to warm up my fingers with the hand warmer in one of my inner jacket pockets.


14909


For the log and the new guys:


What worked: Bomber profile plugs, nothing on rubber.

Wind - W/NW, NW at first, not that great, W, steady 15-20mph, gusts to 35. Easy to get cold in winds like that.

Swell - there was a 2' swell out there, duration every 10 secs,.
Temp- Air - 38-35
Temp - Water - 45f - these ocean temps have risen 3 degrees in the last 10 days, a severe change for ocean temps and much more favorable to bass activity.



Managed 15 bass to 30", 2 which were keepers, released all.
(One of the 30" fish I was gonna keep, haven't eaten winter bass in awhile.)

However, his tail had a bite mark that looked like it was made by a 15lb bluefish...I figured if he lived that long with such a handicap, he deserved his freedom.....long live the Underdog! :clapping::clapping:

[DarkSkies]

2-27-12 Skunk Report....

Fished 3 hours of the ebb....trying to find similar action I had gotten into on Sat night....
The W winds were building, similar conditions and tide stage as I had Sat....

The only different thing was that there was a building SE swell, duration 5 secs, which made presentation difficult....
And there was a distinct lack of bait...
Couldn't raise one fish....
Hey that's fishin.....:don't know why: :fishing:

[wish4fish]

hey dark kicking azz on the frontside. we gonna be getting it done on the wetside in the bay this week dude! so look out behind u we will be racking up some numbers. i already got sum salted clams and am ready to go tonite

[DarkSkies]

^^ Wish4Fish, I did some back bay scouting last night after my abbreviated trip...there aren't a lot of guys fishing right now because most of the fish are small....there are a few places where the fish are streaming in and are a bit larger...
Look forward to your reports. You can either post them here or in the March 2012 NJ reports, whichever suits ya....:HappyWave::fishing:






**************
3-1-12 skunk report....
Went to the ocean last night because I hadn't been there for a few days (A noreast pattern really kills any consistent NJ fishing for a few days..). and wanted to see for myself what was up...well, contrary to what Wunderground was reporting, the surf was up big time, swells 4-5', duration 4 secs, waves crashing, way too much white water...

Found a spot where I could cast for a bit...lasted 1/2 hour before I became worried about the safety of fishing in that monster swell. I did have limited activity on rubber. Fish were on the bottom, but I knew there was no way I would have any decent level of fish caught with that swell.

Safety also played a big part....There is sometimes a lot of ego and boasting about fishing at night. Although I fish at night, I try my best to keep it real, and hope those reading this out there take my comments to heart....
There's nothing wrong, or wimpy, about having a healthy fear of fishing the ocean at night...If you're out there and are apprehensive, that's your self-preservation instinct....the guys who are "Fearless", who ignore that, are sometimes the ones who end up in the Cemetery....http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png


Knowing that, I left, and set out on some back bay exploration....looking to catch a few on artificials...which for that weather and temp meant small rubber and small bucktails...

Was not successful. Scouted out the main early season hot-spots.
Did see a few guys out there bait fishing, but not many...it was raw and a wet kind of cold out there, and I gave up after 2 hours total fishing time for the trip.




For the log and the new guys:
Water temps 44
Air temps - 42-37
Winds, straight E at a steady 10mph
Swell - 4-5', constant swell, duration 4 secs, with not much fishable space in between, basically unfishable...all the fish that should have been out there were either offshore or tight to the bottom.

[DarkSkies]

Darkskies thank you not only for the report but the way you write it. I am still learning about plugs. When I read your post I see there is a lot to learn. Some guys talk about useing chicken scratch bombers, and in the fall they got a lot of fish on them. I had no idea a different plug will do better each time. I thought a bomber covered the basics. The level of detail you go into is eye-opening. It almost seems like a chess game. I don't know how you withstand some of those conditions.Thank you for the exciting reports and please be careful out there.


I have been going back over this thread and realized I missed responding to some of ya's. Sorry. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png
Thanks for the kind words, Porgy. :)
If someone was truly motivated, and read every one one of these posts, they just might learn a few things.....of course, this is what worked for me..and it might not work for you.....:learn: take what ya want and toss the rest.... :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

3-3-12 skunk report....


The ocean was unfishable last night, I knew that when the OGB called me and told me not to waste my time....;) :HappyWave:.
Still, I got up at 2am, read the updated status report,,,indicating the previous 20mph SE had shifted to a SW, and decided to take a ride anyway...

Got there, and the wind, while not SW, was a hard S, Monster Swell, ocean was basically unfishable...
I would estimate the ocean needs at least 24 hours to turn around...
That's the trouble with relying on weather reports, even the real-time ones, they aren't always accurate.

And that's the trouble with NE weather systems...they take fishing that is productive and kill the bite for a few days....
Video on this below....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D407OgrvfJA







Figured I would try some spots in the back looking for signs of life on the artificial bite....the water was clean and a lot clearer, no signs of bait or fish, gave it a shot anyway...short 2 hour trip....:skunk:

[xtreme_visions]

14928

[cowherder]

Nice pic xtreme, sunset?

[xtreme_visions]

yes..i was using my cell phone so it could have been better :don't know why:

[baitstealer]

Great going guys! I will be out there soon and hope to have a report to post.

[bababooey]

Nice efforts fellas. Where are the ds reports lately, is he on radio silence?:huh:

[finchaser]

DS report:skunk::skunk:for the head Googan didn't want any of his loyal followers to be worried. He is also spends allot of time recruiting more followers in other places that I am not at liberty to mention.

[hookset]

Nice efforts fellas. Where are the ds reports lately, is he on radio silence?:huh:

bababooey why don't you go out and make your own report instead of constantly commenting on the reports of others.:2flip:

[bababooey]

I will hookset, I will, when the bunker are here. I'm simply not interested in wasting time and gas for a few small fish.:moon::HappyWave:

[BassBuddah]

At least you guys are allowed to fish. Our ocean and bay areas are closed till April. You are lucky, I envy you all. Enjoy it.

[ledhead36]

Nice efforts fellas. Where are the ds reports lately, is he on radio silence?:huh:

Has DarkSkies gone dark?:don't know why: :laugh:

[dogfish]

the dark side - rumor has it that once you go black you never go back - or was that about choice of women?:pig: Where are ya dark? In hibernation? I won't be fishiing for another 2 months, get yer *** out there and lets see some reports. That's an order!:HappyWave:

[finchaser]

What's a matter guy's can't sleep with out a DS bed time story. DS fishes and sleeps a few hours in his car 5 out of 7 nights a week to prove he can catch fish to write his loyal followers stories. Misses a few days and you guy's start to panic. He called me before rest easy he's fine..:HappyWave:

[Monty]

He called me before rest easy he's fine..:HappyWave:
Thank you for the update, It was panic time on S and A.... :HappyWave:

[mick2360]

DS report:skunk::skunk:for the head Googan didn't want any of his loyal followers to be worried. He is also spends allot of time recruiting more followers in other places that I am not at liberty to mention.

I'm not buying it, Fin. You'd think he'd at least post a west wind wally video or something. Free Dark Skies!!! :ROFLMAO

[DarkSkies]

I'm not buying it, Fin. You'd think he'd at least post a west wind wally video or something. Free Dark Skies!!! :ROFLMAO

Mick, you're one of the few that were sharp enough to read the smoke signals....:clapping: :HappyWave:

A few things....

1. I have been fishing hard when not working or spending time with family.
2. I haven't talked about it much because the OGB has threatened to turn me in to PETA for all the C&R fishing I'm doing in this cold water....:rolleyes:
3. Some fish caught, some might think not worth the effort...to me they are....:fishing:
4. Will try to post up some reports tomorrow PM when I get a chance....


5. The "new posts" feature of the site is still down...it must be frustrating as hell for you folks because I'm sick of it...have been on the phone with network solutions 4 times this week alone,,,,and other than the profuse apologies from them, I haven't seen any results yet....:2flip:

6. Do NOT use Network Solutions if you are considering a service provider, unless you like developing hundreds of white hairs overnight...:burn:

7. Because of that, I've given up on fixing the site right away and have tried to deal with it by fishing.

8. Finchaser and the shadowy figures he represents may be buying the site....I was told they represent FFISH -
Frustrated
Fishermen
In
united Support of voting
Hypocritic Democrats out of office....
So if you start to see more anti-Obama jokes, you will know they are behind the scenes already....:scared: :rolleyes:



And as always, remember that anything you read above, as with all my posts, are for entertainment value only.....life is too short, to take everything seriously....and when it gets tough,,,,,might as well go fishin....:fishing: :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

I got a little behind on the reports as the fishing kicked up a bit, the tides were too easy for people to follow, and the crowds were building.....here ya's go, enjoy....I have mentioned that the fish seem to be more scattered now and at this time require lots of work to get a few....

I got 9 fish in the 7 days beginning with this report. That represents many hours fishing, and not many of them catching...so overall I feel it has become more of a challenge as IMO the fish are now moving through (rather than holding in an area, and then coming onshore to feed in low light conditions).

Still, they are there for those who don't mind fishing a tide at a time and getting skunked in between....and how much more can you expect?...plugging in March....I'm happy to have the chance to get out there and do it....:drool:

Just remember it ain't easy right now, back bay or ocean side....if it was, everyone would be catching. :learn:




3-4-12....a few fatter fish...
4 bass to 33", low teens....

This Sat night's conditions were a replica of that last Sat night where I got 15...so I was forced to get out there and see if history would repeat itself...it didn't....just a slow pick of quality fish....

Fished 3 hours, cold and 20mph NW winds made it brutal....had to stop a few times to warm my frozen fingers.....

Fish hit plugs, bomber profile, but were absent from many of the usual places.
Finally found some.

14933


For the log and the new guys:
Air Temps 36-30
Water temp - 44
Wind - 20 mph steady W/NW with higher gusts.
Managed 4 to 33", low teens, all released.

There was no bite to speak of, I got these fish by moving and moving till I found a few of them...

Fished 3 hours.

[DarkSkies]

3-5-12 skunk report

A few small fish were caught before sunset. I had to work and could not get out till later.
Building S wind never makes me happy as I have not done well in NJ with these conditions.
Fished 2 1/2 hours anyway, not a tap. :skunk:

3-6-12 skunk report
No real amounts of fish were caught in the afternoon but I wanted to give it a shot. Similar conditions as yesterday, S wind and SE swell, lousy for most Spring fishing in NJ, although good in other states.
Fished 2 hours, no action at all. :skunk:







The S wind and SE swell has not been very productive at all for me according to my logs. SE and S patterns generally bring in cold dirty water. The ocean temps had risen to 45, and that kind of pattern is something that could bring the ocean temp down.

Additionally, it makes it difficult to present artificials. With a strong S wind you have to compensate for the wind in your cast. It really is not fun to fish in those conditions. There are a very few areas in NJ that benefit from that type of pattern, most of them are in the back bays...and condition, tide, and bait-specific.....

I was out there anyway because the latest pattern, is that there is no pattern. The fish are now moving through on the migration train. Hit one on the head, and ya got one.,....miss that fish and you may have missed the best catch of the night....hey that's fishin....:fishing:

[dogfish]

I was out there anyway because the latest pattern, is that there is no pattern. The fish are now moving through on the migration train. Hit one on the head, and ya got one.,....miss that fish and you may have missed the best catch of the night....hey that's fishin....:fishing:

Aye laddie but you have to have the smarts to understand that. Catch em up I"m jealous.:clapping:

[DarkSkies]

Thanks dogfish! :HappyWave:

****

3-7-12 fish feeding in the slop....

Conditions were terrible, there was a howling S wind, and a building SE swell in advance of a pending weather front.

Most would have said it was unfishable. I thought that at first. Since I drove down there anyway, found a spot that was tucked in a bit....and started getting some fish on rubber...

Managed 5 bass to 34", (around 15#), before the rain, wind and swells made it dangerous and I had to get the heck off the beach....

14940

14939


For the log and new guys:
Air temps 45-40
Water 44
Wind, S hard at 20mph, shifting to SE and with a building sea making it unfishable and forcing me to leave.


I never do well in a S wind pattern in NJ. Catching those bass was a curse, because now when the wind and conditions are similar to this, I'll be compelled to try to get out there. :kooky:

[DarkSkies]

3-11-12 Skunk report

Wanted to fish before the Asbury show. Made it down there well before sunrise.
The conditions were good but there seemed to be a lack of forage, hence no feeding fish for me.
It was also a bad stage of the tide, and I should have planned that better.
We fish when we can, sometimes it's less than optimal.

Not a tap for the whole 3 hours that I fished. :skunk:

[DarkSkies]

Report 3-12-12
A few quality fish.......
Last night was a night that had all indications of a fantastic bite with a small window before the weather moved in...
I managed a few quality bass by moving aound and pushing it...Had to work hard for each fish.

Some nice bass in the low teens were in the mix.....
Total 12 bass to 15#.....
.

14941


For the log and the new guys:
Nicest night of the season so far until the rains came.
Air temp 60-52
Water - 45+
Swell, SE swell, not bad, just right for the conditions.

Fish - 12 to (15#) 34".
The interesting thing was the sluggishness of these fish.,..they hit as lightly as they had been hitting when the water was 42. The only real aggressive hits of the night were when I got the few teen bass at the end. Also dropped one teen bass about 20' from me when I failed on the hookset.

Fished 5 hours for these fish
I was so tired that I did not want to make the move to the last area. I had already visited 5 different areas and it was honestly a slow pick, a fish here and there, no discernible pattern.

I had to force my feet in front of each other to walk to the last place I ended up at. Glad that I did. You never know where the bigger fish of the night will come from, until you have one on the end of your line....:fishing:

[cowherder]

Wow dark you are crushing them! Do you ever sleep? congrats. Be careful our there. It was beautiful, though, I had such a great time fishing tonight it felt like May out there

[jigfreak]

Thanks for the report. DS getting it done big time.:thumbsup: :cool:

[DarkSkies]

Darkskies it sounds like you are having the time of your life. I used to fish on the rocks and inlets and had some real nice fish from those times. Unfortunately those trips are too many years ago as that has been too dangerous for me to attempt any more. Enjoy it while you can and thank you for the colorful reports and your advice helping the new guy. xtremevisions good job on your bass on plugs. There is nothing wrong with catching fish on bait. However, catching on plugs is more of a challenge and will cause you to expand your horizons. Congratulations the folks out there still catching. I am very much enjoying these reports.


Thank you for the kind words clamchucker. I had missed out on reading some of the nice posts folks have put up here, so I'm reviewing as I get time and trying to respond.

Sorry to all for the delays, but as ya see, after work and family responsibilities, much of my spare time is spent fishing lately.

I hope you get a chance to get out there and do well this season, and that your health continues to allow you to fish.

God Bless and thanks. :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

3-15-12 skunk report

Last night I had to work late, do some things around the house, and as a result got out there late.
The NE weather pattern forecast to start this afternoon, had already started....http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png

The building swells, constant 15mph NE winds, really killed the fishing opportunities. Wanted to give it an honest effort anyway, so I fished for 2 1/2 hours.

During this build-up in bad weather, it's been my experience that if there are no concentrations of bait around, if you find any fish at all, they will be on the bottom.
At the first stop I got limited activity on rubber, but only because I hit those scattered fish on the head..it really was impossible to hook them with the building swell, where I was....:mad:

Moved a few more places with no results. I ended up at a quieter place that might have produced, if there was bait around....hit that place for a solid hour with not as much as a tap.

I was thinking of returning to the first place where I had the intiial action, but with the winds still at 15mph solid NE I knew it would be like running uphill on molasses to get a few fish, and I just didn't have the energy.

I wanted to get home to the comfort of my sweetheart and a warm fire, so I called it a night......

[seamonkey]

Hey dark you can't win them all. At least you were out there trying. I would be a little concerned when the water is smashing in like you described. Be vsafe out there. And thanks for the info on helping me fish the bay today.

[wish4fish]

ha ha dark u got zero we got sum fish and you said you want to plug all nite u shud come to the wet side and fish bait wit us the fish are hungry!:moon::HappyWave:

[ledhead36]

Dark the clams are calling. Dark-- come to me, come to me, you know you want to put a fresh juicy clam on your line. Don't resist the power of the clam! :laugh: Big fish back there. Did you get our texts and pics? Stop on by any time. :HappyWave: Some a-hole tackle shop there is blabbing it all over the net. Tent city by tomorrow night.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Ledhead, you should do stand-up for a living. :clapping: :HappyWave:
Wish4fish, I guess ya lost out on a box of chocolate donuts...the Entemanns kind....:moon:
You folks are fishin hard, you deserve those fish...
Me...I'll take the solitude....and less fish as long as there are less crowds...

Catch em up, proud of ya's. :fishing:

[DarkSkies]

3-17-12 A few fish....

The night tides were late this week. Overslept on Fri night, got up late....down to the water and found it was pretty gnarly out there. Constant swell, hard to find fishable water. Water was also clouded up by the recent noreast pattern.

There was a tremendous fog blanketing the area,,,,making the ride down treacherous with visibility only 100' at times, and negotiating the beaches a challenge.


Bass were on the bottom. Rubber was the only thing that worked.
There were no real concentrations of fish...almost all the fish and action were scattered over a large geographic area....
14951


7 bass to 34 1/2", around 16#....all released.

[hookset]

The never ending season, keep at it ds.

[hookset]

We're back in the game too dark. Got some nice ones tonight. You still in? Did you get the pics we sent?

[CharlieTuna]

This thread has been a fantastic read. Makes me miss the time I spent in Jersey. We never had them in the winter like you folks did this season. Lucky for you. Thanks for the reports and save some fish for us!:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Hookset and Ledhead, got your pics, beautiful fish.....WTG.....:clapping: :thumbsup:
Sunday was the night to be out there...last night some good things happened too,,,,all about the bunker....:fishing:

[baitstealer]

This has been very entertaining because I couldn't get out to fish. I will try to give some reports to your site and thank you for everything,

[DarkSkies]

One of those people is Surfstix.....

He sent me a package a few weeks ago.....
There was a mixup on where to send it to...they sent it back to him......so he sent it again.....

Inside it were 2 well made plugs.....
An awesome gesture from a friend......

What is most compelling to me,,,is that despite all the health and other problems he has had in the last 3 years, he is still able to make these great plugs and teasers....and most generous in sending them on to be tested by the jaws of death, aggressive bass and angry bluefish.....:drool:



Finally got time to post the pics.....
thanks again Surfstix! :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

Hope Pebbles and I can beat some of these up by showing the "after" pics......


1583415832


These are the "before" pics....


the 2 above are shots of the biggest pencil I've seen in a while...this pencil I think weighs in at 4.5oz......:cool:

The teaser below is one of Surfstix's hand-made teasers.
He's been making them for awhile now and the craftsmanship really shows......:thumbsup:
(Note the good quality epoxy heads on the teasers/tails and the heavy duty split rings......)



Some of Rip Plugger's plugs, and the ones Surfstix has sent me, are usually dressed up now with these teasers at the end.

They make a real difference in getting a fish to hit when they are sluggish or the water is colder.

[DarkSkies]

This is what he made for Pebbles, even put her name on it.......:drool:

(maybe to keep me from "borrowing" it from her......:laugh: http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.png )




15835


15836


Nice well made ML Swimmer, Pebbles was so happy when she saw it.....:drool:

15837

Check out the custom metal lip on this thing, for a little more action in the water........


15838

Check out the awesome teaser....again a viable part of the reasons why surfstix plugs catch fish.......:thumbsup:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8559-Surfstix-Plugs-and-the-Fish-They-Catch&highlight=surfstix+plugs


Thanks again Surfstix! :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

^^ We may get a winter bite this year, then again we may not....
The conditions are so different that I'm not optimistic, but am hopeful.....in the meantime if there is a bite, I'm posting this to give Pebbles the incentive to get out there with me and get some fish....we talked about this the other day and she said no way would she be out there in 32 degree weather at night....too cold for her....but maybe she'll change her mind........:heart:

[Monty]

Fished Sunday morning 1:30 to 11:00 ocean side.
Ocean was unruly and muddy. Around 9:00 it was very fish able and starting cleaning up.
Had a bunch of bumps throughout the trip, finally around 10:30 I caught a short Striper on a Mag-darter.
Guys were catching shorts on Vision eels in tight, shorts were hitting very light.
Had a great time, nice weather.
More than likely this was the last trip for me this year, busy with work the next few weeks, some traveling too.

[finchaser]

Way to go white water^^^^^

[SharkHart]

Found a few last night, 4 fish in ocean county on shads, 2 were close to 30" my best fish all fall :scared:

[DarkSkies]

Monty, I bet you did a little dance when you finally caught that fish.....I wonder if there is such a thing as the White Water Dance? :laugh: :thumbsup: :HappyWave:
Shark, outstanding, catching 4, when others come up empty handed for the night bite, is pretty damn good....:thumbsup:
for the rest of ya's, great effort in getting out there......:thumbsup:

You all did better than me last night.....
Despite the old grouchy weather report, which I get twice a day....:rolleyes:
I was out anyway....

Air temps 52 all night,
Slight SW wind.....
Water temps 51 degrees,,,,,
How could I resist? :kooky:

4 hours hunting and pecking.....lots of closed areas made it tough.....had to expand the range and the stops I fished at.
The water was dirty, worked the bottom half of the water column....nothing at all for me. :skunk:

[storminsteve]

M
Despite the old grouchy weather report, which I get twice a day....:rolleyes:
I was out anyway....



Shorelady, at least you got a fish, good going. Shark and Monty way to go!
Dark, wondering how one might get this grouchy weather report, what channel is that?:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

^ Steve, I believe you have to contact your Cable provider.
Just ask them for the Grouchy Channel, or the Old Grouchy Basstard Channel.:argue:..they'll know what to do.....:rolleyes: :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

^ Steve, I believe you have to contact your Cable provider.
Just ask them for the Grouchy Channel, or the Old Grouchy Basstard Channel.:argue:..they'll know what to do.....:rolleyes: :HappyWave:


:2flip::moon::2flip:

[Monty]

Way to go white water^^^^^


Found a few last night, 4 fish in ocean county on shads, 2 were close to 30" my best fish all fall :scared:
Nice! :thumbsup:


Monty, I bet you did a little dance when you finally caught that fish.....I wonder if there is such a thing as the White Water Dance?
It was a bit of a learning experience. Fished very hard for that one fish, should have caught a few more......Urghh.
It was murky out there... I liked it a lot.:)

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_12_3_WW.jpg

[finchaser]

Released 19 smalllllllllllllllllllllll bass today all on metal in day light wind came up out of the south and shut down the bite like some one flipped a switch

[cowherder]

Dark, does the grouchy channel come with smell-o-vision?:scared: :laugh:
I'm thinking the two of you could put on quite a show, kind of like beavis and butthead, or archie bunker and meathead! Finchaser awesome 19 fish is some great numbers congrats.

[finchaser]

this AM released 5 smallllllllllllll bass all on metal

[DarkSkies]

Finchaser lighting up the daylight with numbers....WTG....:thumbsup:
Lots of little fish around, good for the folks who have been catching..:clapping:..one lady Fin and I know got 80 yesterday....none bigger than 22".
The OFFC were out the last 2 days and got some numbers as well.....with one even approaching keeper size....:clapping: :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

With all the small fish around, there is lots of opportunity for folks who don't fish a lot to catch them. Get out there in the surf, EOD bite,
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1877-fishing-terms-dictionary/page6

and cast rubber, metal with teasers, (or small plugs if the winds and swell permits)....you will catch 'em....:fishing:

















Tue PM report...
Was looking for the needle in the haystack fish.....something a little bigger than the small fish that have been in the surfline lately.
I have gotten legal fish every month this year....it's been tough some months....during July and August I fished an average of 30 hours to get a legal fish. :kooky: for December, was wondering if I would be able to find one with all the small fish around....

I had a hunch, based on past logs, and some things that are going on now with different temperatures.
Many nights I play my hunches, and fail miserably...this night my hunch proved right.....

The biggest obstacle was the South wind...forecast to shift to SW....but it was a steady S all night....very rarely do you get ideal conditions lately....the other times I was out the conditions were perfect but the fish just were not there at night......

After about 15 minutes of casting swimmers, no action, getting slightly discouraged again. The last few times I was out at night I did poorly. Only a few small fish over the course of several trips.
I switched to rubber shads and nailed a fish close to legal size. This gave me the motivation I needed. I had been definitely feeling down about my night fishing trips. That activity continued for the next 1 1/2 hours.

I had one fish every half hour, no other hits or misses.
Nice clean migrating fish.
The fish seemed to be just beyond the last breaker.



15875

15876
Managed 3 bass to 11#.
Released all.
Biggest fish came on a bottle darter, the other fish came on rubber shads. First time for me, that I have gotten fish on shads, since the Spring.
A good time, I was happy. :cool:

I continued to fish for another hour after the bite died, hoping for another fish...not to be.
Still not having enough sense to go home, I went to another location...water was much dirtier here. Fished for another 2 hours with no action at all. Finally called it quits at the end of the tide....
let's call it a Monty Mini Marathon.....:laugh: :HappyWave:

[storminsteve]

Nice fish guys. I fished moco yesterday from 3-4:30. Got 17 bass on metal with redgill teaser. Missed a bunch as well. They would hit it quick and not hit again. Also, every fish had diapers on. Didn't see anything over 22" caught along the whole stretch of beach. Most fish were 14-16". I even saw one guy hook one about 10" long. Thought it was a hickory shad at first.

[cowherder]

..one lady Fin and I know got 80 yesterday....none bigger than 22".
The OFFC were out the last 2 days and got some numbers as well.....with one even approaching keeper size....:clapping: :thumbsup: :HappyWave:



On your marks!-get set - GO!:rolleyes:
Way to go guys nice catches.

[hookset]

Not a mad rush yet because its hard to get motivated to chase after the dinks. They are there. Smallest fish I have seen all year. 11 bass Wed fished the last hour of sunlight. Best action was right before the sun went down and then it shut off like a switch. Tsunami shads the small ones.

[hookset]

. Didn't see anything over 22" caught along the whole stretch of beach. Most fish were 14-16". I even saw one guy hook one about 10" long. Thought it was a hickory shad at first.

Same here. Smallest fish all year. Has anyone seen numbers of hickory shad lately? might be more fun to target them with light gear or a flyrod.

[buckethead]

^^ Hookset I bet there are a crap load of hickories up at the Hook. We won't be able to fish there till next summer. Oh well.

[porgy75]

Nice going!

[plugcrazy]

Awesome reports and pics, thanks for sharing. I fished Brigantine this am with metal and storm shads, the sunrise was beautiful but no fish for me.

[seamonkey]

Seamonkey,
you won the plug in the November 2012 random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:
PM me your address so I can send it out to ya!

Darkskies got my plug in the mail today thank you very much! Thanks for all you do and keep up the stories I really enjoy them.:HappyWave:

[finchaser]

This late afternoon 2 keepers to 9# and 3 shorts all on plugs all still swimming.

[vpass]

I fished for an hour yesterday, and 1 hour today till dark. Got 2 tiny bass yesterday, and 1 tiny bass today. all on fin-s. It was great to be out.


Nice going Fin 9 pounds among tiny bass is a big deal.:thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Thu PM....
The shift in a weather pattern sometimes turns on the surf bite...
That did not happen on Wed PM as Fin and I set out to find some bass in the surf. It had turned cold in the low 30's, little windy, and we both fished with gloves.
2 hours of our best efforts, not a tap for either of us. :don't know why:
It was dismal., but the company was enjoyable....:fishing: :thumbsup:

When He went home. I made one more stop...one short bass on a Tsunami bomber copy (with rattles).






Fri PM.....
Real dissatisfied with the inconsistent bite up North...
I made the drive to lower Ocean County....seems the bite may be a little better there as they have small amounts of sandeels in the surf....

Fished all night in the rain for a true Monty Marathon......9 hours....

Managed 14 bass to 28"...all fish released.
The 28" was the only keeper, but others were close.
Nice fish although they were skinny.

What worked:
Tsunami creamsickle colored swimmer
Storm Thunderstick ( when the wind kicked up after the tide change)
Mag darter.....


Fish were very light hitting,
I had to wade out on a bar to get them at low tide.
Didn't think to bring my dry top. Once the tide started coming in I got wet, soaked to the skin.....
There was no way I would stop fishing,,,,just suffered through it.....:headbang:

When you get wet and the water is colder you run the risk of cramping.....

The fish were very light hitting, and may have been pursuing herring in the area.
If you did not set the hook hard you would drop them......

Still, it was a lot of fun to play with that many fish......:fishing:
I dropped a few more, not that many.

[DarkSkies]

Darkskies got my plug in the mail today thank you very much! Thanks for all you do and keep up the stories I really enjoy them.:HappyWave:
You're welcome Seamonkey...fish it hard.....








This late afternoon 2 keepers to 9# and 3 shorts all on plugs all still swimming.


I fished for an hour yesterday, and 1 hour today till dark. Got 2 tiny bass yesterday, and 1 tiny bass today. all on fin-s. It was great to be out.


Nice going Fin 9 pounds among tiny bass is a big deal.:thumbsup:

It is...with all the very small fish being caught a 9# bass is considered one of the larger ones.....Seeing him work artificials is a privelege to behold....:thumbsup:

[SharkHart]

Friday was a day of "I thoughts" for me. Used up a vaca day to go on a party boat because I thought the shorts were 25-27 and i thought the surf action was dead. I also thought we would fish off Monmouth beach all day. I thought i could finally catch a fish over 30" for this fall this way. I did the marathon trip and they did stay out all day 6am to 345 we got back. Shockingly no bird life at first light, they gave up on that area kinda quickly and headed north, I assumed it be to the highlands bridge but it turns out an hour later we ended up well off Coney Island. Found some fish and birds, fast moving fish, the shorts were more like 21-24" when we got back to NJ for the last hour of fishing the action at the Monmouth Rocks area was better. We left with some good bird life going on in afternoon. We wasted 2 hours of travel time could have been used to pick at fish there. I only 5 all day my friend got about 12 with one keeper @ 29" 6 other keeps on board for 27 anglers. Shads on 3 to 4 oz heads worked for us. If you wonder if they lie on the reports :) The reports said we had limits and tons of shorts. Id say most guys got 3 to 8 fish a few may have got less.

[finchaser]

This morning 5:30 to 7 AM 1 keeper 33 inch around 15# also 2 shorts 18 and 27 inchs all released. One of my friends had a nice 35" fish that he kept and 4 shorts he released

[GeoffT]

Just got back after fishing 2:30-5 PM in MoCo. Light variable winds. Good clean water.

Ridiculous action once the current started moving. 22 shorts and 1 keeper at 28". Numerous hits and miss. All but one on a 5" shad in bunker (that one on a Vision sandeel). They wanted it retrieved fast.

Best part about it was I was completely alone. Which is kinda hard to do on a weekend with such limited beach access nowadays. :thumbsup:

[voyager35]

We trolled out to the Shrewsbury Rocks today. A few bass and blues to 10# on umbrella rigs. Once there we got into sporadic action by jigging a27s on marks. All small fish. They were not concentrated. Also heard on the radio of a boat hitting another while we were on the way home. We didn't see it so I don't know when it happened.

[storminsteve]

I fished nomoco today, 19 micro bass on storm shad. One bass was 23" woo hoo! The rest had diapers on.:laugh:
Finchaser way to go! you always seem to find the bigger fish.

[surferman]

Good going guys!

[jigfreak]

Fished the incoming tonight moco. Picked up 4 to 12#. Rubber.

[finchaser]

This morning 5 to 7:30 AM had 2 keepers 8# and 11# also 7 shorts all on rubber all released

[Shorelady]

Finally put a good amount of time in surf fishing this weekend. There are an awful lot of short fish out there. All on metal yesterday and rubber today. No keepers.

[finchaser]

Good for you^^^^^^

[DarkSkies]

Nice efforts, all. :thumbsup:
as Shorelady and others said, lots of little fish around.

If the swell is not big you will catch em....so easy even a Googan like me can do it....:rolleyes: :laugh:


Bigger fish are the needle in the haystack fish and take a little more effort....
















Monty Marathon report:
Sat - Sun.....
** Note...... edited with the gripping details of how I tracked down and mugged the OGB.....:laugh: :moon: :HappyWave:


Sat - went out for the AM Sun bite to the Southern area where I previously got action the other night.
As the tide was at the top at around 3am, I figured it would be no problem as I would work the drop.

Not that great of a strategy...wading was almost impossible as the surf, instead of receding, began to build with a bigger swell. Really a little nasty and ugly. Since I was by myself, didn't want to become a news statistic....decided on another course of action.

Went to Finchaser's front door....looking to see if I could bum a ride in the helicopter ride that brings him to better waters with bigger fish..turns out he was already out, and the helicopter driver was on strike....so I set out to find him in the surf zone....the surf in that area was a little better, except it was influenced by the
Googan Effect...when a googan/dillydock shows up and shuts the bite down.....:rolleyes:

When I showed up, the bigger fish moved offshore...and the little bass took their place....We had decent action on these small fish for about 45 minutes, until Googan #2 shows up, and the bite shut off for good...(allegedly)...

Picture this, Finchaser, one of the most competent Surfcasters on the NJ Surfline....flanked to the left and right by 2 Googans....:scared:

He said he had enough and cleared out....
I took a nap while Googan #2 didn't want to leave without catching a fish.....casted for 2 hours until he finally caught a short bass and sundial...which spurred me into action again...but the bite was really dead at that point.....all affected by the tide....












Sun report..
Found a buffet, got some lunch took a hobo shower in a nice bathroom...report in the nomad fishing thread....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?3857-The-life-of-a-nomad-tips-for-on-the-road-fishin

back out at it for the afternoon and night bite...

As the surf had gotten bigger and the E wind started howling, it became unfishable again....waste of time for most normal folks....:kooky:
I have a good friend who swears that any day now we'll be invaded by herring and bunker in the surf and some bay areas...some think he is delusional...but this does happen every year around this time,,certain key areas....on Fri a (few) fish were caught to 24# in an hour long bite in one of these areas......

So his logic, though seemingly insane...does have a point. Since he was working that night, I spent the next 3 hours at night searching some of our proven late season spots for signs of bunker, herring..... but most importantly the larger stray bass that we could be targeting....all I found was cold dirty water, and no bait.....




**However, this time of year, with fewer people out there hunting for these bigger bass.( as they are truly needle in a haystack fish, one out of every 1000).....you can't rely on intel....you have to be there when they are there with the bigger baits...and so far that has been extremely difficult as the larger schools that most are claiming are on there way here......are not...what I am talking about here is targeting the few teen or larger bass that are around because of some food source.... or just migrating through and touching down for a night or so.....like chasing ghosts in the night......

[finchaser]

This morning 6 to 8AM released 5 bass to 28" all on rubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbba

Dark must be tired after his 60 hour marathon he didn't even tell how he tracked me down and mugged me yesterday

[baitstealer]

Awesome reports guys! I fished moco yesterday. the surf was big but I used clams and 8 oz. Got 4 bass to 21". With the 8oz weight if felt funny reeling in these little fish. Will have to try to get them with the rubber shads you guys are talking about next time.

[storminsteve]

:clapping:Nice going finchaser and jigfreak! Anything keeper size seems hard to catch with all the schoolies around. dark great marathon narrative as usual.
At least you tried.:HappyWave:

[finchaser]

come on guy's at least question how it smelt after 60 hours:upck::HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

come on guy's at least question how it smelt after 60 hours:upck::HappyWave:



The old Grouchy basstid doesn't know what's he's talking about..:moon: :kiss:...I took care of it all at a the bathroom of a restaurant buffet...full healthy meal and hobo shower for $16.....
post 112
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?3857-The-life-of-a-nomad-tips-for-on-the-road-fishin/page12

[buckethead]

come on guy's at least question how it smelt after 60 hours:upck::HappyWave:


The old Grouchy basstid doesn't know what's he's talking about..:moon: :kiss:...I took care of it all at a the bathroom of a restaurant buffet...full healthy meal and hobo shower for $16.....
post 112
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?3857-The-life-of-a-nomad-tips-for-on-the-road-fishin/page12

I don't know dark, the way you described it in your report you fished with him before you went for breakfast and your hobo shower, lol.
So finchaser what was the smell really like, or did you fish upwind again?:laugh:

[buckethead]

Fished last night, 8-10pm, pocket of deeper water in moco, 1 bass 30" on bucktail and grub.

[storminsteve]

Way to punch it through buckethead! I heard the surf was big and nasty. Kudos to you for making it out there.
Finchaser, yes please describe the smell of the dark one. lol Dark, hope you are not offended by this but it was too funny not to ask about it. :upck:

[finchaser]

A cross between a restaurant dumpster and a headboat bilge ^^^

Well the south wind:2flip: with it's swell brought the cold dirty and my 2 friends and I finally took the:skunk:after a week of good fishing.

[GeoffT]

A buddy of mine had good action this morning in MoCo. The NW wind kicked in and fish bit well, he said.

[hookedonbass]

Hey finchaser you can't win them all. You seem to have a line on the bigger fish. Those 9 and 11 lb bass you were catching were giant fish compared to the fish I have seen caught in the last 2 weeks. I fished twice over the weekend in monmouth county, got 15 bass the first time, 9 bass the 2nd time, all on clams. None of them were over 21". So even though you didn't catch fish today you would be the leader if there was a contest. Nice going and enjoy the reports.

[storminsteve]

A cross between a restaurant dumpster and a headboat bilge ^^^


haha very descriptive. Made me think of the dumpsters in the summer outside the chinee restaurants.:scared: You never know whats in them, dead cats, small blackfish racks, etc. all rotting away.

[storminsteve]

Hey finchaser you can't win them all. You seem to have a line on the bigger fish. Those 9 and 11 lb bass you were catching were giant fish compared to the fish I have seen caught in the last 2 weeks. I.

Yeah finchaser you have the larger fish dialed in. Nice going. So you had one bad day so what. The water got cold. Keep the faith.

[cowherder]

^^ What storminsteve said.
finchaser, you, sharkhart, jigfreak, dark, hookset, buckethead, storminsteve and a few others here seem to be able to catch nice fish consistently out there. You guys are an inspiration every time I read your reports whether you get the big skunk or not. No one catches them every time out or they are lying. Thanks for sharing the reports guys. I am really enjoying them when I can't fish. And buckethead thanks for the cool stomach content pic.

[finchaser]

Was reporting the skunk to let you know I'm human too and don't always get them as i usually report just catches as i fish once or twice a day(before and after work sometimes durning lunch). I wasn't complaining ,Dark always makes it sound like i always get them. Gotta go to bed now 4:30 comes fast thank god I only have to travel 10 minutes to this weeks spot.

[finchaser]

this morning 5 to7 AM released 5 smallllllllll bass all on plugs

[DarkSkies]

I wasn't complaining ,Dark always makes it sound like i always get them. .

I think what I try to convey to the readers here is when they see you managed double digits...that the way you fish, you're usually high hook, even among the other old farts......:moon:....so they shouldn't expect to catch the same numbers you do.....:HappyWave:






*******
Tue Report...
Weather forecast said cold and N winds....I got out there and it was relatively warm, 42, with no wind at all....
How could someone with surfcasting in their blood pass up a night like that?

High expectations.....managed 3 small bass on the Tsunami TS long Stick rattling swimmer in the first half hour.
That was at the bottom of the tide......unfortunately that was it....spent the next 3 1/2 hours casting working all levels of the water column....not another tap for me......

Probably should have realized that the water would be colder on the flood tide....with the temps down to 44 in some places these fish are close to the point where they could turn off for the night artificial bite......



**Clams and daytime fishing are your best bet if you want to catch numbers of bass now...
For some reason I keep resisting that routine.....would rather hunt for the few fish at night.....maybe I'll pick up a nicer one one night like a prize in a Cracker Jack Box....:kooky:

Maybe....being the eternal googan I am....I won't.....:laugh:
But I will keep trying.....:fishing:

[hookedonbass]

Its encouraging to me to see anyone catching bass even if they are small. I have fished in Cape May county for a week now and nothing. Thought for sure I would get at least one of the bigger bay bass. I think the run is almost over.

[DarkSkies]

Window in the night.....Wed PM....
The North winds in the day made it tough for some folks to get fish....some did....someone we know texted me and said they quit after 25 because they were tired of catching so many little fish and it got boring for them....I agree, unless you're fishing very light tackle for these fish it doesn't seem much of a challenge. Some of them are 10-12".

I have tried to target some a bit larger at night.....My last trip I got 3, but they were so small I felt bad catching them...

I haven't always been successful....the night bite is very elusive....many nights it's not there at all.....hours and hours of casting for no results.....

Very few larger fish around....
As Fin and others have explained it appears we are nearing the end of this Season.
There really isn't much food in the surf zone to hold these fish....most of my recent fish have been skinny, even the larger ones...the action could end any day, and next week's storm may very well be the end...

There are limited "needle in a haystack fish".......so that's why we're out there hoping for a mid teen fish or something close to it....freezing in the cold winds. and trying to pick nights when there is a better window.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8560-Discussion-FISHING-Window-and-What-it-Means-to-You&highlight=fishing+window








Last night was a pretty good window....the wind had died down to almost nothing....0-3mph.....W/NW...Because the area I fished the other night had smaller fish I changed my planned route.

Managed 6 fish at the bottom of the tide, still small, but relatively close to the 25" range....

Fish hit very sluggishly for me on swimmers. If you missed one it would not come back again.
My best producer was the Tsunami swimmer....Rubber and bucktails got nothing at all.
Had 1 1/2 hours of action where I got a fish or missed one every 10 casts or so....pretty damn good compared to the time and effort I have been putting in at night lately. :cool:

Once the tide turned, within 10 minutes the wind did as well. :( could not wade out anymore and reach the fish as the wind quickly ramped up to a steady 15, N/NE, with gusts to 20.....Air temps 33 degrees...water 48 degrees.

Got out of the water and went to another location with the wind behind me......fished that for an hour with no results,,,,packed it in early.....:fishing:

[buckethead]

Nice going good to see the plug bite still is strong. Fished nomoco 3:30-6pm. Picked up 5 bass to 27". Mag darter and vision eel got the job done. Water is cleaning up. Best of the day was around sunset.

[storminsteve]

Great going guys. Good news about the surf too buckethead thanks. I may be out there tomorrow, or maybe tonight. Trying to shadow dark or finchaser.:laugh:

[jigfreak]

Trying to shadow dark .:laugh:

Umm, rumor has it you might need a clothespin, or breathing mask like the painters use.:upck:

[cowherder]

Umm, rumor has it you might need a clothespin, or breathing mask like the painters use.:upck:

Hey he might:banned: you when he sees that! but funny, I can imagine steve stalking the trail or the jetty with a clothespin. Wouldn't he not want to have one, you know he might be able to follow the scent. just kidding dark.:HappyWave: great catches dudes!

[buckethead]

Fished moco last night. Cold and bleak out there but did find a few bass to 10#. Swimmers. Did anyone else see the meteor showers they were awesome.

[DarkSkies]

Outstanding job buckethead, and anyone else who is out braving the cold for the few remaining fish. :thumbsup:

I struck out big-time last night.
Returned to the previous night's action scene and it was dead. Made a few more moves in that area. Not a touch. Casted my aZZ off for 2 hours, believing against hope I could find at least 1....I couldn't. :skunk:

Conditions -
Air temp 30.
Water temp 46.
Wind not bad, light E/SE 0-5mph.
Swell, 3', duration was tough in that there was an intermittent period swell. Some of the waves were coming at a duration of 4 secs of less, with some periods of calm in between.









The water is getting really cold......ocean water temps in most of NNJ have dropped 4 degrees in the last 10 days.....that's a significant drop....anyone who is believing that the bass will be around all winter......:kooky: needs to think about where the water temps are now, as opposed to last year.......and of the forage currently available....

I reviewed the 2011 Stripers and Anglers Winter fishing thread. Beyond the mild weather we were having, the water temps stayed near 50 for a very long time.....and only gradually dropped to the low 40's at the end of January.....

Remember.... 42-43 is the cutoff point where bass are likely to hit artificials.....we got them last year to around that temp. Then they shut off for a week...the temp inching slowly upward was the only thing that kept the fish actively feeding.....
This was in addition to the abundant bait we had, the most abundant it had been in years.....

This year that is not the case......
And this means that the fish that are around, are mostly very skinny and small fish.....if they are not finding abundant food they will move on very quickly....
This is part of the conditions that make it so hard for me and others to predict the bite with any accuracy......so when someone tells me the fish will be here all winter, I have to question whether that person fishes often......:huh: and really has an understanding of the things that keep fish around for us to catch them....

More on that in
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7174-NJ-s-resident-bass-why-have-they-abandoned-us







*******
Part 2.....
Slept in the car....
Up at 6:30 am to try to shake the skunk before work today.
There was a limited bite but it did not start till the sun was rising in the sky....lasted for about 1/2 hour......
I managed 2 small bass on small 5" plugs......yozuri and megabait.

The high hook on the beach got around 5 or 6...
He is an old timer and had some interesting things to say about the fishing this year...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7755-Candid-conversations-with-fishermen-about-striped-bass/page3&highlight=old+timers



Not many others were caught... bite was basically over as the flood tide neared the top.
This frigid water makes it smart for reasonable fishermen to shift their fishing time to the end of day.....after a sunny day.....:learn:
Unless you find herring or bunker coming close to the surf line, which has happened a few times in the last 2 weeks, it is a vast dead sea out there.....although as recently as today birds were diving on bait slightly offshore.....there are many areas which hold nothing at all other than the small sand crabs and a few pods of fast moving rainfish.

[finchaser]

Googan bunker are long gone

[DarkSkies]

Grumble, grumble, grumble......:rolleyes:
(I found some this week.......ssshhhhhhhhh!) :moon: :laugh: :kiss: :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Fished pretty hard in the last 48 hours.....

Fri Pm
Got down to the beach after work.

Decided to return to Ocean County beaches as the water is cleaner and periodically has been more bait there. The conditions were great, flood tide, clean water, no signs of fish.....
Casted for an hour, nothing for me.
Then went to another beach, met some old farts ;) We had the same results there...:skunk:

Got a call from another group of old farts....the OFFC....:HappyWave:
They did manage some fish during the day....:thumbsup:...but their chief complaint was the big intermittent swell interfered with presentation....I completely agree,,,,when throwing clams it doesn't matter, but when throwing artificials, if you are only in the strike zone for a part of every cast, or every 2-3 casts, it gets frustrating......
I decided the surf was so lame, that I was gonna take a nap and fish the other side of the tide......

[DarkSkies]

Sat AM...
I was rousted from a sound sleep at 2am by the local police....they were "worried" that I was ok....:rolleyes:
I never mind when they check on me....all good since in my sobriety I'm not doing anything in a drunken stupor that could get me into trouble.....:cool:

They did me a favor, my secondary alarm clock...if they didn't wake me I would have missed the feeding window.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8561-Discussion-FEEDING-Window-and-What-it-Means-to-Land-Based-Anglers&highlight=feeding+window

Got ready and made it down to the water for low tide. This enabled me to wade out to the bar......

It took awhile, but eventually the bite developed.
The fish were extremely sluggish.....at these water temps they are almost comatose at night.

For example, bass usually hit on the front treble....all my bass were hooked on the rear one.....
Daiwa SM (smaller version of the SP) was the best producer. Things that had worked other nights did not work last night......not a touch at all on rubber...

As mentioned with a cold water night bite...the fish were very lethargic. My biggest fish of the night bumped the plug so lightly it felt like it sometimes does when a school of bunker goes by at night.....

It was a blast as she woke up and started pulling drag......:bigeyes: haven't had that happen in a while.....
Note to Finchaser....:moon: there were no bunker where I was in that surf....possibly herring, though......;) :HappyWave:




I missed an embarassing number of strikes. Once I got into a groove and began to see how these migratory fish were passing through the area (farthest end of the cast) I started hooking up and landing them better...........

It was a lot of fun, best sizes of fish and level of activity I have had in over 2 weeks......:headbang:


Total:
Managed 7 bass to 35" and 15+lbs.....
2 were legal, released one, kept one......



Eventually I had to leave the surf because the tide came rushing in as I was out on the bar.
I then went to another beach that I had found activity during that part of the tide....but got nothing at all there......packed it in around sunrise......A good night of steady action while it lasted.......:headbang:

Pic of the nicest fish of the night.....

15898



15899


15900


Conditions....
Air temp 43, about 12 degrees warmer than the night before....
Water temp 47
Swell, 3', and reported duration of 9 secs....the bad part of this was with the intermittent period swell., the duration was closer to 4 secs,,,,which really hampers your presentation....

[williehookem]

Wow good to see you are still getting them over there. Real nice fish!

[storminsteve]

:clapping: Fantastic job ds. that fish looks bigger than 15. Didn't think any that size were still around.you work hard at it and kudos are in order. Any idea why the SP was the only thing that worked?

I fished nomoco from 7-9a, it was like the dead sea in the wash. Even the little ones seem to have moved out. I stopped at a few places on the way home and heard talk of a few on clams and a 25lber further south. Lots of guys fishing today but not many catching. I was one of the ones not catching.

[cowherder]

Beautiful fish dark! Thanks for sharing the pics. Like steve said you put in a lot of time out there and deserve it. Striper cakes!

[wish4fish]

dark dooooooooooooooood! nice now eny one that wants to follow him pm me and ill tell u wat he drives. jus kiddin pretty work dude

[bababooey]

Aah, I heard a rumor he bought that fish at the Philly market. They had it listed as the googan special of the day.:ROFLMAO
Nice fish dark, show your mug next time.

[basshunter]

Great reports and pics thanks for sharing. Looks like there may be a few more. The party boats did ok today with some bigger fish. I went to Jack's today, bought some sps, and tried them in the lb surf. Got the skunk but it was a great day to fish anyway.

[jigfreak]

Fished outgpoing moco tonight from 10-1am. 5 bass to 9#. Rubber. Nice bass ds.

[Monty]

Great reports guys. Dark congrats on the nice bass!

[vpass]

Nice going guys, Wow Dark nice action. Hope it will continue for you like last year. I heard that the bass are loaded with Mole crabs.

[finchaser]

Aah, I heard a rumor he bought that fish at the Philly market. They had it listed as the googan special of the day.:ROFLMAO
Nice fish dark, show your mug next time.


Yep rumor has it

[DarkSkies]

^^ :moon: :kiss: :laugh: :clapping: :HappyWave:

Thanks for the kind, and not-so-kind....;) words, people.....it's all good, some of ya's should quit your day jobs and do stand-up....:rolleyes:
Feel free to lay it on.....but if you really want a challenge come out with me at night and see if you can put up with the rigors of a 5-6 hour trip, often coming up empty handed or with a few small fish.....:fishing:

I got those fish because I am obsessive about forage, weather, and swell patterns....but in the end no matter how good or persistent you are, you need a little luck, and have to put the time in.....

As I was explaining to someone else, these larger fish are the needle in the haystack fish for we who fish the surf....

To the newer anglers out there I would say you're more likely to catch a 15" fish than a 15# fish...lately even the numbers of smaller fish has dimished as our NJ season winds down.....some specific reasons for that....I'll try to explain it here

when I get a chance.....















*******
Sun AM report....
Got down to the water around 2am. The forecast rains didn't start yet, and the winds were E, but less than 2mph....

The problem was the building swell....and the stable duration of 9 secs still had the intermittent swell component.....
Which as I explained in my last report was a problem for presentation....there were a series of big 5' waves coming 6-8 at a time...followed by maybe 1 minute of calmer water. This surf action continued to build as I was there.

I casted into the calmer periods for 45 minutes. The frustrating thing was waiting for 2 minutes to get better presentation. Finally managed a short bass on a bottle plug. I knew it was not going to happen like it did the night before, so after an hour was up, I cut the trip short.

Went to another location where I could cast with my back to the building E wind...that location was weedy, and there were no fish there.....so that ended the trip for me......

I really don't understand those folks who drool :drool: over Northeast conditions....


It ruins the bite unless you're fishing clams or there is a lot of bait in the surf...and this is not the case right now....
IMO the best windows for the surf bite were Friday and Saturday.....the guys who knew that were out fishing hard, and some nice fish were caught,,,,,,,

Congrats to all who made it out there......:clapping: :thumbsup:

[finchaser]

Another DS fish less marathon but with a positive side it rained so you got to take a shower.:clapping:

Reason season is ending, very simple no bait, too much south wind which made water cold very quick then again it is mid December.

Way things are going bass fishing maybe permanently over before we know it ,I just saw a picture from Virginia of 20 fish over 40# laying dead on a dock. Oh yeah they were caught by recreational fisherman who always blame it on something or someone else

[hookset]

Reason season is ending, very simple no bait, too much south wind which made water cold very quick then again it is mid December.

Way things are going bass fishing maybe permanently over before we know it ,I just saw a picture from Virginia of 20 fish over 40# laying dead on a dock. Oh yeah they were caught by recreational fisherman who always blame it on something or someone else

They can always put the blame on others. As long as you get your 40lber who cares about anyone else?
Agreed finchaser. Am starting to see some of those pics. Fill the coolers with meat and get your citation fish. That's what its all about.:kooky:




I fished moco today, some jetties, from 4-5. Last of the outgoing tide. Big monster swells out there. Dirty water. Fished a bucktail and rind, nothing.

[fishinmission78]

Thanks for the reports and details. Am living vicariously through them.

[finchaser]

Marathon man will be out tonight to try and prove the world and the fat lady wrong

[DarkSkies]

^^ I can feel the love in that last post.....:2flip: :moon: :kiss: :bigeyes: :laugh: :HappyWave:

how do you know what my plans are for tonight? :bucktooth:
I am but a simple googan....any fish I catch are by accident....:ROFLMAO

[finchaser]

^^ I can feel the love in that last post.....:2flip: :moon: :kiss: :bigeyes: :laugh: :HappyWave:

how do you know what my plans are for tonight? :bucktooth:
I am but a simple googan....any fish I catch are by accident....:ROFLMAO


so true googan king so true

[hookedonbass]

Another DS fish less marathon but with a positive side it rained so you got to take a shower.:clapping:

Reason season is ending, very simple no bait, too much south wind which made water cold very quick then again it is mid December.

Way things are going bass fishing maybe permanently over before we know it ,I just saw a picture from Virginia of 20 fish over 40# laying dead on a dock. Oh yeah they were caught by recreational fisherman who always blame it on something or someone else

There is hardly any bait around at all. I think even the mole crabs are thinning out. Fished this morning nomoco. 2 hours of the incoming. One short bass on a bucktail and pork. conditions windy but fishable.
There was one guy clam fishing. he had 5 rods out. He was catching one short bass about every 15 minutes on those rods. They were all short bass. Since when do you need 5 rods to sit out there and fish for short bass with clams.?:huh: In all it was a beautiful morning. Could see scattered birds picking away, but they were about a mile off.

[buckethead]

Nice going hooked. One is better than none.

[finchaser]

Marathon man (DS) braved the elements last night all night ( in case the world really was ending today) for nada he is starting to hear her sing.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Aah....grumble, grumble, grumble....Gloom and Doom Finchaser...that's what they call him in Castaways at the Old Farts Table...:laugh: :kiss:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8138-Tribute-to-OLD-FARTS-The-GROUCHY-BASSTARDS-and-the-CRABBY-OLD-BASSTARDS-out-there/page5


But you do speak the truth....there are very few fish around because there isn't that much food for them.....
And the water temps are different from last year.....
Listen to the Old Grouchy Basstid....he knows stuff...:learn:....don't listen to me...I'm just a delusional dillydock...:laugh:







Met up with the OGB yesterday to work the end of day tide.....
It was dismal.....he ended up fishing 3 hours without a touch....I came late so it was 2 hours for me.....
In the end we realized it was futile as there was a building S/SE....getting cold......
He, having the sense of a normal fisherman....left at a reasonable time......:thumbsup:
As always, the grumbling and grouchiness made it worth the trip...don't know what I would do if I didn't have my daily dose of grumbling from the OGB...:HappyWave:
We both knew the best fishing windows this week were Wed, and Thu AM.
Just trying to get a few casts in before the storm.....

After he went home, I tried a few regular places that have produced in those conditions........
Gave it 2 hours more, packed it in for the night......

Slept in my car hoping for some action before I had to drive to work today...
It was not to be as the night rains were torrential....causing flooding in some areas....and the winds were up to 45mph,...rocking my car as I slept.....


As I said the best fishing window
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8560-Discussion-FISHING-Window-and-What-it-Means-to-You&highlight=fishing+window

was Wed, and Thur till the late afternoon.....
By that time the swell had dropped to 2.6'
Duration 13 secs......:drool:

Within a few hours of that the swell increased to 10', duration 7 secs...and by morning the swells were as high as 16' with duration of 4 secs......
This will kill the opportunity for numbers of fish on artificials the next 24 hours at least...and possibly till Sunday.
And with limited bait that is around....could be the final call for Finchaser's Favorite Fat Lady......:moon: :HappyWave:

You can still pick up some fish with clams....but some of ya's should start noticing that many keepers, if you can find them, will have nothing in their stomaches.....not a good sigh for those who are expecting those fish to stay here through the winter.....:learn:

[storminsteve]

Marathon man (DS) braved the elements last night all night ( in case the world really was ending today) for nada he is starting to hear her sing.

Boy she is a real beauty. Maybe she will get laryngitis warming up?
Good deal dark and finchaser at least you were out trying.

[finchaser]

Yep he tracks me down like a dog

[cowherder]

Yep he tracks me down like a dog

Possibly a rabid one? Be careful out there finchaser.

[storminsteve]

Yep he tracks me down like a dog

Haha I remember the story of Billy the Greek saying he had to change his boats when he fished because guys knew his and would follow him. Maybe you should use different vehicles to throw him off. Didn't they do that back in the day when the old timers used to fish Sandy Hook? One of the guys at Giglios said they used to park in one location and fish in another.

I went down to nomoco today for some casting practice. That's all it was because the wind was fierce but the water was dirty and it was cold and ugly out there. Fished from 3-5. skunk for me.:skunk: maybe some of you hardcores will brave it too but I would say it isn't worth it.

[finchaser]

Haha I remember the story of Billy the Greek saying he had to change his boats when he fished because guys knew his and would follow him. Maybe you should use different vehicles to throw him off. Didn't they do that back in the day when the old timers used to fish Sandy Hook? One of the guys at Giglios said they used to park in one location and fish in another.

I went down to nomoco today for some casting practice. That's all it was because the wind was fierce but the water was dirty and it was cold and ugly out there. Fished from 3-5. skunk for me.:skunk: maybe some of you hardcores will brave it too but I would say it isn't worth it.

We still do the park at one and fish another has worked for over 40 years.

Same skunk for me this am only it was brutal from 5AM to 6:30 AM but i promised someone I'd meet him even though I told him last night it would be a waste of time.

[surfstix1963]

We still do the park at one and fish another has worked for over 40 years.

Same skunk for me this am only it was brutal from 5AM to 6:30 AM but i promised someone I'd meet him even though I told him last night it would be a waste of time.
Your a good guy Bob meeting up knowing full well nada was going to happen.

[DarkSkies]

^^ This is why when people read that he manages some teen fish they think he has some sort of special deal with the devil.....and the simple truth is that he puts more time on the water, than most...he is also able to accurately predict when most of the fish should be leaving, or when they may be around......all this, and more, in the upcoming......





Finchaser seminar..:fishing:.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?6421-Finchaser-seminar-series

Finchaser tentative topics will be...Check the schedule for times and order..
Note....anyone late for a Finchaser segment of the seminar will be forced to wear a shirt saying "I'm with Dark...in the Dillydock Club..." :)

1. How to catch fish without using bait.
2. How to outfish all the surfcasters on the beach. (hint - carry a bottle of bunker oil in your pocket)
3. How to avoid being mugged, Parking at one place, fishing another....
4. How to put up with the Googans and Dillydocks....
5. How to read the water
6. How to read weather patterns.....
7. How to appear to be a Grouchy Basstard so folks don't ask you these questions while fishing.....:learn:





Special Guests. Speakers, and assorted Crabby Basstards........the Speakers are Tentative so far, subject to change..........


* COB Surfstix......How to catch big bass in inlets and rips with eels....bonus session on becoming a Crabby Old Basstard :HappyWave:

* OFFC...Old Farts Fishin Club....How to catch bass that don't appear to be there and make the young fishermen on the beach drool with envy.....:clapping:

* Shark Hart - Explaining the Obvious differences between Northeast fishing,.....:bucktooth: and getting cold and wet, and Northwest fishing, and catching 100 or more fish in 24 hours......

* White Water Monty.....Dual Seminars 1. How to fish Whitewater without drowning...2. How to fish big Hogys/Sluggos and hook and drop big fish, .....:laugh:
(with a special bonus seminar for early registrants -- How to Pretend you're a Googan when you're really a good surf fisherman.....:thumbsup: )

* Surfwalker...Dual Seminars...1. How to travel the whole Striper Coast, and catch big bass along the way
2. How to Properly Outline a Perimeter when dead things are found.....:rolleyes:

* Vpass.... Seminars on how to read the Water, How to Fly Fish...and How to Fish at Sandy Hook at night without being killed by a runaway boat...:HappyWave:

* Bababooey - How to Insult People and still have them laughing with you....:laugh:

* Stormin Steve.....How to Bust Balls through Poems and Songs.....:clapping:

* Madcaster and Surfstix......
Plugmaking 101.....with Special Bonus segment by Madcaster on Mad Photoshop.....:thumbsup:

* Rip Plugger---- 1. Making big wood in insane colors....2. Catching blues and bass when most people have given up for the year.....


for the Hunters out there........
* Speedy...... Dual seminars....1. Plugmaking 101, guest speaker with Surfstix and Madcaster.....2. How to stalk and shoot birds when it's very freaking cold out. :scared:

* JonthePain.....Dual Seminars....
1. How to kill Crows, lots of em....:headbang:
2. The Best of the Redneck Lifestyle, with bonus feature How to Put your car up on blocks in your Yard....:kiss: :HappyWave:







stay tuned for details.....;)
most important....no refunds., no whiners, no internet fishermen.....and no seminars on how to catch fish with clams....;)

[madcaster]

15913
I also will do a craft demo on how to make your own. You must provide your own rock and string

[finchaser]

When the weather stone stopped swinging I decided to do the dusk thing. Water was flat got bass of 26" and 27" on jig head and rubber mullet tail shut off as soon as it got dark.

[surfstix1963]

I do teasers,tail hooks and bucktails on occasion I'm going to have to leave plugbuilding to Speedy and Madcaster or I will need a nap in between.:laugh::laugh::laugh: I'm almost 50 ya know:d :HappyWave:

[SharkHart]

The "Dark" Egg Nog appears to be spiked

[vpass]

^^ This is why when people read that he manages some teen fish they think he has some sort of special deal with the devil.....and the simple truth is that he puts more time on the water, than most...he is also able to accurately predict when most of the fish should be leaving, or when they may be around......all this, and more, in the upcoming......





Finchaser seminar..:fishing:.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?6421-Finchaser-seminar-series

Finchaser tentative topics will be...Check the schedule for times and order..
Note....anyone late for a Finchaser segment of the seminar will be forced to wear a shirt saying "I'm with Dark...in the Dillydock Club..." :)

1. How to catch fish without using bait.
2. How to outfish all the surfcasters on the beach. (hint - carry a bottle of bunker oil in your pocket)
3. How to avoid being mugged, Parking at one place, fishing another....
4. How to put up with the Googans and Dillydocks....
5. How to read the water
6. How to read weather patterns.....
7. How to appear to be a Grouchy Basstard so folks don't ask you these questions while fishing.....:learn:





Special Guests. Speakers, and assorted Crabby Basstards........the Speakers are Tentative so far, subject to change..........


* COB Surfstix......How to catch big bass in inlets and rips with eels....bonus session on becoming a Crabby Old Basstard :HappyWave:

* OFFC...Old Farts Fishin Club....How to catch bass that don't appear to be there and make the young fishermen on the beach drool with envy.....:clapping:

* Shark Hart - Explaining the Obvious differences between Northeast fishing,.....:bucktooth: and getting cold and wet, and Northwest fishing, and catching 100 or more fish in 24 hours......

* White Water Monty.....Dual Seminars 1. How to fish Whitewater without drowning...2. How to fish big Hogys/Sluggos and hook and drop big fish, .....:laugh:
(with a special bonus seminar for early registrants -- How to Pretend you're a Googan when you're really a good surf fisherman.....:thumbsup: )

* Surfwalker...Dual Seminars...1. How to travel the whole Striper Coast, and catch big bass along the way
2. How to Properly Outline a Perimeter when dead things are found.....:rolleyes:

* Vpass.... Seminars on how to read the Water, How to Fly Fish...and How to Fish at Sandy Hook at night without being killed by a runaway boat...:HappyWave:

* Bababooey - How to Insult People and still have them laughing with you....:laugh:

* Stormin Steve.....How to Bust Balls through Poems and Songs.....:clapping:

* Madcaster and Surfstix......
Plugmaking 101.....with Special Bonus segment by Madcaster on Mad Photoshop.....:thumbsup:

* Rip Plugger---- 1. Making big wood in insane colors....2. Catching blues and bass when most people have given up for the year.....


for the Hunters out there........
* Speedy...... Dual seminars....1. Plugmaking 101, guest speaker with Surfstix and Madcaster.....2. How to stalk and shoot birds when it's very freaking cold out. :scared:

* JonthePain.....Dual Seminars....
1. How to kill Crows, lots of em....:headbang:
2. The Best of the Redneck Lifestyle, with bonus feature How to Put your car up on blocks in your Yard....:kiss: :HappyWave:







stay tuned for details.....;)
most important....no refunds., no whiners, no internet fishermen.....and no seminars on how to catch fish with clams....;)


You can't forget the most important seminar "Dark's Seminar on cleaning yourself Hobo style after a Monty Marathon".:beatin::beatin::thumbsup:

[finchaser]

Arrived at one of my spots this morning to find Marathon man( DS) sleeping in the Googan Mobile in 26 degree weather after another one of his marathon nights:kooky:

[Monty]

You can't forget the most important seminar "Dark's Seminar on cleaning yourself Hobo style after a Monty Marathon".:beatin::beatin::thumbsup:

:ROFLMAO

Rumors abound that he will discuss things like "finding places to nap when ya get sleepy while fishing" and "the benefits of stinky waders" :HappyWave:
Maybe we could get him to stay on subject and discus some things like how he gets Stripers to be aggressive and hit his plugs in cold water.... :)

[DarkSkies]

Whole lotta skunking going on....but the adventures continue......:rolleyes: :fishing:


Arrived at one of my spots this morning to find Marathon man( DS) sleeping in the Googan Mobile in 26 degree weather after another one of his marathon nights:kooky:
(that old basstard really exaggerates things, it was at LEAST 28 degrees that night...):rolleyes: :laugh: ...and maybe it was a little cold, so what?


Sun....PM
Fished the ocean.....Sometimes the conditions out there are so perfect you can get wood without throwing it..:drool:..Sun was one of those nights....but someone forgot to tell the fish.....There were herring moving in the surf zone at the edges of the last breaker....this has been a pretty regular place for herring, smaller bait, and predators since the storm, with gaps in consistency due to weather changes......

I couldn't catch a fish, or get a bump, to save my life..... the fish seem to really have thinned out with the bad weather we have been having....more on this here
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5149-S-amp-A-Education-Series-Understanding-FALL-back-bay-bait-migration-and-fishing-patterns

Moved to another location, slept in the car...trying to intercept that grouchy basstid Finchaser ..:moon:...(so I could save his spot on the RedX in the Surf Zone....) all for naught as none of us caught a fish....some bait activity but it was short lived as we threw small plugs and rubber...no love for any of us....:skunk:









Mon PM....After Christmas Eve was over, tried to sneak away to look for some night bass chasing herring. Since all I found the other night was herring, I wasn't optimistic...but a friend was already down there scouting and looking to chunk some....With him anticipating finding a 20# bass among the thousands of smaller ones that are being caught right now, I promised I would fish with him....

He's a little obsessive, some say crazy, but who the hell am I to judge that obsession as I'm known to sleep in the car to fish 2 tides....:kooky:

When I finally managed to meet up, he had one bass almost a keeper, and missed 2 more all on rubber...before the tide turned....very sluggish fish at night.....

As it turns out they would hit larger rubber on the one side of the tide,

The activity slowed to dead, picked up again as the tide came in....but once the tide turned they were feeding on small rainfish 1-2"......

3 hours of surface feeding bass on rainfish......Once we figured out the rainfish angle, we downsized everything we threw at them given the constraints of the surf environment....ending up throwing 4" plugs, small minnow-size rubber, bucktails, all on the lightest jigheads we could manage to toss out....for nothing.....

Magdarters, Smallest bombers, different colors, tiny bucktails, small fin-S, Mambo Minnows, small Yozuris....each blowup caused us to downsize further as these bass wanted nothing but those tiny rainfish deep in the night......

Still frantic as this periodic feeding activity was going on, I "MacGuyvered" the little gear I have left with me to come up with a black teaser, 2"..... either made by Finchaser or Surfstix....:HappyWave:

Still no action, hits or misses.....

I finally gave up, out of steam constant casting for hours,,,,,,my friend gave up soon after......

**Sometimes, the fish win, and you have the feeling that you suck.....:bucktooth:...and have forgotten how to catch.....:(







(The only thing we didn't throw was a pink Fin-S....in a motivated rush to declutter my car have been taking things out with every trip..am now down just to bare minumum waiting for the inevitable Fat Lady singing......)

It was humbling and dismal...The rainfish were the primary forage and there was no way to tempt at least one of these fish with artificials or at least claim that we lost one....:beatin:...but that's how it went down, and thusly gets reported.......


Unhappy at getting beaten like that. I slept for 2 hours, hit the beach with a little renewed energy....and continued my :skunk: streak........did not see anyone else at the beach we were on catch anything this morning either....... Hey, that's fishing......:fishing:

[DarkSkies]

:ROFLMAO


Maybe we could get him to stay on subject and discus some things like how he gets Stripers to be aggressive and hit his plugs in cold water.... :)


Thanks for the laughs, Monty..:HappyWave:...last night the only thing I got...was there are times that I suck, more than anyone else on the planet..:bucktooth:..I have googan cells in my blood.......:laugh:

There was no relief from the pressure I put on myself as we kept downsizing and casting, casting, just trying to crack the code.....we couldn't.......:confused:

[storminsteve]

Hey dark at least you gave it your best. You can't hit home runs every time. Thanks for the report. Remember if you are ever too tired to mug finchaser I will gladly take over, because that's the kind of friend I am.:rolleyes: :d

[finchaser]

After busting DS on the phone about not throwing a pink Fin-S when bass are on rain fish. i decided to heed my own advise and like the other days dusk trip I got a 26" bass on guess what a pink fin-s fished from 4 to 5:15 pm had 2 other bumps andlike the other day all activity died at dark. Was going to sleep in my truck over night and wait out the fish but figured what the hell I'll go home eat shower and sleep in a bed what a concept.

Hey DS bet you i wouldn't have to fish up wind of SS :ROFLMAO

Storms rolling in:don't know why: this should bring out Marathon Man to seek his so called window but then again nothing like spending a windy rainy night in a damp car:huh:

[buckethead]

DS you should make up a King o Rubber award for finchaser. Nicely done finchaser. I have dropped the time spent out there. as you guys said I think we have that hour at the end of the day and not much more. DS don't feel bad about the rainfish on the dark side been there done that. Some of the most frustrating blitxes I been in on were ones where all I could do was watch them feed on those stupid rainfish.:mad:
Sometimes its cool if they are schooled up tight enough the bass will run through them with open mouths. I have had much more success targeting them in the day when they are snacking on those little popcorn bites.

[clamchucker]

Finchaser called it with the pink fin-s. You can give them an erratic retrieve if that helps. I do better also when the rainfish are in thick pods and the bass are most aggressive. You can then soimetimes pick them off with something different like a big danny. It is all about the level of activity. When the water is cold it can get very frustrating. These are the times when a fly caster will outfish a surf caster.

[DarkSkies]

Hey dark at least you gave it your best. You can't hit home runs every time. Thanks for the report. Remember if you are ever too tired to mug finchaser I will gladly take over, because that's the kind of friend I am.:rolleyes: :d

Yes, I am so lucky, ain't I?......:2flip: :moon: :laugh: :HappyWave:




*********


Hey DS bet you i wouldn't have to fish up wind of SS :ROFLMAO

I told the you the next time I find ya out there after I'm on an all night marathon, I'm gonna grab ya in a bear hug and release some deadly gas after eating eggs and beans.....:moon: :kiss: :HappyWave:



After busting DS on the phone about not throwing a pink Fin-S when bass are on rain fish. i decided to heed my own advise and like the other days dusk trip I got a 26" bass on guess what a pink fin-s fished from 4 to 5:15 pm had 2 other bumps andlike the other day all activity died at dark.


Was going to sleep in my truck over night and wait out the fish ...

but figured what the hell I'll go home eat shower and sleep in a bed what a concept.
Storms rolling in:don't know why: this should bring out Marathon Man to seek his so called window but then again nothing like spending a windy rainy night in a damp car:huh:


Grumble grumble....30 years ago you were doing that, fishing for 1-2 nights in a row....back when the Stevens Surfsters :thumbsup: put fear into the other clubs because you guys got it done....if I could go back in time and do things over, instead of getting drunk and partying during those years....
I wish I coulda tagged along with Joe and the rest of you Grouchy Legends then...:viking:....I might have even taken a shower or 2....:laugh:








** PS as Fin mentioned, the 4-5:15 window is becoming one of the only windows now if you want a real shot at fish activity.....the water is getting cold and fish are most active in late afternoons now......he predicted the latest NE blow might kill most of the action left in NNJ, leaving only SJ with action in limited areas.....and I'm inclined to agree.....

[finchaser]

Blowing an honest 40 now rain coming down side ways, evacuations under way again and power outages all over the place Quick Get Down Here Dark could be a mad dog bite of epic proportion going on. Bring the kyak you may be able to get them in the street if river overflows it's banks.

Also surprised White Water Monty isn't here there are white caps in the streets the inlet is pure white water:drool:

[DarkSkies]

^ Thanks for the heads up ya grouchy basstid...:kooky: ..Just went outside...the wind is only blowing 20 here....I'm telling ya's, it 's gonna lay down....:drool:

Heading out now...:ROFLMAO :kiss: :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

you probably will come out chasing your so call intel Googans

[DarkSkies]

^^
.I'm telling ya's, it 's gonna lay down....:drool:

Heading out now...:ROFLMAO :kiss: :HappyWave:

soon as it lays down I'll be there...warming up the car now so I can go sleep in it....bringing extra blankets.....

So you gonna meet me there.... or not? :p

[storminsteve]

The wind was 30 miles an hour last night you guys are nutzo.:kooky::HappyWave:

[finchaser]

^^

soon as it lays down I'll be there...warming up the car now so I can go sleep in it....bringing extra blankets.....

So you gonna meet me there.... or not? :p

not in this life time

[DarkSkies]

^^Cmon you gloom and doom grouch....I even took a shower last night.....no odor issues...but with the forecast 35mph NW wind it shouldn't bother ya anyway....:moon: :laugh:

[cowherder]

^^ This is why when people read that he manages some teen fish they think he has some sort of special deal with the devil.....and the simple truth is that he puts more time on the water, than most...he is also able to accurately predict when most of the fish should be leaving, or when they may be around......all this, and more, in the upcoming......





Finchaser seminar..:fishing:.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?6421-Finchaser-seminar-series

Finchaser tentative topics will be...Check the schedule for times and order..
Note....anyone late for a Finchaser segment of the seminar will be forced to wear a shirt saying "I'm with Dark...in the Dillydock Club..." :)

1. How to catch fish without using bait.
2. How to outfish all the surfcasters on the beach. (hint - carry a bottle of bunker oil in your pocket)
3. How to avoid being mugged, Parking at one place, fishing another....
4. How to put up with the Googans and Dillydocks....
5. How to read the water
6. How to read weather patterns.....
7. How to appear to be a Grouchy Basstard so folks don't ask you these questions while fishing.....:learn:





Special Guests. Speakers, and assorted Crabby Basstards........the Speakers are Tentative so far, subject to change..........


* COB Surfstix......How to catch big bass in inlets and rips with eels....bonus session on becoming a Crabby Old Basstard :HappyWave:

* OFFC...Old Farts Fishin Club....How to catch bass that don't appear to be there and make the young fishermen on the beach drool with envy.....:clapping:

* Shark Hart - Explaining the Obvious differences between Northeast fishing,.....:bucktooth: and getting cold and wet, and Northwest fishing, and catching 100 or more fish in 24 hours......

* White Water Monty.....Dual Seminars 1. How to fish Whitewater without drowning...2. How to fish big Hogys/Sluggos and hook and drop big fish, .....:laugh:
(with a special bonus seminar for early registrants -- How to Pretend you're a Googan when you're really a good surf fisherman.....:thumbsup: )

* Surfwalker...Dual Seminars...1. How to travel the whole Striper Coast, and catch big bass along the way
2. How to Properly Outline a Perimeter when dead things are found.....:rolleyes:

* Vpass.... Seminars on how to read the Water, How to Fly Fish...and How to Fish at Sandy Hook at night without being killed by a runaway boat...:HappyWave:

* Bababooey - How to Insult People and still have them laughing with you....:laugh:

* Stormin Steve.....How to Bust Balls through Poems and Songs.....:clapping:

* Madcaster and Surfstix......
Plugmaking 101.....with Special Bonus segment by Madcaster on Mad Photoshop.....:thumbsup:

* Rip Plugger---- 1. Making big wood in insane colors....2. Catching blues and bass when most people have given up for the year.....


for the Hunters out there........
* Speedy...... Dual seminars....1. Plugmaking 101, guest speaker with Surfstix and Madcaster.....2. How to stalk and shoot birds when it's very freaking cold out. :scared:

* JonthePain.....Dual Seminars....
1. How to kill Crows, lots of em....:headbang:
2. The Best of the Redneck Lifestyle, with bonus feature How to Put your car up on blocks in your Yard....:kiss: :HappyWave:







stay tuned for details.....;)
most important....no refunds., no whiners, no internet fishermen.....and no seminars on how to catch fish with clams....;)







15913
I also will do a craft demo on how to make your own. You must provide your own rock and string


:clapping: hilarious!

[DarkSkies]

IMO it's over water this AM water was 42 and teens tonight

highs 35 lows in the teens the fat lady has sung.


Dark did a Marathon last night and not even a bump in 12 hours


You don't know the half of it....I even managed to hide part of the addiction from you.....:o :HappyWave:




Thu PM 12-28.....
Since I knew of the pending storm....had to get out there....
There may not have been a feeding window...but I felt it was a fishing window......


Started the night off in true googan style...:bucktooth:
The wind was 25mph variable, NW, W, N, NE.....very cold.....30 with wind chill putting it into the teens...
Was wearing many layers of clothes, and as I got on the beach and went to take a leak...I peed on my leg.... :o


That set the tone for a miserable 2 hours in the dark.....fished it hard but the wind and cold were brutal, never letting up until it was almost dawn....
Had to stop every half hour b/c couldn't feel my fingers.....

Not a great night out there.....no action or excitement at all for me....:skunk:other than a wet leg....:laugh:
Finally ran out of energy and collapsed in the car for a few hours sleep.....
(Yes my leg was still wet where I peed on myself)....:bucktooth:.....Good times.....:kooky:

[DarkSkies]

Fri Pm....12-29

Finished work early to get down there to make that "afternoon window" bite that everyone is raving about.....:don't know why:
Scouted 20 miles of beachfront before I set out on one beach that seemed to have a little bait,,,,loons diving about 200' out in the surfline.

Water was dirty but somewhat warmed from the sunny day....winds were greatly diminished and it was a real pleasure to be out there...:thumbsup:
Fished the dropping tide, 2 hours....nothing.......









Took a break. Unsatisfied with those results, I drove to a completely different area.....
Fished hard, 8 separate additional stops.....nothing at any of them.....

Fished most of the ebb from the top of the flood to the bottom part of the ebb....trying to find the water that had the highest possible relative temps....but it was still dismal...could not raise one fish.....:skunk:

The most awesome thing about the night were the conditions....:drool:
Whereas the night before it was painfully cold...on Fri night the conditions were beautiful......
For this whole trip I had rubber of every conceivable color and size that has been producing, eels, shads, Fin-s, sluggos, also all my best producing swimmers, and bucktails........

I was frustrated as each spot I chose has produced double digit numbers at night within the last 6 months.....and there were no signs of life at all...

[finchaser]

Told you it was over stay home or fish sibiki rigs for herring then again you can go photogragh your birds

[wish4fish]

ha ha dark wet his pants time for the depends yu old geezzer!!!!!!

[cowherder]

Thu PM 12-28.....
Since I knew of the pending storm....had to get out there....
There may not have been a feeding window...but I felt it was a fishing window......


Started the night off in true googan style...:bucktooth:
.The wind was 25mph variable, NW, W, N, NE.....very cold......30 with wind chill putting it into the teens...
Was wearing many layers of clothes, and as I got on the beach and went to take a leak...I peed on my leg.... :o


That set the tone for a miserable 2 hours in the dark.....fished it hard but the wind and cold were brutal, never letting up until it was almost dawn....
Had to stop every half hour b/c couldn't feel my fingers.....

Not a great night out there.....no action or excitement at all for me....:skunk:other than a wet leg....:laugh:
Finally ran out of energy and collapsed in the car for a few hours sleep.....
(Yes my leg was still wet where I peed on myself)....:bucktooth:.....Good times.....:kooky:



:ROFLMAOThis is classic, I hope you don't mind if I repost these quotes about you dark.:HappyWave:

[dogfish]

ha ha dark wet his pants time for the depends yu old geezzer!!!!!!

I'll chip in a few bucks for a box.:HappyWave:
Don't feel bad wait till you have to get up 3 times a night to go to the bathroom.

[vpass]

pee with the wind not again. Thank god there wasn't a up draft. :beatin:

[DarkSkies]

What can I say....I know enough not to pee in the wind but it was all over the place, W.NW, N, E...and it was brutal.....
I know any excuse won't hide truth that no matter how I try the old Googan eventually comes out....:bucktooth: ....:laugh:

And I figured you all needed some laughs....:d and would finally believe Fin when he says I smell like a dumpster on a summer day.....:scared:
All good, have at it.....:HappyWave:


Not many trips left in me this year as it is really over.....the water temps are way different than last year....
Other than a few fish, the bite is basically over......
Even the clam bite has dried up to a trickle.....

Ex....
A friend of ours got 80 fish 2 weeks ago on rubber....
24 fish on clams the next day in a 3 hour period....
Despite what the internet pundits say, those fish are long gone....








If you really have the need to get out there....by all means go....:thumbsup: :fishing:
I've used this quote before, not mine....
"Many men go fishing all their lives, without realizing what it is they're fishing for" :learn:

[DarkSkies]

Sat AM 12-29
3rd skunk in a row....:skunk:
After sleeping in my car.....got out again to see if there was a sunrise bite...there wasn't...
For 2 hours, threw any possible artificial presentation that would work in colder water....not a tap.

The pre-dawn conditions were extremely beautiful...cold, clear, crisp....hardly any wind......
Beautiful surf, the right amount of swell and white water....no fish......

There were a few others in that area....not one fish was caught by any of us....

[finchaser]

^^^ Wake up and smell the roses the fish are gone the fat lady sang ocean temp this morning was 41 the creeks and lagoons are frozen. Last winter was a freak of nature. If you like the cold,peace and solitude sleep on a chase lounge in your yard the results will be the same.

[jigfreak]

Got 2 bass to 25" tonight right before sunset, Vision eel. Moco

[cowherder]

Nice going jigfreak! you are hardcore, I am a wuss. I fished nomoco this evening after work, 5-5:30pm was all I could take. Had very think gloves. Boy it was cold!:scared: Big ol skunk for me. Fat lady hovered on the horizon as the sun went down.

[hookset]

Way to keep at it jigfreak. I may still have a few trips left, waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit.

[hookset]

^^^ Wake up and smell the roses the fish are gone the fat lady sang ocean temp this morning was 41 the creeks and lagoons are frozen. Last winter was a freak of nature. If you like the cold,peace and solitude sleep on a chase lounge in your yard the results will be the same.


The roses are smelling pretty sour lately. The stink of the fat lady's unwashed armpits is overpowering any sweetness that could be out there.

[vpass]

Got 2 bass to 25" tonight right before sunset, Vision eel. Moco

Nice going, Starting the year off with a Bang!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[jigfreak]

The roses are smelling pretty sour lately. The stink of the fat lady's unwashed armpits is overpowering any sweetness that could be out there.

I love that stink, have smelled worse than that in my life.
Fished moco 5-6 today, one 27" bass on pig and jig. Water cleaned up nicely but almost too calm. Like a lake out there

[DarkSkies]

Just reporting that finchaser had an epic day yesterday...for the first time ever, he borrowed a spare Jetski from Jet Ski Brian...:HappyWave: (check out his blog www.JetSkiBrian.com (http://www.JetSkiBrian.com) when you get a chance).....

The old grouchy basstard, for the first time in his life, went out solo on a freaking jet ski :scared: and caught 79 bass to 19lbs by trolling bunker heads, and the clambrella rig...
Ain't no one on this earth that can catch fish like that ol grouchy basstid.....:clapping: ;)

[storminsteve]

^^ Haha so finchaser on a jetski, eh? Will pigs fly next?:laugh:
I'll play along, did he attach the bunker heads to the clambrella or troll them separately?
Fishing report, fished nomoco this morning, sunrise to 7:30. One short rat on a storm shad.
I am glad to catch but wish we could see some nicer ones. Nice going jigfreak will be bringing the bucktails out next time.

[finchaser]

He's insane jet ski thats not for me i leave that to Jet Ski Brain down Maryland way.

But i do know Marathon man was going on his second day outing with the skunk when I got a call as to where fish were and after a sympathy call to him he did put up double digits with a few keepers, but he tells and writes a better bed time story for you guy's than me.

[jigfreak]

But i do know Marathon man was going on his second day outing with the skunk when I got a call as to where fish were and after a sympathy call to him he did put up double digits with a few keepers, but he tells and writes a better bed time story for you guy's than me.


Please tell me he is at least paying you $1/99/month. or did you let him slide without paying?



Anyone pre-registering for the Finchaser Seminar gets first crack at the Finchaser Weather Service.....:cool:
for a low fee of only $1.99/month....he will put you on a list that automatically texts you 3 times a day with weather updates.....;)






Along with the commentary that only the OGB is capable of...:laugh:..Samples below...

"The flags are as stiff as wedding *ick! Stay home!"

"There's no way that wind is going to lay down, you are delusional!"

"This storm will kill the fishing, yep, the fat lady will be singing soon......"

"All the dillydocks talk about how they will fish the NorEaster with clams..where are they tonight?"

"Temps are dropping like a rock, the fat lady is gonna sing any minute"






I can tell ya's, as a beneficiary of this sage advice from the grizzly old salt.,,,it has saved me time and money on gas.....as apparently I have this need to drive down there every few days and wet a line. whether the fishing is worthwhile or not....

Yes, folks, for the low price of only $1.99/month, you too can be part of this texting chain....and have the chance to be labeled a googan or dillydock if you disregard the wisdom.......





Act now before the price goes up! :laugh: :HappyWave:




Dark, awaiting your report. Managed 4 shorts up to one shy of keeper size yesterday on the bucktail. Clean water and clean fish.

[storminsteve]

Got down to nomoco and right away threw small bucktails with a chartreuse grub. Picked up 5 runts. The tides are really low today. Some of the LB jetties don't even have water. Dark where is this fantastic report. Or is it a figment of your twisted imagination?:HappyWave:

[jigfreak]

Steve with low water go and crab a cheeseburger and then come back, Waste of time otherwise. Fished last nite got 7 to 15#. rubber and swimmers. Water was too calm we need a bit more of a swell. Also I don't think dark has a report, heard he took up golf or basket weaving.:kooky: :HappyWave:

[cowherder]

Awesome fishing guys! Congrats jigfreak that 15lb is a rarity from the reports I saw out there way to go!:clapping: I was out in nomoco this morning and fished 6-8. Caught 3 bass on a lighter vision surf eel, biggest was 26". Lots of fun! And it was a beautiful morning.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Thanks for the kind words jigfreak and storminsteve...:moon: :HappyWave:
You folks have to understand that as Fin gets older, he blathers sometimes....you know, memory lapses, yelling at others.....happens with the old folks/farts...:rolleyes:

Despite the generous help from Fin, I seem to have trouble catching those striper fish...:bucktooth:..so there is no report....at this time......

To all who are fishing, good luck and congrats...Nice effort and quality fish, jigfreak...:thumbsup:

Gearing up now...May have something to report tomorrow, though....stay tuned.....:HappyWave:

[buckethead]

DS you need the finchaser seminar. That will fix your catching problem.:HappyWave:
Picked up a few small ones this afternoon on shads. 6 to 25". Out again for the rest of the outgoing.

[albiealert]

Striped bass in January fantastic! Am living vicariously through your reports thanks for sharing!

[vpass]

Wow, Guys nice going I think the water is near 42 deg. the air temps Should be warmer this week. I'll give it a shot on Tuesday. Good Luck DS. Hope of a repeat of last year.

[buckethead]

Picked up 4 more to 12lbs end of day yesterday. Swiimmers.

[hookedonbass]

Great reports guys! will try to get out there this week. Sunny days in the 40s and 50s predicted. Hopefully I can find a bass too. 12 lbs is a nice fish buckethead. Everyone else seems to be catching the small ones. Way to go.

[plugcrazy]

Wow 12lb bass in the surf in January, awesome! Fantastic job on the catching. Do you think this is like last winter or will it be different?

[DarkSkies]

Finally caught some fish....and it's all thanks to Finchaser and his Finchaser weather service....:thumbsup: :HappyWave:

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?6421-Finchaser-seminar-series

He and the old Farts in Castaways B&T in Point Pleasant
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5299-NJ-small-business-spotlight-November-2009-Castaways-Bait-amp-Tackle-Point-Pleasant

have every recent bite analyzed and plotted out on a super sekrit computer program....those basstids really know.....:HappyWave:
I now get weather reports 3x/day... I get the special discounted rate for knowing what brand of chocolate cupcakes that old grouchy basstid likes the most....:moon: :laugh:

[DarkSkies]

Fri Pm - Monty Marathon.....1-4-13


It was the best of the weekend, and the best bite in a very long while....:drool:
As Fin and the other old farts pointed it there was probably a large body of fish that got pushed out of the Mud Hole and Shrewsbury Rocks by the recent frigid temps.

Those temps, coupled with the frigid bay waters, put the biggest body of fish that was here 2 weeks ago back in the Hudson/NY Bight Estuaries or on their way to the Chesapeake areas. There were no numbers of fish in the area since that. As discussed in the Striped bass migration thread...

Here...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5149-S-amp-A-Education-Series-Understanding-FALL-back-bay-bait-migration-and-fishing-patterns&highlight=striped+bass+migration

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7174-NJ-s-resident-bass-why-have-they-abandoned-us&highlight=striped+bass+migration

Those fish that were here in Dec drastically thinned out.
Yet, hope springs eternal in the mind of the surf fisherman...and I was out there...
Hit or missed fish every 10 casts,,,,,the number of missed fish was pretty embarassing to me as I missed a lot more than I usually do....with the water temps hovering around 42 degrees, other than the end of day these fish are extremely sluggish.....

What I discovered was the bigger fish hit the softest, with the schoolies being most aggressive,,,,so if you missed a light bump you would never know if that fish was large or not, and they would not come back for it....

But what a night it was, seemed to be wave after wave of late migrating fish. :fishing:




Those of you I shared the details with, be grateful because due to unusual interest and internet heroes I am not putting as much effort into the details as I normally do.....Just want to say, as nicely as I can, that there are fish out there....put in your time and you will catch some.....:thumbsup:

Am also taking minimal pics as well...sorry I enjoy the bite too much and have since realized the bite is sometimes is so specific and limited, that if you miss the 30 or 45 minute feeding window you could miss most of it.....and I want to get these fish back in the water as quickly as possible for their survival in these cold temps....

I am very grateful to have been out there for that action because the robustness of that night has since diminished....
Special thanks to the Old Grouchy Basstard Finchaser....really wish you could have joined me out there, pal. :kiss: :HappyWave:

Some pics


15983

15984

15985

Totals:
6 fish before dark,
26 bass to 11# later....
6 legal fish, kept 1 released all others,
Lots of fish came close to legal size as well.....it was a night of great action that I will remember for a long time...
Total fish 32....


Conditions and What Worked:
Wind - W/SW
Air - 35 dropping to 28
Water - 43 dropping to 42

What worked...
Bucktail was the winner before dark, 1/2 oz small profile with grub
Later it was Tsunami Swimmer, light colored plugs, Mag Darter, and ML swimmers

[vpass]

Holy S@&t. For what ever reason I felt that you would have hi numbers. Nice!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Sat night 1-5-13 Monty Half Marathon

Within the first 15 minutes I could tell it would be a bit different....fish bit differently, they hit different offerings than before, and it was like I had to work for every single one...if I didn't feel they were there I could have given up, but instead played it like a chess game....targeting each fish by teasing them to hit, and moving several times.

As I experienced last year, the places that were golden the night before were barren this night, so I had do a lot of travelling. The fatigue and extra effort required to get those fish finally got to me. Passed out in my car and missed what was probably a limited morning bite. Got to one place and managed one last fish on a small storm shad.

Some pics:

15986


15987



Totals:
4 fish before dark,
13 bass to 13# later....
3 legal fish,... released ,
1 small bass on shad at sunup

Total fish 18....


Conditions and What Worked:
Wind - W/SW
Air - 35 dropping to 28
Water - 42 dropping to 40

What worked...
Bucktail was the winner before dark, 1/2 oz small profile with grub
Later it was Mag Darter, and ML swimmers, and a few fish on Tsunami eels, and light colored bomber

What was interesting that the plugs that I did well on the night before, did not produce this night....I really had to tease these fish into hitting.

[DarkSkies]

Sun night 1-6-13 Monty Full Marathon

A friend was out late afternoon and did pretty well.
In fact he got almost as many in a short time as I did in multiple hours. Food for thought. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.png

IMO that is the best time for levels of activity. With the dropping water and air temps at night you can really see, that every half hour into the darkness and cold, the bite seems to diminish and you have to work ever harder for each fish.....

This was a night of a lot of traveling as well. Had to cover twice the ground I did the night before to get similar numbers. What was notable was the definite decrease in numbers of fish in the area as opposed to just 2 short nights ago. Long periods of inactivity, 30-40 minutes or more, coupled with a few decent bites getting 2-3 fish at a time. Seemed like they were travelling by in scattered schools, and each location had a different feed time.....kind of frustrating but I kept at it.....

I would rather work like a crazy man for these fish at night than catch thousands in the day...:kooky:..it is what drives me, what inspires me....so please don't think of this as complaining. just trying to be honest....but when I am out there in the cloudless nights and Dark Skies....;)...there is no place else I would rather be....

I am happy and privileged to see things that others sometimes don't....the rising of the moon at 2am....like a great big fireball in the ocean......the meteor showers, the various wildlife......and the busting the top surface for a plug bite.....not many things in life compare to the adrenalin I get from that.....:drool:...to me it is priceless.....





Some pics.......
Only took one pic, the first fish, got on the first cast.....on a Daiwa SP...that Surfwalker donated to me for some good mojo...:HappyWave:..To be quite clear the bite was so limited that I didn't get another fish for another 1 1/2 hours.....very slow pick overall in comparison to the other nights, but I kept at it, hitting singles and doubles along the way.........


15988










Totals:

16 bass to 27".... none was legal, fish were noticably smaller this trip out....while for the previous 2 trips I had managed to avoid the tiny bass that are around in the daytime, this trip it seemed they dominated the catch.......
2 fish on ML swimmer at daybreak....

Total fish 18....


Conditions and What Worked:
Wind - W/SW - hardly any wind at all for the most of the night
Air - 42 dropping to 40 - one of the nicest nights for fishing in a long time....compared to others when it was so cold my fingers froze into numbness and I had to take a break every 15 minutes....
Water - 42 dropping to 40

What worked...
1st cast fish on Daiwa SP...- put it away after that....I'll explain in another post why....Bombers and ML swimmers seemed to be the ticket to get these sluggish fish to hit....










Total for the 3 trips....68 fish to 13 lbs.......

[Shorelady]

Finally spent some time fishing from the surf this weekend during the day. Sunday was a fun day. 12-15 shorts (don't count them very often). One at 29 inches. Fishing buddy did about the same, with one at 28 inches. We both were soaking clams. One of the yak guys I fish with, launched and had about 25 shorts from noon til 4pm. Nice Jan. day!

[cowherder]

Wow looks like some nice fish are here! Jigfreak shorelady and buckethead very nice. Dark you are an animal! Did you live in your car all that time? Great catches!:clapping: :clapping:

[dogfish]

Wow looks like some nice fish are here! Jigfreak shorelady and buckethead very nice. Dark you are an animal! Did you live in your car all that time? Great catches!:clapping: :clapping:

Dark starts a successful franchise, www.Nomadgear.com (http://www.NomadGear.com), for all the needs of the traveling angler. Just kidding. I am bored and will not see fish for a few months. Enjoyed pics and reports. You folks are lucky to have fish in January. Keep up the good work

[BassBuddah]

X2, wish that happened here but we can't catch them after Dec 31.
Nice going, great numbers. congrats on the C&R as well.

[ledhead36]

Really jealous of that action you are getting now, ds. Won't be long now before we can fish the bay on March 1. Thanks for posting the pics in the meantime because I really needed to see some bass. You should come up the bay and hang with us one night in March, I'll try to keep wish4fish on a leash.:) Props on the fish, I know about all the long hours you put into it and the times you haven't caught. Glad you are finally getting some. Hope you stop by in March.

[stormchaser]

:clapping:Fantastic catches fellas. Enjoy them while you can.