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DarkSkies
07-03-2012, 10:29 PM
NJ fishing reports for July 2012. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)





NJ fishing reports for July 2012...www.stripersandanglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)
Important when registering on our site -- use an active email address so you can activate your account to be able to post.

Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
Out Front (Ocean) OR -- Out Back (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!


IF you are fishing an area that is NOT residential, being vague is less critical. For example, it's acceptable to say (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


If I name this place on the internet, will it be too crowded for me to enjoy tomorrow when people hear I got 30 fish here today?


If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.
More discussion on this:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=3763 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=3763)

We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

If you have any additional details you would like to share - weather conditions, tide (incoming, outgoing, ebb, flood) water temps, bait present, or other mention of techniques or plugs used - feel free.






Some acronyms -

SH - Sandy Hook
NoMoCo - Northern Monmouth County (below the hook to Shark River Inlet SRI)
SoMoCo - Southern Monmouth County (below SRI to Manasquan Inlet)

OC - Ocean County
IBSP - Island Beach State Park
LBI - Long Beach Island

AC - Atlantic County
AI - Absecon Inlet
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
CMR - Cape May Rips
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
CBBT - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
DB - Delaware Bay

DarkSkies
07-03-2012, 10:30 PM
MikeO,
you won the plug in the June 2012 random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:
PM me your address so I can send it out to ya!




We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.

If you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well. Anyone who posts a report can win a plug even if they got skunked! :skunk::D


This month we're giving out plugs from Ace Baits, or something similar.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=83)

Thanks for posting and helping to make this a great site! :clapping:


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&thumb=1&d=1238964999 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&d=1238964999)

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&thumb=1&d=1238965622 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&d=1238965622)


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&thumb=1&d=1238965319 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&d=1238965319)

DarkSkies
07-03-2012, 10:44 PM
A little late with the reports....unlike that OLD GROUCHY BASSTARD FINCHASER, :2flip: :moon: :argue: :HappyWave:who has a guy in a helicopter take him to the Sekrit Spot where the most fish are, I'm just a poor surfcaster, :laugh: destined to roam the surf aimlessly at night...in search of a few fish on artificials....:fishing:


Fri night.....
3 short bass, 8 bluefish to 8#....actually more excited about the bluefish then the bass, it seems some bigger bluefish are coming in the surfline at night to feed....and they are picky as hell, so whether some want to recognize it or not,,,,,8 of the larger ones deep in the night is something I consider an achievement......

They are truly picky, feeding on very small bait now, and are also as sluggish where I find them, as the bass were at 43 degree temps in the winter......

The 8# bluefish was halfway in before I realized it had any weight to it...and then it finally decided to tailwalk and pull some drag....it doesn't get much better than that, in NJ, for summer doldrum fishing for blues and bass. :cool:

Yep, it was another marathon session.....

Embarassed to admit it took me 5 hours to generate those numbers....all for a 1 hour period of feeding activity...the action is what kept me pumped as I had a hit or miss on every 5 casts or so during that period...and if you are an action junkie you might be able to appreciate that,,,,,I just haven't had action that robust for more than a few trips now...and as the small forage fish have moved into the surfline a few fish are coming in to feed at night.....

DarkSkies
07-03-2012, 11:13 PM
Sun night....

After Friday night's robust action I was eager to get back out...unfortunately I missed Sat night, was too wiped......but hit it hard again on Sun night....

I had taken a long detour at sunrise Sun morning to scout out some different areas. found a lot of small bait and felt if I came back at night I could do well...

Drove the extra miles to the southern area first thing Sun night....not even a tap.....I know, hey, that's fishin..but I was sorely disappointed anyway...:mad:










A good surfcaster,when faced with adversity or declining conditions, is always looking for his next move and trying to think about the forage and where the fish will be feeding....
The way things have slowed down, a lot of folks I know are already making the trips to MA or MTK....I really don't feel like making that time committment just yet....and the fuel and tolls factor into it as well....so I'm trying to make NJ my science project, poking and prodding every corner of the state to find some fish on artificials at night.....

When you're successful, the adrenalin, and action, is addictive...
but when you fail despite good analysis and planning, it's a big letdown.....:bucktooth:

Googan Central......:laugh:










So on Sun night, 5 hours into the trip, extra miles on the car, I had not even a tap....totally disappointed, running out of steam.....

I sat in the car before I made it to the next stop......asking myself what the hell I was doing? :don't know why:....I really had no more energy left and told myself it was a losing battle...and despite that got out and pushed on...I was so tired I had to push one foot in front of the other....it really was daunting as I told myself I should just quit....but I pushed on anyway....

And when I finally set up to cast, on the 10th cast I was into fish....:drool: it's amazing what a little action can do for your spirit, when you are down in the dumps.....and these fish energized me....

The one thing I didn't mention in the previous report is these fish are very sluggish, for me, at night...a standard retrieve only produces bumps or missed hits. When they miss it they generally do not come back again....and this night, there was a pretty constant swell, which made presentation very difficult,,,you had to time your casts, and "tease" the fish to get solid hookups....

Nonetheless, at least there were fish...haven't been so happy to find bluefish in a while...and the same thing...1/2 hour of feeding activity this time., 5 bluefish to 7#, before the bite shut off completely.....









Just wanted to add that these bigger bluefish only seem to be feeding at night in certain areas,...some friends have gotten them up to 10#. Again, to me this is fantastic news considering the sizes most folks have been getting....and they are tough to catch ,,,despite all the people out there talking about how easy blues are to catch,,,,that is not the case at night...and for me, they are very picky for the artificial bite. One of the reasons for this is probably the small forage, another the high water temps.....


What's working
Fri night the Daiwa SM (not the SP) was good as this smaller profile was what they seemed to want...
Alhough the crappy Mag Darter, with no color left in it, that I used to tease sluggish fish in the winter, was the winner in terms of bigger fish and the only presentation that the bass hit....

Sun night the Mag Darter was the only thing that got any action for me...

storminsteve
07-04-2012, 06:28 AM
When you're successful, the adrenalin, and action, is addictive...
...


Amen to that Dark! I want to thank you for helping me to dial in last night. The fish were right where you said they would be. I would never have thought they would be in that zone. I picked up 3 bass. One almost a keeeper. all released. The daiwa sp did the trick. Like you said they would be, they were right past the last breaker, no more, no less. I had to go home early hope you got into em too dude. Thanks again. It was good to catch some bass in July.:fishing:
:HappyWave:

finchaser
07-04-2012, 11:58 AM
This morning 4:30 to 6:30 AM released 3 bass to 32" and 8 blues to 15# all on jig head and rip tide mullet had to quit do to thunder storms only fished do to pending bad weather keeping Benny's at bay

Monty
07-04-2012, 01:40 PM
3 short bass, 8 bluefish to 8#....actually more excited about the bluefish then the bass, it seems some bigger bluefish are coming in the surfline at night to feed....and they are picky as hell, so whether some want to recognize it or not,,,,,8 of the larger ones deep in the night is something I consider an achievement......

Yep, it was another marathon session.....

Embarassed to admit it took me 5 hours to generate those numbers....all for a 1 hour period of feeding activity...the action is what kept me pumped as I had a hit or miss on every 5 casts or so during that period...and if you are an action junkie you might be able to appreciate that,,,,,I just haven't had action that robust for more than a few trips now...and as the small forage fish have moved into the surfline a few fish are coming in to feed at night.....


I picked up 3 bass. One almost a keeeper. all released. The daiwa sp did the trick. Like you said they would be, they were right past the last breaker, no more, no less.
:HappyWave:


This morning 4:30 to 6:30 AM released 3 bass to 32" and 8 blues to 15# all on jig head and rip tide mullet had to quit do to thunder storms only fished do to pending bad weather keeping Benny's at bay

Great report Dark, sometimes if you fish 4 hours with nothing and then catch a few, those fish caught make ya feel better than if ya caught all night. Persistence and your skill pays off, and besides fishing is fun.....at least its supposed to be (those guys who stand around waiting for fish to appear, what fun is that....I digress).

Storminsteve and Finchaser congrats on the catching, nice Blue (15 lb) great to see the bass catching in July.

I can't wait to get out and fish a little this weekend, it can't get here quick enough.

buckethead
07-04-2012, 02:02 PM
Got one bass last night, tossing the crab.;)
13 lbs. Great reports guys. Dark I read that report and I was sold. You have the talent for making even something as mundane as catching sunnies interesting. You really should look to make some bucks from it. Good read.

clamchucker
07-04-2012, 03:33 PM
Yes I second what bucket head said. Very interesting reports dark skies. I wish I could say as much and I appreciate the effort you put into them good job. I fished the park for a few hours this morning. I waited the rain out and in between had some bluefish. You can get a lot of them now if you use a small type teaser about 18" in front of your metal. Hickory shad as well. That is good news about the bigger bluefish. So far I have not seen them down here. They are all around 1-2lbs.
I am a bit concerned about the lack of larger fluke in our surf here. This is a very poor year for ocean county so far. I hear it is different on the northern beaches.
Happy 4th of July to all the stripers and anglers members and their families. dark my best to you and your wife.

dogfish
07-04-2012, 04:09 PM
ds get on up here and stop playing with the schoolies, it ain't mannerly.
All you joisey guys suck anyway can't catch a fish without a bunker blitz from what I hear.:laugh: We dont get many bunker up this way, have to get em with some plugging. The bite is good now dark, not next week not in august, Come on up. You can sleep on my couch on the porch. That way it won't smell too much, and the couch is old.
And:moon: to all you joisey guys.

Mike O
07-05-2012, 11:43 AM
Got one bump on a popper early Sunday, then got rained on and called it a night. Hey dark, thanks on the winning plug. I need all the help I can get. I hear that they are still getting some bluefish action in the bay off the beach with bait. Any truth to that?

DarkSkies
07-06-2012, 09:50 PM
Hey dark, thanks on the winning plug. I need all the help I can get.

Mike you don't need that much help, you're a good fisherman.....if you shift your fishing times to fish more darkness and deeper in the night you might be surprised what you see....
And make sure you hold on to your rod as there are big rays and sharks out there now if you are fishing with bunker...:scared:

The area you fish has very warm water now...the 100 degree days aren't helping it much...
The fluking in the Bay area is exceptional this year
If you're still interested in bluefish there should be a bit of a lull for the next 3 weeks as a lot of the larger ones have left the inshore area to spawn now.....

Friends and I were getting them to 10# at night just last week in the ocean, but I haven't got a touch from a bluefish at night in the last 2 visits out..so I can safely say the surf action from the larger ones should be winding down a bit until the spawn is over.


When you go fishing in August, contact me via PM and I'll send you to a few places in your area that the bigger bluefish move in at the top of the flood...and the peanuts that are around now will be on the menu....it's a great way for a Dad to spend a few hours fishing with his kids and have some great night time bluefish fun....these will be areas where the tide is so specific, if you are more than 2 hours off, you won't see the action....

Contact me toward the end of the month and I'll try to put ya into some good bait and small plug action with the bigger blues....they follow the same patterns every year the peanuts are thick....Good luck...feel free to PM me any time...:HappyWave:

DarkSkies
07-06-2012, 10:00 PM
"Dark I can't catch bass on a Full Moon"

That statement was made by someone I know in the Winter.
Blame the heat...the algae...
The fact that 90% of the bigger bass are now in the Block/LI Sound/MA area....

But don't blame the moon...

I was out Tue PM....
The night before the July 4th Holiday...
It was hard to find bass and I covered a lot of ground, but my results were better than usual....
9 short bass, not one bluefish.....

The swell was still pretty steady but minimizing...
Lately I look at the swell report, and won't go, if it's bigger than 4', 5 seconds duration...
Or smaller than 1.5',,,,because either of these conditions do not usually produce numbers for my trips...

With the fish being very scattered, I'm picking up a lot of "1's and 2's",,,where you only catch one or 2 and have to move on till you find them again....lots of walking...I lost 7lbs in just the last 2 weeks alone...

What worked:
The Daiwa and Magdarter both worked, but the Magdarter had an edge in producing # of strikes.
At one point I had solid action for an hour.
Were it not for googan error I could have a decent pick of fish into the double digits, but I did lose some fishing time...:bucktooth:

DarkSkies
07-06-2012, 10:14 PM
Wed PM report....

Encouraged by the action the night before, (I would classify it as fantastic for this time of year given these high ocean temps....)

I was out the next night......


And this is why it becomes so difficult, and so many guys give up searching for bass, and settle for the relative ease of fishing for fluke.......

All the activity I found the night before, was not evident at all....
This despite the full moon tides, and some scouting I did, letting me know it was time to be out there again.....




As mentioned, a good surfcaster learns when it is to his advantage to exploit the conditions that will bring him fish.....and returns as many times as he (or she) can when the action is good....




I was so confident of certain conditions producing some bigger fish than the schoolies that I promised to Finchaser and another serious Surfcaster friend of mine, that during those tides I would pick up a fish of 15 # or better, on Artificials.....fishing those tides........

And, googan that I am, I failed.....:whoo:
Moral of the story,,,,never never tell someone about a fish you are going to catch ahead of time :beatin:



















I did get a teen fish, 13# and 33".(released)..but it took me all night to catch....
and it did not meet the size of the fish I thought should be there.....
Additionally, I was predicting some good action from larger fish in my hypothesis for that night's fishing...
based on scouting, real-time research, and trends from my log....and the bite I was predicting never happened....hey that's fishing....:don't know why:

As Fin commonly says, you can't catch fish that aren't there....:learn:

And I want folks reading this out there to know...that 98% of people have given up bass fishing at night, because there really are so few fish around....

If you really love it., and surfcasting means something to you, and have the stamina to put in a marathon session, sometimes it's real rewarding to catch just a few bass, or the one teen bass that no one imagined was there.....along with the solitude...to me that is priceless.....:fishing:



Action....there were no missed hits at all that night...that was the only hit, only fish,,,,all on a mag darter.

DarkSkies
07-06-2012, 10:27 PM
** Want to thank all you guys for the funny comments and encouragement. :HappyWave:

Some of the posts in the last 2 weeks were fantastic, really made me laugh...wish I had more time to respond but this has been the traditional time for me to fish hard. When guys start talking about road trips to other places, there have always been a few bass for me and a few others out in NJ at night,,,,

As it becomes almost impossible, and even good bites shift in area from night to night, you have to be half-insane to want to still fish for bass....:kooky:

To me, it beats the alternative to a long road trip....
In the next month I will be gearing up the yak for some LI Sound night trips,.,,,but in the meantime this fishing is a lot closer, and I feel, more of a challenge....provided you have an appetite for 5 hour energy drinks....:laugh:

baitstealer
07-06-2012, 11:01 PM
At one point I had solid action for an hour.
Were it not for googan error I could have a decent pick of fish into the double digits, but I did lose some fishing time...:bucktooth:

I can't even imagine that, action for an hour. I am lucky to find them biting for 5 minutes and then they stop biting. What is the googan error you were talking about? btw great job on the fish. Seems like you and finchaser really put in the time and are finding them, way to go.

DarkSkies
07-08-2012, 10:11 AM
^ Baitstealer, things to remember...

1. We absolutely know the water we fish in. If there are bass there we can find them. Sometimes it's not so easy.... as the high temps have pushed most bass and bigger blues out of our area. I try to be clear about this without being negative, but feel it's important not to mislead people....it really is pretty tough to catch a bass right noiw...most of the bass left are "table scraps" with a few quality ones mixed in...
You won't see these fish at all unless you are fishing where the highest concentrations of bait/forage are, and even then, some of these catches are "lucky fish" 1 or 2 at a time.

This time of year, the best best for catching bass is using bait...clams, bunker, crabs, eels. It is extremely challenging to catch them on artificials, and as a result most guys have given up the pursuit.

Hope this helps and honestly lays the reality out there......:HappyWave:













2. Googan error...has come to mean a lot of things on this site....
For Monty it could mean hooking himself in the hand, casting into a tree, 50 miles from the ocean....:laugh: :HappyWave:





For me, it could mean something like...
Doing a faceplant on sand or water when I'm so tired I should be home and not out fishin...
Getting a wind-knot that takes 1/4 hour to straighten out, losing valuable fishing time..

Or drinking so many 5 hour energy drinks that somehow I end up shatting my pants.and have to wade in the water half-naked to get everything cleaned up again...:scared:..:blackeye:
(And people wonder why I only fish at night....)
Or losing a fish to structure...

storminsteve
07-08-2012, 10:40 AM
Funny stuff dark, I san see why you fish alone, as well.:laugh:

I fished nomoco for an hour around sun up. Few small blues. Seems they are getting smaller and smaller.

Monty
07-08-2012, 01:39 PM
2. Googan error...has come to mean a lot of things on this site....
For Monty it could mean hooking himself in the hand, casting into a tree, 50 miles from the ocean....:laugh: :HappyWave:

For me, it could mean something like...
Doing a faceplant on sand or water when I'm so tired I should be home and not out fishin...
Getting a wind-knot that takes 1/4 hour to straighten out, losing valuable fishing time..

Or drinking so many 5 hour energy drinks that somehow I end up shatting my pants.and have to wade in the water half-naked to get everything cleaned up again...:scared:..:blackeye:
(And people wonder why I only fish at night....)
Or losing a fish to structure...

:HappyWave: :ROFLMAO :huh: :ROFLMAO

Fished this morning ocean side 1:30 - 8:00, lost 30 minutes to lightning.
Caught everything I was trying not to catch...2 short fluke, 1 Searobin and about a dozen teeny blue fish.
Caught on Magdarter, 5" Hogy, Crocodile and Teaser. Water did not feel real hot, was a good time, great to be out there (no bugs, not hot). Missed a bunch of hits (solid one on the Magdarter :beatin:), small bait around, looked like about an inch long.
Never went more than 30 minutes without a hit, had not been ocean side in over a month, was fun, one five hour energy drink plus one Red Bull (did not dump in my pants or the ocean :thumbsup: :HappyWave: )

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_8_Sun_rise.jpg

storminsteve
07-09-2012, 02:56 PM
Water did not feel real hot, was a good time, great to be out there (no bugs, not hot). Missed a bunch of hits (solid one on the Magdarter :beatin:), small bait around, looked like about an inch long.
Never went more than 30 minutes without a hit, had not been ocean side in over a month, was fun, one five hour energy drink plus one Red Bull (did not dump in my pants or the ocean :thumbsup: :HappyWave: )

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_8_Sun_rise.jpg



Awesome report and picture Monty!:drool:
I fished last night, somoco
did not crap my pants (Dark you are waaaaaaay out there sometimes).:kooky: :ROFLMAO Don't know if I would have the stones to post all that up even if it did happen, but you sure do know how to find fish. :thumbsup:
I picked up 2 shorts on the mag-d.
Good to be out there. The heat died down and it felt like early fall.

buckethead
07-09-2012, 03:49 PM
..
You won't see these fish at all unless you are fishing where the highest concentrations of bait/forage are, and even then, some of these catches are "lucky fish" 1 or 2 at a time.

This time of year, the best best for catching bass is using bait...clams, bunker, crabs, eels. It is extremely challenging to catch them on artificials, and as a result most guys have given up the pursuit.

Hope this helps and honestly lays the reality out there......:HappyWave:



Dark I got some lucky fish over the weekend.:) 12 and 14lbs. They were looking down. Let me know if you want to borrow the rake.
BTW great reports. rofl at the shatting the pants reference. I could say - "Sh*t happens.":ROFLMAO TMI anyway but funny.

hookedonbass
07-09-2012, 04:34 PM
Fished island beach around sunrise today.The tide was coming in and I got some pretty good action on small snapper blues I was chunking that I caught on sabiki rogs in the bay yesterday. Caught almost 10 blues to 2 pounds. Where are the keeper fluke this year?

DarkSkies
07-09-2012, 10:37 PM
Buckethead, thanks for the offer. I've gotten this far into the year catching bass strictly on artficials. Though I did briefly throw some rigged eels last week before one got bitten in half by a large bluefish at night.
I will be using bait, and especially when I take the yak to LI, with the T&W...not ready to give up on the artificial bite. just yet.....but the offers are always appreciated, you guys are the best. :thumbsup: :HappyWave: Even the ones that toss jabs at me.....:moon: :HappyWave: Ya make it all worthwhile....








*****

Fri Report -
Fished hours and hours, hoping that some scouting that I did, and the moon tides, would pay off....not a touch, save for one short bass around 4am, mag darter.


Sun Report -
The S wind pattern had been a PITA on Fri, never do well on a straight S.
Sun it was different, lots of variability but eventually it settled into a steady NW.
This was ok but the swell from an offshore storm kicked up late at night. The duration of every 3 secs made presentation pretty difficult. I had to time my casts and lost a lot of fishing time doing that. In addition, if there were any bass and they missed the plug, you lost them on that cast. They could not come back and find it in that swell. This, according to good surfcasting theory, would normally prompt a switch to bigger plugs, easier for them to find.

I did this, throwing the SS bottle plug, and some ML swimmers, not a touch on the bigger stuff. Not a touch for me in that rougher water using the Daiwa either.

Finally settled into a routine using the Mag Darter. Managed 3 small bass on that, and some missed hits. Tough night but at least it paid off with some action.

DarkSkies
07-09-2012, 10:49 PM
Never went more than 30 minutes without a hit, had not been ocean side in over a month, was fun, one five hour energy drink plus one Red Bull (did not dump in my pants or the ocean :thumbsup: :HappyWave: )

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_8_Sun_rise.jpg


Monty what can I say...those substances in the stomach at night produce all sorts of wierd rumblings, at least for me.:laugh:

The action you described, keeps pulling me out there...every time I say to myself..."I'm done with this summer bass fishing!," too much effort, the drive, the hours,etc....and I have a lousy night...the night after is pretty good, and all the hours spent blind casting for nothing, are forgotten....the action draws me back, over and over again....

And as you guys described, it's pretty comfortable out there at night. I do wear a of clothes to keep the bugs away tbough...some of my friends are fishing in shorts. However, if the wind dies down for even a second, you will be covered up in insects...so I wear all the long sleeves, long pants., and sweat like a pig. Probably part of the reason there are so many smells coming from my body when I'm done...but at least the bugs ain't eating me alive...


Great reports guys, great effort....:thumbsup:
:fishing:

bababooey
07-12-2012, 06:17 PM
I can't believe you guys are still catching bass. I haven't seen one for over 6 weeks. Have been out fluking and sea bassing. There aren't even any striped bass on the lumps and offshore. There usually are a few. The bunker have gone over to the LI side and some of the seas here are dead until you get into deeper water. Kudos gentlemen, don't know how you are doing it. There is not one report on the internet of anyone catching bass in northern NJ now. Somehow you guys are getting it done. Congrats.

BassBuddah
07-13-2012, 09:08 AM
To me, it beats the alternative to a long road trip....


Don't waste your time coming out here yet, Dark, the surf bite is pretty slow at mecca. See my report in the LI thread for details.

DarkSkies
07-13-2012, 03:26 PM
Bass Buddah, sorry to hear that. I have been hearing a lack of enthusiasm about Montauk this year. Possibly due to the heat, but also because the surf fishing is poor, so far.

I have kayaker friends who have made the trip and getting mid 20's and bigger fish at night, but apparently this has not translated to the bite the Surf guys look forward to every year.....

Montauk is the fish highway of the East Coast, right in the middle of all the fish migration.
If there are not fish on the edges of the surf there, that causes me real concern.


Bababooey thanks for the kind and flattering words. I don't want to get people upset who read this, but when the fish are there I or the members here can find them. Striped bass are relatively easy to catch, provided you can find ones that are willing to feed.

Fishing at night helps, but I will probably irritate some more by saying that it is harder to catch bluefish at night, randomly, on artificials, than it is to catch bass....bluefish will "peck" at a plug when not aggressively feeding. Even the big ones...I run into that issue as well when I fish for them in the rivers in the fall.








My results have suffered lately. I have gotten bass to 17# in the last few weeks, dropped a few slightly larger.
Each one of those was a "sweat and blood" fish produced after hours of blind casting...even the smaller ones took work...

Why?...

As I said they are relatively easy to catch when they are stacked up, but these are the table scraps that you have to hunt down, 1 or 2 at a time. Putting that catch of 9 bass together last week, was almost a miracle....and happened because I happened to run into a large body of bait that the fish were feeding on. Nonetheless, I could not manage 10, which is kind of a bragging number this time of year, the best I could do was 9....:don't know why:

And hold your praise, until you read the latest 2 reports below....2 trips with no action, saved by a few bluefish at the end of the latest trip.....:HappyWave:
:fishing:
*****

DarkSkies
07-13-2012, 03:40 PM
Mon night -
Trip was because of the good night tides. Tried to change things up a bit and changed my trip route somewhat. The ocean was angry at night, larger swells. It wasn't the swells so much it was the duration. Swell info had that at 7 seconds which isn't bad. The thing is, there was an intense mid-period swell with a duration of every 4 seconds. Swells like that IMO make fishing in the surf very difficult at night as your presentation suffers. You have to time the casts with the swells to keep your artificial in the strike zone. Very tough. I cut the trip short to 3 hours it was so dismal.

Not one touch for me. :skunk:




Wed Night -

Was out again because of the good night tides, and the change in the weather/wind pattern. This time of year, as has been explained previously, there is usually a S/SW wind pattern, which can put fishing in a rut, except for the moon tides.

Wed night, the forecast was for a slight N/NE with a SE swell.
Had to be out there to see if that would shake things up a bit.
The only thing that got shaken up was me as I was faced with a strong surf, 4' waves, and duration of 2 seconds. This was a mid-period swell, also discussed here, but so intense it felt like it was never ending.

Gave it a shot for 3 hours, got a little beat up, and finally knew it was time to call it quits. Had no action at all. Big surf like this calls for bigger swimmers and profiles. Anything that will stay in the strike zone. This night, even though big profiles were not previously producing, I was forced to throw them. Anything smaller would have gotten lost in the froth.

Was a little disappointed when I left as I really wanted just a little bit of action to justify the time and effort. Made a quick step to a more protected area and finally connected with some fish. I had an amazing :rolleyes::kooky:10 minutes of action with small bluefish on rubber.

We all like to complain about small bluefish, but when you fish hours without any action at all they are sometimes very welcome to find....
I landed a few, and just as quickly it was over. Hey, that's fishin.

storminsteve
07-13-2012, 05:29 PM
Wed Night -


The only thing that got shaken up was me as I was faced with a strong surf, 4' waves, and duration of 2 seconds. This was a mid-period swell, also discussed here, but so intense it felt like it was never ending.

Gave it a shot for 3 hours, got a little beat up, and finally knew it was time to call it quits. Had no action at all. Big surf like this calls for bigger swimmers and profiles. Anything that will stay in the strike zone. This night, even though big profiles were not previously producing, I was forced to throw them. Anything smaller would have gotten lost in the froth.


:scared: dark you are a madman! I was there early on Wed, looked for you. I only stayed an hour. Didn't even fish cause the surf looked so gnarly. One set coming in after the other, don't know how you even managed to find water to cast to. Be careful dude I don't want to read about you in the morning paper.
My report, I went to fish, but did not. Will try out again this weekend. I think we need some bad weather to get things going.

cowherder
07-13-2012, 06:39 PM
I have to comment that I even learn something when you post a skunk report Dark. I have never seen reports at the level of details that yours go into. This is like Zenos Journal only he posts once a month and you post this every day. Please be careful out there like Steve said. And thank you for your effort keep up the good work

finchaser
07-13-2012, 09:56 PM
Out front too rough and full of weeds so
Wednesday fished the back 4:30 Am to 6:30 Am 7 bass and 11 bluefish all released all on plugs
Wednesday 6 to 7Pm 5 bass all released on plugs
Thursday 4:30 to 6:30 AM 4 bass and 6 bluefish all released on rubber
Thursday 6:30 to 8PM 3 bass and 4 blues all released on bucktails
Friday 5 to 7AM 3 bluefish released on bucktails
Friday 6 to 8PM NADA

All bass were 16 to 24"
All blues were 2 to 7 pounds

paco33
07-13-2012, 10:42 PM
Outstanding report finchaser, congrats on the catching.

Monty
07-14-2012, 08:12 AM
Outstanding report finchaser, congrats on the catching.

^^^^^
What he said
Great report Finchaser.

finchaser
07-14-2012, 12:03 PM
Thanks guys

this morning 4;30 to 6:30 AM 2 bass and 2 blues on rubber all still alive and well

DarkSkies
07-14-2012, 06:08 PM
Finchaser....consistent catching...for a consistently Grouchy Basstard....:laugh: :HappyWave:



*******
Managed 5 bass last night. Conditions were a surfcasters' dream...:drool:
Wind was light and variable, I think at one time it came from every direction except the North.

The swell had died down to manageable levels.
Tried the Daiwa with no success, one missed fish.
All the rest of the fish came from the MagDarter.

It was a slow pick, for me the fish were scattered. All healthy schoolies, all under legal size.

baitstealer
07-14-2012, 06:37 PM
You guys do catch some nice numbers. I guess you do get skunked too but it seems like finchaser never gets skunked. With all due respect how does he do that? Awesome keep it up!

DarkSkies
07-14-2012, 07:03 PM
I guess you do get skunked too but it seems like finchaser never gets skunked. With all due respect how does he do that?


Baitstealer.....
He fishes a lot, more than most, and completely knows the areas he fishes in...so much that he could fish them blindfolded... :cool:

There are times when none of us can catch a fish, because they just aren't there....there are weeks in a row when he's out there, twice a day,,,,getting blanked....yet the old geezer just keeps at it until he gets into em.....









**But the real Finchaser
secret.....
First time revealed......

When fishing is slow, he takes the piece of rubber, reaches into his crotch, rubs the rubber a few times in the nether regions, so it carries an extra scent......:ROFLMAO

And when he takes it out and presents it to the fish, the scent trail is so pungent that the fish.....they cannot resist.....:scared:

jigfreak
07-14-2012, 08:25 PM
^^ Dark, I think if there any smells on the rubber it has to come from your direction. Just saying.:d

finchaser
07-14-2012, 09:19 PM
You guys do catch some nice numbers. I guess you do get skunked too but it seems like finchaser never gets skunked. With all due respect how does he do that? Awesome keep it up!

Got skunked Friday night see above also like Dark said I fish every day and the days I don't post are skunks

Tonight 7 to 9 PM 6 bass and 1 bluefish all on jig head and rubber Havoc paddle tail

storminsteve
07-15-2012, 12:31 PM
**But the real Finchaser
secret.....
First time revealed......

When fishing is slow, he takes the piece of rubber, reaches into his crotch, rubs the rubber a few times in the nether regions, so it carries an extra scent......:ROFLMAO

And when he takes it out and presents it to the fish, the scent trail is so pungent that the fish.....they cannot resist.....:scared:


^^ Dark, I think if there any smells on the rubber it has to come from your direction. Just saying.:d


ROLFMAO funny.
"scent trail is so pungent that the fish...they cannot resist"
:
"If the glove does not fit, then you must acquit!"
Hey Dark I think you stole that from Johnny Cochran.:HappyWave:





I fished moco last night from 9-11 got 2 shortie bass on the MD. Dark were you out there, looked for you but couldn't seem to find you. Finchaser great catches you are on fire lately!

Monty
07-15-2012, 02:29 PM
Tonight 7 to 9 PM 6 bass and 1 bluefish all on jig head and rubber Havoc paddle tail
Great report, congrats on the bass (again) Finchaser :HappyWave:
My wacky report.
I fished this morning ocean side from 2:30 - 8:00.
Was delayed (stuck on the Driscoll Bridge ) for an hour and half. Fished one area for an hour and did not catch anything. Moved south about 10-15 miles. I proceeded to catch everything but what I wanted to catch :banghead2:.
Caught a herring on a teaser, 3 Sea robins on teasers, a small blue fish on a teaser and then two rays (one on a teaser, ended up hooked on the tail....took a good 15 minutes and some strong runs to land), the other on J-rod 4 oz metal....when it hit the lure I think I saw it roll in the wave....., landed and released in 5 minutes. Was real happy how my rod and line held up to these fish as I had to really put it to them to stop the runs and get them off the bottom. Lost a few fish on long casts (small fish), missed a blow up on the Dookster :wheeeee:. Was fun, no bugs, water not to hot, no one else out there until the sun came out. I had not caught a sea robin this year until last week (now I'm catching them on teasers in front of poppers) and I can't remember the last time I caught a ray.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_15_f1a.jpg

finchaser
07-15-2012, 04:02 PM
Monty nice ray, at least your named after a fish :HappyWave:

Well for Baitstealer's sake I will try and be like Dark and give a SKUNK report.

Fished this AM from 4 to 6:30 our little group caught Nada. This was not do to our presentation. We believe it was do to the position of the sun being on an off angle with the upcoming New Moon causing abnormal current.The wind turning on and off caused erratic cast distance. The lack of rain has raised the salinity of the water when factoring in the 78 degree water it has changed the molecular structure of the water to oxygen ratio:ROFLMAO.

Now that we got all that bullsh_t out of the way, the real reason the dirty weed infested water caused by the east and south winds pushed into the back and screwed things up. I'll be in search of the next pattern when i will report what I catch until then, Dark will entertain you with his bed time stories.

Here's a real eye opener cell phone/INTERNET fishing is over do to the death of way to many fish. This will mean people will have to search out patterns that produce fish on there own. Until a major storm, bait especially clams will not work, except for trash fish which will thrive with no bass to eat them. Most of the so called bass pro's, will go back to where they came from ,as they dream of next spring when they can do there mindless need no experience snag and drop that caused this from beach ,jetty and boat.
Yep things are going back to how they use to be and it will get harder do to the lack of fish.Don't believe me check out your local beaches and jetties they are empty. You can read all the different BS stories written and posted it gets down to something really simple you can't catch what doesn't exsist.

Berkley is happy as Gulp sales are throgth roof as all the fluke fisherman gone wild have returned where they came from.:clapping:

cowherder
07-15-2012, 05:05 PM
**But the real Finchaser
secret.....
First time revealed......

When fishing is slow, he takes the piece of rubber, reaches into his crotch, rubs the rubber a few times in the nether regions, so it carries an extra scent......:ROFLMAO

And when he takes it out and presents it to the fish, the scent trail is so pungent that the fish.....they cannot resist.....:scared:


^^ Dark, I think if there any smells on the rubber it has to come from your direction. Just saying.:d


Great report, congrats on the bass (again) Finchaser :HappyWave:
My wacky report.
Moved south about 10-15 miles. I proceeded to catch everything but what I wanted to catch :banghead2:.
Caught a herring on a teaser, 3 Sea robins on teasers, a small blue fish on a teaser and then two rays (one on a teaser, ended up hooked on the tail....took a good 15 minutes and some strong runs to land), the other on J-rod 4 oz metal....when it hit the lure I think I saw it roll in the wave....., landed and released in 5 minutes. Was real happy how my rod and line held up to these fish as I had to really put it to them to stop the runs and get them off the bottom. Lost a few fish on long casts (small fish), missed a blow up on the Dookster :wheeeee:. I can't remember the last time I caught a ray.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_15_f1a.jpg

:clapping:Awesome reports guys! Strangely disturbing too. Finchaser I hope what Dark says is just more of his stories. Although they are enjoyed they are pretty creepy sometimes.:scared:

cowherder
07-15-2012, 05:09 PM
Monty nice ray, at least your named after a fish :HappyWave:

Well for Baitstealer's sake I will try and be like Dark and give a SKUNK report.

Fished this AM from 4 to 6:30 our little group caught Nada. This was not do to our presentation. We believe it was do to the position of the sun being on an off angle with the upcoming New Moon causing abnormal current.The wind turning on and off caused erratic cast distance. The lack of rain has raised the salinity of the water when factoring in the 78 degree water it has changed the molecular structure of the water to oxygen ratio:ROFLMAO.

Now that we got all that bullsh_t out of the way, the real reason the dirty weed infested water caused by the east and south winds pushed into the back and screwed things up. I'll be in search of the next pattern when i will report what I catch until then, Dark will entertain you with his bed time stories.

Here's a real eye opener cell phone/INTERNET fishing is over do to the death of way to many fish. This will mean people will have to search out patterns that produce fish on there own. :clapping:

:ROFLMAO :clapping::clapping: Spot on finchaser I don't know who is more entertaining you or dark! I am trying to fish at the end of the day lately. You can pick any beach and have it all to yourself. Even Sandy Hook. There is hardly anyone fishing at all. It seems like the only time they go fishing is when the internet reports are great. What happened to just getting out there and enjoying it all?

hookset
07-15-2012, 05:26 PM
Here's a real eye opener cell phone/INTERNET fishing is over do to the death of way to many fish. This will mean people will have to search out patterns that produce fish on there own. Until a major storm, bait especially clams will not work, except for trash fish which will thrive with no bass to eat them. Most of the so called bass pro's, will go back to where they came from ,as they dream of next spring when they can do there mindless need no experience snag and drop that caused this from beach ,jetty and boat.
Yep things are going back to how they use to be and it will get harder do to the lack of fish.Don't believe me check out your local beaches and jetties they are empty. You can read all the different BS stories written and posted it gets down to something really simple you can't catch what doesn't exsist.

Berkley is happy as Gulp sales are throgth roof as all the fluke fisherman gone wild have returned where they came from.:clapping:


You're preaching to the choir finchaser. I hope every one of the cell phone tackle shop heroes quits and goes back to fluke fishing. **** them. :2flip: btw nice catches fellas.


From the David Letterman show, Things that might tell you you're an Internet Fisherman:

1. Your best catches came when your friends called or texted you to "Get down here NOW!"
2. Fishing more than an hour is boring unless there you can catch at least 2 50 pounders in a blitz. Otherwise, why bother?
3. Your biggest catches come from snagging and dropping bunker.
4. You always weigh in your big fish, even if you caught the same sized fish yesterday. Bonus points if you have at least five video weigh ins a month or update your friends on Facebook with your Epic fishing reports daily.
5. Your fishing reports are sprinkled with the word EPIC FISHING! anytime you caught more than 5 fish.
6. You consider yourself something of a striper expert. The minute they become hard to catch, you will be on the internet telling everyone how you are slaying those fluke. Your ego is so big you don't understand how much of a tool this makes you look like.

7. You post up reports like "fish on every cast" with regularity. You don't ask yourself how this is even possible to do, it's all good when you're an internet fisherman.

8. If it wasn't for clams, gulp, or bunker snags you wouldnt have any fish to eat.
9. If it wasnt for cell phones and texting you wouldn't be able to catch a fish. Reading the beach? What for?
10. You keep every fish you catch. Why worry about tomorrow, it's more important to hang that trophy today so your buds know you're the biggest swinging **** on the beach.

finchaser
07-15-2012, 06:19 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^:clapping:

finchaser
07-16-2012, 09:22 PM
Nada this AM but we found them tonight between 7:30 and 9PM I released 7 bass and 3 blues all caught on X- rap 12

DarkSkies
07-16-2012, 10:18 PM
^ Gotta give it to the old geezer, one of the sharpest casters in the old farts club....:laugh: :HappyWave:

I fished last night.......
....things were incredibly slow....managed a lone "Hail Mary" short bass at 3am,,,The night was spectacular for fishing, not so much for catching. If there was a menu for surfcasting conditions and I could have ordered from it, last night would have been it....everything that makes you :drool: about surf fishing, exept for the fish......cut the night short because I knew it was not gonna happen for that place and time after my Hail Mary fish.









Finchaser and Hookset those were some of the funniest posts I've read in a while.....as I get time I'm probably gonna copy them to some other threads, thanks for the laughs....:clapping: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Pebbles told me to tell ya she read your post and it was "Epic", Fin, :)

DarkSkies
07-16-2012, 10:50 PM
. I proceeded to catch everything but what I wanted to catch :banghead2:.
Caught a herring on a teaser, 3 Sea robins on teasers, a small blue fish on a teaser and then two rays (one on a teaser, ended up hooked on the tail....took a good 15 minutes and some strong runs to land), the other on J-rod 4 oz metal....when it hit the lure I think I saw it roll in the wave....., landed and released in 5 minutes. Was real happy how my rod and line held up to these fish as I had to really put it to them to stop the runs and get them off the bottom. Lost a few fish on long casts (small fish), missed a blow up on the Dookster :wheeeee:. Was fun, no bugs, water not to hot, no one else out there until the sun came out. I had not caught a sea robin this year until last week (now I'm catching them on teasers in front of poppers) and I can't remember the last time I caught a ray.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_7_15_f1a.jpg










Monty's now famous, ....congrats Bro...you gave Al a run for his $$.....:clapping:
As he was driving home, he told me about this guy who was mugging him on the beach. Every time Monty got a fish the guy was there to see what he was doing and how he was doing it (Monty was the only guy on the beach that got fish that morning......)


Later on, we discover it was Al.....:laugh:

Good old Al....he may not be able to catch fish...but when someone else is....he's on it! :HappyWave:

Good job Monty, you're now famous.....I can see seminars in your future......:)







Al Ristori's report......
"I didn't catch anything in the surf this morning, but watched a surfcaster fight two snagged sting rays. Fortunately, he was using relatively heavy spinning tackle that enabled him to work the first ray that I'd estimate at 30 to 50 pounds and was snagged in the tail. He switched to a surface plug, and was working that hard when he hooked up with a sea robin that hit the fast-moving teaser on the surface. Then he went back to the original diamond jig, and amazingly snagged into another sting ray that he eventually cut off on the leader in the wash. "

Monty
07-17-2012, 07:12 AM
Al Ristori's report......
"I didn't catch anything in the surf this morning, but watched a surfcaster fight [/COLOR]two snagged sting rays. Fortunately, he was using relatively heavy spinning tackle that enabled him to work the first ray that I'd estimate at 30 to 50 pounds and was snagged in the tail. He switched to a surface plug, and was working that hard when he hooked up with a sea robin that hit the fast-moving teaser on the surface. Then he went back to the original diamond jig, and amazingly snagged into another sting ray that he eventually cut off on the leader in the wash. "[/COLOR]

Dark I have no idea how you found that (you are "in the zone") :HappyWave: . I thought that was so funny, talking about it with you and then you finding that. Like I was telling you after fishing the guy would mosey on over, see whats happening, hang out and make some casts close by then mosey on away. But was real nice, chit chatted a bit. While I was doing everything I could to get the first ray in we were joking and laughing a bit about it. Seemed like a nice guy. What a wacky small world, its always something crazy going on, every fishing outing (experience) is special :wheeeee:.
I read yours and Finchasers reports, real skill, getting bass when others have given up.
Here I am, catching fish that I am not targeting, almost clown like (herring, sea robins, rays), and then having Al write about it. Another example (like rule number 26), of how to be a Googan. :kooky:

Googan Rules
Rule #26: While catching ridicules (not targeted) fish in unorthodox ways have an outdoor writer mug you (in a nice, pleasant way) and then write about it.......

DarkSkies
07-17-2012, 09:04 AM
Dark I have no idea how you found that (you are "in the zone") :HappyWave: . I thought that was so funny, talking about it with you and then you finding that. Like I was telling you after fishing the guy would mosey on over, see whats happening, hang out and make some casts close by then mosey on away. But was real nice, chit chatted a bit. While I was doing everything I could to get the first ray in we were joking and laughing a bit about it. Seemed like a nice guy. What a wacky small world, its always something crazy going on, every fishing outing (experience) is special :wheeeee:.
I read yours and Finchasers reports, real skill, getting bass when others have given up.
Here I am, catching fish that I am not targeting, almost clown like (herring, sea robins, rays), and then having Al write about it. Another example (like rule number 26), of how to be a Googan. :kooky:

Googan Rules
Rule #26: While catching ridicules (not targeted) fish in unorthodox ways have an outdoor writer mug you (in a nice, pleasant way) and then write about it.......


Monty, I'm obsessive...in a lot of ways...it drives Pebbles crazy...sometimes she wakes me up at night saying I was muttering about fish...as Steve said, at times it's tough to sleep through the night if I know the tide is good and conditions are right......so is it any wonder I connected Al's Story to you? :laugh:



You were talking about getting mugged, and we were lamenting he wouldn't leave you alone.....
At the time I had no idea, just thought he really desired the fish you were catching, you were on the Red X....ya know.....:fishing:


So you're officially famous, congrats, and good job....:clapping: :thumbsup:



*****
Mon night....
I felt the conditions would be better, had to be out there as the new moon is approaching.

I would characterize it as a slow pick as there was no heightened period of activity.

Blind casting with the magdarter produced some fish, and some misses as well.
The swell was as big as the other night, but duration of 8-9 seconds made it very fishable.
Had to move to a few places to accumulate a total of 4 bass to 28", released.

Nice night and weather, steady W wind.

finchaser
07-17-2012, 12:56 PM
5 to 7am this morning released 7 bass and 3 bluefish all on plugs

Monty
07-17-2012, 01:02 PM
Blind casting with the magdarter produced some fish, and some misses as well.
The swell was as big as the other night, but duration of 8-9 seconds made it very fishable.
Had to move to a few places to accumulate a total of 4 bass to 28", released.

Nice night and weather, steady W wind.


5 to 7am this morning released 7 bass and 3 bluefish all on plugs

The daily "congrats guys on the catching".
:thumbsup::thumbsup: :HappyWave:

finchaser
07-17-2012, 03:41 PM
The daily "congrats guys on the catching".
:thumbsup::thumbsup: :HappyWave:


Congrats to you I see my buddy Al put you in the paper,he was telling us about you but at the time I had no idea it was you
:clapping::clapping:

finchaser
07-17-2012, 09:33 PM
Tonight 7-9pm released 8 bass to 30" all on Yozuri Crystal Minnow

storminsteve
07-18-2012, 08:55 PM
Finchaser has the record for summer bass so far. You are really tearing it up there. I'm getting ready to head out now. Dark you still in? Will look for you or try to call. Good luck all it was hot as heck today.

storminsteve
07-18-2012, 09:02 PM
You were talking about getting mugged, and we were lamenting he wouldn't leave you alone.....
At the time I had no idea, just thought he really desired the fish you were catching, you were on the Red X....ya know.....:fishing:


So you're officially famous, congrats, and good job....:clapping: :thumbsup:


.

Monty can I have your autograph?
It might be worth something someday. Maybe you will catch 3 rays in one morning.:laugh:
:HappyWave:
Awesome reports guys. It has been so hot it's hard to get out there. Doesn't seem to bother you guys though, keep up the good work.

porgy75
07-18-2012, 09:11 PM
Fantastic reports here! I am jealous. Keep them coming. I am getting through the dog days by reading them.

cowherder
07-18-2012, 09:15 PM
Finchaser you are really kicking *** and taking names! Way to go guys! Monty I would like an autograph too please.:HappyWave:

finchaser
07-18-2012, 10:55 PM
tonight 8 to 9 released 3 blues

Monty
07-19-2012, 06:11 AM
tonight 8 to 9 released 3 blues
Nice!


Monty can I have your autograph?
It might be worth something someday. Maybe you will catch 3 rays in one morning.:laugh:
:HappyWave:
.


Monty I would like an autograph too please.:HappyWave:

:moon:

:HappyWave:

storminsteve
07-19-2012, 09:06 AM
:moon:

:HappyWave:

Oh come on now. If you die someone has to make money off of you. We will collect the funds and give it to your family so they don't have to have a huge tackle sale. Good plan? Just thinking of your interests here. By the way if you do die I would be glad to help organize that tackle sale. I remember some photos of the tackle bags you posted up. It seems you carry everything but the kitchen sink out there. If you die that tackle has to end up somewhere. I would be glad to volunteer to coordinate the sale.:HappyWave:

storminsteve
07-19-2012, 09:12 AM
I fished last night in nomoco. There was still some rain but the lightning was away over the ocean. Picked up one bass on an xrap near high tide. It was very cool out, and foggy. The air temperature was around 72 degrees, around a 30 degree drop from the days high. Beautiful weather. The fish may have been on vacation in montauk though. I tried for 2 hours and no bluefish or anything else. The wind stopped and I got eaten alive by bugs despite the bug spray. Was anyone else fishing last night and bothered by those bugs. It wasn't the mosquitoes it was the no see ums. They got everywhere and I think I had some eating my eyelids. After I was done I still was scratching on the way home. Still a nice night to be out.

buckethead
07-19-2012, 09:48 AM
I would be glad to volunteer to coordinate the sale.:HappyWave:

I will gladly co-volunteer. Where is that quote - when you die please don't tell your wife what you really paid for the tackle? Well we won't.:lookhappy: Nice going on the catching guys. Haven't fished any crabs for this moon thus far, not time yet.

plugcrazy
07-19-2012, 09:57 AM
^ Here you go buckethead.

"My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it."

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1704-Inspirational-phrases-or-quotes/page6&highlight=die+wife+won%27t+paid

cowherder
07-19-2012, 10:02 AM
You dudes are evil! Waiting for monty to die so you can part out his fishing tackle? Wow, such helpfulness. How about you ask to be named beneficiaries on his life insurance policy too?:beatin:Cool catches, rays, sea robins, bass, bluefish, did anyone catch any sharks yet?

buckethead
07-19-2012, 10:12 AM
Wow, such helpfulness. How about you ask to be named beneficiaries on his life insurance policy too?:beatin:

Life insurance not necessary, his family might need it. Also you have to think about the 43 cats he has living in his house. There has to be some way to provide for them after he is gone. We only want to help dispose of his tackle. by the way Monty nice writeup in Ristoris column.:thumbsup:

dogfish
07-19-2012, 10:26 AM
. The wind stopped and I got eaten alive by bugs despite the bug spray. Was anyone else fishing last night and bothered by those bugs. It wasn't the mosquitoes it was the no see ums. They got everywhere and I think I had some eating my eyelids. After I was done I still was scratching on the way home. Still a nice night to be out.

I hate those too. Even 100% deet and they still come at ya. Try mosquito netting. Its like cheesecloth you wrap it around your head. They can't penetrate through it as long as it is loose. They get everywhere else, will bite through the cloth in your socks or shirt. Best to wear layers. Then it does get hot. The wind stops and they swarm like in the Bible. Nasty critters.

DarkSkies
07-19-2012, 07:08 PM
What a compassionate, caring bunch of coconuts you guys are.....:kooky: :laugh:
How about ya's use some of that energy and get out and fish. :fishing:

As Steve said the temps have gone down and it's pretty nice out there, or hopefully it will be when the storm clears up....

Just remember that we need Monty as a never ending source of Googan stories.:laugh: :HappyWave:....Hook in finger.....casting into trees.....all priceless.....;) :HappyWave: :thumbsup: (and whenever he screws up, it takes the focus off my own Googan tendencies, thank God....)

And most importantly, to have Al Ristori chase ya up and down the beach to get a closer look at all the trophies you're catching in summer doldrums fishing....
Well that takes mad skilz, yo! :thumbsup: :cool:

How many of you guys could pull that off and still remain cool as Cool Hand Luke, like Monty did...?



********
Wed Report - Skunk report....:skunk:
There were storms and heavy rains forecast. I wanted to see if that pattern weather change would kick the bass action up a notch...for me it didn't. The seas had built up a bit with a SE swell. It wasn't that bad because the duration was around 8 secs. There was a mid period swell of bigger waves so you had to time your casts.

I fished hard for 4 hours.
Couldn't buy any action at all.
And the bugs were bad as soon as the wind dropped out with the tide change. It gradually started blowing again, but I found the bugs to be really irritating too last night, Steve.
Congrats, bro, you did 100% better than me. :thumbsup: :clapping:

Monty
07-19-2012, 07:38 PM
Oh come on now. If you die someone has to make money off of you. We will collect the funds and give it to your family so they don't have to have a huge tackle sale. Good plan? Just thinking of your interests here. By the way if you do die I would be glad to help organize that tackle sale. I remember some photos of the tackle bags you posted up. It seems you carry everything but the kitchen sink out there. If you die that tackle has to end up somewhere. I would be glad to volunteer to coordinate the sale.:HappyWave:
:ROFLMAO Thanks!!! Congrats on picking up that Bass, each bass caught out there this time of the year I think of as a well earned fish.


I will gladly co-volunteer. Where is that quote - when you die please don't tell your wife what you really paid for the tackle? Well we won't..
So true.


You dudes are evil! Waiting for monty to die so you can part out his fishing tackle? Wow, such helpfulness. How about you ask to be named beneficiaries on his life insurance policy too?:beatin:Cool catches, rays, sea robins, bass, bluefish, did anyone catch any sharks yet?
:ROFLMAO Gotta give them ideas? :HappyWave:

Life insurance not necessary, his family might need it. Also you have to think about the 43 cats he has living in his house. There has to be some way to provide for them after he is gone. We only want to help dispose of his tackle. by the way Monty nice writeup in Ristoris column.:thumbsup:
:HappyWave:, Yup, insurance is for the wife and cats (cat foods not cheap)....Thanks for having my back......I think.

Thanks Dark, I think I am averaging a major Googan move every 3-4 months.

finchaser
07-19-2012, 10:26 PM
7-9 pm 3 bass and 3 blues all still swimming all on jig head and tail

Mike O
07-20-2012, 04:14 AM
Anybody getting any snappers yet in the back waters?

ledhead36
07-20-2012, 08:23 AM
Mike I posted some places for you. anyone else getting any snappers go ahead and post it, if its ok with dark.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8515-Snapper-reports

finchaser
07-20-2012, 11:23 AM
Today 5 to 9 AM in the back released 11 bass to 18# and 14 bluefish 3 to 7 pounds all on white buck tail with white twister tail . Fish were laying in the clean and cooler 77 degree water. Torrential rain put em down not a dry bone on me as walk back to my truck was into blinding wind and rain.

DarkSkies
07-20-2012, 12:10 PM
25 fish, almost half of them were bass...to 18 lbs...:bigeyes: Your best numbers for the year so far?......Frikking Fantastic, Fin! :clapping: :thumbsup:.....you continually put the younger crowd to shame....out there in the slop when the fish are there......WTG...but yer still a grouchy basstid.....:moon: :HappyWave:

Guess getting wet was worth it this time.....

jigfreak
07-20-2012, 12:54 PM
:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping: Outstanding work finchaser. You're on em good lately.

Monty
07-20-2012, 12:59 PM
you continually put the younger crowd to shame....
And so he should with all his wisdom and years of experience :thumbsup:

Great outing Finchaser!!!!!! Awesome report.

hookset
07-20-2012, 01:01 PM
Man that is a beautiful report, great going keep hitting it hard big guy.

buckethead
07-20-2012, 01:07 PM
Finchaser. Superb catching. The action you had sounds off the hook. Glad to see someone is catching. You put in your time and deserved those fish.:clapping::clapping:

cowherder
07-20-2012, 01:16 PM
Wow finchaser you're the man! Absolutely awesome report. I was looking at this weather and thinking how lousy this weekend will be because no one will be catching or fishing with the dirty water. Looks like you got a jump on things and got in before it got too nasty. Kudos!!!!!!:clapping:

ledhead36
07-20-2012, 03:59 PM
You really slayed them. Congrats.

storminsteve
07-20-2012, 04:08 PM
:clapping:That report was off the Hook! There is some hope left. Grats finchaser. way to go.

Pebbles
07-20-2012, 04:56 PM
Anybody getting any snappers yet in the back waters?

I didn't think snappers were in the water!!:don't know why: :naughty:

Pebbles
07-20-2012, 04:58 PM
Finchaser, What an incredible morning you had!!:clapping: Hope it keeps up for you.:HappyWave:

finchaser
07-20-2012, 07:47 PM
thanks and tight lines to all

rip316
07-21-2012, 09:55 AM
Nice job Pops.

vpass
07-21-2012, 03:05 PM
Today 5 to 9 AM in the back released 11 bass to 18# and 14 bluefish 3 to 7 pounds all on white buck tail with white twister tail . Fish were laying in the clean and cooler 77 degree water. Torrential rain put em down not a dry bone on me as walk back to my truck was into blinding wind and rain.


That's Awsome, Fin. 11 bass to 18 in mid July is a gift. great going keep it up.

DarkSkies
07-22-2012, 11:41 AM
Fri night - Skunk. :skunk:The East wind was blowing but wanted to keep it honest and went out anyway to do a little fishing and scouting. Checked out some back bay spots, nothing for me.









**********
Sat night - very slow pick of bass, lots of fun.....:fishing:

"All about the teaser".....
I was out trying to find some cleaner water. Seems Monty and Mike O had the same idea. :thumbsup:
Somehow we all ran into each other in a back bay area.

I have not seen Mike O in person for a few years. You don't always remember people when you fish a lot and run into different characters. What I remembered about Mike was his old school surf bag, and some of the ways he fishes.
Rubber eel on tin squid, (also a favorite of Finchaser and some of the other Old Farts....:cool:)......Hopkins fished slowly at night.....and some other old-school tactics......

Mike was the first to hook and land a bass. Nice keeper size around 10#. :thumbsup:
I think he also had the hot hand for the night with the biggest fish.
All the rest were substantially smaller, but we all hooked and landed a few.
It was a slow pick, we fished all night for those fish, and there were long periods of no activity.

The fish seemed to be feeding on very small calico crabs, small rainfish, and spearing, about 4" long.
Coincidentally, spearing size black teasers were the only thing they would hit.
We gradually saw that it was all about the teaser.
Anything we threw was a "teaser delivery system"......we could probably have thrown an egg sinker with a teaser when the water was high, and still caught fish....(note, this is an "old-school" tactic as well)

Mike first noticed fish were on the bottom of the water column and had some success with metal and a teaser. As the tide dropped we ended up fishing plugs on top, still getting fish.

I don't know if Mike or Monty ended up being high hook.
I have to confess I was definitely low hook. :o


For my teaser, I started out fishing a red rubber tube, feeling it would mimic the bait profile I had seen in the water.
It only resulted in a dropped fish.
Monty also noticed this as well, at first striking out with a short small teaser.
I would say for last night under the new moon, black color was important for where we were, but that was secondary to size.

They would not hit anything else but a teaser in that size range.
I stubbornly refused to switch to a teaser the size they were using.
Googan Central. :embarassed:
After they both landed multiple fish, I made the switch, thanks to Monty's generosity.

Monty also gave Mike a teaser when we saw Monty's teasers had a slight edge.
Monty may be a Googan, :laugh: but he is one of the most unselfish guys I know....:clapping:










In all, I had a great time. Don't get to fish with site-members or others that much anymore as I too have become an Old Grouchy Basstard. I relish my Grouchiness, and the odors coming from me at night, because of the solitude it brings me.

However, it was a pleasure, and honor, to fish with these 2 fine fishermen. :HappyWave:
Would fish with either of ya's again, anytime...
Really enjoyed the stories of the Sea Bright wall, the Flume, and fishing herring, in the old days, Mike, and the company of both of ya Mooks. :laugh: :thumbsup:


We were talking at the end (no talking during fishing!) and remarked that if you combined our catches, for the whole night, it would probably total only 1/2 of what that old Grouchy Basstard Finchaser has been managing each time he's out there, for a few hours of fishing....:moon:

cowherder
07-22-2012, 12:41 PM
Good for you guys! Great report and details, felt like I was there. Thanks for the teaser info. Monty is very generous and has offered to send me teasers too. Hope you get some good mojo from that Monty!

buckethead
07-22-2012, 12:44 PM
Keeper size bass in July, as hot as it has been? Good deal, thank you for the report. Bass and fluke have been feeding heavily on the crabs lately. I have some softees and will be out tonight.

Monty
07-22-2012, 01:30 PM
In all, I had a great time. Don't get to fish with site-members or others that much anymore as I too have become an Old Grouchy Basstard. I relish my Grouchiness, and the odors coming from me at night, because of the solitude it brings me.
However, it was a pleasure, and honor, to fish with these 2 fine fishermen. :HappyWave:
Would fish with either of ya's again, anytime...

It was great meeting Mike and its always an experience meeting up with you Dark while fishing (I always have a great time fishing with ya, I always learn something and its great talking fishing with ya, always fun). I finished up around 7:30, didn't get anything else (small stargazer on a teaser). Great time, good to see stripes again, great weather.

Here is the teaser Dark and me caught with. I think it is almost the same length Mike caught on first.

15346

Mike O
07-22-2012, 02:43 PM
Hey Dark and Monty, It certainly was a pleasure fishing with both of you guys. Dark lives up to his rep, on giving info and Monty also giving me that black teaser. Dark is a funny guy. You should have seen how excited he was when I hooked into that bass, he was like a little kid in a candy store. Lots of fun. We have to do it again sometime. Again guys, Thanks.

finchaser
07-22-2012, 08:23 PM
Saturday 5 to 9 AM released 7 bass and 7 blues all on Yozuri crystal minnow

Sunday AM 5:30 to 8am released 9 blues in the 3 to 5# range all on a jig head and white rip tide mullet paddle tail.

My friend Paul had the hot hand today releasing 11 bass and 10 blues he started at 5AM

Mike O
07-23-2012, 02:00 PM
Monty,
Thanks again for the black teaser. I haven' got to use it yet, but I will rig it up during the week and use it next time I go out. I never thought of it but, black at night does make sense. An old timer (older than me) once told me dark colors at night, light colors at light. Bass almost always hit darker plugs, especially at night, so why not a dark color teaser? I have some black bucktail and plan on making up a few. I was using a dark red with white with a little flash when I caught that 10 pounder. also I think the length propably is a factor. I guess thats why they call it fishing and not catching. If I ever have it all figured out, I will let you guys know.

Mike

xtreme_visions
07-23-2012, 07:57 PM
NICE JOB FIN! I TRIED A FEW PLACES SUNDAY WITH NO LUCK. AS ALWAYS WHEN FISHING WITH THE LADY WE GO WHEN THE TIDE IS AT ITS LOWEST POINT AND LEAVE ON THE INCOMING :argue: IM GONING TO HAVE TO GET MY LAZY *** OUT OF THE HOUSE ON THE WEEKENDS BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP. GREAT REPORTS GUYS.

c4charlie
07-23-2012, 11:47 PM
Wow, keeper bass in July. Not bad, not bad at all! I have been doing some fluking and crabbing and lots of camping and freshwater fishing. Got a kayak now and on my first trip to RB, I hooked up with this fluke 24"...

Crabs have been bigger for us than prior years so far. I just got back from a 3 day camping trip to Round Valley. Such a nice weekend! I am going to try for some bass now that I know there are some around and thanks for the photo of the teaser.

15350

DarkSkies
07-24-2012, 11:54 AM
^^ Great pics and reports, people...remember ya can't catch em from in front of your computer screen.....:)
Charlie tell your sons how proud I am of them. :clapping: :clapping:
Here is a thumbs up for each of them from DarkSkies -
1. :thumbsup: :clapping:
2. :thumbsup: :clapping:





*****
I fished last night, short trip.
As it was still the first few nights of the new moon, I had to be out there.

I specifically wanted to see if the teaser we did so well on was effective at this time in some other areas.

Started in the pocket near an inlet.
Soon after got a few hickory shad on Monty's black teaser. :HappyWave: :thumbsup:

The hickory shad are getting bigger. One I landed was around 15". They are feeding well on the small bait and are more aggressive than the bass at times.

In fact, I think they are great species for the beginning angler to target, Dad with son, etc, because if you hit the right area, they are pretty easy to catch.

They usually hang out in schools, and are feeding on the small bait.
Look for them in the seams in the surf, rips, pockets, middle of inlets, and wherever else small bait may be ambushed.

Moved on from the shad. Cut the teaser off after a while, as no bass or shad were interested.
A few more stops produced nothing.

When I was about ready to give up, I got into a half-hour of bass feeding activity. Nothing crazy, but still the action was consistent for that half hour. Dropped a few as well. As I've mentioned previously, the bass in this warmer water, will not come back for it, you have to re-cast. That's what I'm seeing in the areas I fish.

Landed 2 short bass.
The water was a little murky from the storms.
A steady S wind blew all night.
This is a common summer pattern, but I hate the South wind, for NJ.
I don't think I've ever done really well on it at night, unless an abundance of bait trumped the wind.

Also made it difficult to cast, as you had to compensate for the wind.
However, the swells weren't bad, the weather was awesome, and some fish were feeding.
:fishing:
What more could you ask for on a Summer July night?




What worked:
This was another time when the Daiwa did not produce any action at all, not even a missed fish.
When conditions are like this, (Dirtier water and swells in the 4' range) I have been leaning on the Mag Darter, because it produces over other plugs (for me)

jigfreak
07-25-2012, 08:39 AM
Nice going. I like the md too for inlets and rivers. Great when the mullet are thick.

hookset
07-25-2012, 08:47 AM
Bass at the end of July don't get any better than that. Keep it up am loving these reports. Nice teaser pic Monty.

finchaser
07-25-2012, 10:46 AM
5 to 7 am released 3 bass and 13 blues all on rubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbba

finchaser
07-26-2012, 10:50 AM
5 to 7Am released 7 bluefish 3 to 5 pounds all on white bucktail with twister tail

DarkSkies
07-26-2012, 02:17 PM
5 to 7 am released 3 bass and 13 blues all on rubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbba


5 to 7Am released 7 bluefish 3 to 5 pounds all on white bucktail with twister tail


The OGB on a continuous roll....
:fishing:Like the Borg from Star Trek...dominating everything in his path.....:scared::HappyWave:
WTG Fin....:clapping:
If there was a king of rubbbbbbbbbbbba, it would be you.....:thumbsup:








*******
I fished 4 hours last night.
The fishing was great, catchin....not so great....:don't know why:
Found some water that was a little cleaner....and cooler at the top of the tide....
I scouted as I fished, looking for bait.

The amount of bait I found in some areas was eye opening.
Small forage like spearing and rainfish seem not to be as affected (at night) by the higher water temps as the predators are.

One of the stops I made, back bay, there were literally thousands of larger spearing in a cove area.
These spearing were all around 4-5", nice sized.
The one thing missing was the predators. With all those spearing around, there should have been bass popping, and blues and weakfish active as well.
After a few minutes I knew it wasn't gonna happen there and left.
It killed me to leave that much bait...I generally don't like to leave a place when the bait is that concentrated.
But there are times when there are just no fish...and this summer is one of them, for me.....
So it's important to have a sense of when to move on....






On to the ocean side, the water seemed a little bit clearer and cooler.
There was a steady S/SW wind.
I marked a lot of bait in close, just beyond the wash.
The sizes were a little different here, about 1-3", spearing and rainfish. Average size was closer to 3".

Started out without teaser, throwing very small plugs. I really like the action on plugs, above all else, and may be a bit stubborn about switching up to other things to throw. Eventually, I worked all levels of the water column with bucktails, rubber, jigs and metal as well.
Even threw finchaser's magic rubber for 1/2 hour, :cool: nothing.....

I threw that 4" teaser that was working for us the other night.
Not a touch.

Finally, in desperation, I changed it to a 3" redgill which I thought more closely resembled the profile of the bait that was right in front of me.

An hour later I managed one short bass on that teaser.
That was it for me.

Monty
07-26-2012, 02:46 PM
Finally, in desperation, I changed it to a 3" redgill which I thought more closely resembled the profile of the bait that was right in front of me.

An hour later I managed one short bass on that teaser.
That was it for me.

Nice report Dark, lots of info into your thought process.
Beating the skunk with the one bass is an accomplishment, congrats!
Perspective.

DarkSkies
07-26-2012, 03:12 PM
^^Monty, when I was out there, if you aren't catching eventually your mind wanders....You try to focus but after a few hours it's hard...you know your interest is fading. You need that one fish to get yourself back into activity...you wait for it, and it doesn't happen....until you get that one fish that makes it all worthwhile.....

This poem I wrote is something I do at times....closing my eyes while reeling, hoping to feel the fish while it's swimming out there....so I have a sense of anticipation, and will hopefully be sharp on the hookset........

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8511-Surfcasting-201-The-Surfcasters-Bible-Artificial-Only-thread&highlight=save+skunk


"Lord Save me from the Skunk...."

It's 3am....
you've been fishing all night....

Your body is soaked with sweat....
Been hit by a few waves...each time reminding you how good it feels to be alive....and out there fishin......:cool:

You're casting, and casting.....
Not a tap.........

You put in a Prayer to King Neptune....:kooky:
even that doesn't work....

So you say the words, out loud..or maybe you mutter them under your breath.....Lord, save me from the Skunk...."

You continue casting and casting....
Some casts, you actually close your eyes,,,,trying to sense, when a fish may be near the end of your line......:rolleyes:

And Finally..... you get that hit.....:drool:
The one you've been waiting for, at the end of your line.....

Your Adrenalin pumps up.....:dribble:
The groggy half-asleep head on your shoulders shakes itself into action....
Your fingers and arms, instinctively know what to do......
Your hookset is solid.....
and you have that one fish...that you asked for...to save you from the Skunk....:) :fishing:


And last night, when that fish hit, my eyes were closed in anticipation, waiting for it......:kooky: :laugh:

DarkSkies
07-26-2012, 04:09 PM
Nice report Dark, lots of info into your thought process.
Beating the skunk with the one bass is an accomplishment, congrats!
Perspective.

Thanks Monty....

A lot of folks are concerned about where the fish were caught. I'm more concerned with how, what the forage is, the tide stage, if the forage will be around or is just passing through....

The small tips I got from people out there, as I learned, helped me to think more critically....
And it's my hope that sharing my thought processes will help others to be successful as well....











http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/editpost.php?do=editpost&postid=60685

The Value of the One...as Opposed to Many.....
There are times when you hear reports here about multiple fish....
Those are great times, and the adrenalin you feel if you're lucky to be in on a double digit (or, more rare, triple digit) bite is off the charts....
That adrenalin can be addictive.
I should know, because that adrenalin, and looking for that to happen, has me hooked...:o


It doesn't always happen that way, though...
Even for the best of the best, on an average night if you get a few fish, it's a good night....:thumbsup:





What if you fish all night, and can't find any fish at all? :huh:
Sometimes that's just the way it is.
As we say, hey that's fishing....



Hovever, if you do get a fish, even one or 2....the feeling to me, is sometimes more triumphant, than catching fish after fish.....
Some put it in simple terms....
"Hey you found a lucky fish...."

Yup, I agree....

But sometimes it's much more, psychologically...


That one or 2 fish....that you hunted for and found despite conditions not being optimal....sometimes makes it all worthwhile....

DarkSkies
07-26-2012, 04:10 PM
I was talking about this with a sitemember and friend the other night. He mostly fishes the LI Sound.
He's a very good fisherman in his own regard, and seems to catch fish when not many others are able to....

He's recently gotten addicted to sight fishing the bays, coves, and shallow rockpiles of the Sound.
He explained to me that on a normal trip, they may raise a few bass.
The hookup and release may only be one fish, for the whole day.
What they try to do is find feeding bass in the shallows, sneak up on them,, and then target the largest bass to try and catch......
Sounds do-able, but in reality it ain't that easy.....


And that, therefore, was the challenge, as he explained to me....

"Rich, I know how to catch bass...I've caught thousands in my lifetime.
At some point I asked myself....OK now what's next, what is my next challenge? And this is it for me.
Even though I know how to catch bass on flys, the yak, and from the surf, the chasing after and hunting down of the fish, really gets me going.
I get more satisfaction out of going out, hunting bass all morning, and maybe landing just one.
The feeling of teasing that one fish, to hit your artificial presentation, when it is normally feeding on crabs and live forage, is addictive! I would rather do that, than catch 10 bass in a blitz...."














So, in a sense, he explained to me his new-found perspective, of hunting for fish...
Not the easy ones, but the difficult ones...

And the satisfaction, and the adrenalin rush he gets, from targeting and catching these bass.....

I couldn't agree more....
Monty mentioned something about perspective, and I wanted to tie that comment into this conversation I had with my friend from LI.

storminsteve
07-26-2012, 06:09 PM
Great reports guys, the bass castching continues! July bass awesome!

I fished a beach at Sandy Hook today for 2 hours, just got done.
3 short fluke and 2 sea robins, gulp and gulp teaser.

buckethead
07-26-2012, 06:56 PM
Good job, men. Couldn't pull a keeper bass from the rocks this month with the crabs. Biggest was 27 1/2". Dark I agree about hunting the fish. You have to do that with the crabs. The fish are few and far between. Finding that mid teen fish is like the needle in a haystack. Hoping I'll have better luck with the new moon.

jigfreak
07-27-2012, 07:26 PM
Got some weakies last night after the rain. Structure, ocean county. Small fin s on 1/2 oz jigheads.

SharkHart
07-27-2012, 10:03 PM
Hey Jig....spikes or any solid schoolies?

jigfreak
07-27-2012, 10:38 PM
Nothing bigger then 16". All released to make babies.

DarkSkies
07-28-2012, 02:48 PM
All released to make babies.

:clapping: :thumbsup:
Thank you Jigfreak.
I don't want to start the soapbox long-winded rant thing here about the weakfish.
I know folks get tired of these rants at times. :boring:

I will say, briefly, that it kills me that 4 years ago in 2008 we were catching trophy weakfish, over 15#, in the spring, a great C&R fishery. Then these fish seemed to vanish. :(
They are slowly making a comeback.
My biggest issue is that no matter how hard we try, individually, to conserve this limited resource, every year the gillnetters decimate the spikes and sell them for pennies on the dollar as cat food.

I don't believe we as individuals can make a difference about that any more....and that those changes, if any, have to come from tighter regs on the Comm weakfish catches...

And I don't feel it's my right to tell someone else whether they can keep one, or not...we are allowed to keep one under the law....
But it is still refreshing when someone is fishing for them, and responsibly realizes this is a fragile resource and floundering biomass, overall....thanks for your efforts, you and everybody else who C&R these interesting fish....
:clapping:

DarkSkies
07-28-2012, 03:19 PM
Skunk Report -:skunk:

The good tides are later in the night this week.
I went to sleep early to get a chance to fish them.

Got up late, abbreviated time on the water last night, 2 1/2 hours. :o
Only had time to fish a few places.

The ones I visited, I found to be murky and with some intermediate swell. The ocean itself was not bad, but I felt it was cloudier than usual for artificials.
I also witnessed the effects of an offshore storm during that late part of the night.
Did not mark much bait where I was, either....
And the water temp felt like it may have gone up a degree or so....

No one is successful all the time in life.

When fishing is good, we may have a few good nights.
Then it eventually evens out where there is no action at all for a night or 2.

Last night was one of those nights.
Very humbling, nothing, nada, no hits, runs, or errors.

Hey, that's fishin....:don't know why:

skinner
07-28-2012, 08:33 PM
Hey dark you can't win them all right? I fished nomoco today for fluke, gulp and gulp on the teaser. chartreuse was a good color as it was overcast and had to stop at times with the rain. Got one keeper fluke at 19" and about 13 more throwbacks all around 15". Hardly anyone else out there. Kind of strange for a saturday. It was like I had the beach all to myself.

Monty
07-29-2012, 02:04 PM
Fished Bay side this morning 1:15 - 9:30. Took a break for 45 minutes when lightening seemed to be getting close. Skunkaroo.
Was very small bait in a few spots being harassed by very small snappers. Weather was great with the exception of the lightening, water a little discolored. Was nice being out there.

cowherder
07-29-2012, 04:03 PM
At least you guys are trying. Summer blahs, the bass blues and albaore took a few weeks off. Anyone hear of any albies close to the surf lately?

finchaser
07-30-2012, 08:00 AM
5 to 7:30Am released 3 bass and 7 blues all on white bucktail with twister tail

DarkSkies
07-30-2012, 10:59 AM
Outstanding numbers for summer bass and blues, Fin.:clapping: :thumbsup:
You over 100 total yet for the last 3 weeks?

storminsteve
07-30-2012, 11:28 AM
I think finchaser is like the Borg. Resistence is futile.:scared:
Way to go on the catching finchaser!

hookset
07-30-2012, 11:51 AM
You seem to be one of the most consistent anglers out there fc. Way to catch them up.

skinner
07-30-2012, 12:01 PM
I think finchaser is like the Borg. Resistence is futile.:scared:
Way to go on the catching finchaser!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww

bababooey
07-30-2012, 12:35 PM
we are the borg

resistance

is

futile :lynchmob:




Love it! Congrats on the persistence fin chaser. Too hot to fish now, props to you for making it happen.

buckethead
07-31-2012, 09:15 AM
Great borg reference, funny as heck.
Fished last night for skunk-a-roonie.:skunk:
East winds suck.

finchaser
07-31-2012, 12:30 PM
this AM 6 to 7:30 fishing was slow 1 bass and 2 blues all on jig head and 4" white shad

finchaser
08-01-2012, 02:41 PM
this AM released 7bass and 1 bluefish all on jig head and white 4 " shad

DarkSkies
08-02-2012, 07:04 PM
I think finchaser is like the Borg. Resistence is futile.:scared:
Way to go on the catching finchaser!


You seem to be one of the most consistent anglers out there fc. Way to catch them up.


we are the borg

resistance

is

futile :lynchmob:




Love it! Congrats on the persistence fin chaser. Too hot to fish now, props to you for making it happen.





You people have to remember, that the old grouch knows a thing or two about fishin......
I would gladly bet on him vs any 5 regular anglers.....and against any 20 internet fishermen :beatin:

If others are catching a few.....he sometimes manages double digits...
If things are dead, he may still pull one fish out of the water, maybe not....
But he is very persistent, and that persistence...and his finesse, have made him a sought-after partner in tournaments. His friends fight over who gets to fish with him when there is a big tourney because they know he will do everything possible to help them catch.....:fishing:



He doesn't need the fanciest plugs, holographic finishes, scale patterns, etc that a lot of anglers get hooked by...just put him where there at least a few fish, and he will catch them...using average pieces of rubber., small bucktails, or other old-school fundamental presentations...
and if he ain't catchin....you know there are no real numbers of fish to be had....in general...
Yup, there's something to be said for being an Old Grouchy Basstard....:wheeeee: :fishing:

finchaser
08-02-2012, 08:44 PM
Stop your going to make me cry now start an August thread and by the way this AM got NADA:skunk:wrong part of tide at first light