NJ Fishing Reports for June 2013....www.StripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for June 2013. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)





NJ fishing reports for June 2013...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. 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.

1. 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 there today?

2. 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)

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. :fishing:












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
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
DB - Delaware Bay

[DarkSkies]

Storminsteve,
you won the plug in the May 2013 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)

[DarkSkies]

6-1-13 Am

Fished before and after sunrise. Monty mini marathon, 6 hours.

Bluefish on plugs in the dark and metal after.
Managed 28 bluefish to 7#.
There was some good action, and long periods of inactivity at times. Back bay, lots of fun. :fishing:

[madcaster]

when out on a peir last night ...my buddy caught one fluke .....while he was cleaning it . I pulled out a needle and threw out ...a blue nailed it hard ....drag screaming ....about 5 min it took me to get it close to the pier ....only issue was I had a 7ft pole and 20 ft to the water and two huge pipes to go over ....this blue had to be in the 12 to 14lb range ....first try to pull it up over everthing ...failed ...not even close (I had 50lb braid)on ...I was waiting for the pole to snap .....second try line snapped ....tried another needle ...this time bent the barb down ....threw out ..another blue smashed it hard ...tried to let him unhook himself ...line broke .....tryied again ....this time I took the hook off and just threw the plug .....they were all over this plug ....blues were flying out of the water trying to get this thing
I was going to take a video ...but it was to dark outside ...still fun watching them attack it

[cowherder]

Awesome reports guys! Heard there are some gator blues around. madcaster at least your needlefish held up sad to see it snapped your line. Look forward to some more of those videos. I fished nomoco from 6-8 there were some blues. I picked up 7 with a diamond jig with green tail. It was strange because when you reeled them in they were bulldogging and not rising to the surface. Normally they are jumping all over the place. Could it be that the water is still too cold? The bay temps were 75 today what gives?

[ledhead36]

Yep the gators are here madcaster. busting tackle and leaders soon to be in your neighborhood. Wasn't that a great feeling to hear the drag scream?
Last nite they wanted chunks. And to bite through my 80lb leaders. Not as many as the night before but still awesome. 9-2a

[ledhead36]

. It was strange because when you reeled them in they were bulldogging and not rising to the surface. Normally they are jumping all over the place. Could it be that the water is still too cold? The bay temps were 75 today what gives?


Could be that the ocean is colder and a lot of them have come in from there. I agree its strange I drove around the other day to look for spots to fish at night and could see some of them finning out there. who knows there only bluefish but they drive you crazy sometimes. For instance some times they and the bass want heads. Other times its chunks. Other times they only want tails.

[madcaster]

water temps ....I was standing in the bay about up to my waste ...I could feel the water change in the levels ...my feet were cold but thighs not cold ....them I could feel the warmer water come in and feet be warm and thighs cold ....funny thing ...didn't catch any fish :skunk:

couple days before I didn't feel that temp change and caught fish:huh:

[storminsteve]

Awesome story madcaster! Must be a sickening feeling when you are losing something that big and watch in slo-mo, though.:scared:
I fished no mo co today early. Picked up 15 blues at the furthest end of the cast on metal. It was lke you guys are saying they were bulldogging on the way in. Strange.
got real crowded and I left but not before I took pics of the circus. Every party boat in NJand NY was up that way. All for mostly smaller blues? What?:huh:

[J Barbosa]

water temps ....I was standing in the bay about up to my waste ...I could feel the water change in the levels ...my feet were cold but thighs not cold ....them I could feel the warmer water come in and feet be warm and thighs cold ....funny thing ...didn't catch any fish :skunk:

couple days before I didn't feel that temp change and caught fish:huh:

Once the weather warms up I'm a big fan of going commando (no waders). Last night/this morning the water is much colder and I felt huge swings in water temperatures. It's also that time of year when the bugs start to come out :embarassed:

I fished last night starting around midnight until 9am. We decided to change it up and chunk out front tonight and couldn't keep the sea robins, skates, and dogfish off the hook. I guess that's what happens when you have the freshest bloodiest slimiest baits around. Saw a few bass caught on plugs but nothing exciting considering the amount of guys out.

We didn't see one bluefish all night but that quickly changed when the sun came up...mini blitz of medium sized blues.

I switched over to fluke for a while but it was very slow due to the colder water = no keepers for me.

I think its about time to clean the chunking rods and put them away until next spring. Plugs/flies from here on out.

[SharkHart]

The year of Shark goes on....and I been waiting a while for it lol, two slobs tonight, one was my second largest ever, second one maybe was third, right after one another, I literally was huffing and puffing after second and desperately in the need of a gatoraide, one guy to my left one to my right and that was it, you just never know out there.

[robmedina]

June 1st fishing from 1am to 9am. started on one spot in LBI but no fish. Met up with Joe and went down to another spot. Good water for the rest of the outgoing just not the " right species" dogfish after dogfish, skate and then more dogfish. Some big ones too. no bass or blues. after the sun came out and our hole became shallow with the low tide we headed south but nothing much was happening. Great night to be out. I spotted a small skate on the beach near a jetty. Upon checking it out I noticed there was a hook in his wing, attached to a 4oz pyramid sinker. Poor little guy was exhausted. I removed the hook and took it out to deeper water. He was very slow at getting back at it but finally managed to disappear in the wash. 17138

[Monty]

Great night to be out. I spotted a small skate on the beach near a jetty. Upon checking it out I noticed there was a hook in his wing, attached to a 4oz pyramid sinker. Poor little guy was exhausted. I removed the hook and took it out to deeper water. He was very slow at getting back at it but finally managed to disappear in the wash.]
Nice, always a good thing to help a fish or bird or anything stay alive :thumbsup:

I fished this morning from 1:15-9:15.
Lots of Blues for me in the 1-4 lb size, most on top water plugs (30+).
Also caught a 30 inch Striper on a Big Don Metal Lip at 5:00.
All fished released.
Bumped into Dark and Pebbles and fished with them for a few hours :HappyWave:.
Always great seeing them and had a lot of fun with them and the bluefish action.
Caught a few Blues on Madcaster's needle too:HappyWave:
Had a great time this morning, especially fishing with Dark and Pebbles.

[vpass]

It was a great morning. I fished this morning from 5:30 to 10:00am. fished metals and it was bluefish until I cried for mercy. I couldn't reel anymore, left them biting fish were from 1 to 7 pounds, I lost a ten pounder in the surf. Seen 2 bass caught to 30 inches. The fluke fishermen were catching Searobins.

Bumped in to Dark, and Pebbles, and just missed Monty. Hi Pebbles it was nice Meeting you.:HappyWave: It always a pleasure Meeting you guys.:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Met up with Joe and went down to another spot. Good water for the rest of the outgoing just not the " right species" dogfish after dogfish, skate and then more dogfish. Some big ones too. no bass or blues.

after the sun came out and our hole became shallow with the low tide we headed south but nothing much was happening. Great night to be out. I spotted a small skate on the beach near a jetty. Upon checking it out I noticed there was a hook in his wing, attached to a 4oz pyramid sinker. Poor little guy was exhausted. I removed the hook and took it out to deeper water. He was very slow at getting back at it but finally managed to disappear in the wash. 17138

Rob, nice to hear you value all God's creatures out there....Although I agree they can be a PITA, particular the "endangered dog fish" which no longer seem to be endangered.....they are everywhere...

This is all part of fishing, and the real sportsmen out there, know that and just deal with it as part of the fishing, not beating up on a particular fish just because it stole bait intended for a bass....
Almost had an incident this morning......guys threw back a 12lb bluefish, mad that it wasn't a bass......and by the time they got it back in the water it was floating...trouble breathing....

Why release a fish if you aren't concerned enough to do it the right way?.....thankfully Pebbles and Vpass diplomatically intervened :HappyWave: in the situation before I created some new folks who won't like me on Facebook.....:rolleyes: :laugh:...and spent a short 1 1/2 minutes holding the fish in the water till it got breathing right again.....
But that's not for here...I'll post the details in the
C&R contest thread.....:learn:

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?3485-catch-and-release-tips-and-CONTEST!










As for Joe, consider yourself lucky he took you under his wing....he has caught several large fish this year that he never bragged or thumped his chest about......just an old salt, doing what he loves.....and a good friend....:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

^ I think ya had a lot more than 30, Monty....You must have had over 10 in the short time we were fishin with ya.....:thumbsup:

(That's because Monty fishes every square inch of surf......leaving no grains of sand unturned in his quest for excitement, fish, and white water...;) ) Pebbles and I could see him working the surf, coming toward us, from a 1/2 mile away....I knew from the continued rapid fire casting as you walked the beach, that it was you.......:cool:

Pebbles and I had a blast catching those blues....some slightly larger than 10#, bigger than they have been. We didn't do as well as you site sharpies..:laugh::thumbsup:..but combined for a total of 21......

The great thing about the action is it's the first time this year, that I have seen real aggressive topwater action like that.....
*The blues tore the hell out of Surfstix' Popper.... (which made her sad, she wants me to ask Surfstix to paint it again....custom pink popper he made for her got bashed to pieces...:( )
**Also hit aggressively on the Madcaster needle with bucktail siwash......


17395

I didn't think to bring more poppers this trip.
As for me, it just has not happened with that topwater action, save for a few isolated dawn incidences.......the water temps jumping up and different size blues now here may have ramped up that action a bit......

Had a great time sharing stories and busting each other.

Pebbles got real bummed when I forced her to temporarily switch out her Finchaser rod with a longer one saying "it would not be the same, there is nothing like a Finchaser rod" (her exact words)...but in this AM rough wind we needed longer rods for distance....

Once she got into the groove of casting longer distances...she did pretty well on her own.....no help from me needed.
I even made her unhook a few of her own fish....Gotta love a girl who can do that....:heart: :kiss:

17393


17394




For us...the bigger blues seemed concentrated around sunrise....smaller ones with an occasional larger one thrown in, later on.
In all it was a blast....good times, good people...and hilarious ball busting.....
Even Pebbles joined in to make fun of me about always watching birds, geese, and swans.....:laugh:
thanks for that, guys.....all good....:thumbsup:

I rarely enjoy fishing with anyone other than myself lately...but some good times were had today.,....wish the OGB could have been out there with us....
And thanks for the laughs and your company, all...:HappyWave:

[storminsteve]

Wow I zigged and should have zagged! Fished somoco today, got into some blues. Needed heavy metal in the winds. The winds were cold and steady 25 miles per hour by the way. The only reason I stayed because I was fishing a few beaches and found one place where there were blue fish. Fish were 2-5lbs. You guys did great!

[ledhead36]

We got the goose egg last night. You win some and lose some. Nice reports fellas.

[hookset]

Way to go gents.

[J Barbosa]

I hate missing a good top water bite. :drool:

Good job guys and gal. :thumbsup:

I went crabbing with my brother and my mom to fill some old bay cravings we were all having.

We got 2.5 dozen in about three hours; a little slow but it's expected this early in the season.

17142

I also got a nice soft shelled crab which is rare by my experience for this time of year.

17141

In other news I may have stumbled into the best eel trapping waters in the state. As I was wading through the flats disturbing patches of seaweed to flush out crabs I was scaring off a ton of eels. The big ones are fast but the small ones stayed in the seaweed when I was scooping up crabs.

17140

[storminsteve]

Thats a hella lot of crabs john nice work. Cool elver pic too never found them that small.

[Mike O]

Fished SH 2am to around 7am Sat. morning 6 blues, 3 fluke, 3 huge searobins, and 2 skates. NO BASS. Small swimmer, broken back, popper and of course the always reliable teaser.

[Monty]

Fished this morning 1:30 to 7:30.
One blue on black teaser at 1:45, took teaser off as to try to catch a bass.
A couple bumps, solid hit and miss on a speedy plug.
The sky started to light up and I caught 10 blues, 9 on top water plugs, biggest around 31 inches.
Great fun, love the top water action.
Left when I heard some thunder.
Water was murky.

[storminsteve]

Nice going mike and monty. Hope those blues stick around for awhile.

[hookset]

Good work fellas. Shark how big were the fish?

[cowherder]

Awesome reports! I went out yesterday, too windy for the surf. It was like 20 degrees colder at the beach. 2 blues on metal. Going further north next time. jb nice crabs made me hungry to look at that pic. Old bay mmmmmmmmm!:drool:

[7deadlyplugs]

Great reports dudes John those crab pics made me hungry too!

[surferman]

Fished in cape may from 5 to 7:15. Got the junkfish round robin, skates, doggies, and birds. Clams and bunker.

[seamonkey]

Surferman they should give awards for that I have done that too! Nice reports fellas thanks for sharing them. Felt like I was there with the description of the action. Love those blues! love those crabs too JB!

[Pebbles]

^ The great thing about the action is it's the first time this year, that I have seen real aggressive topwater action like that.....
*The blues tore the hell out of Surfstix' Popper.... (which made her sad, she wants me to ask Surfstix to paint it again....custom pink popper he made for her got bashed to pieces...:( )
Pebbles got real bummed when I forced her to temporarily switch out her Finchaser rod with a longer one saying "it would not be the same, there is nothing like a Finchaser rod" (her exact words)...but in this AM rough wind we needed longer rods for distance....

I did have a great time. Met Monty :HappyWave:, Vpass :HappyWave:, Mike :HappyWave:and few others:HappyWave:. I caught about 10 fish but for some reason had trouble landing about 10 as well.

The one thing I could do well was cast.
I learned from Finchaser :heart:.

He taught me how to "Load the rod" correctly which really gives me distance. I was very sad that my Finchaser rod had to stay in the car. I just love that thing. It is the perfect weight for me and helps keep my shoulder from really hurting.

Yes, my surfstix popper got totally destroyed. It was custom made just for me. It was my favorite shade of pink with a beautiful pattern and my name on it. Those darn blues had the nerve to rip my plug apart! Well on the good side it showed what a great plug maker Surfstix is. If you ever get a chance to get your hands on one you better scoop it up.

Thanks for taking me Dark I had SO much fun!

[robmedina]

Fished in cape may from 5 to 7:15. Got the junkfish round robin, skates, doggies, and birds. Clams and bunker. one mans junkfish is another mans treasure! LOL! dogfish are like sunnys but a lot more fun for the kids. I took my Cousin and his two teenage boys (who flew in from New Mexico) to go "SHARK" fishing. I was busy baiting hooks and taking fish off lines etc, It was great to see the kids so happy to catch good sized dogfish One boy caught a flounder- I was about 40-50 feet from him helping his brother and I thought he got a skate. So now I got a flounder hole to go for LOL! the action got slow. Their dad lost 2 of my rigs (as he always looses something of mine when we fish- lures, rigs etc) one of the rods, a brand new one, first time being used broke just above where they come together. Ended up with just 2 rods in the water before the rain and ominous clouds rolled in. Thanks weatherman for yet another wrong forecast. All in all a great day fishing. Hopefully 2 young men have come to appreciate the wonderful sport of fishing. As for the report- we were in LBI. Last outgoing tide. No bass.

[surfstix1963]

Great to hear they got ripped apart Dark and Pebbles that's what they are for.It is all about the fun you have with them not that they got destroyed, it is just a piece of wood and some paint they are replaceable.But if they sit on a shelf the memories won't be same, put the destroyed ones on the shelf with a picture I'll send you another.;):HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

^^ Thanks Surfstix, glad you are ok with that...When Pebbles sees this hope she'll understand....:thumbsup:
I told her I would repaint the one that got bashed up, and paint really didn't matter....but she said...."Yeah but you won't paint it as good as Surfstix would! :( "

Women,,,no matter what we do......we somehow need to do more.....I love her anyway...and was glad she could come out with me and share the trip. :heart:...and when she reads this I want to let her know how lucky I am that she puts up with me....and will re-paint that plug this week.....:kiss:

Thanks again Surf.!...:HappyWave:






Report 6-4-13 AM
Fished 2-8 am, made several stops. First 3 stops got covered up with weeds, almost every cast. Finally found a place with no weeds, but the wind was horrendous for presentation. Steady 20 mph N throughout the night, higher gusts. For sunrise I went to a place that offered a bit of a lee from the wind (5th stop), but the water was dirty and presentation was still a problem.

Just as I was about to leave I noticed birds on fish about 1/2 mile out in the bay.....they were moving quickly but the fish were there, just too far out with no chance of coming in.....mocking me...:rolleyes:

Made another stop on the way home......stop #6....was casting for awhile and one of the old timers shows up, the guy who spoke at Chuckwagon Chuck Kababick's funeral...it was nice sharing some memories with him...and fortunate as Pebbles and I found some gear the other day when we were fishin. We left a note at the spot with my phone # but no one ever called me. Didn't yet get a chance to post it here in the lost and found. In the course of our conversation I asked him if he was fishing the other day and if he left somethiing behind...Yep, he did...so it was reunited with him again....:thumbsup:

Always a pleasure to fish with one of the old timers.....a real gentleman, old school... :HappyWave:
Unfortunately we didn't do much at that spot either. His decades of experience could not raise a fish. Me throwing a shad produced only one biteoff from a bluefish. Switched to bucktail when that happened as I'm cheap and don't like to sacrifice rubber to bluefish if it's not necessary....




Neither of us got any action after that...we both agreed it was probably because the water was dirty as we were there for prime time when the fish should be active......hey, that's fishin...:fishing:

[cowherder]

Well the hook is already closed the plover area. I went there at 5pm tonight hoping for some bluefish and got turned away at north beach. that really sucks! So then I tracked all the way back to the lot, drove down a bit and went out to a place where I have caught bluefish in the past. Threw metal for an hour till dark. Picked up one small tiny blue about 2 pounds.

[J Barbosa]

Fished from 6:30 to ?. LOL :)

Thanks again for all the help Vpass :HappyWave:...the pressure is now off the fly rod and I will probably put it away until we see an abundance of small bait around.

[cowherder]

Fished from 6:30 to ?. LOL :)

Thanks again for all the help Vpass :HappyWave:...the pressure is now off the fly rod and I will probably put it away until we see an abundance of small bait around.

So did you catch or not catch? That is the question.:HappyWave:

[vpass]

Fished from 6:30 to ?. LOL :)

Thanks again for all the help Vpass :HappyWave:...the pressure is now off the fly rod and I will probably put it away until we see an abundance of small bait around.

No Problem, J Barbosa. I had a great time. Wait to you get a bigger one.

I fished last nigth from 5PM to 10:30PM. I caught 3 short Fluke, sh*t load of Sea robin. and Many blues from 1 pount ot about 4 pounds. Had a great time. Used gulp on a jig head for the fluke, and 1 oz. Crippled herring for the Blues.

I used my new rod a bought for fluke. called wild river from St. Croix, it's a 8.5 foot rod rated for 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. I love this rod. and would recommand it was fun fighting blues with it.

[basshunter]

Good to hear your catching fish will try for this weekend. Hate that they close north beach!

[basshunter]

I used my new rod a bought for fluke. called wild river from St. Croix, it's a 8.5 foot rod rated for 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. I love this rod. and would recommand it was fun fighting blues with it.


I wonder if I could ask you about this rod vpass. If it says 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz would you only throw 1 1/2 as the max or would you feel comforable throwing something bigger.

[vpass]

I wonder if I could ask you about this rod vpass. If it says 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz would you only throw 1 1/2 as the max or would you feel comforable throwing something bigger.

The knuckle head popper was the heaviest lure I casted last night, and it handle it with no problem. I'm not sure of the weight, I think the weight is around 1 1/2 oz. It would make a great schoolie rod.

The jig head I was casting weight about 5/8 oz and could believe how far I casted it.:heart:

[porgy75]

I just saw this and would like to ask you a question too. If you threw something that was 2 oz or 2 1/2 oz could you break the rod with it. I know the answer is probably yes but was wondering what basshunter said how much bigger could you throw without chances of breaking the rod. Thank you

[vpass]

I just saw this and would like to ask you a question too. If you threw something that was 2 oz or 2 1/2 oz could you break the rod with it. I know the answer is probably yes but was wondering what basshunter said how much bigger could you throw without chances of breaking the rod. Thank you

:don't know why: I wouldn't go over 2 oz. The next time out with the rod i'll try it an report back.

[jigfreak]

Nice getting in action in front of the weather. Heading out in a bit hope it's not too late.

[surferman]

Fished a cm beach from sunrise to 7am. Was fishing bait in the dark and got 5 hard fighting dogfish. Then when it got light I was tossing a small bucktail tipped with gulp around some rocks and got a 19" weakfish, released.

[Monty]

Fished a cm beach from sunrise to 7am. Was fishing bait in the dark and got 5 hard fighting dogfish. Then when it got light I was tossing a small bucktail tipped with gulp around some rocks and got a 19" weakfish, released.
Nice action and catch of the Weakfish. :thumbsup:

[robmedina]

went out last night to a popular jetty. The tide was coming in. The current was ripping. I tried chunking from the jetty just to see. 6oz mine as well put a floater on- just went with the tins and swimmers. Nothing happening. Left the jetty went to the bay. Again, current ripping. Nothing but weeds. Left there and started to head to another spot out front but the rain kicked in and we called it a night. Lots of exercise is all we got!

[J Barbosa]

I wonder if I could ask you about this rod vpass. If it says 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz would you only throw 1 1/2 as the max or would you feel comfortable throwing something bigger.


The knuckle head popper was the heaviest lure I casted last night, and it handle it with no problem. I'm not sure of the weight, I think the weight is around 1 1/2 oz. It would make a great schoolie rod.

The jig head I was casting weight about 5/8 oz and could believe how far I casted it.:heart:


I just saw this and would like to ask you a question too. If you threw something that was 2 oz or 2 1/2 oz could you break the rod with it. I know the answer is probably yes but was wondering what basshunter said how much bigger could you throw without chances of breaking the rod. Thank you


:don't know why: I wouldn't go over 2 oz. The next time out with the rod i'll try it an report back.

I have owned the exact rod for a while now as well as the heavier rated version (...lets say that mine are most likely outside the five year warranty period already).

Its a great schoolie rod as Vpass mentioned and it really excels with the light stuff. Throw on a 4000 sized reel with 20lb braid and its a casting beast for lures in the .5oz - 1oz range. Its also a great rod for fluke fishing as well and my goto surf fluking rod. I regularly cast 2-3oz plus a clam in the spring or a gulp rig in the summer. 3oz is really pushing it and its just a soft lob but thats okay as I don't need distance. The key with the heavier weights is to start winding up slow and finish fast. I wouldn't recommend going over 1.5oz unless you are highly confident in your casting ability. I have caught bass up to 20lbs on this rod in the back bay with no problems.

I will say that since they are steelhead rods they have a lot of give (they were built with this intention) and I feel at times can lack the backbone to set the hook into the jaw of a bigger bass.

Vpass, I know yesterday was the first day with the rod but don't be afraid to tighten that drag a little more and really drive those hooks home on the hookset.

Now for the heavier version of the rod - I don't like it that much, I find it to be too stiff but my brother loves it but he likes fishing heavier lures while I prefer the lighter stuff. The only thing I like this rod for is snagging bunker but I have a friend who swears by it and throws stuff as light as 1/4 oz.

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I recently got my hands on a St. Croix 8' surf avid and I am in love with it for light to moderate sized plugs. It handles the light sub 1oz stuff incredibly well yet launches a 2-3oz metal out of sight. I really wish St. Croix made the same rod in a 9ft model.

With all the talk about light plugging rods I should also mention the two older standbys that will forever be the "bomber" rods of NJ IMO: Lami Ron Arra 1083 and GSB1081L

[storminsteve]

Very informative gents thanks!

[cowherder]

went out last night to a popular jetty. The tide was coming in. The current was ripping. I tried chunking from the jetty just to see. 6oz mine as well put a floater on- just went with the tins and swimmers. Nothing happening. Left the jetty went to the bay. Again, current ripping. Nothing but weeds. Left there and started to head to another spot out front but the rain kicked in and we called it a night. Lots of exercise is all we got!

I don't know what area of you fish Rob but some times the Hook is like that. Lots of exercise no fish. When they come through and you are there it makes it all finally worth it!

[ledhead36]

Nice reports guys I was out last night from 8-12 in the rain. caught the skunk and it seemed the bay got a little colder. I checked the temp site today and it says it went down from 72 to 64 an 8 degree drop in 2 days

[buckethead]

Fished a cm beach from sunrise to 7am. Was fishing bait in the dark and got 5 hard fighting dogfish. Then when it got light I was tossing a small bucktail tipped with gulp around some rocks and got a 19" weakfish, released.

Nice going surferman. Good deal on the release there are not too many larger weakfish around.

[robmedina]

I don't know what area of you fish Rob but some times the Hook is like that. Lots of exercise no fish. When they come through and you are there it makes it all finally worth it!
you sure you just aren't walking through a certain beach area instead of fishing????? LOL! I fish LBI mostly

[jigfreak]

Fished somoco from 5-7 bad water big surf hooh hah say hello to the skunk.

[cowherder]

It was a perfect overcast morning. Went to Nomoco there was hardly anyone there. Threw metal for an hour no takers.

[basshunter]

Thanks for the info about the st croix guys very helpful.

[basshunter]

Nice reports guys I was out last night from 8-12 in the rain. caught the skunk and it seemed the bay got a little colder. I checked the temp site today and it says it went down from 72 to 64 an 8 degree drop in 2 days


I noticed you post a lot of the temp reports. Thanks for that dude it is helpful. Sucks when the water temperatures go down tho cause you know the bite will suffer.

[basshunter]

went out last night to a popular jetty. The tide was coming in. The current was ripping. I tried chunking from the jetty just to see. 6oz mine as well put a floater on- just went with the tins and swimmers. Nothing happening. Left the jetty went to the bay. Again, current ripping. Nothing but weeds. Left there and started to head to another spot out front but the rain kicked in and we called it a night. Lots of exercise is all we got!


Hey dude at least it keeps us in shape right?

[porgy75]

I hope it clears up by tomorrow.

[J Barbosa]

I hope it clears up by tomorrow.

Me too, I really want to go fluking in the bay.

[J Barbosa]

So last week my mom invited close family friends from Philadelphia to join us for dinner and she promised them fresh caught crabs if they made the drive up. They really love blue crabs and they usually drive up to Maryland twice a year to eat them so the pressure was on.

So I wake up this morning and I'm really dragging myself to get out of bed. Conditions couldn't possibly be worse for crabbing. I swore it was going to be a very slow pick with the colder temperatures and stained water from the heavy overnight rains. however, the alternatives didn't look much better...we could try facing the stained water in the bay along with the stiff winds they forecasted or the heavy swells in the surf and after all my mom did promise them some fresh crabs.

My brother and I decided to go ahead and try to catch a few crabs. We arrive at our favorite spot and my suspicions were correct...cold and heavily stained water from the runoff. We decided to give it a try any way and its a good thing we did.

It started off slow but we made some adjustments and then we each had a hard time keeping our nets empty. Lots of doubles today and at times I didn't even have a chance to empty my net. I sometimes had 3-5 crabs in the net at once.

We Ended up with 99 keepers total.
17180


A few colossal+ sized crabs mixed in as we'll.
17181


This 7 1/2" crab makes my freakishly big hands look normal.
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Old bay
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[vpass]

Me too, I really want to go fluking in the bay.

Me too, not sure if i'll be out in the am, or afternoon. looking to get some fluke also. going to take home a sea robin, i'm curious on how they taste.:kooky::)

[robmedina]

fished LBI last night on the outgoing tide. (I just can't seem to find a site that gives me accurate tide information for where I fish!!!) anyway, the tide was outgoing. The current was ripping again. I could not hold bottom with 6oz. Now the one caveat is that I had my family with me and I knew their attention span would be low. So I picked a hole on a beach that is close to the entrance to the island. I see a bunch of cars on that street and a few streets in both directions. so I end up parking 5 streets away. I get onto the beach and there are people lined up all the way to the hole. I figure it's almost dark those people will leave and I will move. Nope- didn't happen. So I was forced to fish less than ideal water. Oh well- , anyway, like I said I couldn't hold bottom with 6 oz. I was fishing 2 poles. I broke one down and just held my last pole. At one point the current weakened or started pulling strait but by that time it was too late the tide was way down. I was probably in inches of water. I walk over to the family. "Do you guys want to go home?" "YES" was their speedy reply. oh well, what ya gonna do????

[Monty]

Fished this morning 1:15-10:15. First cast a blue about 3 lbs on a metal lip swimmer. That was it for some time :huh:.
Met up with Dark a couple hours later. Had a great time as usual fishing with him. I'll take the goog title for this trip between us :HappyWave:
Was tough catching, I think I ended up with 6 or 7 small blues, most caught on a teaser in front of a popper. A couple sea robins. Many, many, many casts :) .
Was 1x I missed a blue on successive casts on teaser in front of a pencil, Dark said change to a SS popper, he predicted a hook up on next cast, next cast with ss hooked up on teaser (nice call).
Was fun, appreciate the laughs and then the discussions on fishing we had (never hurts to learn a few things), thanks Dark.

[DarkSkies]

Behind on some reports........

6-6-13 Thu AM

Did a Monty marathon last night fished eight hours... Managed 6 bass to 10 pounds one hour before first light... swimmers and bucktail did it.

Then I made a move so I could get some blue fish .... Managed 17 to five pounds throwing needle fish fish and poppers... The Bluefish were harder to catch than the bass.... they were really picky.


They did love the madcaster needlefish....that day they were hitting topwater and some launched themselves out of the water to kill madcaster's needlefish..:lynchmob:..it accounted for the majority of the fish that day....also lost a few nicer ones due to googan error. :beatin: :bucktooth:


Pics to follow...




Total 6 bass to 10#
17 blues to 5#.

[DarkSkies]

6-7-13 AM
Before I set out on my AM trip made a quick stop at an old favorite place....managed 3 small blues in the dark at 1am...small swimmer.
Then I ran into a couple that needed help.....some of ya's know that story....the rest I'll put up in installments as I get time.....:)

I did lose some valuable fishin time, and did pretty poorly after that....spent 3 hours to catch one bluefish on metal.....
and 7 aggressive sea robins.........

The wind and weather were pretty bad from the storm and conditions were less than optimal.
This wise old grouchy basstid that I know suggested I stay home in bed....but then who would have helped the folks that needed it? :moon: :HappyWave:...Even the Coast Guard wouldn't come out.......
Total....
4 bluefish to 4#...7 sea robins to 3#...










6-8-13 AM
Went out again still having delusions that I could find some fish. Was not successful....windy and by then the ocean water had become unfishable......no hits at all for me.....:skunk:
Later on I ran into a friend of Chuckwagon Chuck (RIP)....and also Jim Cousins.....It's a great day when I run into the old-timers and listen to what they have to say....










6-9-13 AM
Went out for a few hours to make the pre-sunrise bite. Got a little delayed due to putting new braid on the rod. That was to be my undoing as I failed to produce any decent fish and lost some time being a googan due to my haste in putting the braid on.....:bucktooth:

Ran into Monty.....:HappyWave:
FYI - ask him what energy drink he favors and buy stock in the company.....:ROFLMAO
He is a non-stop dynamo of action...pretty animated for an old fart......;)

He managed to find the coolest dead stuff you guys have seen in a while...don't know if he's going to post it all at once or put it up piecemeal....but I think he really goes fishing to find dead stuff...:laugh:.the fishing, and catching, is secondary.....
I did pretty poorly.....Monty had the hot hand....the water was dirty where we were, and the temp drop took away the aggressive behavior of the fish, temporarily.......we worked real hard for those fish we caught......it was slower than a slow pick...but we gave it our best anyway.....:viking:
Always a pleasure running into the fishing maniac.....he runs circles around guys half his age.....:thumbsup:
Total for me....
1 bluefish, one sea robin......
Monty crushed those numbers.....I don't think he stopped fishing for more than 30 secs the whole time, and that was to take a leak....;)
The important thing is that the fish just were not there in numbers at that time....and we picked away at them anyway.....:thumbsup:
Fishin near Monty pushes it to the limits.....:cool:



IMO a few tide changes should bring things back to normal...and put the blues on the topwater bite again, which I find exciting and look forward to.....

[DarkSkies]

JBarbosa, awesome crabbing report and the pics made me hungry! :drool: :HappyWave:





. I walk over to the family. "Do you guys want to go home?" "YES" was their speedy reply. oh well, what ya gonna do????

Rob, it is hard to keep the little ones interested unless they are catching.....and the bluefish are perfect for that....but they haven't been that consistent this year.....it's even difficult to pattern bluefish behavior this year....they are in the inlets and rivers one day, sluggish the next....

In years past there were places where you could bring your family to for 4-8 weeks at a time and have fun catching bluefish....now to be consistent you have to offer them bunker and fish at night....very tough year...IMO....and as a result I feel bad for all the Dads and families out there who want to take their children out for a combined beach and bluefishing day.....






also. going to take home a sea robin, i'm curious on how they taste.:kooky::)

I'm gonna post a tutorial, how to cook sea robin tails, Italian style.....or make fish cakes with sea robin tails.....just for you....:moon: ....ya smart azz! :laugh:
Took the pics last night, robin tails are now marinating......will try to post pics soon.....:HappyWave:

[seamonkey]

Well at least someone is catching and having fun and those crabs look delish!
I fished cape may today the surf calmed down a bit used clams and only two dogfish.

[J Barbosa]

Me too, not sure if i'll be out in the am, or afternoon. looking to get some fluke also. going to take home a sea robin, i'm curious on how they taste.:kooky::)

I hope you did better than my brother and I with the fluke. We tried for a good three - four hours on the kayaks and only got two croakers (not even a sea robin :huh:). We must have covered a few miles of water from 6-25ft of water.

The water was still very stained and visibility was extremely low in some areas.. There was big bluefish around all day harassing scattered bunker. It was tough fishing for them in the dirty water but I found that they really like crushing the big 9" sebile magic swimmer in white when it's skimmed on the surface. :d

Left the fish grips in the car :don't know why:
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17185

[SharkHart]

i hoped to fish 3 days in a row but Friday was a wash, Thurs crushed the flukies around the tide change thursday in river on kayak most were 12-14" but oddly enough once the incomming started a few 23-24" showed up landed 1 dropped 2 at yak side, boat next to me got two same size, I must have had 35 fish total and a huge star gazer, fun to land on kayak. So then racked the Yak headed north and a sizeable bass blitz broke out and was headed into a beach cove, got almost in range and went down.

Sat afternoon motor powered started with bad brown water to a 1/2 mile out, did not see a boat from Squan until Red Church, saw maybe 5 all day. Fluke bite was dead, 2 shorts only. Saw no bunkies the whole way. The incomming started to clean up and it was hail mary territory but the magic hour was coming. found the bass stacked up tight on a ledge willing to hit lures swept over the edge, had a good bite going but in a tight spot. Then they finally boiled some bunker up a few hundy yards away. I had a memorable cast into crashing bass they were fighting for it cartwheeling on my pencil, all I saw was tails and backs before coming tight after about 7 misses.

Look at the mouth on mine :don't know why:

17186

we got this one too :thumbsup:

17187

[cowherder]

:clapping:Awesome catches guys! John if you ever have a extra space at the table please invite me! I got sick of fishing nomoco with the plovers and the crowds on the beaches so I fished somoco for the incoming tide yesterday at 7-9pm. Picked up one little guy 24" on storm shad, safely released in the water. This is a bad year for me where is all the baitfish that normally swims in the wash?

[storminsteve]

late report -Went down to Island beach before the weekend because B&N was reporting bunker were "all over". Well I don't know where he gets his reports from because when I went there there was nothing. Fished it for 2 hours right before the park and nada. Stopped at the MI on the way back and fished there, nada as well.
Nice catches guys! Shark what did that fish weigh? Awesome! Barbosa I want an invite to your next crabfest forget about cowherder he is an amatuer. I am the world renowned expert on eating crabs!:laugh:

[bababooey]

6-7-13 AM
Total....
4 bluefish to 4#...7 sea robins to 3#...









I'm gonna post a tutorial, how to cook sea robin tails, Italian style.....or make fish cakes with sea robin tails.....just for you....:moon: ....ya smart azz! :laugh:
Took the pics last night, robin tails are now marinating......will try to post pics soon.....:HappyWave:


You took 7 sea robins out of the biomass? Isn't there a limit on sea robins? Why did you need to take so many, dark. I read where you ate the eggs too so they are spawning fish. Why didn't you let the sea robins spawn before you killed them. You animal. Are you going to tell us you were giving the extras to the poor, come on dude.:kooky:
You are a meatman!;) :HappyWave:

[bababooey]

I say jbarbosa has a crab and clam bake at his house at the end of summer. He charges $20 a head and we bring our own booze. I'll bring 2 cases of brewskis and some smooth bourbon. Cigars optional. What do you say, JB?:HappyWave:

[basshunter]

I love checking in here for reports. Another site has 26 pages of banter unrelated to reports, pissing contest about what is the best wind, and how to tell which direction the wind is coming from. Shouldn't that be in it's own thread? Here you have 5 pages of reports already in the first week of June and most of it is about fishing. What a concept. Fishing reports where fishing is actually discussed and reported.:clapping: Thanks for going out in all kinds of weather so I don't have to (just kidding) , you guys are hardcore.

I fished twice this weekend. back bay. Ocean county. Water was like chocolate milk. Fished shads and bucktail and grub, no dice.

[J Barbosa]

Im down for a crab feast but not at my house...I heard you guys all smell :scared:

I think I can catch a crab or two ;)

[albiealert]

^^^I think it's just dark who allegedly smells.:rolleyes: :HappyWave: I don't, even take a shower once a day. Sometimes twice if I go fishing. I might come to Jersey if there was a shindig let me know.

[SharkHart]

late report -Went down to Island beach before the weekend because B&N was reporting bunker were "all over". Well I don't know where he gets his reports from because when I went there there was nothing. Fished it for 2 hours right before the park and nada. Stopped at the MI on the way back and fished there, nada as well.
Nice catches guys! Shark what did that fish weigh? Awesome! Barbosa I want an invite to your next crabfest forget about cowherder he is an amatuer. I am the world renowned expert on eating crabs!:laugh:


was bouncing around 32-33lbs, sounds weird but it was actually sorta "short" for its thickness. Note the arms are in a natural bent position :) We smiled and didnt J- bucktail our arms straight out ;) this guys new to salt he wanted his biggie but we put 9 out of 11 back in the water.

[DarkSkies]

Frank and his 48.5 lb fish....
Yes it was caught in a blitz...but the latest one lasted less than 20 minutes.....only a handful of fish were caught...and this was the biggest.....

He could have entered the Reel Seat contest with it....won a VS 200, or the CTS rod.....
He could have entered the Berkeley Spring Tourney run around the same time.....Hundreds of $$ in prizes....
There are still some tackle shops that have certificates of a few hundred $$ for the biggest Surf fish of the year....and this fish would have had a clear shot at #1......



17190

He could have weighed it in for a video weigh in...
or several tackle shops, and paraded it around on the internet......on every website and facebook surfcaster group out there.......

But some quick pics were taken. and he decided to put this big girl back in the water quickly.......













Outstanding job, Frank..........on the fish of a lifetime.....:clapping: :clapping:
and the release........:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[robmedina]

^^^^^^^^^^^:clapping::thumbsup:

[SharkHart]

I was there for that, they blitzed 2-3 casts out sliding north, and stopped short of a cove , he was south which i got to as he landed it, was just a 3 random blind fish which is a little better then a blitz :) he had some big time prodding to weigh it in, someone said that thing must be 40 lbs, I said I think its close to 50, i thought it was toast but he kept reviving it and off it went. it actually broke the line as he grabbed it.

[surferman]

Very nice fish shark hart!
I fished a cape may jetti this morning from 5-7am incoming tide got 2 nice weakies to 19" using bucktail and gulp swimming mullet. Released.

[DarkSkies]

Behind on the reports again.....

6-10-13 Mon AM
Monty Mini-marathon 6 hours pre dawn to 9am.
Went out looking for some bass and bluefish. Nothing on the bass. As the tide filled in, there were some blues. Extrememely picky in the dirty bay water. Guys next to me were pencil popping for an hour in the rain, not a touch. They eventually quit, mumbling "no fish here!" as they walked past me and left.

I went through everything in my bag to try to catch one. There was no visible activity and no signs that they were there.
Blues wouldn't touch topwater swimmers, even the smallest poppers.
Woudn't touch metal, the same types that have been catching them for weeks....not interested.
Wouldn't touch bucktails though I did manage one stray blue on a bucktail and grub. Worked it half hour after that with no action.

The Madcaster needlefish, that a few days ago they wanted to kill, didn't get a touch that day.

The OFFC (Old Farts Fishin club) gave me this tiny 4" skinny plug to try the last time we met up and compared notes on the beach.
That small plug (similar to a small redfin) was the only thing they had an interest in. Finally got into a groove where I managed a hit or miss every 10 casts.

That's the action some of us look for out there. When we can't fiind bass, it is all about finding the action....and this was a puzzle that I finally found some pieces to......I knew they were feeding on small spearing, but had seen some larger ones the other night, and thought the behavior would be different....when the going gets tough, you have to get back to basics, and this may help you catch......

Despite many hours of casting with no activity at all.,



in 2 hours in the building rain I managed 11 small blues to 4#.
Also one small cow nose ray, on another small swimmer, similar to a mega-bait
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7765-cow-nose-rays-has-anyone-seen-them-yet

As I said, it was the action we are looking for. Once I started tossing that plug it was like a switch was turned on. I missed an embarassing number of hits as they were just bumping it. As I finally started catching, many of the blues were hooked in the eye or head...so I know they really didn't want my plug...it was pissing them off just enough to make them take a swipe at it but not enough to attack......

**Most importantly, it did not mimic closely enough the profile of the small bait they have been feeding on.
If I had a teaser with me, I could probably have tripled my numbers for this trip..I have been lazy when it comes to teasers so far this year....











Many thanks to the OFFC for having a "plug trade" with me..:HappyWave:..they got a plug out of the deal too....though if on Monday, someone were to offer to buy that plug back, I would have respectfully ignored the request.....:)

** Bluefish and rain....my observations....hard rain put them down....as soon as it minimized, they started hitting again.....this plug swims down about 1' in the water column so it shouldn't have mattered, but it did......I have been out on nights when both bass and blues were feeding, and noticed this as well, although the bass usually feed through the rain, if the bait is there.....
The bait, for the most part, has been in the top half of the water column when talking about spearing, bottom half when talking about grass shrimp and other things they were foraging for on the bottom a month ago....

[DarkSkies]

6-11-13 Tue AM

Again tried to work the pre-dawn bite, 4 hours in the dark including sunup.
Nothing in the first 2 hours. Worked all levels of the water column.
At 5am I missed a bass on a swimmer. 5:05 am I briefly hooked and dropped a nicer size bass. That was my only bass activity for the trip.

An hour after that I had some bluefish action, finally on a topwater popper. Only landed 2 small blues. Water was a little dirty. As soon as the sun showed in the cloudy sky all activity was over.

[DarkSkies]

Im down for a crab feast but not at my house...I heard you guys all smell :scared:

I think I can catch a crab or two ;)


^^^I think it's just dark who allegedly smells.:rolleyes: :HappyWave: I don't, even take a shower once a day. Sometimes twice if I go fishing. I might come to Jersey if there was a shindig let me know.

"Et tu, Brutus?" :2flip: :moon: :laugh: :clapping: :HappyWave:
Didn't expect that from ya, albie..and John, I can now see what a trouble maker you are....:d....all good though....showers twice a day? Wow what a concept! Showers are over-rated anyway.....I can tell if I need one or not by smelling the shirt I just changed out of.....:ROFLMAO :kooky:

[robmedina]

6-11-13 Tue AM

Again tried to work the pre-dawn bite, 4 hours in the dark including sunup.
Nothing in the first 2 hours. Worked all levels of the water column.
At 5am I missed a bass on a swimmer. 5:05 am I briefly hooked and dropped a nicer size bass. That was my only bass activity for the trip.

An hour after that I had some bluefish action, finally on a topwater popper. Only landed 2 small blues. Water was a little dirty. As soon as the sun showed in the cloudy sky all activity was over. I should have gone out, couldn't sleep anyway. I guess my nap yesterday afternoon screwed me!

[Fishman]

Went out early this morning before the rain. I threw back a short. I wanted to stay longer but the work whistle was calling me.

[DarkSkies]

Rob ya didn't miss much......
Fishman it did get real nasty out there.

Smart of ya to try to get out before the storm. I was out too, pre-dawn, Monty Mini Marathon...7 hours...
Few small bass and blues...swimmers....then the rains came and shut it down.....:(
The fishing for me this year, when compared to years past, has been dismal.....many stops during the night to places that were almost a guarantee of bass in the past....only to get skunked.....Once I do find a bite, I will come back the next night with anticipation, :drool: thinking maybe for once, it will repeat itself, and I don't have to work so hard finding them again.....

That 2nd night bite usually never works out successfully for me.....with the result that I have to keep pounding sand, rocks, or jumping from inlet to inlet, to find a few fish......Sorry to put this negativity out there., folks...I know some aren't happy reading stuff like that...

If I were to think about all the places where I have been looking for fish this season, and not finding them, VS the few places that I have been lucky enough to find some.....Well, I could see how some of ya's say they are quitting fishing.,...because it really ain't that easy this year (at least for me)....just my thoughts.....

[robmedina]

I was out too, pre-dawn, Monty Mini Marathon...7 hours... NICE! I love being out in the surf for an all nighter. Dark- do you fish LBI at all? I don't know your age but I bumped into a Older couple, should I use the term " Mature" couple? Anyway, I was fishing with a buddy and passed this nice couple- they were done plugging and said they saved a few for us. I was wondering if that was you and Pebbles....

[DarkSkies]

^ Rob, I'm the same age as Joe, one of your mentors and a good friend of mine....You can call me an old fart if ya want....as long as ya tell Joe I said he's an old fart too......(make sure you have him text me with his response the next time you're out fishin together......:ROFLMAO )

I fish anywhere from IRI (Delaware) to Ma.....any one of my trips could be along that corridor....

As the summer gets hotter and the bass fewer I will probably try to concentrate my trips in the LI Sound area. IMO it's a fisherman's paradise and has some pristine water that holds a lot of forage and predators.....Beyond that, the scenery of the isolated boulder fields at night.....is too amazing for words....:drool:..serene, rugged,....:heart: and at the same time it can be extremely dangerous on moon tides....but that's part of the lure for me......









You would not see Pebbles out with me on a 7 hour Monty Marathon...I tried it a few times and it wasn't good for our relationship.....I have since learned that it's best not to put others through the rigors of a 7-10 hour marathon.....have tried it with some site-members here and they have passed out on the beach 3/4 of the way through the trip....

When I'm out there, there is no chat, no tea and crumpets.....:laugh:,,,no holding hands and singing kumbaya...group fishing, among grown men, remains a mystery to me...but to each his own....

When I'm out there it's 200% full bore until it's over......When I'm done there is usually not one ounce of energy left.....and I need to collapse in a back parking lot or parkway rest stop for 1-2 hours to get some strength to drive home......that's why I named it the Monty Marathon....IMO there are few out there who have the stamina to keep up the momentum for all night of pushing it till you find fish....and Monty, is able to do that, despite his being an Old Fart...;) :thumbsup: ....





The next time ya run into that older couple try to engage them in some chat.....they might just tell ya some of their secrets, or tips....and these subtle differences, that we old farts know....are sometimes the difference between catching and not catching.....Hope that helped.,...and say Hi to Joe for me....he's been down lately because one of the areas he fishes is being changed for the worse.....:HappyWave:

[porgy75]

Behind on the reports again.....

6-10-13 Mon AM
Monty Mini-marathon 6 hours pre dawn to 9am.
Went out looking for some bass and bluefish. Nothing on the bass. As the tide filled in, there were some blues. Extrememely picky in the dirty bay water. Guys next to me were pencil popping for an hour in the rain, not a touch. They eventually quit, mumbling "no fish here!" as they walked past me and left.

I went through everything in my bag to try to catch one. There was no visible activity and no signs that they were there.
Blues wouldn't touch topwater swimmers, even the smallest poppers.
Woudn't touch metal, the same types that have been catching them for weeks....not interested.
Wouldn't touch bucktails though I did manage one stray blue on a bucktail and grub. Worked it half hour after that with no action.

The Madcaster needlefish, that a few days ago they wanted to kill, didn't get a touch that day.

The OFFC (Old Farts Fishin club) gave me this tiny 4" skinny plug to try the last time we met up and compared notes on the beach.
That small plug (similar to a small redfin) was the only thing they had an interest in. Finally got into a groove where I managed a hit or miss every 10 casts.

That's the action some of us look for out there. When we can't fiind bass, it is all about finding the action....and this was a puzzle that I finally found some pieces to......I knew they were feeding on small spearing, but had seen some larger ones the other night, and thought the behavior would be different....when the going gets tough, you have to get back to basics, and this may help you catch......

Despite many hours of casting with no activity at all.,



in 2 hours in the building rain I managed 11 small blues to 4#.
Also one small cow nose ray, on another small swimmer, similar to a mega-bait
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7765-cow-nose-rays-has-anyone-seen-them-yet

As I said, it was the action we are looking for. Once I started tossing that plug it was like a switch was turned on. I missed an embarassing number of hits as they were just bumping it. As I finally started catching, many of the blues were hooked in the eye or head...so I know they really didn't want my plug...it was pissing them off just enough to make them take a swipe at it but not enough to attack......

**Most importantly, it did not mimic closely enough the profile of the small bait they have been feeding on.
If I had a teaser with me, I could probably have tripled my numbers for this trip..I have been lazy when it comes to teasers so far this year....











Many thanks to the OFFC for having a "plug trade" with me..:HappyWave:..they got a plug out of the deal too....though if on Monday, someone were to offer to buy that plug back, I would have respectfully ignored the request.....:)

** Bluefish and rain....my observations....hard rain put them down....as soon as it minimized, they started hitting again.....this plug swims down about 1' in the water column so it shouldn't have mattered, but it did......I have been out on nights when both bass and blues were feeding, and noticed this as well, although the bass usually feed through the rain, if the bait is there.....
The bait, for the most part, has been in the top half of the water column when talking about spearing, bottom half when talking about grass shrimp and other things they were foraging for on the bottom a month ago....


daerkskies thank for the reporting you even make catching bluefish into a fun report. jbarbosa I was wondering how that crab dinner went they all looked delish! sharkheart those were some big cows you got nice fish!

[storminsteve]

nice reports gents. Hoping this water clears up so I can get out there and get some fish! or at least get some dead things to kick montys *** with.:laugh: :HappyWave:

[fishinmission78]

Gave it a try near island beach 3:30-5:30. Nasty rainy bottom of the tide needed 10 oz to hold with clams. Fished a good hole I know no dice for me.

[Monty]

nice reports gents. Hoping this water clears up so I can get out there and get some fish! or at least get some dead things to kick montys *** with.:laugh: :HappyWave:

Agree, great reports all, also hoping the water clears up some.
I also hope storminsteve finds a dead thing or two, I really need a little competition (try to find something on the beach.....(stay out of the pet cemetery this week!!)).

[Pebbles]

NICE! I love being out in the surf for an all nighter. Dark- do you fish LBI at all? I don't know your age but I bumped into a Older couple, should I use the term " Mature" couple? Anyway, I was fishing with a buddy and passed this nice couple- they were done plugging and said they saved a few for us. I was wondering if that was you and Pebbles....

Ok Rob, you can put Dark in the OLD catagory, but the last thing I am is "Older or Mature", (60+). :burn:

I will give you a pass this time, but this girl can fish with the best of them. I forgive you.:kiss:

[robmedina]

^ Rob, I'm the same age as Joe, one of your mentors and a good friend of mine....You can call me an old fart if ya want....as long as ya tell Joe I said he's an old fart too......(make sure you have him text me with his response the next time you're out fishin together......:ROFLMAO )

I fish anywhere from IRI (Delaware) to Ma.....any one of my trips could be along that corridor....

As the summer gets hotter and the bass fewer I will probably try to concentrate my trips in the LI Sound area. IMO it's a fisherman's paradise and has some pristine water that holds a lot of forage and predators.....Beyond that, the scenery of the isolated boulder fields at night.....is too amazing for words....:drool:..serene, rugged,....:heart: and at the same time it can be extremely dangerous on moon tides....but that's part of the lure for me......









You would not see Pebbles out with me on a 7 hour Monty Marathon...I tried it a few times and it wasn't good for our relationship.....I have since learned that it's best not to put others through the rigors of a 7-10 hour marathon.....have tried it with some site-members here and they have passed out on the beach 3/4 of the way through the trip....

When I'm out there, there is no chat, no tea and crumpets.....:laugh:,,,no holding hands and singing kumbaya...group fishing, among grown men, remains a mystery to me...but to each his own....

When I'm out there it's 200% full bore until it's over......When I'm done there is usually not one ounce of energy left.....and I need to collapse in a back parking lot or parkway rest stop for 1-2 hours to get some strength to drive home......that's why I named it the Monty Marathon....IMO there are few out there who have the stamina to keep up the momentum for all night of pushing it till you find fish....and Monty, is able to do that, despite his being an Old Fart...;) :thumbsup: ....





The next time ya run into that older couple try to engage them in some chat.....they might just tell ya some of their secrets, or tips....and these subtle differences, that we old farts know....are sometimes the difference between catching and not catching.....Hope that helped.,...and say Hi to Joe for me....he's been down lately because one of the areas he fishes is being changed for the worse.....:HappyWave:
I didn't think it was you guys but figured I would ask. Well if you are Joes age I am close to you guys. I am 46. I guess we are all old farts!

[Pebbles]

^You would not see Pebbles out with me on a 7 hour Monty Marathon...I tried it a few times and it wasn't good for our

OK "LB" you are in trouble now. This time the love of your life can't save you, like she did in the deep blue sea last week.

If my memory serves me right, there have been many, many times where you and I have been fishing for hours on ends. We would leave at 5:00 pm one day and not return until the next afternoon or evening. I have fished in the most horrific conditions with you, Love. Pouring rain where we could not see in front of our faces, windy conditions where I was almost blown away, in the coldest weather where snow would start to fall. Yet through it all I still :heart:you!

Finchaser back me up here!

[DarkSkies]

^ Glad to see you got in on that action, Shark......




June 13.......
Big blues to 15#.....
Bass to 14 #.....
All released......
Bass and blues on big swimmers....

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[DarkSkies]

June 10.....Cownose ray, caught on a plug......

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[DarkSkies]

^ Yes, I stand corrected,,,,,
You have been out in the worst conditions with me....
I even dragged you out on the jetties one night and you almost fell in till I grabbed ya at the last second.......

I think you have taken too much, in our quest to find the fish....

Finchaser gave me a real hard time about it..:argue:..so I try to only bring you out in optimal conditions now.....,and unfortunately those conditions are few and far between......
Fin is so protective he is like your surrogate Dad......otherwise he might get his Eyetalian going, and have Ernesto and Joey Necktie show up at my house to have a little talk with me.....:scared:.:ROFLMAO
Yes I am a lucky guy......I know that.......very lucky that you still love me..and put up with me.....love ya too......:heart: :kiss:

[Pebbles]

^ I even dragged you out on the jetties one night and you almost fell in till I grabbed ya at the last second.......
Finchaser gave me a real hard time about it..:argue:....he is so protective he is like your surrogate Dad......so I try to only bring you out in optimal conditions now.....,
and unfortunately those conditions are few and far between......

Yes I almost fell in. I was on my way down close to the edge of the jetty ready to go into the water in the dead of night. Thank goodness for Dark. If he did not grab me I would have been dinner for the fish.

That is acutally how I received my wonderful Finchaser rod. When Dark saved me he had to pull me up, to prevent me from slipping into the water, by yanking on my arm. Lost range of motion in my shoulder and developed severe tentonitis. The weight of my rod at that time caused me lots of pain and my fishing days became far and few between.

Then Finchaser came to my rescue and I received one of his custom rods. He detailed it and made sure it was the right length and perfectly balanced just for me. He even taught me how to cast really far with it.

So I guess I have two loves in this story, Dark for saving my life :kiss:and Finchaser :heart:for saving my fishing.

[robmedina]

Ok Rob, you can put Dark in the OLD catagory, but the last thing I am is "Older or Mature", (60+). :burn:

I will give you a pass this time, but this girl can fish with the best of them. I forgive you.:kiss: scheww, I dodged a bullet there!

[ledhead36]

Fished bunker in the bay, it was dirty. One 27" bass and skate.

[Pebbles]

Ledhead, did you keep the skate? I hear a lot of people throw them back and they are not good eating fish.

[cowherder]

I don't kniw about ledhead but I would not eat a skate. They are ugly! Fished nomoco this morning on the incoming tide water was kind of cold. I was fluking and got 3 short fluke and one sundial all released. All on double chartreuse gulp on hi low.

[robmedina]

fished the south jetty with chunked bunker. 1 skate. Did some bucktailing (still trying to get a feel for it) snagged a bunch of times but didn't loose my rig. My buddy Joe had a few hits on his bucktail but no hookups.

[DarkSkies]

2 day report...

Sat/Sun..
Worked 20 miles of coastline, 2 counties.....

Few small bass and blues....:fishing:

[DarkSkies]

Some more trips from June 2013.....

June 15 AM trip....
6 hour Monty mini marathon...
Fishing was very slow for most of the night.
1 short bass middle of the night on swimmer,



Some more activity around sunrise and up to 1 1/2 hours after...it was nice because the fish were more aggressive then, than they had been. Even managed a few on topwater, SS LN popper.

Totals:
1 short bass,
15 blues to 5#, blues hit swimmers and popper, would not hit metal.

[DarkSkies]

June 16 AM trip
5 hour Monty Mini Marathon

Got the blues....
Some bluefish activity in the dark, swimmers.
As opposed to the day before they would not hit top water....tried 3 separate times during the trip.
Best action on swimmers....Half the fish came from the OFFC plug,


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which is now trashed after catching over 30 bluefish...tail hook and back part of plug broke.....:(

One of the "larger" bluefish was caught on speedy's white swimmer...

17290

The blues that morning were so small they were not pic worthy...half the size of the blues the day before

What was interesting was how picky and sluggish they were....light hits, if you missed it they would not come back....
I missed so many fish it was embarassing. :(
When the plug bite died they hit metal at varying retrieves until slack tide. Bite was dead after that.

Also hooked and landed 2 cownose rays, 8-10#...both on metal.



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Total:
14 blues to 3#.
2 cownose rays.

[porgy75]

Well I took my dad to island beach for fathers day it was a lot of fun. We didn't have any great catches we got one 27" striper, one big skate and one cownose ray the ray was awesome looking but a little freaky,. All on fresh clam grumpys they were real helpful and are nice guys.

[wish4fish]

porgy that musta bin awesome i took my pops out today too we hit the bay it was a mistake cuz we got some redbirds and 2 skates it was kinda lame fishin but kewl times wit pops and were both out for dinner and brews now. tite lines and good luck evryone!

[storminsteve]

Nice going fellas and taking your dads out to boot very cool.

[Monty]

Its always great to get to fish with your fathers, especially today, nice going :thumbsup:.

Fished this morning out front 1:00-2:30, Skunk-a-jamma. Then in the back 3:30 to 10:30. Result 2 Hogys bit in half and 3 accidentally caught Fluke, caught on metal lip swimmer, crocodile and teaser....teaser was the largest at ~17 inches......
Great time on the water.

[ledhead36]

Ledhead, did you keep the skate? I hear a lot of people throw them back and they are not good eating fish.

Pebbles I don't eat skates. dark keeps telling me to try them but I am too lazy.
Fished the bay last night, 2 short stripers, 1 mini blue, bunker.

[buckethead]

Porgy and wish4fish those were great storys of fathers day fishing. Time on the water together is precious thanks for sharing.

[bababooey]

Its always great to get to fish with your fathers, especially today, nice going :thumbsup:.

.

happy belated fathers day fishermen and and their families. Nice reports porgy and w4.

[hookset]

Fished this morning out front 1:00-2:30, Skunk-a-jamma. Great time on the water.

Like that, you coined a new term monty. I fished twice this weekend 4-6am, :skunk:
Hope all the fathers on here had a good day yesterday

[seamonkey]

Fished a cape may beach yesterday for 2 hours before sunset and 2 hours after. Used clam and got dogfish. It was like they would find it as soon as it hit the bottom. Did someone say they were endangered? If so please come to Cape May to take some off our hands and transplant to somewhere else!

[surferman]

Fished lower atlantic county from 5-8pm. Outgoing tide. Skates, skates, and 2 sandsharks. Was using clam. Got a lot of little bumps so I downsized my hooks and got 2 blowfish and one kingfish.

[ledhead36]

in the words of finchaser, fishing was good last night but the catching sucked.:skunk:

[buckethead]

nomoco 4-6 top of the tide. Managed 2 17" fluke and 1 short 25" bass, small diamond jig.

[DarkSkies]

June 18 Pm trip.
6 hour Monty Mini Marathon.....
Fished hard for most of the night....as it had rained recently the water was discolored and I felt the bite was off. The forage available was just not there.

Managed one almost legal bass on swimmer at night.

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One decent fluke, about 17", on small metal at first light

[DarkSkies]

June 19 PM trip,
Monty Marathon...8 hours....

This was a trip where I was targeting night bluefish...some larger ones had shown up, coming in at the end of day to crash bunker schools...
I had been to the water earlier that day...worked it for 1/2 hour....it was totally dead....


As I was leaving I noticed a few distinct pods of bunker that were "shaping up" and moving in....
I ran into California Tom aka Tom Lynch and some of his crew...Tom had come down to film some of the insane bluefish action....
They were waitiing, too, and we were all of the opinion that something would happen...we were just not sure when.....

It was a good night for monster bluefish...
If you go to Tom's site....(I think it is angryfishTV.com...or something like that....) you will see in May 2013 he took some real graphic shots of big blues crashing bunker. His lens captured the frenzy, with bunker flying out of the water to get away from the giant sets of teeth that were chasing them.....

That night, after work,,,I returned and fished all night.....


















Got some nice fish from that Monty Marathon effort.......
(I didn't find the big blues, that time,,,,but some pesky stripers showed up..:rolleyes: ..so I had to stay for awhile and have some fun....:wheeeee: )

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Total for the 8 hour trip..
8 bass to 19#...released....
Lost 2 nicer ones.....due to googan error..
And 3 bluefish to 4#....
All on big swimmers.....

Once that sun got bright ALL ACTION ended.... even the bluefish action. :(

[jigfreak]

Fished a quiet little back bay spot last nite good for holding bunker and other stuff. 8-11pm Nice sw wind should have been perfect. One 24" runt, rubber.

[storminsteve]

Nice guys at least you are catching! I'll take a runt anyday jigfreak!

[Monty]

Good to see you guys getting out there and getting some action. :thumbsup:
Can't wait for Sunday AM

[robmedina]

http://angryfish.zenfolio.com/p286700227/h44124aaa#h44124b06

[DarkSkies]

^ Yes Rob, that's the site. I had the original unedited pic sent to me after the carnage that night in May. I deleted it as I know he likes to have tight copyright control of his pics.
Feel free to browse his site. He's a great photographer, good fisherman, and nice guy. :HappyWave:
He's the one responsible for the famous (infamous? ;) ) shot of the hundreds of fishermen standing down near Barnegat Inlet in the well-known sandeel bite of 2011.

[DarkSkies]

June 20 2013....4 hour short trip
After the great fishing the night before I returned to the scene the next night.
Hoping for a repeat....but you know how that goes....:rolleyes:....it has been hard for me to find consistent action in the same area, for more than one night, when throwing artficials......

I was tired.




Managed 4 short bass. These bass hit tentatively, not aggressively.
2 of them were hooked in the back or head...also missed a few others...
These were fat little schoolies...one 27" bass probably weighed around 8#.....not sure what they were eating at the time (too small to eat bunker) but they were feeding well.
Bite died before sunup.

All fish hit a small swimmer, would not touch larger (or smaller) offerings this time.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park this morning from 6-8. One short bass on diamond jig. Saw no signs of life out there.

[storminsteve]

I had some errands to do today so I fished the long branch area for a 1/2 hour. Totally sucked. all the beach people. Had to walk down a path by some apartments to the water fishermen can go there no prob. Still it was lame. Threw a tsunami shad, no takers.

[basshunter]

thanks for the reports gents. Seems like we are drifting into the summer doldrums.

[robmedina]

I did manage a good sized stingray last night. What a blast, she ran at least 40-50 yards out of line on the first run. Took me forever to get her in as I was by myself. When she was on the beach I wave would come in and she would jump on it and try and go for more runs. Eventually a fellow fisherman came onto the beach and gave me a hand. Funny thing is now more people would come up and stand (barefoot) right next to her tail. I kept telling them to watch out. All the macho guys replied " I am good Bro, aint nuffin gonna happen" Okie Dokie, you have been warned!:don't know why:17213

[DarkSkies]

June 22 2013 - Early AM - 3 hour trip.....

Started out with good expectations...went back to the well-known bluefish and weakfish bay spot to see if I could find the bigger blues at night....
I failed at that, but did manage to land a 6# weakfish, my first of the year....she was beautiful, had not seen them in long time....quick pic and release.....

17297

on a small swimmer...(old and ugly, see the Surfwalker thread...)
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9001-The-Surfwalker-Challenge-Do-you-Follow-the-Herd-or-Lead-your-Own-Way


The rest of the night went downhill after that...........my bail spring broke and I was not really participating any more no matter how hard I triied....it was too much of a pita.....so I cut the trip short and called it a night early, no other action for me...

[basshunter]

fished somoco this morning from 5-6:30. I hate the south wind when are they going to turn the fan off!!
What does that phrase go - wind from the south fish shut their mouths. lol

[basshunter]

Rob great report even though its a skate its a big one. Is that you in the pic or one of the macho guys? Don't skate tails have some sort of barb or something. Standing there near the tails could be dangerous. What kind of skate is that?

[storminsteve]

Nice skate rob that must have put up a nice fight. What gear are you using when fishing for them?

[J Barbosa]

Rob,

We are all teaming up to send you our chiropractic bills....ouch my neck!

17215

[J Barbosa]

Very sore arms from all the big blues you wanted on topwater for a few hours today. The weird thing is there was practically nobody around today, we shared this action with just one other boater. Its was a beautiful Saturday on the second day of summer today...where did everyone go? :huh: :confused: :huh:

We peddled out to 16-18ft of water and there a decent amount of scattered bunker and monster bluefish on them.

First cast my brother hooks two large bluefish almost instantly BOTH on the same SP minnow (first time for him ever hooking two fish on one plug). His facial expression is priceless and I am trying to convince him to let me post the video. In the video it looks like he just saw a great white shark next to the kayak.


What's missing from this picture?

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2855/9110869327_6a74e832ba_b.jpg

If you guessed a 5H Rasco Split ring and 5/0 VMC Siwash you guessed correctly...taken by a massive bluefish. The missing rear hook and 3/0 up front makes for a great surf plug when targeting bass. Maybe somebody out there was giving me a sign? :D

It's pretty amazing how much pressure and leverage you can apply to a fish with a 7' freshwater rod and a conventional reel. I have never opened up a 5H Rasco ring on my surf gear and its what I use on all my plugs.

Its also worth zooming into the fish finder :cool:

Some pics from today:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/9110869759_59da4e17da_b.jpghttp://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/9110868715_8022a7cd6b_b.jpg

Again, worth zooming in on the fish finder :cool:

To top off a great summer day my Mom & Dad went crabbing :drool:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3679/9110870039_cdd1f14570_b.jpg

[Monty]

Very sore arms from all the big blues you wanted on topwater for a few hours today.

Great report, I use size 5 Rasco rings too, never had an issue with them.

Fished this morning 2:30-8:30, late start with some hardware issues, caught 1 ~24 inch striper on a rubber shad around 4:00 and 2 cocktail blues on Green 017 Ava, was important to work the Ava all the way to the beach to catch the blues.
Had a great time out on the water, lotsa fun.

[robmedina]

Rob great report even though its a skate its a big one. Is that you in the pic or one of the macho guys? Don't skate tails have some sort of barb or something. Standing there near the tails could be dangerous. What kind of skate is that?


I thought Skates did not have barbs on their tails only stingrays did???? This one had a very definitive barb on it's tail. Yep that's me in the pic- no macho man there.... the macho guy was taking the pic for me.





Rob,
We are all teaming up to send you our chiropractic bills....ouch my neck!

I know, sorry. the picture is vertical on my computer but for some reason it turned on here when I posted it.

[Fishman]

I fished early this morning and caught 2 blues on metal in moco. They always put up a good fight.

[J Barbosa]

Went fluke fishing yesterday, caught sea robins and shorts.

Buddy got a skinny 17.5"
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/9128501926_253fe14190_b.jpg

[DarkSkies]

June 23 2013...AM trip

After the previous mis-hap the night before, I was out the next night with a flea-market $30 Fin Nor Ahab (all metal body) while I worked on fixing the bail spring of the other reel I had been using.

It appeared there were a few fish around. It also appeared I had gotten there too late in the tide to see any sustained activity, as the back bay areas are nororiously tide dependent. The best I could manage was 2 missed fish on rubber. Kind of interesting that they would hit plugs the night before and now it was a rubber only game......








**These are some of the things I talk about in being prepared to adapt as conditions change....
What worked yesterday, may not necessarily work today....and if you are not prepared to adapt you will not catch....
In this case I stubbornly held on to my desire to plug...plugging is one of the most exciting ways of catching fish for me....:headbang:

My procrastination and stubbornness in switching over probably cost me some fish.....
Despite all the years of experience I have, I can still be stubborn...
I say this about myself, to try to encourage others out there who may be doing this...that not being receptive to trying new things....may definitely cost you some fish one night.....I gladly share my mistakes here so others can learn from them...food for thought....:learn:

I ended that trip with a :skunk:

[DarkSkies]

June 23 2013......PM trip

The next night I set out earlier....
Not knowing exactly when in the tide the fish were feeding strongest, I was determined to figure it out....


**This is something that typically happens when there are less fish around...when there are high numbers of fish and different types of forage...in my experience the feeding times can be patterned...IE if you find fish feeding at a particular stage of the tide one night, you can sometimes come an hour later the next, and find the same behavior again....

When you find a pattern,,,this can hold for a decent amount of time, until conditions change....
Unfortunately, with less fish around overall, even schoolies, it becomes an exercise in frustration to try to find a strong pattern....
As I have explained to some of ya's out there...if I do find what looks like it might be a pattern one night...at the most it may last 2 nights....and then I'll have to fugure it out all over again......

This has not been a common experience for me in years past when there were more fish around.,...it was a lot easier to figure and see fish behavior with more fish, and a lot easier to find them,, based on that....now...not so much....:don't know why:








Based on the above frustration, I dedided to fish the whole tide this next night, and both slack tides, to see if it was any different....
And I did find fish this time....
By fishing the whole tide, I found that the strongest feed, was for an approximate 1/2 hour period during that tide......




Total:
I landed one short bass, and missed a few others.....all on rubber....

After that 1/2 hour period, the bite declined rapidly.....
Still, I stuck around for the whole tide,,,to see how things would end up.....

7 hour trip, just to find a half hour feeding window, at that location.....:kooky:

[DarkSkies]

A few of my friends have been doing exceptionally well fluking in the surf....
It ain't always easy....as a lot of fishermen are reporting short fluke and the occasional keeper...

One such friend, who puts in a lot of time....consistently nails keepers almost every trip out there.....
This is a pic of one of the nice fluke he got the other day........later weighed in at 5#. :clapping: :thumbsup:
Look at the mouth and how big it opens....there is no doubt that some of the bigger fluke are formidable predators, some even capable of swallowing bunker heads....


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**(have been getting behind in posting pics...will try to post these and the previous ones when I get a chance....) :HappyWave:

[seamonkey]

Nice reports fellas at least someone is out there fishing! I fished cape may sun morning. Hit the jetties hard with 1/2 oz bucktail and gulp. Managed 3 weakfish to 20" they really love that pink gulp!

[seamonkey]

I thought Skates did not have barbs on their tails only stingrays did???? This one had a very definitive barb on it's tail. Yep that's me in the pic- no macho man there.... the macho guy was taking the pic for me.



I am not sure rob but from what I have read there are lots in the ray family that have barbs on the tail. It sticks out from the base of the tail. When they swash there tail around if it hooks in your skin you could get an infection. Nice report and catch but be careful!:scared:

[ledhead36]

Sick of the bluefish in the back. There are lots and lots of them some are over 15lbs. Dark pm me if you want to hook up with some of these devils. I decided to use gulp for fluke today and fish out front. Set out with a double rig, with a round 1 oz sinker on bottom. Fished chartreuse gulp the small shad kind in nomoco from 4-5:45 part of the incoming tide. Picked up 3 fluke to 18". One was a keeper. Will be eating fluke sandwiches tonight. rob great ray pic and john love the crab reports always make me hungry.

[storminsteve]

Nice! kedhead comes to the surfside look out for flying bunker! Things should get interesting now, look forward to running into your crew one night.:HappyWave:

[jigfreak]

Full moon fishing last nite. Awesome fishing but the catching part sucked.:skunk:

[voyager35]

I know boat fish don't count but a friend and I have had some decent trips at night in the back of Raritan bay, from Romer back to the triangle. Livelining bunker in the channels. Bass to 26#. We released most of them but kept a few. Stomachs have been filled with bunker and a few croakers. Not much else. Tight lines.

[buckethead]

Thanks for the heads up cappy. Romer is a well known spot where they stage after the spawn. Sometimes they can be there for up to 5 weeks. Surprised it took some of the professional capts so long to figure it out. Fished nomoco from 6:30 - around 9ish incoming tide. Few small blues on magdarter and one aggressive short fluke that just missed keeper size.

[porgy75]

I fished from 5pm till now in Somoco and had no takers. I hate the crowds will have to try to get there early morning next time

[DarkSkies]

June 26 2013 Pics and report....

I went the next night after that previous night that was so disappointing with one fish....
I felt I had a slightly better handle on the part of the tide when the fish would be active....
Only fished 3 hours that time....
The action was a little more sustained...throughout that 3 hour period I had action for 1 1/2 hours.....

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Total:
Managed 3 short bass, missed a few others...

2 of the bass hit rubber.
1 hit a swimmer, missed a few other bass on that plug as well.

[baitstealer]

I tried something different today fished the part of island beach where you don't have to pay you can just walk on. Fished from 4 to 6am before work. Used smll hooks and clams. I got one 23" striper at 4:15 and then some blowfish were hitting till 6 when it stopped. I think it was low tide then. All on small hooks and pieces of clam.

[storminsteve]

Nice baitstealer glad to see blowfish are still around.

[baitstealer]

Well I tryed again this morning same time it seemed the tide was even lower. I didnt catch anything on my clams except for a skate. All the magic fishing that I found yesterday disappeared. I did meet an older gentleman there with a keeper striper. He uses clams and says he gets keepers fairly regularly. He said I should try more closer to the high tide so I will do that next time. It was nice that some folks are willing to be helpful to us newbies.

[jigfreak]

Fished some sod banks last night, last 2 hours of incoming. Conditions were picture perfect. Managed to find a place that was protected from the wind. No dice for me.

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco this morning, 7-11:30. Picked up 4 fluke on pink gulp. One keeper, 18". Not a lot of other activity was watching the boats for a while before I left they were catching lots of sea robins and the occasional short fluke.

[porgy75]

Nice going steve way to catch!

[robmedina]

Tried last night in LBI. At low tide was casting to the wash with flies. Felt a couple bumps- or at least I thought so. no takers. Went to chunking for sharks or rays or doggies. The current was ripping. Could not hold bottom with 6 oz. Is this current because of the super moon????

[Monty]

Fished nomoco this morning, 1:15-10:30. Nothing in the dark, threw everything, maybe a bump or two but no solid hits or hook ups. When the sun came up caught 3 cocktail blues, (2 on the teaser in front of a popper and one on an orange popper). Lost a couple and missed a hit or two. Had a great time out there,

[surfstix1963]

Orange again must be your lucky color...