Great going guys. Good news about the surf too buckethead thanks. I may be out there tomorrow, or maybe tonight. Trying to shadow dark or finchaser.:laugh:
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Great going guys. Good news about the surf too buckethead thanks. I may be out there tomorrow, or maybe tonight. Trying to shadow dark or finchaser.:laugh:
Fished moco last night. Cold and bleak out there but did find a few bass to 10#. Swimmers. Did anyone else see the meteor showers they were awesome.
Outstanding job buckethead, and anyone else who is out braving the cold for the few remaining fish. :thumbsup:
I struck out big-time last night.
Returned to the previous night's action scene and it was dead. Made a few more moves in that area. Not a touch. Casted my aZZ off for 2 hours, believing against hope I could find at least 1....I couldn't. :skunk:
Conditions -
Air temp 30.
Water temp 46.
Wind not bad, light E/SE 0-5mph.
Swell, 3', duration was tough in that there was an intermittent period swell. Some of the waves were coming at a duration of 4 secs of less, with some periods of calm in between.
The water is getting really cold......ocean water temps in most of NNJ have dropped 4 degrees in the last 10 days.....that's a significant drop....anyone who is believing that the bass will be around all winter......:kooky: needs to think about where the water temps are now, as opposed to last year.......and of the forage currently available....
I reviewed the 2011 Stripers and Anglers Winter fishing thread. Beyond the mild weather we were having, the water temps stayed near 50 for a very long time.....and only gradually dropped to the low 40's at the end of January.....
Remember.... 42-43 is the cutoff point where bass are likely to hit artificials.....we got them last year to around that temp. Then they shut off for a week...the temp inching slowly upward was the only thing that kept the fish actively feeding.....
This was in addition to the abundant bait we had, the most abundant it had been in years.....
This year that is not the case......
And this means that the fish that are around, are mostly very skinny and small fish.....if they are not finding abundant food they will move on very quickly....
This is part of the conditions that make it so hard for me and others to predict the bite with any accuracy......so when someone tells me the fish will be here all winter, I have to question whether that person fishes often......:huh: and really has an understanding of the things that keep fish around for us to catch them....
More on that in
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...y-abandoned-us
*******
Part 2.....
Slept in the car....
Up at 6:30 am to try to shake the skunk before work today.
There was a limited bite but it did not start till the sun was rising in the sky....lasted for about 1/2 hour......
I managed 2 small bass on small 5" plugs......yozuri and megabait.
The high hook on the beach got around 5 or 6...
He is an old timer and had some interesting things to say about the fishing this year...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ght=old+timers
Not many others were caught... bite was basically over as the flood tide neared the top.
This frigid water makes it smart for reasonable fishermen to shift their fishing time to the end of day.....after a sunny day.....:learn:
Unless you find herring or bunker coming close to the surf line, which has happened a few times in the last 2 weeks, it is a vast dead sea out there.....although as recently as today birds were diving on bait slightly offshore.....there are many areas which hold nothing at all other than the small sand crabs and a few pods of fast moving rainfish.
Googan bunker are long gone
Grumble, grumble, grumble......:rolleyes:
(I found some this week.......ssshhhhhhhhh!) :moon: :laugh: :kiss: :HappyWave:
Fished pretty hard in the last 48 hours.....
Fri Pm
Got down to the beach after work.
Decided to return to Ocean County beaches as the water is cleaner and periodically has been more bait there. The conditions were great, flood tide, clean water, no signs of fish.....
Casted for an hour, nothing for me.
Then went to another beach, met some old farts ;) We had the same results there...:skunk:
Got a call from another group of old farts....the OFFC....:HappyWave:
They did manage some fish during the day....:thumbsup:...but their chief complaint was the big intermittent swell interfered with presentation....I completely agree,,,,when throwing clams it doesn't matter, but when throwing artificials, if you are only in the strike zone for a part of every cast, or every 2-3 casts, it gets frustrating......
I decided the surf was so lame, that I was gonna take a nap and fish the other side of the tide......
Sat AM...
I was rousted from a sound sleep at 2am by the local police....they were "worried" that I was ok....:rolleyes:
I never mind when they check on me....all good since in my sobriety I'm not doing anything in a drunken stupor that could get me into trouble.....:cool:
They did me a favor, my secondary alarm clock...if they didn't wake me I would have missed the feeding window.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...feeding+window
Got ready and made it down to the water for low tide. This enabled me to wade out to the bar......
It took awhile, but eventually the bite developed.
The fish were extremely sluggish.....at these water temps they are almost comatose at night.
For example, bass usually hit on the front treble....all my bass were hooked on the rear one.....
Daiwa SM (smaller version of the SP) was the best producer. Things that had worked other nights did not work last night......not a touch at all on rubber...
As mentioned with a cold water night bite...the fish were very lethargic. My biggest fish of the night bumped the plug so lightly it felt like it sometimes does when a school of bunker goes by at night.....
It was a blast as she woke up and started pulling drag......:bigeyes: haven't had that happen in a while.....
Note to Finchaser....:moon: there were no bunker where I was in that surf....possibly herring, though......;) :HappyWave:
I missed an embarassing number of strikes. Once I got into a groove and began to see how these migratory fish were passing through the area (farthest end of the cast) I started hooking up and landing them better...........
It was a lot of fun, best sizes of fish and level of activity I have had in over 2 weeks......:headbang:
Total:
Managed 7 bass to 35" and 15+lbs.....
2 were legal, released one, kept one......
Eventually I had to leave the surf because the tide came rushing in as I was out on the bar.
I then went to another beach that I had found activity during that part of the tide....but got nothing at all there......packed it in around sunrise......A good night of steady action while it lasted.......:headbang:
Pic of the nicest fish of the night.....
Attachment 15898
Attachment 15899
Attachment 15900
Conditions....
Air temp 43, about 12 degrees warmer than the night before....
Water temp 47
Swell, 3', and reported duration of 9 secs....the bad part of this was with the intermittent period swell., the duration was closer to 4 secs,,,,which really hampers your presentation....
Wow good to see you are still getting them over there. Real nice fish!
:clapping: Fantastic job ds. that fish looks bigger than 15. Didn't think any that size were still around.you work hard at it and kudos are in order. Any idea why the SP was the only thing that worked?
I fished nomoco from 7-9a, it was like the dead sea in the wash. Even the little ones seem to have moved out. I stopped at a few places on the way home and heard talk of a few on clams and a 25lber further south. Lots of guys fishing today but not many catching. I was one of the ones not catching.
Beautiful fish dark! Thanks for sharing the pics. Like steve said you put in a lot of time out there and deserve it. Striper cakes!
dark dooooooooooooooood! nice now eny one that wants to follow him pm me and ill tell u wat he drives. jus kiddin pretty work dude
Aah, I heard a rumor he bought that fish at the Philly market. They had it listed as the googan special of the day.:ROFLMAO
Nice fish dark, show your mug next time.
Great reports and pics thanks for sharing. Looks like there may be a few more. The party boats did ok today with some bigger fish. I went to Jack's today, bought some sps, and tried them in the lb surf. Got the skunk but it was a great day to fish anyway.
Fished outgpoing moco tonight from 10-1am. 5 bass to 9#. Rubber. Nice bass ds.
Great reports guys. Dark congrats on the nice bass!
Nice going guys, Wow Dark nice action. Hope it will continue for you like last year. I heard that the bass are loaded with Mole crabs.
^^ :moon: :kiss: :laugh: :clapping: :HappyWave:
Thanks for the kind, and not-so-kind....;) words, people.....it's all good, some of ya's should quit your day jobs and do stand-up....:rolleyes:
Feel free to lay it on.....but if you really want a challenge come out with me at night and see if you can put up with the rigors of a 5-6 hour trip, often coming up empty handed or with a few small fish.....:fishing:
I got those fish because I am obsessive about forage, weather, and swell patterns....but in the end no matter how good or persistent you are, you need a little luck, and have to put the time in.....
As I was explaining to someone else, these larger fish are the needle in the haystack fish for we who fish the surf....
To the newer anglers out there I would say you're more likely to catch a 15" fish than a 15# fish...lately even the numbers of smaller fish has dimished as our NJ season winds down.....some specific reasons for that....I'll try to explain it here
when I get a chance.....
*******
Sun AM report....
Got down to the water around 2am. The forecast rains didn't start yet, and the winds were E, but less than 2mph....
The problem was the building swell....and the stable duration of 9 secs still had the intermittent swell component.....
Which as I explained in my last report was a problem for presentation....there were a series of big 5' waves coming 6-8 at a time...followed by maybe 1 minute of calmer water. This surf action continued to build as I was there.
I casted into the calmer periods for 45 minutes. The frustrating thing was waiting for 2 minutes to get better presentation. Finally managed a short bass on a bottle plug. I knew it was not going to happen like it did the night before, so after an hour was up, I cut the trip short.
Went to another location where I could cast with my back to the building E wind...that location was weedy, and there were no fish there.....so that ended the trip for me......
I really don't understand those folks who drool :drool: over Northeast conditions....
It ruins the bite unless you're fishing clams or there is a lot of bait in the surf...and this is not the case right now....
IMO the best windows for the surf bite were Friday and Saturday.....the guys who knew that were out fishing hard, and some nice fish were caught,,,,,,,
Congrats to all who made it out there......:clapping: :thumbsup:
Another DS fish less marathon but with a positive side it rained so you got to take a shower.:clapping:
Reason season is ending, very simple no bait, too much south wind which made water cold very quick then again it is mid December.
Way things are going bass fishing maybe permanently over before we know it ,I just saw a picture from Virginia of 20 fish over 40# laying dead on a dock. Oh yeah they were caught by recreational fisherman who always blame it on something or someone else
They can always put the blame on others. As long as you get your 40lber who cares about anyone else?
Agreed finchaser. Am starting to see some of those pics. Fill the coolers with meat and get your citation fish. That's what its all about.:kooky:
I fished moco today, some jetties, from 4-5. Last of the outgoing tide. Big monster swells out there. Dirty water. Fished a bucktail and rind, nothing.
Thanks for the reports and details. Am living vicariously through them.
Marathon man will be out tonight to try and prove the world and the fat lady wrong
^^ I can feel the love in that last post.....:2flip: :moon: :kiss: :bigeyes: :laugh: :HappyWave:
how do you know what my plans are for tonight? :bucktooth:
I am but a simple googan....any fish I catch are by accident....:ROFLMAO
There is hardly any bait around at all. I think even the mole crabs are thinning out. Fished this morning nomoco. 2 hours of the incoming. One short bass on a bucktail and pork. conditions windy but fishable.
There was one guy clam fishing. he had 5 rods out. He was catching one short bass about every 15 minutes on those rods. They were all short bass. Since when do you need 5 rods to sit out there and fish for short bass with clams.?:huh: In all it was a beautiful morning. Could see scattered birds picking away, but they were about a mile off.
Nice going hooked. One is better than none.
Marathon man (DS) braved the elements last night all night ( in case the world really was ending today) for nada he is starting to hear her sing.
^^ Aah....grumble, grumble, grumble....Gloom and Doom Finchaser...that's what they call him in Castaways at the Old Farts Table...:laugh: :kiss:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ut-there/page5
But you do speak the truth....there are very few fish around because there isn't that much food for them.....
And the water temps are different from last year.....
Listen to the Old Grouchy Basstid....he knows stuff...:learn:....don't listen to me...I'm just a delusional dillydock...:laugh:
Met up with the OGB yesterday to work the end of day tide.....
It was dismal.....he ended up fishing 3 hours without a touch....I came late so it was 2 hours for me.....
In the end we realized it was futile as there was a building S/SE....getting cold......
He, having the sense of a normal fisherman....left at a reasonable time......:thumbsup:
As always, the grumbling and grouchiness made it worth the trip...don't know what I would do if I didn't have my daily dose of grumbling from the OGB...:HappyWave:
We both knew the best fishing windows this week were Wed, and Thu AM.
Just trying to get a few casts in before the storm.....
After he went home, I tried a few regular places that have produced in those conditions........
Gave it 2 hours more, packed it in for the night......
Slept in my car hoping for some action before I had to drive to work today...
It was not to be as the night rains were torrential....causing flooding in some areas....and the winds were up to 45mph,...rocking my car as I slept.....
As I said the best fishing window
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...fishing+window
was Wed, and Thur till the late afternoon.....
By that time the swell had dropped to 2.6'
Duration 13 secs......:drool:
Within a few hours of that the swell increased to 10', duration 7 secs...and by morning the swells were as high as 16' with duration of 4 secs......
This will kill the opportunity for numbers of fish on artificials the next 24 hours at least...and possibly till Sunday.
And with limited bait that is around....could be the final call for Finchaser's Favorite Fat Lady......:moon: :HappyWave:
You can still pick up some fish with clams....but some of ya's should start noticing that many keepers, if you can find them, will have nothing in their stomaches.....not a good sigh for those who are expecting those fish to stay here through the winter.....:learn:
Yep he tracks me down like a dog
Haha I remember the story of Billy the Greek saying he had to change his boats when he fished because guys knew his and would follow him. Maybe you should use different vehicles to throw him off. Didn't they do that back in the day when the old timers used to fish Sandy Hook? One of the guys at Giglios said they used to park in one location and fish in another.
I went down to nomoco today for some casting practice. That's all it was because the wind was fierce but the water was dirty and it was cold and ugly out there. Fished from 3-5. skunk for me.:skunk: maybe some of you hardcores will brave it too but I would say it isn't worth it.
^^ This is why when people read that he manages some teen fish they think he has some sort of special deal with the devil.....and the simple truth is that he puts more time on the water, than most...he is also able to accurately predict when most of the fish should be leaving, or when they may be around......all this, and more, in the upcoming......
Finchaser seminar..:fishing:.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...seminar-series
Finchaser tentative topics will be...Check the schedule for times and order..
Note....anyone late for a Finchaser segment of the seminar will be forced to wear a shirt saying "I'm with Dark...in the Dillydock Club..." :)
1. How to catch fish without using bait.
2. How to outfish all the surfcasters on the beach. (hint - carry a bottle of bunker oil in your pocket)
3. How to avoid being mugged, Parking at one place, fishing another....
4. How to put up with the Googans and Dillydocks....
5. How to read the water
6. How to read weather patterns.....
7. How to appear to be a Grouchy Basstard so folks don't ask you these questions while fishing.....:learn:
Special Guests. Speakers, and assorted Crabby Basstards........the Speakers are Tentative so far, subject to change..........
* COB Surfstix......How to catch big bass in inlets and rips with eels....bonus session on becoming a Crabby Old Basstard :HappyWave:
* OFFC...Old Farts Fishin Club....How to catch bass that don't appear to be there and make the young fishermen on the beach drool with envy.....:clapping:
* Shark Hart - Explaining the Obvious differences between Northeast fishing,.....:bucktooth: and getting cold and wet, and Northwest fishing, and catching 100 or more fish in 24 hours......
* White Water Monty.....Dual Seminars 1. How to fish Whitewater without drowning...2. How to fish big Hogys/Sluggos and hook and drop big fish, .....:laugh:
(with a special bonus seminar for early registrants -- How to Pretend you're a Googan when you're really a good surf fisherman.....:thumbsup: )
* Surfwalker...Dual Seminars...1. How to travel the whole Striper Coast, and catch big bass along the way
2. How to Properly Outline a Perimeter when dead things are found.....:rolleyes:
* Vpass.... Seminars on how to read the Water, How to Fly Fish...and How to Fish at Sandy Hook at night without being killed by a runaway boat...:HappyWave:
* Bababooey - How to Insult People and still have them laughing with you....:laugh:
* Stormin Steve.....How to Bust Balls through Poems and Songs.....:clapping:
* Madcaster and Surfstix......
Plugmaking 101.....with Special Bonus segment by Madcaster on Mad Photoshop.....:thumbsup:
* Rip Plugger---- 1. Making big wood in insane colors....2. Catching blues and bass when most people have given up for the year.....
for the Hunters out there........
* Speedy...... Dual seminars....1. Plugmaking 101, guest speaker with Surfstix and Madcaster.....2. How to stalk and shoot birds when it's very freaking cold out. :scared:
* JonthePain.....Dual Seminars....
1. How to kill Crows, lots of em....:headbang:
2. The Best of the Redneck Lifestyle, with bonus feature How to Put your car up on blocks in your Yard....:kiss: :HappyWave:
stay tuned for details.....;)
most important....no refunds., no whiners, no internet fishermen.....and no seminars on how to catch fish with clams....;)
Attachment 15913
I also will do a craft demo on how to make your own. You must provide your own rock and string
When the weather stone stopped swinging I decided to do the dusk thing. Water was flat got bass of 26" and 27" on jig head and rubber mullet tail shut off as soon as it got dark.
I do teasers,tail hooks and bucktails on occasion I'm going to have to leave plugbuilding to Speedy and Madcaster or I will need a nap in between.:laugh::laugh::laugh: I'm almost 50 ya know:d :HappyWave: