Fishing in the rain, back bay adventures, some migrating fish.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
finchaser
Fished 71 hours, ate 3 day old sandwiches, slept an hour or so on the hood of my truck, released a short and kissed a swan oh! wait thats Dark not me
Too funny ya old grouch! :clapping::clapping: :laugh: :moon:
When Fin gets the :skunk: after fishing the pots of gold he fishes in....you know it's bad out there. :learn:
Dogfish thank you for your career suggestions. My response would be...:moon: :HappyWave:
Guys, please realize that Geoff was busting balls, no big deal. If you have any issues with someone here please take it back channel. There are less than 60 days of opportunity to catch fish here in NJ before we're into the last of the run, the baby schoolies that I feel guilty catching. I just don't have the time to moderate petty grievances here, it takes away from fishin time....:fishing: So I thank you in advance for your cooperation and treating everyone with respect, as you would want to be treated...:thumbsup: :HappyWave:
*************************************
Fished last night, the whole night again, managed some "small" fish 16 and 25#. ;) :lookhappy:
When I left the house, Pebbles told me I was crazy, how the heck could I fish in all that rain? :huh: As I was driving on the Parkway, getting pelted with sheets of rain, I almost turned back...what person in their right mind would want to go out in that?
Those of you who know me, know that hope springs eternal when I'm out there, I just don't know when to give up...I'm famous for looking at 25 mph winds and saying..."Yeah that wind is gonna lay down, I just KNOW it!!!" :ROFLMAO
Also, my log said it was a good time to be out there. Last year around Oct 6 I started catching fish in the 20's and this trip was long overdue.
Some friends have been catching big blues in the back bays. Bunker have been seeking shelter at night and the blues have been hammering them. I set out to find some of that action, and was pleasantly surprised, no bluefish, all bass action.
At first it took awhile to figure it out. The wind and rain were intense but not unbearable. Even though it is a noreast pattern, there was some inconsistency. For example, the rain wasn't that heavy constant rain, but waves with some sheets of blinding rain, mostly small drizzle patterns. The winds, at times 25mph, were not sustained. I had to time the casts with the decreasing wind gusts to get out there. It was a very inefficient way of fishing. The gusts screwed up your casts and made it difficult to maintain contact wth your offering. Frustrating at best, but at least it wasn't cold! :wheeeee:
The worst part of it was not being able to see. Those who know me know I wear glasses. After awhile it became too tiresome to just keep wiping them off, so I fished with the rain on them, clouding my vision.
Despite all the obstacles, the fish were there....
I could hear them in the dark but I couldn't see them. not much lights where I was and there was no moon visible at all. Every once in awhile, above the sound of the whitecaps, you would hear a fish break as it got harassed.
It was difficult because the fish were scattered. Being that there was bait around (bunker or big mullet), I started with a rubber shad. The water was dirty and murky, but there was none of the debris usually associated with the noreast pattern. Shad, and the vibrating tails, are a good presentation in dirtier water because the vibrations help the fish find them...
Within 5 minutes I got whacked, so I was pumped. Many trips for me this year have resulted in hours of casting, for maybe one fish or 2 interspersed in those hours of casting. This was positive. Yet, another half hour of casting the rubber and nothing....
Switched to many other presentations that would swim down from the surface in that dirty water, as none of the surface presentations got attention. Was really hoping for some action on some of Surfstix's or Speedy's plugs, but it was not to be.
Finally I chose a darter because of the erratic action and the vibrations, theorizing that the extra vibration in the muddy water would allow the fish to key in on it. Within 5 minutes I got banged, missed the fish.
Slowed down the presentation, and about 1/2 hour after got a nice fish, 40" and about 25#. Fat healthy ocean fish, light colored and clean. :drool: About an hour later I landed a 35" bass, about 16#, also fat and light colored.
When I landed the first fish it was hooked in the eye and I blinded it getting the hook out. Felt real bad about that. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...cons/icon9.png
The 2nd fish was also hooked in the head and the gill plate. This made me realize that the fish could not see the bait where I was and were using their lateral lines to find it. The darter was the best choice because of the vibration, but they even had trouble finding that in the rough water.
Just to be clear...
I can't say it was fantastic action...with the dirty water, it was a fish or hit about every half hour...I missed quite a few in that murkiness. As the tide dropped the action diminished. I fished it through the slack, and then part of the flood, in hopes it would turn around again. No such luck.
I can't say it was epic....:rolleyes:
But it was a chance to get some quality fish. I've been putting in lots of time with not much to show for it but small fish. At least these were of a nicer class, and migratory clean ocean fish. All fish released.
I CAN say that I had a blast! :headbang:
With all the inconsistency in NJ surf fishing lately, many guys have given up. Talked to the Old Farts the other day OFFC and they have been hitting it hard with not much to talk about...if surf veterans like that aren't doing well, that's a true indication of the state of our fishery, poor to dismal. I would be remiss in my duties here if I didn't try to raise awareness of this every chance I get.....
But catching drag pulling bass in the rain, when ya can't even see 10 feet in front of ya...(BTW the finchaser rod performed flawlessly, thanks Fin!) fishing by instinct,, and nailing bass on artificials when they're keyed in on bait....that satisfied a primal urge in me so deep I felt like a caveman who discovered fire!!!
A caveman who looks like Mr Magoo....:ROFLMAO
Lightning kills a good bite...Finchaser shows the younger generation how it's done...
^ Hey G glad to see ya got some action, nothing wrong with catching big ling. :drool: They're good eating, and the eels, some people smoke them. Remember that eel we got fishin S Jersey that night? Didn't want to let go of my googan thumb. :laugh: :bucktooth:
*****************
Fished with Fin tonight, to try and see if there was a sustained bite from yesterday....there wasn't.
We saw some bait early on. It gradually disappeared. The rain wasn't bad but the pending lightning seemed to put the fish down. They were in the bottom half of the water column.
Realizing this, we targeted them with bucktails and rubber. Fin had the hot hand, landing one 33" bass around 12-13#, and dropped another. Nothing for me. :skunk:
It was nice to see the grouch at his best, pulling fish out of thin air... ;) :thumbsup: :fishing:
He does have some old skool skilz. :cool:
We ended the trip early because of the lightning overhead. Shortest fishin trip I ever made, only 1 1/2 hrs. I didn't realize such trips were possible....:laugh: