How hard are you willing to work, to learn....
about surf fishing?
What does "Paying your dues, putting your time in" mean to you? :learn:
How much effort will you put into it? :plastered:
How much is too much? :huh:
How many times are you willing to get blanked to learn some hard but valuable lessons? :(
How far are you willing to walk in one night? :don't know why:
How many times will you move to find the fish if the time and tide is right and they just ain't there?
Inspiration for this thread
Dunkin donuts!
How could that be an inspiration for a thread on surf fishin, Dark, you might ask? :kooky: :don't know why:
I'm a student of human behavior. I like to watch people and learn from them, or what they do or don't do. After doing it for awhile, you become accustomed to meeting different categories of people, and it's kinda fun to see if your predictions will turn out right. It's like a chess game.
Here's the theory I challenged myself with today:
I was comin home from fishin, and passed a Dunkin donuts and a Wawa within 500 feet of each other. The Dunkin donuts had a line of cars waiting at the drive in, extending out onto the highway. :wow:
Meanwhile, both the Dunkin donuts and Wawa were kind of empty inside. What did that tell me?
I thought about it for a moment.
Could it be that people prefer Dunkin donuts coffee to Wawa's?
Maybe.
But these people were in a hurry to get to work. If so, why wouldn't the people get out of their cars, run into DD, get their coffee in 2 mins, and run out again and get on the road?
I counted 8 cars in the drivein line as I passed by. Assuming a minimum turnaround time of at least 1 1/2 minutes, no matter how fast the workers were (maybe more), you would be waiting at least 12 minutes in that line. :huh:
Yet you could have ran into and out of DD, and got back in your car in less than 3 minutes?
What is the hypothesis here?
That a lot of people are lazy aZZes who want everything handed to them. :eek: ;) :moon:
They want convenience. They want to be served. They don't want to work too hard for a small task, just like a big fat cow bass won't work too hard for a meal. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...cons/icon3.gif
Of course, this is just a hypothesis and only my opinion. Opinions are like aZZholes, everyone has one right? :D
I thought it might be fun to challenge some people, and see how far they would go to catch a big bass, or the bass of their dreams, from the surf.
Let's hear some of your answers and opinions.
I'm curious how hungry some people really are.
Maybe I'll be surprised, maybe not. :rolleyes:
I tell ya one thing, it could be an interesting thread for the cold months. :thumbsup:
The hardcore guys who live for fishin
"There are quite a few guys who have pulled mid 20's fish and larger out of the NJ surf this fall that live by a code of secrecy. They learned surf fishin a trick or 2 at a time, mostly by trial and error, and put in years, and not months or weeks, to get the skills they have today to pull large when everyone else is catching schoolies. Some actually hate the internet and what it has done to fishing and the learning curve. I have to respect that. :thumbsup:
So if he's not a guy who would share his hard earned technique with the world, I have to respect that too.
I have alliances with a lot of groups who would be very happy if all internet fishing sites blew up simultaneously. A lot of these people trust me, and I do whatever I can to maintain that trust. "
Before the internet and cell phones
I didn't fish the surf back at that time, or I did, but only to throw some clams from a pole when I was a kid and went to my Uncle's house. We were happy to catch just one small bass on the clam pole. We really didn't know that there were 40 and 50lb bass that came to visit in the surf at certain times.
Back 20 or 30 years ago, if you wanted to catch a bass, you had to go out and learn how, through trial and error. If you had a friend who fished, it would be easier.
People didn't share info freely. If you went out and fished a few nights a week, guys might START to acknowledge your presence after they saw you a few dozen times out there. :cool:
At that point, you might get a tip or 2 from the sharpies, if they saw you were eager, and willing to put in long hours. It wasn't a requirement that they help you, though. You had to earn their respect. :fishing:
I don't mean to color or glamorize how things were. It is what it is. IMO we have it a lot easier today with all the tips and helpful articles on the internet. Many books have been written about surf fishing, and reading the water (at the top of the list of things to learn). :learn:
Guys who are just starting out surf fishin now are extremely lucky to have all these resources at their disposal. Yet some people still want to be spoon fed. They don't want to work too hard, yet they want the rewards.
Why is that?
Don't people realize how lucky we are to have all this communication and reading material at our disposal?
Maybe not....
Not worth the effort for a 22# fish?
Yesterday the bite was real slow in the PM. Only a few lucky guys got fish. We met up with 2 of them who had been plugging despite the lack of bunker.
They both caught some nice fish, maybe 24, and 32#.
One of the guys had some rusty plugs in his bag. I wanted to help him out a bit, so I went to give him some of what had been working for me at night (he was still plugging long after everyone else had left and decided the bite was over)
On the way to where he was, I ran into a younger surf guy I know. He's been catching a lot of fish lately in the blitzes. That's what he does, and devotes all his free time to it, so he's done well.
However, as a surf guy I thought he would be able to appreciate that there are some bass around at night, if you are willing to work for them.... :cool:
I showed him what I was using, told him I was getting bass to 22# at night.
His question..."Well how long does it take you to get each bass?"
Me:
"Sometimes up to 2 or 3 hours for one hit. sometimes less. It's a lot of work, but they're around..."
At that point his eyes glassed over, and he lost interest...
It seems there are not too many hardcore nutcases :kooky: out there like Monty, Surfwalker, me, and a few others. :laugh: Plugging hours at a time? Get real, dude!!! :eek:
Why spend all those pointless hours plugging for a measly 22# fish or 2 if you can get all you want until your arms are tired in a bunker blitz?
Full and new moons, and tide tables
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DarkSkies
6. If you have a busy life, and are pressed for time, if you only went out and fished the 2 nights before and after the full and new moons, you would exponentially increase your odds of catching. Whether you do catch or not, that's up to you and the waters you fish in (which I hope you have chosen carefully) ;)
Moon fishing....
I posted this in another thread, worth reading, I think...:)
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...n-surf-fishing
Tide tables....
How many of ya's are obsessive about your tide tables? Surfwalker is one I know of here who's diligent about printing out his different tide tables every month. Even if he doesn't make it to fish the area, he prints out the ones he's interested in.
Every month, I print a few myself.
Just got done printing out 10 of them. I may print more as the month progresses. :scared:
Why do this?
!. Weather pattern changes - When the wind is from the NE, do you know a place that will allow you to fish it in safety? How about from a yak? How about a hard S, or a strong N/NW pattern? You can't always rely on the weatherman. If I start out to fish and area and am blown out by the weather, do I just turn tail and go home?
Hell no. :headbang: I take out my charts. I look where I can still get to that has good tides and offers me a way to fish that weather pattern.
If you want to catch fish, even in the hottest weather of summer, you have to be ready and willing to change your plans.
Or change from the ocean to the back bay, or the back bay to a river.... :learn:
Granted, once you know a whole body of water, you generally know that..."the inlet HT is 2 hours later than the ocean, or the particular bridge, the HT is 3 hours later, etc, etc, so you probably don't actually need to carry all that paper around with ya. But if you're as obsessive as I am, I'll tell ya's that I don't mind. Rather than let the weather or strong winds ruin my trip, it gives me more options. I feel that I have done more of my homework that way.
How about you folks? :HappyWave:
And Monty, as usual, your pics are inspiring...looking at them on a hot muggy day makes me want to get out there and find that refreshing water! :drool:
Re: How hard are you willing to work, to learn....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DarkSkies
Jigfreak, I know you of all people understand this...out there for hours at a time, fishing the whole tide, and then some, just to be able to fish the slack at both ends....;)
Part of what I am observing is that a lot of people grew up when fishing was easy.
The blitzes could be counted on.
The 40 and 50 lb bass were within your grasp if you had a bunker snag and knew how to use it.
Some of the people entering fishing in the last 10 years, are from a different generation than the one I grew up in...
One where your gratification is instant...
300 channel TVs...
Anything you want, can be ordered from the internet....
Along with that, one can read volumes of knowledge posted on various internet sites.......
So the learning curve is easier.....
And maybe, that may cause some to think why should they have to work so hard, to catch a bass
Some thoughts I had recently....
1. I was fishing with a hole in my foot, an open sore that developed from the scrambling and walking I did on my nightly trips. The recent rains helped it to heal, and I feel good as new again. I felt I had to be out there fishing certain weather patterns, moon tides, etc. I wonder how many people today, feel this compulsive need, to be out there.....
Does the water call out to you, like it does to me?
2. Scouting......something I do on every trip is to scout....if I'm fishing low tide, has the structure changed?
What about the hard vs soft structure?
What differences do I notice?
What differences do I notice in the forage this week, in the areas I am fishing?
Monty and I were talking about how we got bass Sat night, for the simple act of using a teaser....and one of a specific length......if we didn't use that sized teaser, I feel none of us would have gotten any fish.........
So how much do you push it, to learn all you can, while you are out there...?:learn:
Re: How hard are you willing to work, to learn....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DarkSkies
Some thoughts I had recently....
1. I was fishing with a hole in my foot, an open sore that developed from the scrambling and walking I did on my nightly trips. The recent rains helped it to heal, and I feel good as new again. I felt I had to be out there fishing certain weather patterns, moon tides, etc. I wonder how many people today, feel this compulsive need, to be out there.....
Does the water call out to you, like it does to me?
2. Scouting......something I do on every trip is to scout....if I'm fishing low tide, has the structure changed?
What about the hard vs soft structure?
What differences do I notice?
What differences do I notice in the forage this week, in the areas I am fishing?
Monty and I were talking about how we got bass Sat night, for the simple act of using a teaser....and one of a specific length......if we didn't use that sized teaser, I feel none of us would have gotten any fish.........
So how much do you push it, to learn all you can, while you are out there...?:learn:
The need to be out there....Well since I can usually only fish 1x per week when I am out there I hate leaving. A few outings when I was catching lots of blues, some Gators, my shoulder was aching so much I would wince every cast. But it was worth it, hated leaving the water those days. So I have that need to not leave :HappyWave: Also hate when the sun starts to rise, fishing in the dark is awesome.
One of the things we do Dark is when we do start to catch we try other offerings, plugs, rubber, etc. to see what works/doesn't. Thinking while this more than likely decreases the fish we catch we hope to learn something from it to help us in the future.
And that teaser length, I tried Magdarters close to the length, nothing, small black Hoggys, nothing, shorter teasers, nothing, Avas, nothing. Those black teasers hits and a few bass. If Mike hadn't caught on the longer teaser, more than likely there would have been no fish caught, maybe no action there.
A certain amount of resiliency goes a long way to being successful in catching a fish (I'm fine with catching one fish)......But its a fine line between being resilient, not giving up on an area and leaving...than saying I put enough time in that spot, time to move on and try another area....Decisions:huh:.
Re: How hard are you willing to work, to learn....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Monty
One of the things we do Dark is when we do start to catch we try other offerings, plugs, rubber, etc. to see what works/doesn't. Thinking while this more than likely decreases the fish we catch we hope to learn something from it to help us in the future.
.
I do that too. When I start catching and its on, I switch plugs or rubber sizes to see if they will hit it. A lot of times they dont. They only want 1 or 2 things. If you don't have what they want that night your screwed. Thats why a lot of us have extra plugs in the truck.
Re: How hard are you willing to work, to learn....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Monty
So I have that need to not leave :HappyWave: Also hate when the sun starts to rise, fishing in the dark is awesome.
One of the things we do Dark is when we do start to catch we try other offerings, plugs, rubber, etc. to see what works/doesn't. Thinking while this more than likely decreases the fish we catch we hope to learn something from it to help us in the future.
.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jigfreak
I do that too. When I start catching and its on, I switch plugs or rubber sizes to see if they will hit it. A lot of times they dont. They only want 1 or 2 things. If you don't have what they want that night your screwed. Thats why a lot of us have extra plugs in the truck.
Great points, guys. :thumbsup: