Lets see some SURF fishing pics!!

[DarkSkies]

Member striperbites got this mid-May...probably 25+lb class.....as a testament to how bad fishing was, he was out fishing almost every night, and didn't get another bass till almost 3 weeks later.....Still a very nice fish caught from the surf at night, on artificials......

The bluefish he got, was during an end of day blitz when big blues came in crashing on bunker. Pics courtesy of striperbites.

[DarkSkies]

Some fish I've been getting at night....mostly blues to 7#,,,and one bass.
The bass hooked in the back wasn't an accident....I also got a bluefish in the back like that....they were feeding on small bait....it seemed they kept missing it as the strikes were more reactionary than aggressive...

Most of my rear hooks have been changed to singles for ease of release and minimal injury.....
Unfortunately that one bluefish hit so awkwardly he got stuck in the eye....I took some time to get that hook out, so hopefully he wasnt blinded.

[DarkSkies]

43# cobia from the Surf...on a bunker head....as first reported by Finchaser....

Weighed in at Castaways B&T....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...Point-Pleasant
I think Terry is Mike Commune's son-in-law. Congrats Terry.

"43lb Cobia from the beach Terry martuscelli from the Spring lake live liners and OTW Reel Deal Jersey Outcasts"

[J Barbosa]

Wow that is a nice surf caught Cobia.

[captnemo]

Congrats to striper bites. That striper looks to be at least 25lbs. Congrats as well to Terry Martuscelli. A friend was fishing bunker on Friday near Barnegat Ridge and got one as well. Only 19lbs and it was not near as big as this one. 43 lbs is a beautiful fish.

[porgy75]

Awesome fish guys! if I could get a striper or bluefish or cobia even half that size I would be happy. kudos to the anglers and thanks for sharing!

[DarkSkies]

I think it's safe to say there won't be daytime bunker blitzes in July. The bunker boats have cleared a lot of them from the water, and what is left, for the most part, can now be found off the SS of LI, in deeper water....and in the deeper channels of the NY Bight

I have a bunch of pics that have been piling up....
Will try to post them as I get a chance....

This one is of one of our members....pics and story courtesy of him...
Some of you may have seen these, as (someone else, the writer and photog California Tommy) eventually posted in an article he wrote....




This fish.....was the result of days and days...not of waiting, but of going out there every day......driving up and down the beach.....looking for the right combinations of fish and bunker......

As mentioned previously, the bunker blitzes didn't happen this year in the usual areas.....you had to be very mobile, able to recognize certain signs of blitz "potential"...as most of the "blitzes" seen by shore fishermen were weak, short lived, or not robust because of less bass driving those bunker....Conditions have changed drastically....
all will be discussed in another thread.....

I just wanted to set up some of the conditions faced, for those who think 2014's surf blitz fish were "easy" fish......
The bass came when this member identified one beach where they were likely to be....He was casting like a madman...one of the first on the beach to catch a fish that day.....for awhile it was him and a small number of others fishing...until the hordes arrived.....
To me, although a blitz fish, it was a memorable achievement......and one of the few fish he has kept in his fishing career...
So congrats on a job, well done.
I think the final weight was around 44lbs, 7 oz.
One of the biggest fish caught on artificials from the NJ surf so far for 2014.

[hookset]

Nice fish!

[Monty]

Some fish I've been getting at night....mostly blues to 7#,,,and one bass.

Catching Bass and Blues at night on poppers
I have caught one Bass on a popper, 4 years ago I think. Almost never try it.
Kudos for thinking out of the box.

[DarkSkies]

^ Thanks, Monty...that only happened because initially I was tossing plugs, light bucktails, and rubber, and could not get a hit. After an hour it was time to leave and move on. However, the small shrimp bait that was there confounded me. I felt there had to be fish even though they weren't actively feeding. I also thought that the fish might be scattered, they definitely weren't concentrated. Throwing a popper or spook, with an erratic retrieve, draws them in.

It doesn't always work at night. The best conditions for me, are a little chop on the water. Too much wind and they're not gonna be able to find what you're working (if they really are scattered). Too little wind hasn't been great for me either. Just that light chop, slight breeze, 5-10 mph, seems to be a great environment for success, for me.










Another in a series of fish that were caught during the last weeks of June...The action on this day lasted 20 mins at that location.
This one was reported to be around 20-21# but doesn't look it because the pic was taken from above...IMO the worst angle if you want to get a true guage of the fish's size.
Still a nice size, C&R by a member here....pic posted with his permission.

[ledhead36]

Dayum they be some solid fish Rich. Too bad I have not patience for running around after them. That 44# is outstanding. Monty yes you can get bass and bluefish at night on poppers. Wait till september when the back bays are loaded with peanuts and snappers. Toss a small popper at night and your golden. Another thing that works great is a rattle trap. Throw it out there like a plug but work it like a popper making it dance out of the water. Those things rock.

[Monty]

I posted this on another thread, but will add here.
Its one of my favorites that I have taken over the years.

[robmedina]

Here is a shot of a saltwater catfish (Florida)- I guess that is what it is. It had recently tangled with a shark and won.

[DarkSkies]

Some more night tides pics.....

This is a friend from Delaware......fishes every chance he gets, when he's not working....All pics courtesy of him....
His new addiction is bunker heads...before that it was live eels at night...as he travels the Coast to put himself where the biggest bass are feeding at night......
Note the size of the hooks he is using......


Attachment 18661Attachment 18662

Attachment 18663


He sent me some pics of bass he was catching Cape May area...in June....
long after everyone else had given up catching larger bass down there....he was getting bass to 30#...at night,,,,by fishing up to 8 hours at a time...

(and if he was lucky was only catching one of these nice fish, per trip) all on the night tides......

[7deadlyplugs]

I posted this on another thread, but will add here.
Its one of my favorites that I have taken over the years.

Very nice. Looks very peaceful.

[7deadlyplugs]

Here is a shot of a saltwater catfish (Florida)- I guess that is what it is. It had recently tangled with a shark and won.

Wow those are some deep teeth marks. What do you use to catch that type of catfish?

[DarkSkies]

Another good night for a NJ friend fishing the night tides.....
He hunts big fish exclusively....he was very disappointed this year because he spent countless hours early season looking for bigger fish.....many 8 hour nights out there with nothing....We've had many conversations how the fish are not available in numbers like they used to be for us.....

He did have some good nights.
Most of his fish were caught within a 30 night period from May-June....
And every one of them had to do with large bunker schools passing through....
The latest of his big fish......mid-June.....he had a 1 1/2 hour window to catch these fish....after that the activity was completely dead...
He got 3 large fish to 35# in that short window.

Attachment 18673




I got there a little late for the party....and as a result got nothing.
All fish caught on bunker heads....he released the 2 largest, and kept this one, about 30#.

[hookset]

That bass is a slob. Nice catch.

[cowherder]

Attachment 13480
Attachment 13479

COWBOY CHARLIE IS A REGULAR @ SANDY HOOK. SAYS HES BEEN FISHING THERE EVERY WEEKEND FOR 25YRS. ONLY PLACE HE FISHES. HE MADE THAT CART.

Awesome pics of cowboy charlie. I was fishing the hook one night earlier this year and he let me take these pics. They didn't come out that great. Still you can tell it's him because his truck has all this lettering on it. There is only one cowboy charlie. He is definitely a character.

[Rip-Plugger]

small gator on a second generation rip-runner.