What happened to the NJ Surfcasters?

[nitestrikes]

Last Friday I had to drive out to Jersey for a wedding. The wedding was on Saturday so we had some time to kill Fri afternoon. Some members here clued me in to a bite that happened earlier that day. My cousin and I went down to the jetties to check it out and meet some local surf talent.

We went to that famous Allenhurst jetty Fully expecting guys to be casting and into fish, all we found was guys standing around and scanning the horizon with biinocs. There were a few pods of bunker. What amazed me was I didn't see one single guy casting in that area, all looking. When did NJ become the lookie loo state? Every year out East at Montauk I meet NJ surfcasters who are pretty hardcore. Some swim to the rocks, some from the sand, but all good tough guys. Where were those guys on Friday? Don't understand the mentality some of you have to stand by those benches just waiting. Why not make a few casts? In hindsight I did not bring my gear or I would have been out there casting. Very puzzling.

[Monty]

I don't get it. When I go fishing I cast until I have to leave to go home or until my shoulder is aching (and that normally won't stop me). Its fishing that I enjoy doing.
Can't catch a fish with your line out of the water.

To me these guys looking are not "surf casters". They are lazy a**ed people masquerading as fisherman with limited fishing skills and no appreciation for the real surf fishing experience. And in my opinion most care not for the rapidly decreasing Striped Bass breeding stock.

[finchaser]

New breed of bass fisherman they specialize in blitzes only, other wise they can't catch sh_t. Also what Monty said

[surfwalker]

All true. I never could understand the standing around and wait and see attitude. I guess , like fin says - lazy, to each his own. But I'd rather be attempting more than looking.

[DarkSkies]

Thanks for the honest feedback so far, guys.
Nitestrikes mentioned this experience to me and I suggested he start a thread.

There was another member here, Brasilva, who came to NJ over the weekend, and called me about a similar experience. It's a great story, and when I have time to write out all the paragraphs, capturing the essence of Brasilva's comments, I'll post it....in the meantime, thanks....

[hookedonbass]

You forgot the binoculars in one hand, cell phone in the other. No blitz fisherman should be without them.

[fishinmission78]

Sign o the times. You need to save the energy for the exact moment they are blitzing. It takes a lot of stamina to reel in a 40lb fish 50 yards from the beach.

[buckethead]

^You can't be part of the cool kids if you are out there casting and working up a sweat.

[DarkSkies]

Brasilva's Story.....complete with Expletives (edited)...I think it's more meaningful if I share it as he told it to me...


"I heard there were some fish on the beaches in NJ and bass fishing had slowed down in Jamaica Bay for me.
I came to NJ on Saturday because a friend of mine told me some guys were catching bass.

When I got there we went to the Monmouth County area.
My friend took me to a few places. We stood at the tops of the streets and watched.

I ask him "What are we waiting for? Why don't we just fish?"

He told me: "No we have to wait for the blitz"

We spend 4 hours running around and looking for these stupid blitzes.
In the end I got tired of this, and went to the beach by myself (he was still up and looking around with binoclars)


I caught one bluefish on a popper before the end of the day.
It is stupid ****, you guys all standing around.
Why don't you go down there and fish?
Dumbest **** I ever heard of.

In all my fishing I didn't come across guys who acted like this till I came to NJ.

You can have it,. I am going back to Brooklyn to fish where guys actually fish! This is ********! "

[cowherder]

I usually don't venture down that far to where all the jetties are. It seems from the description that guys don't want to fish any more. It's like an internet game to them. They don't want to make the effort unless a big prize is involved. Childish.

[skinner]

New breed of bass fisherman they specialize in blitzes only, other wise they can't catch sh_t. Also what Monty said

I have over 30 years in the surfcasting game. Around 2000 catching fish was easy. I would call 1998 to 2002 the golden years. Before that not a lot of guys surf fished for striped bass because it was hard. In the years after the moratorium it was almost impossible to catch a bass from the surf. You would fish for weeks on end. Maybe you would get a 20" bass from that effort. As a result most fishermen gave up or went on to pursue other quarry.

Then, around 2000, or maybe a few years before, the fishing had fully recovered and it was great. We would fish the jetties, surf, inlets. Didn't much matter where you were., the fish were there. They were there from March to December. I remember a few years catching fish in February and January if it was a warm winter. I remember one year, late December, where we each caught over 20 bass apiece, over 15lbs. for almost 2 weeks in a row. Nights where we would all catch in excess of a few hundred pounds. Those were the days.
We diidn't keep many fish back then. If you were on a jetty or front of an inlet and the action was good it became distracting to put one in a safe place till you could get it back to shore.

I think the really heavy harvesting by the surf fishermen began when the bunker boats were pushed offshore and the fish started coming in every year. You knew by your logs when they would be in. All you really had to do was go down to the jetties when the bunker were there, late afternoon, and there would be fish 20-40 pounds under them. We did it mostly with pencil poppers. Snag and drop seems to me to be recent in popularity. Maybe because there are now so many bunker you have to give them exactly what they are eating.
As it got easier to catch fish more guys came out. A few newspaper reports saying "bass all over!" and guys came out in droves.
These were mostly new guys who had never fished before.
The $49 13 foot kmart rod.
Going on the jetties without korkers, with sneakers, or barefoot.
I saw so many guys fall in, and helped a few, saved them from drowning when there was a big swell.

The internet is a joke. Dark you will forgive me for not posting my catches much but what you and others call internet heroes I call pussies. If the bunker weren't around they wouldn't catch ****. You can tell who the heroes are. They catch a few 30's in blitzes and they are instant experts. They are brimming with confidence, spouting their crap on every thread, giving the newbies their expert advice. Meanwhile they have been fishing a total of 4 years.

The bunker thin out or leave. The fishing gets tough. These guys are the ones who stop fishing for bass. Three weeks ago they ware the experts. When the bass leave they put up posts asking how to catch fluke and kingfish. I get disillusioned with the guys standing at the railings. Over the years I have caught some fish blind casting on days like that. Usually late afternoon when you know the bass are around but not stacked up. You will see occasional pods of bunker. First they are calm, then nervous, then one lone bass crashes them and nabs one. Those are the times you need to be out casting for all its worth. Yoou don't know when that bass will be in front of you, You won't ever know, if you are leaning on the railings, BSing with your friends. But thats fishing during blitz season in NJ.

I have fished in other states and have not seen the laziness to the extent we have in NJ. I think its a combination of the internet, cell phones, ego-bolstering, tackle shop boasting, that has these guys out there. Half of them do not respect the striped bass, or do not realize the value it has. The nights that we had, catching bass after bass, returned so we could catch them again another time. And the guys culling bass? don't even get me started.

Good thread, Nitestrikes and Dark I am sorry your friends had to see that. This is fishing blitzes, jersey style. Shame it has deteriorated to this. I am one of those guys who hope the bunker stocks dwindle. The less bunker blitxes the less guys fishing.

[storminsteve]

Awesome read and history skinner, thanks for posting.

[lostatsea]

I have over 30 years in the surfcasting game. Around 2000 catching fish was easy. I would call 1998 to 2002 the golden years. Before that not a lot of guys surf fished for striped bass because it was hard.The internet is a joke. Dark you will forgive me for not posting my catches much but what you and others call internet heroes I call pussies. If the bunker weren't around they wouldn't catch ****. You can tell who the heroes are. They catch a few 30's in blitzes and they are instant experts. They are brimming with confidence, spouting their crap on every thread, giving the newbies their expert advice. Meanwhile they have been fishing a total of 4 years.

The bunker thin out or leave. The fishing gets tough. These guys are the ones who stop fishing for bass. Three weeks ago they ware the experts. When the bass leave they put up posts asking how to catch fluke and kingfish. I get disillusioned with the guys standing at the railings. Over the years I have caught some fish blind casting on days like that. Usually late afternoon when you know the bass are around but not stacked up. You will see occasional pods of bunker. First they are calm, then nervous, then one lone bass crashes them and nabs one. Those are the times you need to be out casting for all its worth. Yoou don't know when that bass will be in front of you, You won't ever know, if you are leaning on the railings, BSing with your friends. But thats fishing during blitz season in NJ.

Wow this is llike a synopsis of every internet fishing site out there. You really have been around skinner. I wish it wasn't that way. Honestly, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I will throw lures but quickly get frustrated. I have never participated in a bunker blitx like the ones you are talking about. for the most part it is hard to get away from work when they are happening. don't any of these guys have jobs?
But if I were to see one I would try my best to get a big bass. For me it would be the fish of a lifetime so I would put up with the pushing and shoving. I honestly would not know how to catch a bass that big without being on a boat. Hope you guys aren't mad at me for saying thsi. I think it takes a lot of skill to do the kind of fishing you are talkiing about at night. I don't have all those skills yet though I am working on them and each year feel I get a little better. thanks for sharing that.

[Monty]

This is fishing blitzes, jersey style. Shame it has deteriorated to this. I am one of those guys who hope the bunker stocks dwindle. The less bunker blitxes the less guys fishing.

Great post Skinner, I am with you on the bunker, the less guys fishing the better, especially when its the lazy ones not anywhere near the beach. To me standing and waiting is not fishing. Its actually detrimental to the guys that are fishing, And that is bad.

[CharlieTuna]

What happened to NJ in the summer. Does everyone only fish for fluke and stop fishing for other species? I was searching the internet forums trying to get a feel for what is being caught from the shore now. I am coming down to Beach Haven with my wife to visit the in-laws next week. I did a quick search to see what some catches were. Some of what I found -

Stripers are a Waste of time. Don't even bother. You may see some small bluefish but no stripers this time of year. They are here in April/May.

We're in the summer doldrums the big gators are north and all that's left is chicken blues max 3 lbs. Come september the bigguns should be appearing again.

These seemed to be from fishermen who sound like they know what they are doing. I have read the last few pages of this thread and see that you folks are still catching stripers, bigger blues, and croakers. Are you all fishing different water or is the Jersey Coast markedly different than I remember when I used to live there? I am not looking for spots. Just trying to figure out how you are still catching fish other than fluke and others are not. Trying to get a sense of what I might expect to catch fishing the beaches and bulkheads of Long Beach Island at night. If you don't want to answer here that is all right you can e-mail or pm me. Thank you kindly.

[jigfreak]

^^^^ I don't know who said what you quoted but they are clueless idiots. In NJ a lot of people don't go fishing until the internet or facebook reports tell them. They dont want to work for it. There are weakfish being caught too if you know structure and sod banks. You can get them in the lbi area with rubber and jigs at night. Nothing big mostly spikes. You won't read it on the internet because weakfish take some effort to catch as well as night stripers on artificials. I sent you an e-mail, hope it helps. Good luck.

[dogfish]

They dont want to work for it.

Come on now that is the biggest part of the bragging rights.
"We were on the water by sunrise and back at the barn by 9am with a full limit." The best advertisement for skill is to say you caught a lot of fish without really trying. Working for them says you are a goog or don't know how to catch. I have caught a few big fish this year have had to work almost all night to get them. Had to take the kayak out near some of the islands and paddle all over the place. by that definition I must be a goog as well. What happened to the values of yesterday where hard work and a reward for it were prized attributes for fishing? Where did our society go wrong by turning the concept of fishing into something like running through a McDonalds drive in. Get in, get out, get home in time to watch the game.
Fishing is the coolest game out there because things are always changing. Guess some folks don't believe that any more.

[J Barbosa]

Come on now that is the biggest part of the bragging rights.
"We were on the water by sunrise and back at the barn by 9am with a full limit." The best advertisement for skill is to say you caught a lot of fish without really trying. Working for them says you are a goog or don't know how to catch. I have caught a few big fish this year have had to work almost all night to get them. Had to take the kayak out near some of the islands and paddle all over the place. by that definition I must be a goog as well. What happened to the values of yesterday where hard work and a reward for it were prized attributes for fishing? Where did our society go wrong by turning the concept of fishing into something like running through a McDonalds drive in. Get in, get out, get home in time to watch the game.
Fishing is the coolest game out there because things are always changing. Guess some folks don't believe that any more.

I agree dogfish...what's the point of limiting out on 3lb fluke so you can get back to the dock early. That's just filling the freezer with expensive filets. Anyone who loves to fish would never want to head back to the dock early.

[rockhopper]

Anyone who loves to fish would never want to head back to the dock early.

X2, its not the numbers of fish that you can pile up. The tug is the drug.
Its the same thing at demo or any LI beach. The daytime guys will stand around until they see a blitz in front of them.

[cowherder]

The daytime guys will stand around until they see a blitz in front of them.

I saw some of this this morning. Lots of guys standing around. I must have missed the memo or the blitz by one day. Oh well. Make a few casts every once in a while guys! There were 2 other guys and I casting for false albacore. Even though they were far out we were trying. The rest of them were just standing around.