Surfcasting 201 - The Surfcasters' Bible....Artificial Only thread....

[DarkSkies]

The Ocean in a lot of NJ areas is in the low 50's. Bass are usually active and aggressive at that temp, but last night I found them to be very sluggish, just bumping the plug. Lots of things that didn't fit a pattern last night. Several fish hooked in the head, quite a few missed fish, and once you missed the hookset they would not come back for it.

My best assessment of this behavior is that with a temp drop of around 8 degrees in 1 week, that has been a shock to their system. You might not notice that if on a boat and come across actively feeding fish, but for the surf bite absent large quantities of bait, these bass are a challenge to catch right now, at least for me......

Remember if you are out fishing at night it's a lot different than the day bite. You may only have one or 2 shots at a fish. If you blow it you might just be telling your friends about "the one that got away" instead of having actual proof.

I know this because........

I was that guy last night......

[DarkSkies]

Great info about low vs high tide presentation dark.Nice pics and explanation of a rip monty. I also look at the bait that is around. .

Thanks Plugcrazy. I thought I would add to this with some thoughts I had today.



Presentation and where the fish are....

1. At different times of the season, day, or moon phase, fish will be sitting in different levels of the water column.
2. Your job as a fisherman is to figure out where that is.
3. If you don't present to them where there are sitting you will never know that they are there.
4. In general, (my experience) colder weather, or a cold front, tends to put fish down, where they will sit closer to the bottom.
5. In my experience, this will hold, in general, unless they are feeding actively on bait, at which point they may rise to the surface.
6. There are so many variations for this, that the best thing I can say, is you need to understand the water you are fishing in front of you, and think about moon stage, time of day, current flow (during strong current flow fish at times tend to stay on the bottom or sides where current is less strong), water clarity, water temperature, day vs night time fishing, and some other ones I probably forgot to mention.
7. If you can figure this out, for the place and time you are fishing, it will allow you to work your casts more efficiently.
8. You will only be working on the part of the water column where the fish are most highly concentrated.
9. If you really try to keep disciplined about this, you will see that it will result in more hookups, and more fish.

[jigfreak]

3. If you don't present to them where there are sitting you will never know that they are there.

My #1 rule when I'm out and about. Fish are still on the bottom where I'm fishing. One hour before sunrise they rise to feed and then they disappear again. Gotta work that water column.

[robmedina]

I have read through both Surfcasting 101 and Surfcasting 102. Great information guys- thank you! This year has been actually my first year of really giving Surf fishing a go. I of course have wet a line many a time over the years but it was never with a pre-conceived knowledge of what's there or what are they feeding on etc. It was more- Hey kids want to go to the beach for the day???? Me fish they play kind of thing. So that being said- I have committed more time and energy in learning about the surf. I am starting to learn how to read the beach. Watch tide charts, wind direction, water temp etc. I have primarily been fishing clams and/or bunker. I landed a 20" Striper last night on the out going. I know - a 'biggen' lol! well anyway- it dawned on me that if I do catch a big striper- will that be what I came for??? and the answer was no. I think fishing with bait is great. But I am a little on the high strung side. I have always fished lures for other species of fish and really enjoy figuring out the what the when and the how. Now that I am going for Surf- it is a whole new arena. You can't just site down on a Saturday afternoon and watch 20 shows on surf fishing like you can on large mouth bass or walleye. So my question is- can anyone recommend a book or DVD series that I can go buy to learn more about fishing plugs, lures etc. I know John Skinner sells a book called fishing the bucktail and I am really leaning towards starting there. I think if I learn with a bucktail to fish different applications I could then understand perhaps a little better what I need to do. Anyway- Thanks again for all your wisdom. Sorry that this is one big paragraph- the format wouldn't let start a new paragraph- just runs together.

[surfstix1963]

Bucktails and tins (hopkins&kastmaster) are great for searching the water column and will work at any speed from slow bouncing the bottom to ripping them if the need arises.Always use the lightest bucktail that will get to the bottom pay attention to the speed of the current and switch up or down in weight accordingly white with red pork rind will generally always work day or night.Bass are generally anywhere from the bottom to around 6 ft. off the bottom in deeper water.Structure,structure & structure.Learn to read the beach it changes constantly when you catch a fish look at the water why was that fish there bait,hole,cut,rip,drain etc. if you can't recognize structure you won't be very good at this game.Always look for the funny water.

[hookset]

welcome rob. What surftsix said is great I agree. You also need to spend time on the water. As you said you can read tons of stuff on the internet but putting it into practical use is the thing. Spend time out there and put it all in a log. Learning to read structure beach or bayside is all important.casting where fish are not sitting will get you nothing. hope this helps and let us know of your progress.

[robmedina]

Thanks for the welcome hookset! My Wife just ordered m two books for Fathers day. Fishing the bucktail by John Skinner and Fishing with Bucktails by Doc Miller. While I am wetting a line with bait tonight, I will be throwing a bucktail with my other rod to get my journey started.