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

[hookset]

Your Adrenalin pumps up.....
The groggy half-asleep head on your shoulders shakes itself into action....
Your fingers and arms, instinctively know what to do......
Your hookset is solid.....
and you have that one fish...that you asked for...to save you from the Skunk....

I hear you, know that feeling.

[surfstix1963]

Learn to present the plugs properly,then learn when to use them and have a good understanding of why you chose them.Learn everything you can about a specific plug the how and why it is designed the way it is,if you do this presenting it will give you a head start to the learning game.You don't take a metal lip in a heavy heave and if you don't have current a darter is a waste of time leave it home etc.

[CharlieTuna]

Learn to present the plugs properly,then learn when to use them and have a good understanding of why you chose them.Learn everything you can about a specific plug the how and why it is designed the way it is,if you do this presenting it will give you a head start to the learning game.You don't take a metal lip in a heavy heave and if you don't have current a darter is a waste of time leave it home etc.

Spot on advice surfstix.

[Monty]

"Quote Originally Posted by surfstix1963 View Post
Learn to present the plugs properly,then learn when to use them and have a good understanding of why you chose them.Learn everything you can about a specific plug the how and why it is designed the way it is,if you do this presenting it will give you a head start to the learning game.You don't take a metal lip in a heavy heave and if you don't have current a darter is a waste of time leave it home etc."

Spot on advice surfstix.

Presentation and selecting the correct plug/metal rubber. Surftstix that's it in a nutshell for me.
Its what I need to improve on and its also the most fun aspect of surf fishing for me.
Learning, trying out what works and doesn't. Figuring it out. So much to learn.
Presentation, presentation, presentation, presentation......presentation.

[storminsteve]

Fish the tides. I knew a little about this already, especially in the back of the raritan bay. I assumed the ocean was more flexible, but dark helped me dial in a little better. All I can say is I want to learn the hard and soft structure better. Learning that there are times when it will be totally dead and another time when its alive with fish. I give you guys credit for fishing all the hours you do. I would never have seen that from fishing 2 hours.

[DarkSkies]

Steve, you already have a great natural instinct.
Honestly, it didn't use to be that hard.

I remember a few years ago, maybe 6, 7. The peanuts were thick in the back of the bay and you could go to Sandy Hook at night, throw a storm shad, and catch some nice bass into the teens, casting from most of the beaches there.

Because the fish were so thick and the food so abundant, it didn't matter much what part of the tide you fished. As long as you threw those shads in the dark you were assured of getting a few bass.

Now that things are different, it seems to me, in certain areas, there is a feed during a particular time. Finchaser is finding the feed related to beginning and end of day. I'm finding it related to the tide.

The food moves in and out with the tides, and when I can focus on some of that, I can find fish. Last night I went to some sure-fire places and the fish just weren't there....tide and lack of forage where I was probably had a lot to do with that....as they say.....hey that's fishing....

Great thread so far people, keep up the good work.

[finchaser]

I'm also playing the cooler temperatures at different stages of the tide that turns them on sometimes as much as 10 degrees