Glassing for better fishing

[storminsteve]

I have read a lot of threads here on binocular and cell phone fishermen. I hate those guys, I really do. I do use binocs though, to help me see if there are any opportunities down the beach. I have also read when people talk about blind casting. Blind casting in the morning has not produced much for me this fall, yet.

It seems that this fall has been pretty bad so far. At least for me. I feel the binocs give you a slight edge because there are so few places where you can find the fish. If you spot birds even if they are 1 mile down the beach, at least you can drive down to them and hope they will come within reach of the shore. How many of you guys use binoculars to find the fish?

[cowherder]

Good advice, I will start bringing binoculars with me.

[surfstix1963]

I keep a pair in the truck for a quick scan but I don't bring any with me the older I get the less I want to take with me and with my back I probably will only bring the necessities now.

[surfwalker]

It seems that this fall has been pretty bad so far.

ss- Right now I don't consider the present time as fall fishing, yes we are fishing in the calendar fall, but when the water temp drops some more, then, to me, that's when the fall activity starts. By that I mean that the aggressive behavior will take over and more hookups will occur, hopefully. In other words, I follow the water temps more than the calendar.

As far as binocs, I've never carried them. I have enough junk in my bag that weighs me down.

[JustEd]

The Fall run has not even begun here in Rhodie yet................ water temps, which spur the migration, are still in the mid to high 60's. Some cooling night temps trending right now will start the drop however. Bait is massing and moving along the shore but the temps still have the fish staying a little deeper right now.
On to the original subject...................
Whats wrong with Bino's. Cell phones, especially with twitter and facebook immediate posting, suck horse ****, but bino's should be a part of every surfcasters gear, in the same way I carry them in the Duck Blind and tree stand. Saves a lot of walking. Not just for finding blitzes, but cuts in bars and heavy rips on reef and boulder strewn shorelines. Finding a school of bait on the surface from a distabce and being able to identify travel direction and school attitude,I/E nervous or migrating can be of great help as well.

[surfwalker]

Whats wrong with Bino's. Saves a lot of walking. Not just for finding blitzes, but cuts in bars and heavy rips on reef and boulder strewn shorelines. Finding a school of bait on the surface from a distabce and being able to identify travel direction and school attitude,I/E nervous or migrating can be of great help as well.

Ed, I find nothing wrong with carrying binoc's, I just don't use them. I enjoy the casting while walking. As far as schooling bait and blitzes, once I arrive, they disperse anyway.

[vpass]

Saves a lot of walking. Not just for finding blitzes, but cuts in bars and heavy rips on reef and boulder strewn shorelines. Finding a school of bait on the surface from a distabce and being able to identify travel direction and school attitude,I/E nervous or migrating can be of great help as well.

I agree with all you said. I just never realized the obvious, looking for structure.

I have used Binoculars in the past and had many memorable blitzes , but many times I got to the location when the blitz is over. Overtime sticking to a plan a fishing structure wins out, I also don't have that desire to chase fish like i use to. I'm even ok now if I don't even catch fish. I just love the enviroment I'm in.

There's nothing wrong with binocular use. I do have a problem with cellphones. With Binoculars you are still working for your fish, like a boat uses a fish finder.

[Monty]

I also don't use binoculars. I'm like surfwalker, I like plugging the beach, fishing the structure. I'm looking to lighten the load, not carry more stuff. I can see where it would be helpful, but just not my thing. Also completely against the cell phones.

[JustEd]

Just to clearify.............. I dont carry them with me, but keep them in the glove box in case.

[storminsteve]

^ Hey thanks for the replys guys. Some of you have a lot of experience and you opinion means a lot. And just for me to clarify, I am not talking about carrying them with you at all times to weigh you down. Just when you start out, to look up and down the beach and see any areas that are worth working. The way I see fishing is that each year it becomes tougher. This year we have a lot of bait, with mostly small bluefish on them. I don't want to find the small bluefish I want to find the bass, so I think the binocs will give me an advantage to pick my spot carefully. So thanks again for your opinions.

[surfstix1963]

One way to increase your striper catch is to fish deeper and slower with your plugs Steve Topwater is going to yield more blues not that its a bad thing most stripers are not more than 3-5 ft. off the bottom.

[fishinmission78]

There's nothing wrong with binocular use. I do have a problem with cellphones. With Binoculars you are still working for your fish, like a boat uses a fish finder.

Absolutely agree, there are times when I have a beach and fish to myself, just 1 othe guy. He makes a call, fifteen minutes later there are 10 more guys fishing right next to us with no breathing room. Not cool.

[bababooey]

^^^ Then you would love this guy. Drove around for months jamming the cell phones of other drivers till they arrested him. I almost feel a desire to cough up some bail money for him.

A Florida Resident Drove Around with a Cellphone Jammer for Two Years Before Being Caught

Alyssa Bereznak Tech ColumnistMay 1, 2014


Many states have banned talking on your cellphone while driving, but Florida is not one of them. So 60-year-old maverick Jason R. Humphreys took matters into his own hands.

As The Tampa Tribune reports, Humphreys brought a cellphone jammer along on his commute every day for two years. You know, to ensure that his fellow commuters remained focused on the road. Until two local sheriff’s deputies caught him in the act and slapped him with $48,000 worth of fines, which he must pay or otherwise respond to within a month.
It turns out that Humphreys would have gone undetected if it hadn’t been for a local carrier noticing that something was messing with its towers. MetroPCS (which is owned by T-Mobile) notified the Federal Communications Commission that there was a peculiar outage on a certain patch of the Interstate 4 highway and downtown Tampa exactly a year ago. The FCC looked into it and discovered that wideband emissions — broadcast activity with wide frequencies or wavelengths — were emanating from a blue Toyota Highlander.
Still, Humphreys went on jamming for another year until two county sheriff deputies pulled him over. They were able to confirm his use of the cellphone jammer before they even searched his vehicle and found it behind a seat cover. As they approached his SUV, their two-way radios were disconnected from their dispatcher.
The department later tested the device to discover that it could jam cell signals in three bands. Humphreys is alleged to have said that he’d been using the jammer for 16 to 24 months on his commute. Meaning pretty much everyone around him was unable to use a cellphone. Even someone who had a dire emergency to call in.
Whether this made any difference in the quality of Humphrey’s commute, we are unsure. Unsurprisingly, he does not seem to be taking calls at the moment.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/a-florida...369099229.html