I should qualify that along the sod banks there are a dedicated group of night rats out plugging. But around Brigantine, not so.
I'm just kicking myself as during the fall there is so much small bait in the surf, from baby kings, to snappers to spot to crabs, and last year for the first time that I'm aware of... sand eels, that plugging / flying has got to be more effective than bait and wait.
Around that island there is just not much to hold fish like the jetties and rocks and better soft structure that seems to be prevalent from IBSP nawth.
There has got to be a pic somewhere, but given the time... it might have only been taken on an old cell phone... so really unsure.
My wife was laughing so hard when she saw me, not sure if she took the pic or my bro in law who was also around before I went to the ER.
Awesome story dude, did it look anything like this?
Bet this guy felt like a googan big time!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...-steve-1711078 My fishing blip: Angler needs 12 stitches after hooking HIMSELF in the mouth
He yanked his rod a couple of times to free the line before the bulbous object suddenly flew 50 feet through the air and struck him in the face
BNPS
This is the incredible moment an angler had a miracle escape when his fishing weight flew back at him 'like a bullet' and lodged in the side of his face.
Steve Redhead, 51, was hoping to land some carp fish but became the catch himself after his lead weight snagged on overhanging branches.
He yanked his rod a couple of times to free the line before the bulbous object suddenly flew 50 feet through the air and struck him in the face.
Steve dropped to his knees and thought the object had just grazed him at first until fishing friend Matt Barnes told him it was embedded in his right cheek.
An ambulance was called and Steve, from Weymouth, Dorset, was rushed to hospital to have the 50 gram weight removed.
Luckily, the weight didn't break his cheek bone or jaw or damage any nerves.
Steve, who jet-washes wheelie bins for a living, was told the item could easily have killed him had it hit him in an eye, throat or gone through his mouth.
Ouch: Steve with the weight in his lip
BNPS
He said: "I had been fishing for about three quarters of an hour but hadn't caught anything.
"We were fishing quite close to a tree because we knew carp hide out there in the winter months.
"My line got snagged in some of the branches so I tried a couple of gentle tugs.
"When that didn't work I lost my patience a little bit and gave it a massive yank.
"Then I just remember catching a quick glimpse of the weight coming straight at me like a bullet at the very last second and then thinking it hurt a little bit.
"I dropped to my knees and thought it had just grazed my face.
"When I first touched it I thought it was just swollen before I realised it was the weight and it was now stuck in my face.
"Even though there was a bit of blood it didn't actually hurt that much. It hurt more when I was given the local anaesthetic later in hospital.
"I packed up my fishing gear and the bailiff at the lake called an ambulance.
"I'm very lucky. It could have killed me. Had it gone through my mouth it would have probably gone straight through and out the back of my head.
we do indeed... my wife has this gut-infuriating laugh when she really laughs. Doesn't happen often but this is one of "those" stories that brings it out over and over and....
as to the unfortunate fellow above, I've come "close" to doing what he did... Best I can do is always wear glasses and a hat to help be able to ward off objects flying in reverse, in the daytime you still have a shot at ducking out of the way.
"It hurt more when I was given the local anaesthetic later in hospital." this is probably true, but one time many years ago I was fishing one of the (now submerged) jetties at Sandy Hook with a friend. I cast a bait rig with a 3 oz pyramid sinker, while my friend (still friends some 30 years later) was fishing
opposite, but near enough, to me. My sinker caught him square in the back between the shoulder blades.
He still has the triangular scar!
For some reason, he never wanted to fish with me again
Things I learned. Either fish and not catch. Or find a parking lot with a lot of trucks and suvs and fish there lol.
The fishing has gotten worse again.
Cranky Old Bassturd.
^^^^ Agreed. Cape Cod fishing this year was hit and miss. If you were able to get out regularly you did well. Other wise it was a lot of misses.
when the fish are only hitting in one area, make time and get to that area... don't wait and think they'll show up close to home
That I do not loose as many fish when my plugs have hooks with barbs on them.
One night I lost 5 fish in a row that were hooked for different lengths of time, all on plugs with crushed barbs. Then I caught/landed one bass, that plug was a redfin with barbs. Now its possible that the Bass I lost were hooked on the outside of the mouth (I think Blazin420 had a few of those one night), but there is no doubt in my mind that on two separate attempts to go barbless (years apart) that I lost fish because I had crushed barbs and there was nothing else I could do to land those fish.
If I get into certain "bites" i will crush them at that time. I was into a bunch of bass in the 25"-34" range this year, after catching 2 I crushed the barbs and landed 8 more without loosing any. Or when catching a lot of blues I will crush the barbs.
But heading out for my walks I will go fully armed with barbs
White Water Monty 2.00 (WWM)
Future Long Islander (ASAP)
Things I learned this fall - this is the last hurrah for the jetties. From now on for the next 10 years there will be periods of joy among fishermen as fall and winter storms create new cuts and troughs. This is the natural order of things. Then by the spring the tractors and road graders will be there to fill them in again. Just when we start to be hopeful they will come in with the tractors and dash all hopes to smithereens. Of course I don't fish the jetties but you can't discount the life they hold throughout the years. That life as we know it will cease to exist. We will be reduced to grabbing the crumbs of gamefish remnants that drop off the table as many fish will continue to migrate offshore with these changes.
I wish I wasn't so astute in seeing what is at the end of the tunnel for us. Maybe some times it is better to be blissfully ignorant.
that base of forage to draw in and keep the fish is the biggest loss to the jetties.
once they fill in and destroy the food chain, you will see areas that were productive throughout the season become the dead sea, while the fish
only come in and hold with a pod of bait in your face.
beach replenishment literally sucks the life out of the surf.
^^^^^^ So true. It's not only the fishermen who suffer. The rip currents get worse and I believe we will see more drownings because of it.
New fishing technique, follow the trucks!
The corollary to that - if you don't want people to follow and mug you keep your light off at night when you are catching.
Blitz only breed of Cell phone mafia fisherman is out of control
Pay attention to what history has taught us or be prepared to relive it again
Not only that, they don't seem to want to work that hard to achieve results.I have a small circle of trusted guys I share with when we are on fish. we have always been able to keep our mouths shut and sometimes have a bite to ourselves for a week or more. social media has changed all that. Some newby catches a decent bass, blabs it all over social media and the next thing you know the crowds are running. Meanwhile none of those people who come running had the incentive to put in the work before they got the cell phone call.