Quote Originally Posted by surfrob View Post
Needlefish are like my darters... I never get a hit on them. Never have, and thus have little confidence. edit: I should qualify, I've caught plenty of crabs on sinking versions of both, however
Rob, you're one of the old timers out there I refer to...you've been doing this a long time......you have caught a lot of fish from different areas.....I would be honored to show ya some of what works for me....at night when the sandeels are here....if you're willing to drive back up to your old haunts in NNJ......
It's an open invitation....PM me anytime for my # when you want to come up.....












There was someone else I was giving advice to about needlefish....he was unsure of technique...but he went out and tossed one anyway.....here's what happened.....and my response.......

Was working a needlefish (darkskies motivated me) in different pockets of current and then it happened. I got Drilled. The only other time i got hit like this was in the inlet dropping live eels from a boat. To be honest it was my second cast and was really just getting a feel for the new rod. I set the hook and this fish ran. My first thought was this is the biggest bass i hooked into this year. Second thought was that hook set was weak... Had him on for about 20 seconds two long runs a head shake and he was gone.


KYJ thanks for the kind words....
I put a lot of thought into reading some of the reports of those who seem to be struggling and thinking of the most diplomatic way to help someone....
In real life I'm a lot more blunt, crude, and ornery.....a crabby crusty fart with many flaws... had stopped helping others for awhile because of all the selfishness and bad behavior I've experienced in my fights to help save fishing access out there......


I decided to start helping folks again, on a case by case basis, in recognition of those who unselfishly gave me some tips when I started out in the artificial game.


I remember the struggles, the self-doubt, the feeling of failure.....and asking myself..."Man this ain't that easy...will I ever get it right?".....


And on I persevered....failing over and over until some things started to fit together....the small pieces of the puzzle at a time......


When I typed my response to you, I felt that what you needed was one fish that would drill that needle, and get your confidence up....I'm so glad to see that happened....to me it doesn't matter if you landed it or not.....I can tell by the tone of your report how excited you got....