MOCO in the morning, water looked perfect, sky was black, should have been exploding with fish. 2 hours, nada.
Senior Member
MOCO in the morning, water looked perfect, sky was black, should have been exploding with fish. 2 hours, nada.
Senior Member
Fished from 1:30pm to 5:00pm. Had birds in front of me for a 15 to 20 min. I threw the bag covering all water colume had only 1 bump. plugged the beach for 1/2 mile befor calling it quits. further out was a boat and seen him land a few nice size bass.
There were these black/dark brown diving birds crashing the water in front of me they dive just like gannets. Does anyone know what kind of bird they are? I did not see them come up with anything. I'm thinking they were feeding on sandeels and not herring.
Senior Member
there is still a good amount of small bass in the back bays of SNJ fished the last 2 hours of outgoing after some late shopping. Good amount of bass popping on the surface a lot were picky though, landed 7 to 25" lost 4 or 5 couldnt get any water for incomming and they laid down. Never felt below 40 and a 5 mph wind nice late season night
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Amen, Shark...got into feeding bass last night as well. Took a while to find them, getting discouraged, but it was a fantastic night once the tide changed and the wind dropped out...I can't remember fishing in December and being so comforbable, in quite a few years....managed 8 bass to 28", dropped an additional one at my feet about 11# and 31". It was a plug bite.. something I'm addicted to....due to the abundant herring, ....full report in the Winter Fishing Thread....
Way to stick it out to the end....catch em up!
Administrator
Winter Fishing Thread.....
Looks like the bass may be around for another few days, (or minutes, according to OGB....
I thought for those of us who are truly addicted,I would post up a thread dedicated to winter fishing....
whether ya fish for......
bass till there are ice on the guides, your fingers in stages of hypothermia....(happened to me last night, toes got wet, painful hypothermia for sure.....)
tog on the wrecks....or inlets...
herring in the harbors and inlets...
Cod out of Block Is or Montauk...
sunnies in the local pond (before it freexes)
pike, pickerel, bass, perch, and crappie through the ice...
or sailfish, roosters, amberjack and tarpon in the tropics
even if you fish your local river for carp! (great sport in Jan and Feb, we used to do it every year....)
(Or, in the case of Vpass...
Or Monty, who fishes for a new path in his backyard when the HD rental truck gets stuck....
We wanna hear it!
Post the story, weave the web...help the guys and gals here stay sane with a taste of something related to fishing......thanks folks!!
Senior Member
fished rocks xmas morning with a buddy and came up empty handed. we did not get out there until the tide was going out. stayed for awhile and not a single bite! talked to a few guys who spent the entire morning there and nothing for them either on the incoming/outgoing tide. hope to get out next sat again.
looking to go for some blackfish on a boat in a week or 2 if anybody knows a good 1 to go on pm me.
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Rockfish at the Rocks.....
12-24 (night of 12-23)Originally Posted by DarkSkies
12-24 8 Bass to 28", night bite.... plugs.
12-25 10 Bass to 12#, night bite...plugs...Biggest fish came on Surfstix's Danny
12-26 7 Bass to 15#, night bite...plugs....
It's safe to say I'm pretty happy with the fishing this last week of December...
Fished some rocks. Some may think these are magic rocks, but they aren't. The fish are around because of the higher than normal water temps and the herring, squid, bunker, in the area, and the crabs that are dying before they go into winter hibernation.
Food is abundant in a 15 mile stretch of shoreline, generally areas marked by rocks, inlet fronts, or access to the fish that are holding offshore and feeding on the sandeels. This is where my thinking process began...
Some of us live for the plug bite. Eff the metal bite!After awhile it gets boring to me....
But the plug bite gives me WOOD!
It could end any night...as OGB says....but maybe not.....I'll be playing this hand till it ends, or my fingers freeze off, whichever comes first....
12-24
I generally don't take pics of smaller fish, as I don't like to stress fish out before I release them....Since the water temps are under 50 deg, I feel it's OK to take and post them. It's cold outside and 95% of NJ has stopped fishing...so enjoy, people!!
12-24 was a cold night,
Conditions:
Temps 42 when I started, 31 when I finished. Water 48. The blessing was light winds which made it very bearable. Hearing of a fish here and there at night, I set out to explore and find out for myself.
Report:
8 bass to 28"
The bite was real. The fish were very sluggish and it took a while to dial in to what they wanted, very slow presentation.
What made it fantastic for me was the level of activity. Had about 3 solid hours of feeding activity. The fish would bump the plug, not an aggressive bite. They seemed to be feeding on the crabs that are dying as the water temps drop. Remember this for next year, folks....
Even the bigger fish hit like shad or herring, light bumps. To get fish in these conditions you have to stick them hard.
Fish were very tight to the rocks. As a result I rubbed the braid on the rocks several times in the presentations, and ended up losing a nice keeper.
What worked for me that night:
Daiwa SP minnow (outproduced other plugs 5:1)
Black bomber
SS bottle plug (dropped a fish about 14# right at my feet as the line broke before the leader from the abrasion.) Fish swam away with the SS. Didn't count it in the #s because
to count a fish I have to have the leader in my hands...so close...googan move....
What didn't work, and thoughts for the new guys out there:
Bucktail (though it SHOULD have worked with the crabs around.)
Rubber....rubber is one of my go-to presentations, I fish it a lot...still did not work for me. I usually carry at least 5 rubber profiles with me
Mag Darter, loaded redfins, loaded bombers,
Note: the water was rough, off-color and Monty's favorite condition, WHITE WATER, was in FULL EFFECT!!!
That's prob why the SS and the Daiwa worked so well. Fish were able to find them quickly. Fished 3 hours, fish bit on ebb, and flood. At one particular point on the incoming, the fish were hitting the SP every 3-5 casts. They were in a hole I'm familiar with, and were stacked up there. It was relatively easy pitching to these fish.
I got wet, and came back to the car, too worn out from the cold (partial hypothermia in my feet) to make it back for sunrise.
A sitemember passed by and beeped the horn at me. After we compared notes, I gave them the Daiwa I used (note how beat up and nasty it is in the pics, and the hooks that are starting to rust as I only change hooks once a season...usually)
Yet that frikking "piece of crap plug" still hammered the fish!
I say this to let people know that it ain't the gloss of the plug, paint job, scale pattern,, 2-tone color, holographic prisms or shiny nature, as my Daiwa was dull as hell and had no paint left on it from all the 20-25 lb bass it caught....)...
Nope it ain't any of those things, it's the guy that is fishin em....
That being said, if Finchaser was out there with me, I'm sure that grouchy basstard's numbers would have been at least double mine.....
Daiwa SP minnow...the best plug out there right now for when the fish AREN'T feeding on big bunker...everyone should have 2 in their bag...
I did a tutorial on how to upgrade the hooks, and beef up the split rings...here
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...iawa-SP-Minnow
Some pics, note how crappy and dull the Daiwa looks, yet it still bailed the fish. Enjoy, folks!
(The right pic shows a tagged fish. Now, I regret that I didn't clean off the tag a bit, or cut the tag out and send it back. I felt that if I had tagged it, I would want it to grow as big as possible before the tag was returned, so that's what I did)
Administrator
12-25 no breeze, but colder temps
12-25 was a colder night,
Conditions:
Temps 32 when I started, 26 when I finished. Water 48. The blessing was light winds which made it very bearable. Almost no wind at all!
Report:
10 bass to 12#
The bite was different. The fish were scattered and not close to the rocks, Many of them came at the furthest end of my cast...
Figuring out this different pattern took a while. Fished 5 hours total.. Bite completely shut off as soon as there was a hint of light in the sky.
What worked for me that night:
Daiwa SP minnow (outproduced other plugs 5:1)
In this case I was using a new one, the beefed up one in the following video..
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...iawa-SP-Minnow
Surfstix's Purple Danny with purple Siwash bucktail got the biggest fish of the night.
(Got 3 close to keeper or bigger on that, the biggest being a mid-teens fish that I raised and failed to set the hook on, another googan move. Saw the splash of the tail as she went back under......
What didn't work, and thoughts for the new guys out there:
As mentioned, the bite was different. The water was calmer, the fish were scattered all over, nothing I did the night before felt the same....I started out with the SP, quickly got 2 embarassingly small bass....
I figured that was a good a time as any to work Surfstix's plug, as there were herring around....and I patiently casted it for 2 1/2 hours before the first strike. After losing that, I got 2 more in the next half hour, 1 keeper, 1 close. The activity on that stopped completely so I went back to the SP minnow.
That finally produced some fat nicer fish, but no keeper size.
I can truthfully say that even though I got 10, I had to work hard for every one,. and there were very few "missed hits" like the night before. The level of activity was just off, and I attributed some of that to the lack of white water...
Some pics....
(please excuse the condition of Surfstix's plug - the environments I fish in at times beat the heck out of everything I own, including my body...
Administrator
12-25 Fish on the SP minnow
Pics:
Senior Member
Wow awsome reports dark! You described your thought process step by step, even the embarassments. I give you a lot of credit for that. I might like to try jetty fishing next year, or possibly this year. I might send you a pm.
You are crushing them 3 nights in a row. Good luck I hope you keep up the winning streak!
Administrator
12-26-12 3 keepers on the first 3 casts!!
12-26 was a milder night,
Conditions:
Temps 42 when I started, 40 when I finished.
Report:
7 bass to 15#
Only fished 3 hours, late start.
I might be turning a few site members onto this bite, so I needed to scout and fish some areas ahead of time.
First stop, nothing.
2nd stop, inlet where herring have been, Saved myself some time by chatting with an old timer, just leaving. He said it was dead that night, but they had been getting bass regularly. I reciprocated with what was working for me, nice to meet ya, B!
3rd Stop - one short fish on the Daiwa.
4th Stop - one short fish on the Daiwa
5th Stop - paydirt!
The bite was hot.
As mentioned the first 3 casts, I had 3 keepers, (truth time, one was slightly shy, about 1/4", measured against my rod mark.)
The fish at this area were in tight.
1st cast, fish, 27 3/4"
2nd cast 15#,
3rd cast, about 9#
Deciding to keep the 2nd fish lost me some time as I had to find a place to put it....
And, I realized, I lost time on the pic taking as well.But what the hell, already had a 15 under my belt....
Finally resolved to get back to fishing, few minutes later, and the action seemed to die,,,,but I did get another short bass on the 20th cast,,,,and then another one 15 minutes later...
Decided to leave those rocks before first light as there was another set I wanted to be on, and the incoming tide got me soaked from head to toe....
On the way there, met Chris from MA, down for a Holiday visit,,,gave him some intel and told him to move his AZZ QUICK as we were losing the darkness.... Chris, sorry if it seems I was yelling at ya, I get that way sometimes when the bite is good....Nice meeting ya!
Went to another rockpile, the light was starting to brighten the sky.....
Bite completely shut off as soon as there was a hint of light in the sky.
Took some pics, called it a morning....went home to clean the fish...
(Chris texted me later and said he picked up one bass on a BM Danny before sunrise, yup he was happy....)
What worked for me that night:
I exclusively used the OLD Daiwa SP. I had met the sitemember before and told them I wanted them to have the shiny new one, and TOOK BACK my old crappy one....
I knew it wouldn't make a difference, but felt that their level of confidence using it would make a difference.....so, hence the switch...
I ended up getting it stuck in the rocks...donated to King Neptune...
Daiwa SP minnow...here's a beefed up one in the following video..
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...iawa-SP-Minnow
Thoughts for the new guys out there:
As mentioned, the bite was different, again. Fish hit very aggressively, the first 3 fish that hit (stop #5) all pulled drag.....
This was because there were herring through the area, while other nights that wasn't the case.
I did lose some time prospecting other areas, but that taught me that these fish have been along a 15 mile stretch of beach, feeding for a final move either to the Hudson River and NY Bight, or geting ready to take the offshore route to VA....
If you know your rockpiles, there is no one jetty that will produce better,,,,,the fish are feeding , but it's time, bait, and tide dependent when they'll feed...this time of year the flood tide is probably better, but I've gotten fish on both sides of the tide....
A few underlying constants
1. It's a plug bite.
2. Exists only in the dark or twilight at the end of the day.
3. Teasers, are not absolutely necessary, and those who want bigger fish would be wise to avoid them.
4. As proved the last 3 nights, you don't need the fanciest plugs to catch em.
Special thanks to Surfstix for all the plugs and teasers he has sent me over the years, slightly embarassed to only now report that they work, but thanks from the bottom of my heart...
Some pics....
Administrator
More pics
(Special thanks to Surfstix for all the plugs and teasers he has sent me over the years, slightly embarassed to only now report that they work, but thanks from the bottom of my heart...)
Senior Member
That's the way to do it my good friend!
EACH ONE, TEACH ONE !
<*((())))>< <*((())))><
Senior Member
Dark, awesome reports, congrats on the great fishing.
It sure is fun to beat up on Surfstix plugs (my most productive outing this year featured a Surfstix plug mauling).
LOL on that Home Depot remark, I do need to get some dirt to fill the holes and troughs.....
White Water Monty 2.00 (WWM)
Future Long Islander (ASAP)
Senior Member
Dark, Nice report! Who'da thunk that Santa would bring the bite with him? Great that this is happening for you!
Happy NY, pal!
Mick
Senior Member
Awsome report Dark.
Dark Turned me on to the SP Minnow and he gave me his new never used SP Minnow and keep his old beatup one. That shows what kind of guy he is. It's a awsome plug. I'm basing my first plug build around it. It amazing that we are still getting into some quality bass. Good Going dark. I'm hoping to get into this action before it's over. Thanks Dark for the Plug.
Senior Member
I bet I could identify Rich by his thumb...
(or black socks and white sneakers)
never seen his face
1000 post club!
Yup, this is the final proof. You are officially nutzo
Senior Member
The bucket, Jon. Don't forget the bucket.
Senior Member
Dark the window was close to slack low. Got em decent last night, 7 to 18bs on the daiwa minnow and mag darter. You were right about the crabs. The one I kept was filled with em. Good to catch some fat fish for a change. Thanks for the heads up, you da man.
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