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

[robmedina]

Thanks Monty!

[jigfreak]

Rob read Skinners book and practice practice and practice some more. I nail some big fish every year bucktailing and if you ever hit montauk its all about the buck and pork or buck and grub. The thing to remember is if you are dragging on the sand it's too heavy. Getting caught in the rocks too heavy also. If you are not hitting bottom you are not in the zone either. Start out at a sandy beach with some current and work the current line. Once you get good at that you can graduate to the rocks and hard structure. Good luck

[robmedina]

Practice is exactly what I need. Tonight I went out. was fishing with clams and bunker. I rigged one of my rods with a bucktail but I wasn't quite set up. I should have used my 9 foot rod but it was rigged with bait and in the water, so I used my 11' rod but ...well just not right. I did manage one 34 -1/2" striper though. Released to fight another day.

[robmedina]

oh and that striper was on clam not the bucktail.

[DarkSkies]

Nicely done Rob and welcome aboard.

[blitzhunter]

Don't know if this has been said before but check your knots every time.

[plugginpete]

If you are plugging an area and are getting no hits try varying your retrieve and maybe that will work. Try this before leaving for another spot. And nice fish Rob!

[buckethead]

When you upgrade hooks on plugs balance is key. You want to use the same sizes if you want it to swim straight. You can usually go up one size before you have a problem. On some plugs I have switched to one treble, taking the back one off. When you do that you want to make sure the treble is not too big for the plug or it will ruin the action.

[DarkSkies]

(previously posted)
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...s-Year-and-Why


Presentation and where the fish are....

1. At different times of the season, day, or moon phase, fish will be sitting in different levels of the water column.
2. Your job as a fisherman is to figure out where that is.
3. If you don't present to them where there are sitting you will never know that they are there.
4. In general, (my experience) colder weather, or a cold front, tends to put fish down, where they will sit closer to the bottom.
5. In my experience, this will hold, in general, unless they are feeding actively on bait, at which point they may rise to the surface.
6. There are so many variations for this, that the best thing I can say, is you need to understand the water you are fishing in front of you, and think about moon stage, time of day, current flow (during strong current flow fish at times tend to stay on the bottom or sides where current is less strong), water clarity, water temperature, day vs night time fishing, and some other ones I probably forgot to mention.
7. If you can figure this out, for the place and time you are fishing, it will allow you to work your casts more efficiently.
8. You will only be working on the part of the water column where the fish are most highly concentrated.
9. If you really try to keep disciplined about this, you will see that it will result in more hookups, and more fish.

[DarkSkies]

(previously posted)
Winter fishing thread...

Confidence in what you are throwing....
For the new guys - finding a "Go To" Profile and presentation that works for you....


I thought I would offer this to any other new fisherman/woman out there who is learning to fish with artificials...one who is still primarily fishing bait....because of lack of confidence and success, with artificials.....

Again,, with the disclaimer that what works for me, may not always work for you folks....so this suggestion is intended to help you find something that works exactly for you....

You will see a lot of discussion on "Go To" lures, plugs, etc etc.,....
For me, that doesn't work because of my obsessiveness. I feel that different conditions can be such that a slightly different plug or presentation can give me an edge sometimes....

other times this does not hold true. As long as you can get your offering to within a foot or so of feeding fish and can mimic the forage/bait movement, you should get action.....











Then why is a Go-To lure or plug so important for the new guys????
One word....Confidence.....

My suggestions....
1. Find a lure or profile (could be metal, wood, plastic, rubber, bucktail, etc) that works for you and you seem to be successful on.

2. When you are out there, and the conditions permit it, throw your "Go to" as your first offering. If that is the right profile for the forage that is there, you will catch....

3. But sometimes it will not be...and some people would say you would be stupid for throwing it....ex throwing metal when it's purely a plug bite and they won't touch anything else, not even rubber....so there is some thinking required on your part here, to implement these suggestions...



4. By throwing something you have extreme confidence in, you will telegraph that confidence through your entire retrieve,.... be more alert, and paying more attention, so there is less likelihood you will lose a fish by being unprepared for the strike......


5. If there is no activity on that after 5 or 10 minutes, try something else.

Ex - when I was a child, my Dad taught me how to bowl, by "following through" - he explained that no matter how well I thought my throw would be, it would never optimal unless I saw my hand following through, and continuing in a perfect swing, to mimic what "should" get me a strike or at least 9 pins in the first frame....

so, in essence, he taught me to pay attention to form, visualize myself being successful, and that visualization WOULD make me successful.....it did work, and when I did poorly he would always point out how I failed to "follow through"....
Looking back on that early advice, I remember that he was absolutely right....










** John...I had a really good in-depth post on when and where and how to fish bucktails....will post it when I get a chance......
Anyone else wants to add to this thread...feel free....thanks.....

[DarkSkies]

^ (Previously posted)

Bucktails......
Last year (2012) it was a goal to get keeper bass every month of the year from land and do it without leaving NJ....I did,, but July and August were extremely tough for me....managed a few keepers in July but very difficult as most fish were gone. I was picking away at needle in a haystack fish...

August... have to check my logs for exact number but I think I managed to scratch only one or two legal bass. One of them took hours of casting and moving from spot to spot.... I remember spending about 12 hours of fishing over a 2 night period. Even with the time and tide in my favor I could not find one....

The one thing that finally saved me was a 1/2 oz bucktail with grub....white......

.,my experience with bucktails is you have to tailor them to the
1.depth of the water
2.the current
3. Stage of tide

Where you are fishing -
There are times when you defiinitely need 2 oz in deeper water, rough surf, or the fast current of a full or new moon.,...but that also depends on tide stages...
There will be times during a new moon tide, which I feel can be stronger at certain times of the year, when I am throwing a 2 oz, but then at the end of the tide I will be throwing 1/2 oz....

When I fish inlets, rivers. or strong rips - at minimum I have 3 different sizes with me to adjust for changes in current flow.
You should get in the habit of doing that too....with bucktails the best place for me to be is bouncing just off the bottom. When fish are stacked up it is less critical but there aren't a lot of weeks when you have that.

The best bites I find on bucktails in NJ generally last from 1-2 hours at a time and are definitely stage of tide dependent.
Migrating forage will sometimes extend that bite to a little longer, but as you fish more you will see a definite feeding window.











** Important points -
A If the tide lessens and you are dragging on the bottom because your bucktail or jig is too heavy you're not presenting effectively.
B. If the jig or bucktail is too light, and you are not bouncing the bottom or close to it, you could be missing all the fish that are sitting on the bottom half and never know it....
C. Even with all our advice, the only thing that will make it work for you is to buy cheap, practice, don't be afraid to lose a few. You need to undertsand what it takes to get hung up and lose rigs, before you can learn the gentle finesse of keeping them just off the bottom

D. Bucktails and bouncing bottom, IMO are not as popular in NJ as they are in LI, RI and MA. I have friends who bucktail or jig from land and consistently outcatch everyone else in cold water. or when the water is so hot it feels like bathwater (bass are sluggish at both these extreme temps)



Learning to use them will bring you rewards as one night you will find the fish you didn't think was there, you will land that fish, being the only one on the beach, and let out a Caveman yell of triumph.... ...it will be sweet....but you have to lose some rigs to get to that point...JMO

Hope that helps.....

[jigfreak]

Good advice on bucktails ds I do the same thing. If you don't carry different sizes for different stages you will lose the fish. for slack tide dont forget to bring a popper or plugs because the fish will then move up and down in the water.
Another thing I like to do when the water is colder is let the fish tell you what retrieve they want. I start out slow but some times they want it fast. You have to experiment with different speeds and change it up if you want to get fish when it's a little colder in the water or when a cold front moves in. A lot of guys will leave if the bite is not hot. change up your retrieve and you could still pick away at them.

[hookset]

Another thing I like to do when the water is colder is let the fish tell you what retrieve they want..

Spot on. sometimes conventional wisdom doesn't work. One of the great things about fishing is it can be different every time. When one tbing doesn't work try the total opposite.

[dogfish]

^^^^^^^ Agree, well said. Have been reading a lot of talk on here about albies lately. You want to use the lightest line possible. No hardware direct tie. Fluoro leader for calm water. Not always necessary but since they are so spooky you want to have all the advantages. They are hammering them a little South of us in Rhody. Fun fish to catch but they taste worse than bluefish.

[surfstix1963]

First things first learn how to read a beach understand different structures and how the fish and bait utilize it if you don't understand it surf fishing is useless. Don't buy into a ton of different plugs if you decide to make the switch to artificials, first buy a few learn them then move on to others understand them and gain confidence in their use be prepared for a lot of fishless trips. it happens at first. you need to dedicate yourself to it.

Tins are a good start they can be worked in any part of the water column.

I will tend to tell you to avoid the surface plugs at first usually there are many more fish under what you are seeing on top. Resist the temptation to chase blues down the beach. the stripers are often right behind them feeding on the scraps.

Check your weather before you go and pack what you need.
obviously if the wind is cranking in your face a bomber or SP isn't going far. grab some heavy needles and bottle plugs for example.

Rather then moving constantly work the area you are in. cast at 12 O'Clock and vary your casts clockwise then counter clockwise (fan casting when you are not in a crowd can eliminate a great amount of area without moving constantly).

Understand bait types and choose your plugs accordingly. Don't be afraid to think out of the box. It will often save a trip.

There are only general rules for plugging some plugs can be worked differently then designed and that just may turn the fishes head. One general rule is fish lures slowly(if your bored more then likely your doing it right). you often don't realize how much line you are moving. Bait don't swim that fast so your plug shouldn't either fish ambush their prey if it is moving quickly they may turn their noses up to it(especially bigger stripers they are lazy).Take a look at your reel specs and see how much line you are taking up on one crank and you will understand better how fast and how much line you are moving.

Think like a fish.My wife always says I'm a nut when I tell people to look for the funny water because that will be some sort of structure. You just need to figure out what kind it is and how to utilize it. Like Monty always says fish the white water.It is high in oxygen and the wave pushes the bait into the foam left over, this is when the fish feed momentarily in between waves (wait for the wave to start breaking and cast over it and start working the white water). Don't ever lift your plug out of the water reel it right up to the beach just be careful setting the hook if they are feeding on the beach lip so you don't eat it.

Keep your hooks sharp,your line should be free of frays braid or mono line is often overlooked and lets face it that brings the fish to the beach.

Make sure your knots are tied correctly,tie your leaders at home so you have them when you need them.You don't want to be tying a leader while the fish are swimming past you.

On your wooden plugs if you use them, one thing that is often overlooked on wooden plugs is the barrel swivel,which is holding your hook to the plug they need to be inspected and changed every once in awhile they weaken over time and fail so the plug will need to be re-wired,if they are epoxy sealed inside and out they usually use hangers which cannot be replaced if something goes wrong with the plug.I have several SS darters that are headed for the can because the swivel is shot,most plastic plugs don't use swivels but the SS do.

[DarkSkies]

^ You can tell by the words above that the guy typing them has decades of experience and has paid his dues.
Thanks as always for unselfishly sharing the wealth of knowledge you have, Rich, and for being so patient with the new guys.
And thanks to you and all the members here who unselfishly give of themselves.

[buckethead]

understand bait and choose your plugs accordingly. Don't be afraid to think out of the box. it will often save a trip.

there are only general rules for plugging some plugs can be worked differently then designed and that just may turn the fishes head. One general rule is fish lures slowly(if your bored more then likely your doing it right). you often don't realize how much line you are moving. bait don't swim that fast so your plug shouldn't either. take a look at your reel and see how much line you are taking up on one crank and you will understand better how fast and how much line you are moving.

Think like a fish.My wife always says I'm a nut when I tell people to look for the funny water because that will be some sort of structure. you just need to figure out what kind it is.Like Monty always says -fish the white water. it is high in oxygen and the wave pushes the bait and the fish like that (wait for the wave to start breaking and cast over it and start working the foam). Don't ever lift your plug out of the water reel it right up to the beach just be careful setting the hook if they are feeding on the beach lip so you don't eat it.

Some great points SS. Learning to eliminate unproductive water is half the battle. Other wise you are wasting your time. Presentation is a key factor as well. Good thread. Dark you know I'm always glad to pitch in because you have a good group here. The ego boasting and chest pounding on other sites is very unappealing to me. The fishing reports where only a fish is posted and no details I call that chest pounding. If you don't want to share at least what you used keep the details and report to yourself. just my .02.

[DarkSkies]

Well said, bucket.
If you new guys want to learn, pay attention when buckethead posts as well. He's one of the old farts here.
He knows stuff.

[bassmansjc]

Monty Do you fish the Mass. Islands?

[Monty]

Monty Do you fish the Mass. Islands?

Jersey until this year.
Just started getting my feet wet on LI this year.
Buckethead great point about fishing non productive water, something I need to really work on. Concentrating on the "funny water" like Stix mentions.
Recent trip covered a mile of water early am. Not much structure no action, hit an area with white water, very small area, just like that there was some action concentrated in it.
Would be best to sprint towards "funny water" and spend more time there fishing it.