December 8, 1999:

Man, was it chilly last night....not arctic, but certainly chilly! I think it was more the wind than the 35 degree temperatures...possibly the fact that all my fishing stuff was soaking wet from the rain the prior night? I'm just whining, once my fingers got cold enough where I was certain they were going to snap off, then they slowly improved. So I walk to the front of a jetty, fire off a cast....get a hit, stick 'em...it's a pretty good fish, taking drag. Then it falls off...I dismiss this, as it could happen with any outfit and any lure. I fire off another cast...get a hit, missed....another hit, missed....another hit, hooked 'em! Another good fish, really hanging tough in the waves....comes unbuttoned. I believe it's my fault, after throwing plugs on the conventional with braid, I needed a change of pace, I put a 650SS spool in my pocket before I left. It was full of mono...17# Trilene XT to be exact!! First time I've thrown a lure into the salt with mono in possibly 3 years. There's something wholesome and natural about the feel of mono, the stretch and forgiveness I perceived to be a welcome break from stiff sticks and 65# braid. I did enjoy those first two casts where I dropped two good fish and missed two others...4 hits in 2 casts. I did what anyone would have done...I put that damn spool of mono back in my pocket and put on a spool of 50# Whiplash. Looking back, I should have started with the braid then moved to the mono should I see fit...live and learn. I was fishing with DanO, I called him out to where I just had these 4 hits in 2 casts...hoping maybe he could keep one stuck while I changed spools, maybe keep the fish occupied while I fooled with the spools. They had split, not another hit there on the front or near the front...and we both tried. Seems the fish are looking for food in a hurry, not spending too much time in one spot. Dan missed one that crashed his plug near enough to the jetty for Dan to admire the splashy hit...but not hook. I can appreciate a good splashy hit, but you gotta hook them, too Dan! :) Dan hooked up a couple casts later, a nice fat 10#er ate a crystal minnow near the jetty. I helped Dan land it, some jetties just are not real conducive to landing fish alone! It was released. I hooked another....only for about 5 seconds, and it, too, came unbuttoned! I'm kinda anal about my hooks being sharp, straight, clean...so I checked again. All hooks on the plug were very sharp...the teaser as well. It's just one of those things, I was throwing a very stiff Lamiglass XS9MHS with Whiplash braid on it...not much give anywhere in that rig. I possibly should have forced myself to stick with the mono last night, just for the refreshing feeling of a line that stretches...but those first two good fish got me all flustered. If they had been smaller fish, it wouldn't have bothered me, but they were both bending that Lami deeply...and that's no small feat!

Dan and I fished another jetty on our way home, Dan got another one, right around keeper sized...it was released. He also got the pleasure of having his flashlight batteries die while precariously perched a good distance from any semblance of a flat rock...and with the new moon...he wasn't going anywhere. Not to mention a knot that had him out of the game. No light to work on the knot, no light to get to dry, flat ground...no light in general...and I was a good climb out on the front. Luckily for Dan, I got curious as to if he had gotten any more hits...it was them that he tells me his batteries died! Hell, I'd have been calling as soon as the batteries died...but then, I always have spares with me...and this kind of scenario is exactly why I always carry spare batteries. If the water had been rougher or some type of emergency arose, the lack of a working light could have been disastrous. Luckily, the water was pretty calm, I wasn't far off...it was, I certainly hope, an opportunity for the spare battery/light importance to burn itself into this young striper hunters head! Don't go without spare batteries, it's not safe. Best bet is spare batteries and a small, single cell spare flashlight. I dropped mine in the water not long ago but will pick one up when I see one. Ok, I manage a spare set of batteries for Dan's light, and we're packing up. I stop to take a couple casts in a little nook on the jetty and get another hit, this one is stuck...but it's small...ain't that always the way! His expression was one of certain surprise...the Lamiglass and Whiplash must move smaller fish a good distance just when I set the hook...there's no stretch, only a little bend. That little fish saved me from a skunkin'...I thanked him and released the little guy with my best wishes that he prosper and grow.

There must be good compromise for me, I love the bone shattering power of the Lami HX9MHS, the zero stretch of Whiplash, it's deadly for all single hooked lures like rigged eels and jigs...but with plugs, I have torn so many hooks out of bigger fish that I know it's the fault of this unforgiving combination. Mono adds the cushion necessary, but I forgot how hard you have to hook with a lot of mono out...I forgot you should set up twice in some cases...I lost the only two good fish I stuck last night. The prior night, I was using the Loomis SWR108-20C...even it has a more forgiving tip than the Lami, and being conventional, I can hook better with it...but I wanted to fish spinning last night! I'm whining again, two times in one day. I think I am going to leave the braid spool in the truck next time out on the jetties and just force myself to reacquaint myself with the vagaries of mono, kind of a "back to basics" lesson for me. Mono has it's failings, but at least it gives when the rod and the fish don't want to! It'll be good for me to play with mono, it's been years...and I'll start looking for a rod that can fish the braids a little better for plugs on a jetty. Something a little softer in the tip. This is where the problems all began, I went to braids and conventionals to fish rigged eels and jigs from the jetties...I still cannot fish a rigged eel with a spinning outfit to save my life, it just feels wrong. I always eel conventional, but for multi hooked plugs, a lighter spinning rod would be better, more forgiving. Maybe I will actually have something for my Christmas list after all! :) BTW, Dan ended up with two fish last night, me with just the one little one...way to go Dan!

I've been putting up new pictures on the Photo Pages, a little change on Ryan's Rock, and am still in an almost daily battle with the 3 message boards I am considering...what a chore that's turning out to be. I just received a good board that is supposed to be foolproof...we'll see about that one! :) Thanks to everyone who pokes around here, things are taking shape with the help of all your input! Also, the first of yesterdays handwarmers I think is my personal favorite, just something about that one that I really like...I could have certainly used that one out on that cold jetty last night!! :)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 9, 1999:

I stayed in last night, even after planning to bump into a couple guys, sorry Paul and Steve...at least that left more fish for the two of you...I'm waiting on the consolatory phone call about all the fish I missed. That's how it works...the closer you are to actually leaving the house when your plans fall apart, the more fish you likely missed that night! Well, I hope everyone who braved the chill last night was rewarded for their efforts, the fishing is pretty good at the moment, mixed size fish that we usually see in November are just hitting the shore now. I'll say it again, unless we get some serious storms, there will be decent sized fish around easily till New Years, not just rats, but good fish! I am looking forward to this weekends fishing, in my mind, it's the first real good chance to plug large numbers of fish, mixed in size, in many areas, that we've had since the early summer. This fall is marred with rough water for the bulk of it...not that rough water is bad, it just isn't what I enjoy this time of year. A calm surf this weekend should produce my first 100 fish weekend since the summer time...I'll keep an honest count. I'd have been scoring more the last couple trips, but I can't keep the rigged eels off my line, even when they won't hit them! I haven't had one hit on a rigged eel in the past two trips...but I diligently throw them. Not only are big fish likely to eat them, but I'd rather stick a LARGE on something with 2 single 7/0 hooks than a bomber with all those trebles...the single hooks are a lot more likely to hang tough through the ruckus! Anyone getting out this weekend should do well, stick with bombers, Yozuri's, Mambo's...any plug in that class, stick a teaser about 40" above it....and move around. The fish have been moving a lot, looking for good feeding opportunities, so between you moving and them moving, you should increase your chances of contact. I've been doing well with teasers carrying lots of yellow, the 30#er, yellow/white, and the schoolbus. I've also been sneaking some fish on teasers that aren't on my page yet, olive/yellow...but I'll make them available soon. The other trigger seems to be orange on the fly or plug....sometimes they just like orange! Also, DanO's digging the Chernobyl teasers...a favorite of mine this time of year, but I haven't been trying them, the fish are eating the others well enough to keep me busy! I was tying a couple prototypes last night, Charlie was watching...his critique was that they were very "sensible" flies...I agreed! I was tying up a handful of long, thin saddle hackle schoolbus deceivers...yellow, black barring, and peacock on top...with an orange chin. What I'm trying to do is put all the "triggers" that I can remember from the recent fishing onto one strong hook...then I'll give them the honest test. An honest test is where they will get as much fishing time as the others I use, in all sorts of conditions...and the results will be weighed. This fly will be compared to the others I usually use...if it produces more attention that the others, a noticeable amount, then I will put one away for reference and add this flavor to my arsenal...and to my teaser pages! I don't currently have a long, thin, yellow, black barred deceiver in my arsenal with an orange chin...sometimes is the little differences that make the difference between catching fish and mohawking them! I'll keep you posted as to the fishes response! :)

Charlie finally signed my guest book, he goes by "Dubs" with his friends....an old school nickname, something to do with his last name starting with a "W". Seems he had a real hankering for the handwarmer that I chose as my personal favorite thus far...and I hadn't seen Charlie in a couple days. Funny, you spend 25 years with a guy and I guess you're tastes either become similar, or you spend 25 years with them because your tastes have always been similar. Either way, he pegged the same one as his absolute favorite before I even put my vote below that beautiful handwarmers photo! He swears I won't be able to top that one, I am doubtful that I will, but I am ever vigilant in my quest to do so...I'd hate to find the best one after only a week of looking! :) I have a couple winners for today...

The quest for a functional message board continues, I'm finding out that CGI scripts are not the best way to go when you are using Front Page to publish your site. I have another 2 to go over today, I am so looking forward to having a board up, questions can be posed and answered there in a more timely fashion than the guest book, and you guys can then mull things over between yourselves as well! I love the WMI Surf Fishing Message Board, but I think one here would be a good supplement! I fixed the order form...again! Anyone with photos not yet up there, don't be shy, send them in, you'll be in excellent company on my photo pages! Thanks to all of you for your continued support, your input, your orders, and thanks for just plain commenting on my site, I will continue to make it better each time you come here, I promise! Make some plans to go fishing this weekend, things will likely be very interesting anywhere you go!

Tonight our club meeting for anyone in the club who's nosing around here...make sure you sign the guestbook so I know which club members I'm talkin' to! Tonight's meeting is actually the Christmas party, an impromptu little gathering where food is consumed, laughs had, and this year, a Chinese Auction...pretty cool. Each year there's a gift swap, everyone wraps up a $5 gift, puts them on a table, and then you choose one. The people in the know will feel around for the extra heavy package with Freddie wrapping paper...it will contain a handful of tin doodle-bugs, a real treasure. The rarely used tin jigs, poured and tied by the person most responsible for keeping the art of doodle-bugging alive with this generation's fishermen...how's that MasterCard commercial say it....priceless! I am going to start putting together a page for the club. Actually, I have the page, I just haven't put it up yet, I was going to get some sort of approval...it will just be an "unofficial" club page until I get the clubs official blessing!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 10, 1999:

**Update: I got the pictures back for JohnM's giant squid he caught last week while we were plugging in Deal...it's awesome, check it out!

What a gorgeous night it was last night, and it just got warmer as the night went on. Let's see, I was supposed to meet DanO, he didn't show, but I met Mike Apter, a.k.a. "Jeepster"....and later, Phil....still no DanO! So I'm plugging away on a little rock pile towards Long Branch, just started in fact. I'm waiting for someone so it's no surprise when I see a light coming down towards me...but then I see two lights...I lose both lights as they fished somewhere within shouting distance. Then a third light starts towards me...at least this turns out to be someone that I know, I hadn't ever met him, but we've communicated in the past. Then another light...a pair actually. I look around, it's a small rock pile, but somehow, there's 7 guys fishing it...this is at 11:00pm in December! You'd think they were giving away 50's or something! Mike and I catch a bunch of fish, I had 9 and he was close to that, give or take. We didn't see any of the other "lights" catch a fish, as Mike noted, but this did not surprise me. Mike's a nice guy, it was good to meet and to fish with him, I'm sure we'll bump into each other again. It turns out he's had like 3 hours sleep in the past few days, and even though he was off today, he was limping back home last night by midnight, nursing the deep wounds of exhaustion...he's probably still passed out!

So, we're walking off the jetty, and another voice says my name out of the darkness...it's Phil! I tempt him with another local spot, he agrees and the three of us head to the cars...Mike to go home, Phil and I to hurt our backs some more. Phil and I walk out to another rock, take up our places, and fish. I had a bite every cast for like 20 minutes or so and encouraged Phil to come out where I was. The fish were taking plugs, mostly anything with an orange belly....and teasers with an orange chin were hot earlier, but as the night wore on, they mostly ate the plug. I had one good fish explode on the plug, bend the rod temporarily...it was so short of a fight, I don't know whether it came unbuttoned or I missed it...but it was quick. Ever vigilant, I put the rigged eel on, looking for something with shoulders...about 3 casts later, I got a hit! That's the first hit in 3 trips of mixing the rigged eel into my arsenal. Generally, fish will take the rigged eels when they are around, regardless of what they're doing, but lately they've been ignoring the eel in a big way! A couple cast later, I stuck one on the rigged eel, imagine my surprise...nothing big, bigger than most last night, but not what I was looking for. A few more casts and I was thinking I might have a better shot with the plugs....I changed back. We caught a bunch more fish, nothing big, I had one or two keepers for the night...a total of 19 fish I educated, wished well, and pointed south. I'm not sure how many Phil had, but he was scoring as well. The weather was certainly conducive to fishing late, but my back was so toast after just two jetties...hopefully, it works itself out, I got a lot of fish to catch between now and Sunday! I'm planning on a 100 fish weekend, but I hope they are not all little guys! The bigger fish are still around, we've been bumping into them the past 4 trips, last night they were a little scarce...but I'm sure they're still around!

So, everyone who hasn't put all their stuff away ought to get out and give it a shot, anywhere. The fish are spread out just about everywhere, good fish are a certain possibility as the fish are moving south. These are my favorite nights for walking long stretches of beach, plugging decent fish all along the way. It's much easier than jetty fishing! :) I think I might just hoof a big piece of beach tonight....

I got John's giant squid pictures back, I'll put them up in a little bit. The handwarmer are just getting better and better...that's what the guys are telling me! Keep the input, comments, orders, e-mails, and rants coming!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 11, 1999:

With the prospect of cold, pouring rain, and forecast 40kt winds, I thought I would have a hard time finding a date for last night. JohnM pulled through, Paul Naj was going as well, but not till late (domestic duties!)...DanO had mentioned it but was a bit shaky on it....I was certainly going! John got here about 9:45..which was good, I got to spend nearly 4 hours with my wife, the woman I love, before then...it was nice. Just as John and I were going to leave, after I replaced the same part in my Penn 650SS for the third time this month, Paul calls me...even though he's at home being dad, he's ever vigilant in keeping me abreast of what's going on. He tells me Steve just called him and Steve had a couple little fish and was moving to a different spot...I thanked him, teased him a bit, and hung up. Still going on Plan A, we left....got coffee, noted just how hard the wind was screaming, and took a drive north. I double checked, Steve was indeed where he told Paul he'd be, I went a little further north to where I had intended on going. After we got dressed and started towards the water, I saw a light go on...but it wasn't where Steve was supposed to be, it was exactly where I wanted to be...the dog, he got there first! :) Anyway, it was good to see him again, I haven't seen him since the summer when we first hooked up and did a little live lining out of his boat...yes, I was swimming baits from a boat, it happens. Steve says he had one good shot at the place he left, nothing here. We idly chat for a few minutes, and I need to fire off a cast. First cast, I stick a good fish...John, who had been casting for 5 minutes now, says "That's it....I'll be in the truck if you need me!!" I think Steve was a little surprised...as was I. The fish is really putting a buckle in the Lami club spinning rod I'm using, it almost refuses to give at all...just hangs tough where it's at...I make a tiny bit of progress, then it just moves to the south...and then, just like it never happened, it comes unbuttoned! That's about the fourth good one to do that in the past 3 trips...it's getting a little old now! I check all the hooks, on the plug and the teaser...all are straight, sharp, and dangerous...but the fish just came off...sometimes it doesn't make any sense. We all cast for another 30 minutes without so much as a sniff. The wind is blowing so hard, it almost sent me face first of my rock...just as Steve had warned me when I got there...note to self: pay attention to the guy that's been there longer than me. Steve has to split, we chatted another couple minutes and say good bye. John and I are fighting a losing battle with the 40 kt gusts...but neither of us really complains, and it was bone chilling cold. We alternate between the north and south sides, swapping rocks, changing lures...nothing. Then I get clobbered again, another good fish...this one burns about 10 feet of drag, again putting wrinkles in the Lami...and comes off...without hesitating, I put that bomber in my bag...no reason, just not keeping them stuck with it...I'll look at it later and figure out why! I put on a duplicate of the first, a little different hook configuration. A couple casts later I stick one good...this one's not taking any drag, but feels decent anyway. After some wrestling with the rocks, the plug getting hung up on the front, the fish teasing me from 20 ft away where it was stuck in the rocks...I finally get it freed and it comes in just below me...and as I'm trying to get it up, the teaser leader pops...that's it, the gaff comes off my back and I stick this one with it! I wasn't going to keep it, but the problems it's given me, trashed my leader, busted off my prototype teaser I'm testing out...I decided it would go home with me after all! It's not big, maybe 9-10#..but I'm keeping it, more out of spite than anything else! John was having issues, the wind was wearing on us...John tried wrestling a big rock in the front...he lost. He's now re-rigging...I'm re-rigging after the fish trashed my entire leader. Paul comes out, he was south of us, got one hit, a keeper and that was it. It seemed all the fish were keepers, I had stuck 3 and landed but one...Paul had stuck one, landed one...does that sound fair?!? :) That was pretty much it, I had another hit on a shallow beach nearby but I missed that one...the only of my 4 hits I didn't stick. John had a decent fish stuck temporarily a couple miles south later on, and Paul took a longer drive south but I haven't heard from him yet as to how it was....which means it probably wasn't too hot!

Man, the wind blew every drop of water out of Monmouth County last night, I was fishing places I didn't know existed! The fishing was not so good, I'm blaming it on the wind that wouldn't allow us to work places and lures the way they should be this time of year. You were pretty much confined to a place where the wind would be right at your back, and even then, the wind would blow so much slack in your line that it was difficult to imagine a hit. I bet the beaches down south in Ocean County would have been a good bet, but I was expecting bigger waves after the hard south wind all day...but they were pretty small, a couple feet. Oh well, we gave it a shot...my back was again screaming after only 3 hours, and I grabbed Charlie's conventional outfit instead of mine before I left...they look too similar...but he keeps his Mag Elite screwed down so tight I hate to mess with it to put it how I like it...so I threw the Lami. My eeling stick is a welcome break for my back, it weighs like 1 1/2 lbs and the muscles used to throw and hook with it are in far better shape than whatever it takes to throw and hook with the Lami! I really have to work on the hook configurations I'm throwing these days from the rocks...I can't seem to keep the substantial fish stuck, the come unbuttoned...some after a good while...some right away. I think I may get crazy and move the front hook up to a 2/0...they come with size 1 hooks...I opt for 1/0 but now am ready to move up to 2/0! I need to get the hook around the jaw bone and it seems a 1/0 isn't big enough to get there...I'll experiment, I hope to move my landing percentage on keepers out of the dismal 25-30% range! That's why I throw the rigged eels each time out, if there's a 40 out there, I want it with a 7/0 hook wrapped around the jawbone...and the 5/0 Gamakatsu tail hook embedded in it's tongue...the only way one hooked like that is getting off is by busting up my line in the rocks....that's a whole 'nother battle, I'd like to keep one stuck long enough to have to worry about the rocks! Lately, I'm just worried about keeping them stuck, and it's really messing up my confidence in my plugs...but as the wife would say, that's why they call it fishing, not catching! She's so cute sometimes.....

I got the pictures back for JohnM's giant squid he caught last week while we were plugging in Deal...it's awesome, check it out!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 12, 1999:

Last night I hooked up with Dan. I overdressed, expecting the 30 degree temps and wind to tear right through me...but I ended up being a little warm instead of chilly! We hit the same area up north of Shark River Inlet that we've been fishing. I had a hit in the first couple casts but missed it straight up. We poked around a bit, I finally put on a rigged eel and gave it a few casts...my thinking here is I'd like to stick the one I'm after with a big single hook rather than a face full of bomber hooks! I had a shot and missed that one, too. Next hit I hooked...but it wasn't the one I'm looking for, a nice 29-30" fish, but not the one. That was it there, no more hits...the water was mirror calm, beckoning me south to the sand...I didn't listen. At the next spot, I stuck a real moose, it threw water all over, calmly headed north...then panicked and started steaming east...I was still into the fish, having changed my bomber front hooks to giant 2/0 Gamakatsu's as threatened yesterday, I thought for sure this one was mine. It was not meant to be, the hooks pulled...that's my sixth good fish that made a mockery of my attempts to keep a big one stuck on a bomber with the Lami and braid...and I wasn't smiling! I checked the hooks, all were fine...sharp and ready to go. Sometimes you just wonder what it's going to take, I've caught plenty of big fish on bombers, but lately I haven't been able to land a bigger one on a plug...they seem to have some agenda against me or something! The quest continues.....

One strange thing of note is the lack of small fish, two trips and no shorts hooked, landed, or lost. They seem to be all keepers up to LARGE. Hey, who am I to complain, I just wish I could slide one of the bigger ones up on the rocks!! I think Charlie may get out tonight, be his first trip in over a week...maybe he can land one of these rotten fish!

I left yesterdays page up, below this one, just for you guys that didn't check in yesterday. Tonight I hunt again, tomorrow I'll leave this and yesterday's page up for all the guys that only check in from work. I don't usually do these pages on the weekend, but when I do, I'll leave them up for Monday as well. Sorry, no handwarmers on the weekend! :(

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 13, 1999:

Oh well, last night came and went, all I did was think about the fishing, I never did get out there! A few guys I know were out there but the lack of reports back as of yet leads me to believe it was just a normal December night. There have been increasing numbers of fish on the beaches south of here during the day, and word is the peanuts are quite thick on the sand. It's like October, only closer to Christmas! If all goes well, I'll get out tonight. The tide is getting quite late now, the weathers pretty much holding, some rain coming for the next couple days. The fish will always bite better on an overcast/rainy day, there should be some good bites in the next few days, especially south where the peanuts and bass are both hanging out! I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of fish left this year even after the last angler hangs up his gear.

I should start driving the beaches down south, this late in the season all my bones hurt from so many months climbing on the jetties and humping gear on those long walks. That's the reward of this time of year, the fact that you can drive your truck, with all your gear, right along the water where you are fishing. You don't need to walk far, you don't need to carry everything, you don't even have to commit to a certain type of rod for everything is right behind you in your truck! I sometimes refer to it as "Lazyman's Fishing"....well, it pretty much is when you compare it to the guys who carry themselves and all their tackle out to places like the Rip, the North Beach, the Barnegat Jetties....and about a thousand other places that you can't drive right out to. I have done plenty of both types of fishing, I like the beach driving, but when it comes down to it, I prefer rocks and rivers over sandy beaches! Don't get me wrong, I will fish the beaches, it just won't have the homey feel I can get while precariously perched on a dark, slippery rock on the front of a jetty at night, wondering if that next wave is going to just spray me, or is it going to unload 30 gallons of water on top of my head? Now that's where I feel at home!

This will be a brief page today, first off, I left Saturday's and Sunday's pages up, just for those of you that don't noodle around here on the weekends. Not to mention, not fishing last night has certainly left me without any new stories for you. I ma still trying to figure out the bomber issue, where the big fish continue to pull the hooks...even the 2/0 hooks! I'm going to try mono again, just for a good comparison. If that fails, I'll just stop throwing bombers this fall, I'll fish rigged eels and jigs...big, single hooks!

Thanks to all for stopping by, keep all that input coming, it will help me know what you want to see here!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

December 14, 1999:

Ok, it's almost Christmas...I've been saying that things could very well get interesting this week, I even hinted that this might be a 100 fish weekend. Well, I wasn't far off! Last night, Paul Naj and I decided we'd brave the rain, the wind, and the cool temps...actually, the cool temps didn't start until much later, it was actually quite nice, rain running down your face, soaking the insides of your waders....your eyebrows like two saturated sponges, dripping water down your face...waves keeping you on your toes, occasionally sneaking past and drenching you...now that's my kind of night out! We planned on fishing the area north of Shark River Inlet that we've been fishing, still looking for LARGE. I pulled up, got dressed and went to meet Paul, who was already catching some. I could hear the water and was eager with anticipation as I heard the unexpected waves slapping the beaches pretty good, I was expecting flat water as the wind was non-existent all day yesterday but was presently surprised at the growing ground swell produced by the low pressure system...it looked like "one of those nights!" I gave Paul one of the second revision in a teaser I'm testing out, a new one I tied just for these fish, what they've been hinting at for almost 2 weeks now. I landed one first cast, on the teaser. Paul had a few already, I was behind. After a few more casts, that something inside me that won't let me sleep on a rainy December night, that something that is always thinking big fish, it was gnawing at me. I took off the bomber and teaser and decided I'd give the rigged eels a work out, they are my big fish weapon of choice at night. I had a couple hits right away and then stuck my second fish. That was it there for me, I had other hits, broke off twice, once on a fish due to a faulty knot on my part, and once I just casted the rig off...backlash (hey, it happens to me, too...on occasion!) We decide a bit south might help things. It didn't, we both missed just 2 fish in an hour there...just as Paul agreed that we should go a bit further south, to a place where I was thinking we could kill them...he stuck one, a sucker fish! Then, a couple casts later, another one...another sucker fish! I swear, the fish can tell when you are planning on leaving, then they throw you a couple hits just to keep you there. I stuck one just for a second after that...now we're really heading a little more south.

It's getting late, Paul reminds me that it's a school night, he tells me that unless we get hits right away, he's outta here. I grabbed my gaff, just in case he split and the fish didn't. We walk out, first cast for me, I get three hits until I hook the third one. Paul's also in. I asked him if this counts as hits right away? :) This is repeated 4 or 5 more times in a row...we acknowledge the fact that there must be an absolute pile of fish out there. Nothing big yet, but fish from 18"-near keeper size...but they are super thick, every cast was met with a contact...and we're laughing and joking like a couple of kids. The fish were cooperating well, I decided a jig would make landing them and unhooking them a bit more efficiently, and I remove my teaser as well, it's just one more thing that can go wrong should the right fish grab the jig...the teaser can get stuck in the rocks as your wrestling a good fish...with my luck as of late, I didn't need the additional help! They eat the jigs even better than they were eating the plugs, much to our liking. It's just fish after fish, cast after cast, they eat the 1 and 1 1/2 Smilin' Bills like they were starving, an equal number are taking Paul's teaser, my prototype. It's crazy. Paul had 9 when we started here, I had but 2 (see rigged eel curse above). Now, Paul's at 30, I'm at 19. We talk of bailing, but the fisherman inside each of us just can't do it. We start to work back in anyway. By the time we get halfway in, Paul's at 42 and I'm at 29....it's not hurting Paul at all having the teaser on there, he's scoring as well on that as the jig...I loop my teaser back on. He says he'll consider his order for a good number of these teasers to be on back order! Hey, no rushin' the chef :) I'm polling the unicorns as to which of the revisions they like best...I'll get to the bench tonight, while the waves pound away more of our $7 million/mile beach replenishment! :) Paul decides that 42 is enough. As we said goodbye, I asked him how long it would take him to get home. He tells me a little over a half hour...I decide that's how long I would remain once he left. At 46, I checked my watch, I'm right on schedule and decide that 46 fish is enough..my drives only a few minutes. The last two fish I caught were a mixed double, a fat 10# keeper and a short, what I call a mixed double.

Man, this morning, I was putting my socks on, and they kept hanging up on my thumb! Happiness is wet clothes, a sore back, and a chronic case of striper thumb. It's fall, the fish are thick, they are fat, feisty, and hungry as well. If the water calms quickly after this blow, I might have to up my weekend prediction to 150 fish, as Paul and I landed 88 stripers last night, the vast majority in an hour and a half of absolutely blazing striper action. Thanks Paul, it's nice to fish with you again, I bet your ass is dragging this morning...I know mine is! :) Till next time, I gotta go nurse my thumb with moisturizer and maybe even a band aid...but who's complaining?

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent