Check yer pockets ;-)

November 14, 2000:

    Well, this weekend, while being quite pleasant and enjoyable for fishing....was just not up to snuff with over 32" fish. A 32" fish is not a monster, it's not even a "decent" fish...around here, they may weigh as little as 9 or 10 pounds...or as much as 14 for a real fatty (rare).  Yes, this weekend, here in mid November, Dubs and I could only find one fish over 32" among a fair number of other fishes caught...actually, Dubs found it! I know...this is starting to really look bad, Dubs with the pool winner now two weekends in a row. I guess with the few bigger fish around, it's just a matter of putting yer stuff in front of one of bigger ones...which ain't so easy, they certainly aren't thick! Of the seven clubs competing in this tournament, many hundreds of the best striper guys in Jersey....there were only 3 clubs who caught a 32" fish at all! Asbury won the tournament....Shark River Surf Anglers came in second...and I think Squidly's crew, Monmouth Beach placed third.  I know the first two are correct, I'm pretty sure on the Car Toppers.

       So, Dubs gets a 35", 18# fish on a 2/0 Chartreuse Epoxy Sandeel fly...which he's been tying tons of. My best, all weekend, was my very first fish...just over 31" and released. I'm still waiting for the tournament where there's a 55" minimum size...I know I can count on at least 1 fish that weekend around 53-54"! ;-) 

    Last night, we were inundated with small fish...some wouldn't even have been legal in Maryland! ;-) Yup, we taped some of the lil fellers....17". How sad is it that a couple states south of us, these sized fish (minute when you look at them!) are actually harvested by the millions of pounds? To look at a 18" striper, the poor thing barely fills your hand, the stripes are perfect, it's a work of art, a thing of beauty, an act of God...and to think, they are killed by the millions as "game fish"...and even more so, gill netted and drowned to line someone's pocket. Give me a break, they don't weigh an entire pound at that size, you will never convince me that there are no bigger fish down there. If the minimum is so small based on the "we don't get bigger fish" philosophy, I think it's long over due to be changed. You shouldn't be able to catch your limit every time you go fishing, God knows that's not the way it is in NJ. Should we lower our already obscene size limit of 24" so that everyone can catch their limit every time out? No...nor should any other state be allowed to. Ahem...'scuse me, it just breaks my heart to think that these poor, tiny stripers are being killed in such vast numbers...they haven't spawned, they haven't even had a chance to migrate a couple times...they are truly babies. How many babies can one state kill before it seriously affects the rest of the states? Not as many as they have been killing for years...and they want to kill more! Oops...there I go again, sorry for the rant. 

    Anyway, last night, we caught lots of these "Maryland keepers"...I saw that in a magazine and thought it was a hoot ;-) We let 'em all go. The fish were stacked up in the jetty pockets....so, check yer pockets when you get out there! Yes, they were other places on the beach, but something had them interested in the intersection of where the rocks meet the sand...the pockets. The biggest fish we caught last night might have been 28"...I dropped the pool winner, a whopping 10-12# fish. So sad, most Novembers I can remember in the past, you'd run into schools of 10-15# fish....big schools. Now there are none, there may be scattered 10-15# fish, but they certainly are way down in numbers. The hot lure last night? Yup, see the above section on Dub's chartreuse/white sand eel....almost every fish had that fly in their mouth when landed. We each got a few on bombers, a few on MegaBaits (6"...Kuro Kin was preferred...and of course, I'm almost outta that flavor) and I even lost one on a rigged eel. I sure hope the fish get bigger soon, I'm getting tired of catching 20-28" fish and would just like to stick something that can really stretch the wrinkles outta my line! ;-)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Updates and such...

November 15, 2000:

   Once in a while, we gotta take the time to speak of things other than fishing...but at least we'll keep it all fishing oriented! ;-) First things first, it seems that we've help to start a trend...a very positive one! JohnJr from Betty & Nick's has been posting his daily Island Beach State Parks fishing reports on each morning (thanks John!) Some how, I think JimB, the question of etiquette came up...imagine that, even thinking etiquette on IBSP! ;-) Wouldn't ya know it, the next day JohnJr added JimB's suggested etiquette tip on the next report? What a wonderful idea, the very report that can load/empty out the entire IBSP now includes a tip almost daily that stands to make fishing on IBSP a positive experience instead of an exercise in frustration! I think this is a major step in "fixing" the many problems associated with IBSP....I for one would buy the pass again should I learn that the "clueless masses" had learned that headlights and high beams on the water are a no-no....the headlights chased me outta the park a couple years ago...I haven't been back since. Nothing like finding a school of feeding fish just to have some putz come along and put a million candle power right on the waves you are fishing! Ggggrrrrrrr! So, as the surf gets more and more crowded, it's comforting to know that education is now being considered as important as where are they biting! So, we got that goin' for us ;-)

    We didn't get out last night...I know, I know...but Tuesday is "date night"....and that's sacred time to spend with da' wife...bless her soul ;-) I did have some spies out last night and was informed that I didn't miss anything. Same scenario as Monday night, small fish, one or two around the 28" size....and a frustratingly short bite at each location. I swear, the fish are getting smarter and smarter...and it started last year. There was a time you could fish a spot at night and catch fish after fish till yer arms hurt...it wasn't even uncommon! Now, you can get bites up to the point where you drop/lose a fish...it seems when that one bugs out, the other either follow or go on high alert where they won't fall for yer stuff anymore. It's a terrible thing, you gotta really keep moving to keep getting bites. I dunno about you, I'd like to stay put in one spot and catch fish till I was done...not when they were done!  Again, Paul tells me the fish were extra fond of the Epoxy Sandeel teaser. That's 3 trips in a row when those skinny little devils were the preferred teaser....there must be something to this. Yet, I've had a tough time getting the fish to commit to a rigged eel...strange...but then again, strange seems to be more normal every time out.

   I need to apologize if I offended anyone with my rant yesterday on the Maryland keepers. I'm not apologizing for how I feel about killing fish that are only a few years old, I'm apologizing if anyone took offense to it. I just don't see it as a good idea, it can do nothing but bad for the fishes. No matter how many 18" fish there appears to be, there aren't enough of them getting to be 30" anymore...it's gotta start somewhere. Protecting the true babies like 18" fish has got to be in the fishes best interest. This isn't likely to change, they'll kill 18" fish down there till there aren't any more left, but I still felt like I needed to say what I said. Hey, I'm dead set against NJ's lowering it's minimum size to 24"...that's a baby too! If they haven't spawned yet, they are babies. The way I see it, there are babies and there are mature fish...mature fish can/have spawned...babies can't/don't spawn. The babies need to be protected so we can have more mature (spawning) fish. I'm not a rocket scientist, but even I know that if you kill all the little ones, you won't have any big ones. You'd think the powers that be could see past the $$ bills and realize that the babies must be protected!  Guess that's just asking for too much, huh? :-(

   I added the 5" Mambo Minnows and the Yozuri Mag Darters in the past couple days to the catalog...complete with pictures and all that!  Also, I just got some Yozuri L-Jack Minnows in stock...not too many, but enough that I'll let a few go ;-) I took the pictures...now I gotta put up the page! One more thing, I also got some more Yozuri Emperor Minnows...in some very cool colors! I'll add that picture to the Emperor Minnow page later today.

    Now I just gotta figger out where to fish tonight and when.....decisions, decisions.....

    I am now working on the photos for some of the picture-less catalog pages...like the Fall Fling T's...the Yozuri Mag Darters (coming soon!)...the Hab's Lil' Scrapper poppers...the Gibb's Polaris Poppers...and the Gibb's Stubby Needlefish. I should be able to get these edited and up today. Check the page to see when they are updated.

   The Fall Fling T's are in the catalog now....check the odds-n-ends page. Also, Gibb's just filled some of their backorders...now we got the 1 1/2oz Polaris in red head and in pogie. They also reinforced our stock on the 2 1/2oz yellow darter...the fish just can't seem to get enough of these! I'm gonna put a blue darter in my bag tonight...you know, strictly for scientific purposes ;-) Funny thing about fishing darters...they appear to be doing nothing...you'd swear it was broken...but the fish keep slamming them. I'm guessing their big draw is the fact that they are the only truly mild and erratic subsurface lure made....that I know of anyway! They kinda slither from side to side while getting maybe a foot down....just like a disoriented bigger baitfish might do. One thing about stripers...especially the bigger ones...they are much more likely to eat something that has some erratic action rather than a steady rhythm....there's not much in the natural world that keeps perfect speed and tempo when it's hurt. And always...with all yer lures...you gotta throw in that occassional "pop" or "twitch"...it's that change in action/motion/direction that will trigger a hit from a fish that was just previously thinkin' about it. It really works, give it a try! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent