The fishing moves up a notch...and the Flingette at IRI!

November 17, 2000:

  Between the emails and phone calls...and my own 3 1/2 hour excursion last night...I'm ready to say the fishing has certainly jumped up a step or two! Both the day bite and the night bite...perhaps they are not even stopping between the two? Two days now there have been good solid feeds going on in different areas from Sandy Hook to at least IBSP...probably much further south even...but that's as far as I can confirm. The best part? The fish are well spread out...they can be no where or everywhere all at once...you need to go fishing to find them! They aren't today where they were yesterday....and then sometimes they are there two days in a row but different tides. They are on the feed, on the prowl, and anywhere you wanna fish from Raritan Bay to Island Beach is a good bet! They are loving the 5 1/2" MegaBait...we've been whacking them on the yellow, black, and kuro-kin...but those are the only three colors that I've tried so far! The 6" has been excellent on the rocks and will outcast a bomber substantially. On the fronts, the 7" is my favorite...last night I wrested a double header from a jetty....one fish was 30" and the other was 31 1/2"...a very feisty double header! One had the 7" Kuro-kin, the other a dark hackle deceiver.  Technically, I had my limit on one cast...but we were looking for 32" fish...I can always count on 31 1/2" fish when we need 32" ;-) The fish ate a lot of things last night...but I found their preference to be darker colors...and definitely use a teaser....more than half the fish ate the teaser.

     The fish were coughing up spearing...still kickin'....when landed. Well, not all the fish, but enough of them that the mystery of what had their interest was removed ;-) There were just enough rat bastages mixed in that occasionally, you'd set the hook and instead of meeting solid resistance, the lil' fella would fling himself outta the water noting a rat bastage had been found. I think we had like six of the 3-4 pound bastages last night...they were throwing up spearing all over the place...some still alive. And there were some mutant hickory shad thrown in for good measure...real tarpon lookin' shad, like 3#ers! Anyway, the grand total was 36 unicorns subdued...and half again as many dropped...and probably twice as many hits. At one point, I dropped 7 in a row....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I ended up with 17...Dubs had 19...but I did manage to land more legal ones ;-) BTW, we implemented a new plan...the guy with the most fish drives home...so it's been working out pretty well for me lately!  It was pretty interesting fishing for the 3 1/2 hours we got out.

    In a couple hours, we leave for the Flingette down at Indian River Inlet...so I'll be able to add that to the places I've chased the elusive unicorn. Thanks to Plug for setting up this unofficial gathering, it looks to be very interesting! 

   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! 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

The Flingette at IRI...thanks Plug!

November 20, 2000:

  So Friday we took the drive down the Indian River Inlet...and even though it took a really long time in the traffic...we had an absolutely wonderful time with some of our southern compadres! Plug took the reigns and did an outstanding job with the details...the food, the heater, the shelter from the wind...he really did a wonderful job and deserves all the pats on the back that he can get! ;-) Not that he likes pats on the back, but for doing such a wonderful job, he'll have to get over it ;-) We tried to make him the official Fling coordinator for all future Flings...but of course, he declined...we were sad, but understood! 

   So it was our first time meeting many of the guys...and it was a pleasure indeed! Finron made the worlds best jerky...it was eaten and appreciated by many...and we were sad to see it disappear after our second trek to the front of the north jetty! Man, that was some good jerky! Plug had an industrial sized tub of chili cookin' the whole time...nothing like chili to warm your insides now and then again warm up yer waders just when they needed it ;-) Bill "Krispy Kremes" Klein blessed us with boxes of sugary treats...they were even better "toasted" over the propane heater ;-) 

   And the Indian River Inlet itself? Wow....what a fish magnet that place appears to be...deep, fast, and full of likely lookin' places for the critters to do their thing! It started off slow, but that only lasted about 20 minutes...as the outgoing tide slowed, the fish came up or in and we all started connecting. This continued into the incoming tide a bit, then the icy cold "snot sucking blue norther" starting getting the better of some of us and we retreated to the warmth of the enclosure...and the chili! I had 13 stripers after the first couple hours of plugging...and I think all who were out there had at least a couple on that first trek out. Poppy...you always talk that much? ;-) The biggest on the first trek was a 31" that I taped and released. After a couple hours of warming and eating, Poppy finally removed himself from his rock and came in to tell us tales of the 3 guys at the tip who were whacking fish...but only directly off the front. Fish up to 40"...that's all we needed to hear and we were all headed back out there again! Man, I think the air temp hit about 35....with the 10-15kt wind, it was pretty chilly for a crew that was just sitting around a propane heater! We did get out near the front just to watch the 4 guys on the front catch fish after fish after fish...but much as Plug, Dubs, CharlieM and I threw stuff at the corners, we never had a hit...the fish had taken up residence in one narrow window and weren't spread out at all...if you weren't casting to that slot, you weren't in the fish at all. Maybe an hour of no hits and we realized we'd either have to overpower the guys on the front (we did have Plug with us...I think we'd a taken them guys without much of a fight ;-) Instead, we decided on the pacifistic approach and headed to the inside of this formidable inlet. Just a handful of casts there and Dubs and I decided that we should probably begin the journey home...3 1/2 hour drives have a way on wearin' ya down after you've been up all day and fished/chatted/eaten from 7:30pm till nearly 4am. We hung out with the fellers in the enclosure, shared some more stories, heard a good one about Plug and the barking cow nosed ray that had us rollin'! It's a time I will always treasure, hangin' with the boys down at IRI and I look forward to the next time....

   We got home in the bright sunlight of Saturday morning...took a quick spin by the beaches in case something terrible was going on...but getting out of the warm truck after 3 1/2 hours inside it quickly reminded us that we'd need some sleep before we could battle the cold again. We did just that. Only when we got out in the dark, the fish had all but disappeared...we didn't land a single striper in nearly 3 hours of plugging on Saturday night...but then again, that's the way it is when you are chasing the elusive unicorn.....

   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! Check the page to see when they are updated.

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Man!?! It's cold out there!?!

November 22, 2000:

  Now I'm not one to complain (quiet out there! ;-) and maybe the cold now is a good thing to make us more prepared as we enter in the cornucopia of the local striper fishing...but man, is it cold?!?!? I dunno about you guys, no doubt our northern brothers are the last to pity us with night time temps in the 20's...but holy smokes, when yer hand get painfully cold in just a couple hours outside, it certainly catches me off guard for just mid November! Alright, all whining aside, we've had a pretty reasonable year weather wise and I really shouldn't complain. This cold weather is certain to light some fires under the butts of the stripers out there...our ocean temps plummeted from a balmy 56 degrees to just 50.9 degrees in a few days....they've since rebounded to 52...but the colder water will certainly get things moving. Not that they need much help, there's been good bites up and down the Jersey shore...only sometimes it's up the Jersey shore...sometimes it's down...you gotta guess where it's gonna be next time...our dastardly striped friends have been keeping us on our toes. Thursday night Charlie and I had 39 fish to just shy of 32"...then Saturday night we landed none. Geesh, I'd a settled on even one at that point! Monday night, Paul, Charlie, and I managed somewhere around a dozen or so, Paul had the only legal striper (over 28" legal, not over 24" legal...just for the record ;-) I've heard of good bites going on in varied locations during the day....but of interest to this feller are the reports of substantial night bites! See, this evening, at 5pm, the Shark River Surf Anglers "Gobbler Tournament" gets underway...and our club is currently leading all the surf clubs that we fish with in these invitational tournaments...and by some 4 points or so I'm told. In my years with this most excellent crew, this is a first for us so late in the tournament season...there's but one single tournament to go...and it's ours! There's something about winning the tournament you host...and then there's the added pressure of winning overall for the year. I'm guessing there's gonna be a lot of cold handed Shark River guys putting in the effort over the next 4 nights!   I will be...my hands hate me already but they'll fall in line once the rag wool gloves are covered in fresh striper slime...not to be confused with the now dried striper slime from previous excursions. So these "night bite" reports have certainly got my interest...and will indeed be investigated in the coming darkness.

   Seems this year has been just a shadow (so far!) of the past couple when the consistent day bite is concerned. I say it's just a matter of time...yet many fine anglers are hanging up their gear. My selfish side would like to encourage them to do so...but then my compassionate side would like to see them catching copious quantities of the elusive striped unicorn. Since this site is about catching more fish, the compassionate side will undoubtedly win ;-) Don't hang up yer gear!   It is so far from over you can consider it not even to have begun yet! Year after year after year the cries of "it's over, maybe next year" have begun to sadden me...well, at least my compassionate side...my selfish side welcomes the hanging up of each set of surf gear...but that side's nasty anyway, we're not gonna talk about that one ;-) The best is, I absolutely assure you, is yet to come. There's big fish, lots of big fish, all the way up the migratory path to Rhode Island (**based on a phone call from a born/raised Rhode Islander himself) There's still big fish being taken at Montauk. There's many, many more fish coming....and these will be, on average, the biggest ones of the fall. I don't mind being the only guy out there as the season ages, but I'd certainly hate to see so many friends miss out on what will be the apex of the very first striper season this millennium (and you thought you'd heard the last of that word, didn't ya? ;-)  Sharpen yer hooks...make new rigs...grab yer rag wool gloves...zip up that nice new Bronco jacket and go fishing! I logged just shy of 300 stripers in the period from December 4th to January 4th last year...and more keepers than any other month last year. I'm hoping it wasn't an oddity...it was the first year that I'd seen fishing like that right into the New Year...but I ain't gonna let the New Year pass this year without keeping them honest, that's fer sure!

  This time of year, you can find our lil striped compadres just about anywhere...and some much bigger fish sometimes hangin' right there with 'em! It's time for Yozuris, Mambo minnows, bombers, smaller MegaBaits (bigger ones too...the 6" and 7" are really starting to pay off with the best fish of the outings for more than just me!) and teasers...lots of teaser fish this time of year. 

   It's only the beginning folks, don't put away the waders just yet...you might be missing out on what I'm guessing will be the very best this season has to offer!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

That stuffed turkey feeling...

November 24, 2000:

**UPDATE: I just happened to check the forecast....after many, many days of screamin' W to NW winds, I've been begging and pleading for something "onshore". I mean, the baits here, the fish are all over but reluctant to hit the sand...a decent onshore wind would likely light the fuse. My (our) prayers have been answered in the most spectacular fashion! The forecast is calling for 10-15kt NE winds, starting this afternoon and blowing straight through Saturday night! This could be the start of something very, very interesting! :-) 

  It's the day after Thanksgiving...and after a real "food-a-thon" at my sisters house yesterday afternoon that lasted well into the night, I might just need to move up to the next sized waders...and I'll probably have to let out my belt that holds my plug bag. I still feel like a stuffed turkey. I hope all of you had an excellent Thanksgiving and had a chance to spend some time with people that love you. I had the pleasure of spending the day with my wife, parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, brother and sister in laws, and the 90 year old patriarch of the entire Surgent clan, my grandfather. That's some crew...I am blessed with a most amazing family, we've always stuck together, we've shared good times and bad times, tears and smiles, anger and sorry...but the bottom line is, we are family. We understand that and have decided to stick together no matter what...that's a comforting and warm feeling. My grandfather is a most amazing person...90 years old and with a wit that would impress most of the regular sharp witted folks on SurfTalk...and a real understanding of the way the world works. We are blessed to have him still among us. 

    I'm wondering how long before I start to shake the turkey induced fog...I haven't felt clear headed since the first plate of turkey was inhaled! We had big plans last night to attack the fishes in the dark...and after the prior nights sub zero wind chills...the turkey induced fog made it easy to just curl up on the couch and fall asleep! On Wednesday night, all seemed in order to catch a bunch of fish...things looked wonderful. We dressed appropriately and headed to the water where we fished at least 5 different spots...I had 2 fish total, one 26 1/2" and one about 25"...not real impressive...but Dubs never had a touch! Times were indeed tough...there was bait, no moon till late...and the fish just weren't in the neighborhood at all...it was sad.  Did I mention we sweated for the first part of the night and then froze like snowmen towards dawn? Man, ya forget how cold 24 degrees with a 20kt wind really is till your out there with tired and wet hands. It was quite cold...painfully cold actually!

   Being a slow learner sometimes, I figure we'll try to get out a little before dark and look for something on the surface...then we'll bundle up, drive south, and fish till it hurts too much or the sun comes up...whichever happens first!

The Shark River Surf Anglers "Gobbler Tournament" is underway. If you are a club member...please, grab yer warm stuff, and get out there is at all possible. There's scattered daytime bits going on with some bigger fish mixed in up to 35". The limit for this tournament is a paltry 28" and we need to place in this one to win for the year. Seems like you either need to head north or south...locally the fishing has been dismal...but north and south of here there's a much more developed bite going on. Our club is currently leading all the surf clubs that we fish with in these invitational tournaments...and by some 4 points or so I'm told. In my years with this most excellent crew, this is a first for us so late in the tournament season...there's but one single tournament to go...and it's ours! There's something about winning the tournament you host...and then there's the added pressure of winning overall for the year. I'm guessing there's gonna be a lot of cold handed Shark River guys putting in the effort over the next 4 nights!   I will be...my hands hate me already but they'll fall in line once the rag wool gloves are covered in fresh striper slime...not to be confused with the now dried striper slime from previous excursions. So these "night bite" reports have certainly got my interest...and will indeed be investigated in the coming darkness.

   Seems this year has been just a shadow (so far!) of the past couple when the consistent day bite is concerned. I say it's just a matter of time...yet many fine anglers are hanging up their gear. My selfish side would like to encourage them to do so...but then my compassionate side would like to see them catching copious quantities of the elusive striped unicorn. Since this site is about catching more fish, the compassionate side will undoubtedly win ;-) Don't hang up yer gear!   It is so far from over you can consider it not even to have begun yet! Year after year after year the cries of "it's over, maybe next year" have begun to sadden me...well, at least my compassionate side...my selfish side welcomes the hanging up of each set of surf gear...but that side's nasty anyway, we're not gonna talk about that one ;-) The best is, I absolutely assure you, is yet to come. There's big fish, lots of big fish, all the way up the migratory path to Rhode Island (**based on a phone call from a born/raised Rhode Islander himself) There's still big fish being taken at Montauk. There's many, many more fish coming....and these will be, on average, the biggest ones of the fall. I don't mind being the only guy out there as the season ages, but I'd certainly hate to see so many friends miss out on what will be the apex of the very first striper season this millennium (and you thought you'd heard the last of that word, didn't ya? ;-)  Sharpen yer hooks...make new rigs...grab yer rag wool gloves...zip up that nice new Bronco jacket and go fishing! I logged just shy of 300 stripers in the period from December 4th to January 4th last year...and more keepers than any other month last year. I'm hoping it wasn't an oddity...it was the first year that I'd seen fishing like that right into the New Year...but I ain't gonna let the New Year pass this year without keeping them honest, that's fer sure!

  This time of year, you can find our lil striped compadres just about anywhere...and some much bigger fish sometimes hangin' right there with 'em! It's time for Yozuris, Mambo minnows, bombers, smaller MegaBaits (bigger ones too...the 6" and 7" are really starting to pay off with the best fish of the outings for more than just me!) and teasers...lots of teaser fish this time of year. 

   It's only the beginning folks, don't put away the waders just yet...you might be missing out on what I'm guessing will be the very best this season has to offer!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent