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Slight
improvement...good things to come!
November 29, 2000:
**New 
is up!?!?! Welcome back DP,
good to see you my friend....
I got together
with JohnB last night...first time this fall...it's always good to see
John, he's good people. We did a little fishing in "Headlight
Alley"...a.k.a., Island Beach State Park. Just a little fishing.
It was the first time I can remember that not one other truck passed
by...not a single one! It was almost enough to have me shelling out
the $125 for the season pass just to fish this next month down there.
I do love that place, it's been ruined by the high beam crowd for
me...the thought of being able to fish there for an entire month
without the headlight hassle scaring all the fish is nearly worth the
$125...nearly! Anyway, the water was much calmer, like
2-3 footers...and was much clearer...about a 9 out of 10 as far as
water color I like to fish this time of year. We plugged three
different holes...maybe 2 1/2 hours total...and had a total of like 6
hits...a couple fish...but that's better than my buddies up north did,
so I guess it was some improvement! ;-)
The water
looked fishy...but I did notice the striper's were quite cold to the
touch...that's not a good sign when the air was 45 degrees! Some folks
are complaining that it's over...some folks are complaining of a
terrible season...I say yes, the season, thus far, has been far below
par. Blame it on the inches of sediment layering the sea bottom for
every square inch off the Jersey Shore from beach
replenishment...blame it some cyclical thing...blame it on the
netters...blame it on anyone you want, there's about a 100 things that
are to blame...all except for the fishes, they are just doin' their
thing! I still think we're gonna be in for some excellent fishing in
December and January...but that's dependent to some degree on the
water temps. Up until yesterday, they were quite normal...now they're
a little chilly at below 50 degrees. We had solid fishing last year
the water was nearly 44 degrees. We only quit cause the air temps got
too painful! Sissies, I know...but if we extended the season any
longer, they'd have over lapped and nothing would have gotten done
over the winter! Winter is healing/repair season...and it's extremely
necessary!
So, here's
the latest...the wind's gonna kick and scream again...starting
tonight...first SE...then NE...then N....and then, tomorrow, NW
clearing. Look for most excellent fishing from this afternoon right up
to the point the waves start scaring you tonight/tomorrow morning.
This is a real shot in the dark, the fishing's been lousy for the most
part...but the water's clean enough for this blow to count as a new
storm...and the first night of a new storm is always the best! Don't
mind the snow tonight if you go fishing...to date, I've never had a
bad night of striper fishing in the snow...never ever ever.......
And yet,
after all that, The Shark River Surf Anglers managed to place second
in our own tournament...Asbury Park placed first....and this means
that our club has won overall for the year! First time I can
remember...we finally put it all together and came out on top! I dunno
what we win...I think we get to house the Invitational trophy for the
year or something...but it's more a braggin' rights/pride type win. As
we put more and more quality fishermen in the club, we're likely to
become a real threat to this yearly trophy again next year!
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
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