Is this thing on? Hello? ;-)
December 11, 2001:

And here's the tog runner up - Landham of Team Rajun Nadjin - this tog was no slouch, easily 10# or more! Always the bride's maid, huh Chuck? ;-) We all watched as team leader Rajun Nadjin himself was transformed into "lobsterboy" - but that's an other story ;-) Ah...the Tog Fling 2001 :-) Above is MichaelP with his pool winning double white chin buck toothed bull headed brute Tog - rumor has it that it was over 12 pounds! togtogtogtogtogtogtogtog

Today is the 3 month anniversary of the most evil acts ever carried out on American soil - let's never forget those who gave their lives on September 11, 2001. Even though the smoke has settled and the fires are mostly out, there is a tremendous need for our collective help
- Help Start the Healing -

Geesh, without a doubt, this is the longest spell I've gone without updating the main page here since the inception of this site! My apologies folks, the minutes flow into hours, the hours to days, the days into weeks...well...you get the picture! We've done so much since the last main page was written. We all survived the Fall Fling - it was a hoot - a smashing success! Cool Hand Fluke and Crash manned the grills and took care of all the food/grub necessities for the 50-60 folks who made it that fateful day in October :-) The food and the company were absolutely outstanding - some of the finest this side of Indian River Inlet Also as usual with the Fall Fling, the fish cooperated the night before and the night after the Fling - but the night of the Fling were mysteriously absent We're pretty convinced it's a ploy of Alberto's trying to make it seem like there's just no fish in his stomping grounds - either that or we gotta stop having the Fall Fling the same weekend as the South Shore Classic! There's waay too many people out and around on that Saturday night - the boats never stop, the people, the bonfires, the headlights all over the water - it's almost a cinch that the fish aren't gonna be too cooperative under conditions like that. Next year, we have it either before or after the South Shore Classic - and we'll hope for nasty weather. Strange but the Fall Fling - at a time when bad weather is pretty much the norm - the Fall Fling weather seems to generally be the finest out of all the Flings - except the fishing is the worst of all the Flings - go figger? Anyway, there were scattered patches of success - like Billy40 caught his first striped bass - and a nice one in the upper 30 inch range - way to go Billy! That crew had a few fish that fateful Saturday night - like 2 or 3 I think amongst the 5 or 6 guys. The highlight...or should I say highliner for the Fall Fling was, without doubt, my fellow team mate Squidlips. Luke, Squidlips, and myself ended up on a team together - and Luke and I both got skunked (see "skunkboy" threads for Luke's story) Jest kiddin' Luke - he's since banished the skunk and the title - but it was funny whilst it lasted :-) Back to Squidlips, the Fall Fling hero - he went a wandering around, far, far from where Luke and I were fishing...not really far, but it seemed like it with all the nasty mud he had to walk through! He was out of sight well around a couple bends - we even formed a search party near day break to try and recover what we thought was gonna be a Squidlips stuck upto his armpits in the nasty smelling mud - but the search party was too pooped to party so we headed back to the truck to let it get light out and wait patiently. Well around daybreak Mr. Lips comes walking back to the truck - from an odd direction even! Seems he wandered off and found some fish - he had landed 5, a couple over 30", a few just under - and broke off a couple others...while no one else in our group had a single hit! Waaay to go Squidly, you were certainly the Fall Fling champion (maybe you can borrow Billy's crown?)

A few weeks after that Fling was over, we were headed to Indian River Inlet for the second annual IRI Flingette - also known as the "Chew & Chat Fling" Man, them southern folks sure don't fool around with hospitality - the food, the arrangements, the company, the snacks, the Krispy Kremes (thanks Bill - you'll never get outta bringin' them you know :-), , Plug's killer beef soup, and the jerky - did I mention Finron's jerky??! Holy smokes - that man can make some jerky! Wheweee, that stuff is the perfect fishin' snack - yah can put it in your pocket and eat it later...yah can save some for bait if need be - and it's one of the finest tastin' jerkies I've ever had! I threatened to put "Jerky Boy" under his name on the board if he didn't part with the step by step but then later reconsidered - it's probably best that only Finron knows how to make this stuff - I'd have vats of it all over the place and probably chew my teeth right out! Much as last year's IRI gathering, the fish cooperated - but only on the tip of the jetty. Last year they were polite enough to entertain throughout the area...not so this year. There weren't any big fish caught, but I think I had 8 or 9 or something - so they were there if you could muster the courage to stand on the end with people you don't know flingin' stuff right past yer ear! I got a really cool picture of Plug chewing on a live eel - but I wouldn't do that to him putting it up here...he's been good :-) Always a pleasure to see some of the southern crew - and a double pleasure seeing the Derf's! :-)

Then, just as recently as this past weekend, we had our First Annual Tog Fling - the only Fling that involves a boat and who's target species doesn't have stripes. The pictures at the top of this page kinda show ya who did the big fish catchin - sort of While MichaelP mighta captured the pool winnin' brute - which not only took 75% of the big fish pool - his only keeper for the day - but that fat double chinned bastage (the tog, not Mike) helped them just edge out me and BrianZ in the team competition - me and BZ each had our three fish in the bag - Mike and Dubs had only a total of 3 fish in their bag - and that one giant togasaurus helped to edge us by less than 1 pound!?!! The nerve! So whilst Mike had but one keeper - it was worth some serious cabbage as he had his grubby mitts on both the pool's money! Just kiddin' Mike, nuttin' but congratulations buddy - that was one serious tog! Landham from Team Rajun Nadjin had the number 2 fish - worth 25% of the big fish pool $$ - I bet that puppy was every bit of 10#! Another double chinned buck toothed togasaurus! Congrats to you as well Landham, beautiful fish! The day of this Fling the forecast was looking pretty ugly - but unlike most Flings in the past, it was a better day weatherwise than the weather liars scared us into believing. Sure, it did rain...and the wind did blow...but we got a good shot of sunshine in the morning and had excellent anchoring conditions all day long. Thanks to Scott on the Bandit outta Brielle for trying so hard to put us on the few feeding tog that were out there - I know, there were tog all over - but the eaters were few and far between. Scott did his best, we jockeyed around on 2 anchors over little pieces, big pieces, scattered pieces - and we picked away all day long - a slow pick, but a pick none the less. Sometimes no matter what ya do, the tog just don't smile on ya! The Bandit was a nice ride for toggin' - a big, heavy boat - perfect for the weather we encountered - and I was impressed by all the flat places to sit/lie down inside - I bet Billy hit all of 'em ;-) Thanks again Scott for puttin' everything into tryin' to put us on the eaters, your efforts were noted and appreciated! It was a day that we'll all remember for a long time, an absolute blast! I especially liked the part where Alberto was trying to talk to me - with fresh crab meat all over his chin from the crab legs he stole from my bait pile - like Ron Arra once told me - "Tim, I think he's part seal!" You got it Ron...maybe more seal than we give him credit for!

As the months and the Flings go by, I can't help but be amazed at the quality of the folks that have gathered here - on this site and at the Flings. I've been to lots of Flings now and, as usual, the highlight for me is always watching so many surfcasters building relationships with other surfcasters, sharing what they know, sharing what makes them what they are...all because they one day dropped by StripersOnline and decided they wanted to become part of our ever growing family. You guys never fail to make me smile and I thank each and everyone of you sincerely and from the bottom of my heart. God has truly blessed me with you folks...and I thank Him all the time.