The weekend...and the yak attack continues!

Aug 15, 2000:

   I only wish we fished the ocean on Friday as the NE winds got it all stirred up. Not that we didn't knock the snot outta the weakfish in the Raritan Bay area, just that we didn't land one single striped bass while knocking the snot outta the weakfish! We took the yaks, Charlie's first trip, into the darkness of night on Friday...with the weather liars promising rain, lightning, and thunder. Well, they were partly correct, better than most forecasts ;-) We caught about a million small weaks, they ate clousers, half and halfs, my special rabbit strip clousers, silicone spearing, slab flies...come to think of it, I don't think I threw anything they didn't eat. God I love it when it's like that! The problem was that they were small....extremely numerous, but small, from 14" to 21". Yea, they pulled good on the 9wt rod, but they'd have been a blast with a 5 wt! If you ever wanted to catch a weakfish, I don't know how you could miss right now, I've never seen so many weaks all piled up in any number of spots. If flies aren't your thing, let's talk about "regular" stuff.

   Weakfish, for the most part, are a bottom oriented fish. Yes, they'll bust up peanuts, spearing, sand eels, shrimp, and anything else on the surface, but they really prefer the bottom. Again, that's for the most part, you can catch hundreds right on top, sometimes they'll cremate sliders on top...but for the most consistent weakfish action, go down. With the fly rod in the Raritan Bay area, I prefer an intermediate line...in faster deeper stuff, a level III sink or a sink tip on the intermediate is the way to get down. If they are bustin' up top, a floating line a small half and half, silicone spearing, or deceiver will get 'em. Down deep, I prefer a half and half or clouser style fly...it'll drag the bottom and tickle their noses without grabbing every weed, rock, or clam shell they come across. Best bet with the sinking method is to be above where you expect the trout to be, and off to one side. Cast above them...let it sink a few seconds...then retrieve with one foot hops. They'll usually smack it when it's 30 to 60 degrees from where it landed. One note, much as with stripers, the further into the drift it gets, the more it's dragging against the current rather then drifting with the current, the smaller the fish will be. Luckily, this is not 100% of the time, but for the most part, that's the way it works. Same with jigs, plugs, poppers, sliders and just about anything else you can think of. The biggest fish in current are almost all caught while the lure/fly is making plenty of downcurrent progress...when the down current progress turns to upcurrent progress, the fish size will shrink. I'm guessing it has to do with the "naturalness" of the presentation. Hurt bait fish rarely go directly into the current...instead, they'll suffer as they drift with the current. Remembering this one thing and then paying careful attention to all currents, even those along beaches and jetties, will increase the size of the fish you catch...no matter what lure/fly you are using and no matter what species you seek. If the lure looks like a hurt baitfish, you'll get bites...if it looks like a hurt baitfish and acts like a hurt baitfish, you'll get bigger fish....period.  We'll consider that tip to be possibly the easiest way to put you in touch with bigger fish...don't fish against the current, let the current do the work. Sure, when your lure/fly swings out and is now coming against the current, you'll get bites, but you'll, in general, catch the biggest fish when the lure/fly is going with the current and is being presented in a somewhat broadside manner. Try it. Next time you're into some fish, try figuring out what currents are present...next few casts, let the current move the lure more than the reel handle....you'll find the bigger fish this way. Now where was I? Oh yea, the weakfish...I was gonna tell you how to catch 'em without a fly rod (God knows why anyone would not wanna catch 'em with a fly rod ;-) My personal preference for lures to catch weakfish would be any plug or jig with the right teaser. 

Two of my personal favorite weakfish teasers or flies. On the right, the "Thirty Pounder", to the left, the Silicone Spearing.

The trick with weaks and plugs/jigs/teasers is to let the rig come to them...they prefer this to chasing down something coming up from behind them. And they like it slow, just like bass...maybe a little faster if dead slow isn't working, but slow is the rule. They love yellow and green and have a real soft spot for pink. A pink over white half and half catches an awful lot of weaks for me! They'll eat plugs, too. Some of the biggest weaks for me on plugs have eaten the Yozuri Suspending Crystal Minnow, 6" bombers, MegaBait 4 1/2" plugs, regular Crystal Minnows...Emperor Minnows. Also, the 4" bomber in schoolbus color is another favorite.  Weaks will be found in all the same places as bass, very near jetties, in inlets, up the rivers and bays...anywhere current and bait are found. They do have soft mouths, play 'em gently. They certainly aren't weak, I've been surprised by 5-6# weaks at the strength of their initial run! With braid or a fly rod, I can tell almost immediately that I've stuck a trout, they shake their heads in a rapid fashion trying to remove the offending hook...you can feel it at the rod. Bass shake their heads, but it's a slower, more deliberate shake than the weaks. Now telling the difference between a stuck fluke and stuck weakfish is more difficult, the fight starts out very much the same.  I'm told weaks are excellent on the table...this is one are in fishing that I'll always defer to others, I prefer my seafood to come with a shell on it! ;-)

   Also this week, we got the PowerPro deal all worked out and received our first delivery, see the PowerPro Page as it's now part of the growing catalog!  Also this week, I was made aware that folks couldn't find the 9" Slugg-O's on the site...and upon looking into it, it was true! I have them on the same page as the Fin-S-Fish, but there is very little mention of the big Slugg-O's there! Recently, some folks are finding out what great tools these 9" plastic baits are...we've known for some time as we've used them for jig trailers a lot...but the recent discovery of these weapons by many folks has put them way up there in popularity. RichR has recently been scoring in CT with them rigged with just a big 8/0 hook, taking a 30# striper and some in the 20# class...even out fishing his buddies who were using live eels! This is a major breakthrough, Slugg-O's don't need oxygen, won't rot in the sun, and they don't stink when you forget one in your truck! ;-) Way to go Rich! One more major occurrence this past week is the beginning of the much awaited exodus from Raritan Bay by this years bumper crop of peanut bunker!?!?! Peanut bunker are just a local nickname for the baby bunker, from 1" to 5" long...they are a delicacy to nearly every gamefish on the coast, from fluke to alba-turkeys, they all love peanuts! With these tasty baits in the surf, it's now time to break out the wood! The Lex Lures line offers every sort of wooden lure you'll need to get in on this action...and until Tony tells me otherwise, we're still the only place on earth with the "Buy 5, get 1 free" deal currently going on! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Promising fishing...

Aug 16, 2000:

   I got out with Paul and we met up with Arne for some post-heave inspection. Rigged eels were the plan, figuring on a good heave still being around. There was a heave, but it wasn't nearly as monumental as I expected. No matter, the fish were eating anyway....well, not if ya ask Paul they weren't ;-) (Note: I told Paul I wasn't gonna rub his nose in it...he encouraged me to go ahead...now I'm torn ;) Arne landed a little weakfish on rubber rigged eel as I was choosing the first eel to put on. Within a few casts, I had a shot that I missed.....then I hooked up. Decent critters, nothing big, legal size and all that. I offered him to Arne, he declined...something about not goin straight home...so I let it go. I think Paul was asleep...but somehow he was still casting. The fish were grouped together, very rare around here anymore, and they were moving. They did, however, seem to end up in front of me a good number of times and I landed a total of 6 stripers. I must of had 4 times that many hits...good, hard hits...but they were somehow avoiding the hooks very well! The moon got brighter...I had packed 3 plugs...just in case plugs...so I put on the brightest one in my pocket, a 7" MegaBait in yellow shad. Man, they dove all over it! I haven't had that many bite in one spot in a long time...it was kinda nice. I landed a few on that plug, it casts easily twice as far as a bomber...I think that had something to do with it's success. I gave it to Paul to throw. He was equally impressed at how well it cast...but then he went and lost it in the rocks...I think it was to avoid me taking it back...he says it was an accident ;-) We'll never know ;-) That was it for the plugging action, without that one, they wouldn't touch any other plug...the fish can be funny like that! So, a couple more on rubber rigged eels and we decided to try another spot. It was devoid of all life...'cept one bump. And that was that, we went home...both so exhausted even before we started, we said goodbye to Arne, always a pleasure. I haven't seen Arne since the Fling when Cap't Bumps and Bruises led them to some of the best Fling action found. We made plans to get together soon up at the Hook...things should be happenin' up at the Hook very soon. Well, I hope Paul got some sleep anyway, I know I didn't! I'm toast, I'm typing like a third grader right now. 

  There's a chance we're leaving for the Ditch tonight, a short trip...almost a visit. It all depends on how things go today...and right now, they are in SLOW motion! If yer going fishing around these parts, there's loads of bait right now between Manasquan Inlet and Shark River Inlet, the are forever to be known as the Fling Zone. Supposedly, there's tons of blues and shad in there...and weaks...but I'll bet ya in the dark, the "good stuff" comes in there to mop up them peanuts! 

   Also this week, we got the PowerPro deal all worked out and received our first delivery, see the PowerPro Page as it's now part of the growing catalog!  Also this week, I was made aware that folks couldn't find the 9" Slugg-O's on the site...and upon looking into it, it was true! I have them on the same page as the Fin-S-Fish, but there is very little mention of the big Slugg-O's there! Recently, some folks are finding out what great tools these 9" plastic baits are...we've known for some time as we've used them for jig trailers a lot...but the recent discovery of these weapons by many folks has put them way up there in popularity. RichR has recently been scoring in CT with them rigged with just a big 8/0 hook, taking a 30# striper and some in the 20# class...even out fishing his buddies who were using live eels! This is a major breakthrough, Slugg-O's don't need oxygen, won't rot in the sun, and they don't stink when you forget one in your truck! ;-) Way to go Rich! One more major occurrence this past week is the beginning of the much awaited exodus from Raritan Bay by this years bumper crop of peanut bunker!?!?! Peanut bunker are just a local nickname for the baby bunker, from 1" to 5" long...they are a delicacy to nearly every gamefish on the coast, from fluke to alba-turkeys, they all love peanuts! With these tasty baits in the surf, it's now time to break out the wood! The Lex Lures line offers every sort of wooden lure you'll need to get in on this action...and until Tony tells me otherwise, we're still the only place on earth with the "Buy 5, get 1 free" deal currently going on! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

No Ditch just yet....but the Alba-Turkeys are here!

    Well, no Ditch last night....we had planned on leaving, but it wasn't meant to be. It seems the scripts I've been "hacking" to add neat features to    have been causing much grief at my domain host. I had to back peddle quickly to avoid having them shut down the scripts and thus gutting  !!!  So, instead of packing for Cape Cod Canal, I ended up being stuck making sure the board would stop causing problems and thus, keep running in my absence. No big deal, perhaps, God willing, we will leave this evening? I'm dying to get up there again, this time it's "big fish season" up there, I'd like one more shot before the billions of fish move in and lower the average size...not that I got anything against billions of fish! ;-) Man, I'd kill for a fish funnel like the Ditch somewhere within an hour or so! Nah, if the Ditch were in NJ, it'd be posted, patrolled, and strung with gill nets...it's better off where it is ;-)

   I guess even if the Ditch trip this weekend doesn't pan out, it won't be an all out catastrophe, there's some things brewing right here in our backyard. While last night's 2 hour trip we got nothing more than moon burn and a few bites, the night before was possibly the most bass action on one jetty that's occurred in a long while around here. I'm optimistic that with proper cloud cover or with some better wave action, the bass will respond with two thumbs up and move back into the shallows again. There nothing else like a day-glow moon and flat water to bang up your confidence when fishing the shallow waters of Monmouth County...we need a couple 40 foot deep holes within casting range. At least that would give the fish some place to keep feedin' when the moon looks like the sun! The forecast is looking good for tonight and more so for tomorrow with SE winds and good cloud cover, even the chance of showers! Yea, I remember, we did just break out of nearly two weeks of cloud cover...and I don't wanna see any more rain fall on the poor folks that got hammered by the rain, but the cloud cover certainly wouldn't hurt. At this point, I'm even ready to handle a little sunshine and flat water....cause the false albacore and bonito are cruisin' the surf right now, as we speak! Yessir, it's time to take the maiden 'yak voyage into the suds and see how they work. Just in time too, the crowds are so thick in the good spots at dusk (so I'm told, I don't get out at dusk anymore) that you needn't even bother. Someone told me there was 150 people in one spot yesterday afternoon catching rat spike weakfish. There shouldn't be 150 people fishing one town around here, much less one location! It's the same old story, tell someone about "easy fishing", no matter the fish are 10-14" long, they'll call everyone they know and storm the spot...and for some reason, where the crowds gather, they seem to accept leaving a terrible mess behind. It shouldn't be that way, I guess it's the gang mentality, but I'd think in a big crowd, there'd be enough folks around that others wouldn't want to be seen throwing crap on the ground. I guess it all depends on the caliber of persons making up the crowd...and the "easy fishing" fishermen, the blitz chasers, boardwalk fishermen, wader watchers...I guess they are the least concerned with keeping a place clean. I dunno, I'm thinkin' we need to get that poor Indian from the litter commercial and give him a ticket book and the authority to fine people for litter...the police certainly aren't interested. If there was so much as one fine a day given out at some of these inlets, the litter would stop. It's just that when there's no chance of a fine, some people don't care. It's almost as if there's some "if the cops don't mind, it must be ok" attitude or something. Not being one for nitpicking cops, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing an occassional one policing the littering daytime masses locally...or even the nighttime ones...somebody's gotta remind these people that empty garbage is lighter to carry out and it's their job.  Sorry, off on a tangent...I gotta watch myself! ;-)

    Back to the recent arrivals! Yes, bones and turkeys...perfect excuse to drag the fly rods out for a couple hours before dark and do a little hunting around. We will, however, be packing the yaks. This will be our insurance that if we find 'em, we'll be able to get to 'em without having 2oz Castmasters flying over our heads and people casting over anything you hook. Once I confirm that there are catchable numbers of bones and turkeys, I'll spend considerable time writing up some stuff as to how to capture these silver bullets...my favorite way is with a little fly I call the Albaturkey Clouser...size 4 or 6, sparse chartreuse over sparse white bucktail, a little pearl crystal flash, epoxy the head, color the gills with red marker...add water, strip quickly, and hang on!!!  Small foam sliders will draw crashing strikes from the turkeys, that's something to see. Well, I don't wanna get ahead of myself, I'm only going on rumors that they are here! So, maybe the Ditch trip commences this evening...maybe not...but either way and in either place, there should be some interesting things developing from this weekend forward...the fish are starting to act a little like it's fall! The only bad part, any afternoon fishing usually kills the shot at fishing at night...it's a catch-22...I'd rather go in the dark...but then I love to watch the water blast off my fly reel when the turkeys plow those little clousers! 

   Recent additions to the catalog:  The PowerPro Page was just added. Also, a brand new to the site, perfect for all the things we're gonna see around here in the coming months, ideal mullet or peanut bunker imitation...the 3 1/2" MegaBait plug! Man, these things are gorgeous, they are exactly like their super popular and fish killer big brother, the 4 1/2" MegaBait, but they are shorter and proportionally thinner. I don't think I've ever seen anything that looked more perfect to imitate the now resident peanuts and the soon to be here finger mullet. The best part, unlike any other floating lures this small, this one weighs a half ounce and is weighted just like the other MegaBaits...and that means it'll go a mile! I think I just talked myself into bringing along a spinning rod this afternoon, just to watch the albacore pound these little things...oh yea, I'll also bring a pocket full of the little MegaBait jigs, like 1oz...they are bound to be the killer albacore metal this year! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Looking good for tonight

    First, lemme apologize to the fellers that gave me the report yesterday about the pelagics in the area, my references to the reports of the pelagics yesterday as just being rumors wasn't meant to discredit you! Seriously, I had no doubt that you were telling me the truth, but until you I see them for myself, I can't say they are here. I'm sure you guys scored, no doubt, but I had to see if for myself to report it. So, at about 7pm, Dubs and I decided to do just that. Sadly, we didn't run into the silver bullets...but I did watch a few through binoculars that were feeding way off the beach. We had the kayaks but didn't launch them, it was getting late and I think we only saw three splashes...not enough to get excited about. Instead, we grabbed the light spinning stuff and fished from the sand for about 45 minutes. We did get to watch a couple fish chase bait nearshore...no idea what they were, they did appear to be bass. Charlie had a good fish crash a red head pencil popper, but the fish was more showing off than trying to actually eat the popper. I noted to him that seeing the fish crash the popper that way is as good as actually landing one...they can throw a lot of water when you get 'em all worked up on a pencil popper! I fished a 1oz MegaBait jig with an epoxy sand eel teaser...and I got a sea robber....but I also landed 2 fluke, both legal, one looked about 3#. I let 'em go. I had heard about bass busting on bait in the middle of the afternoon...but couldn't drag myself out then. This morning (too early), we were going to go plugging and then look for the pelagics...but it was not to be, after beginning to get ready, the trip was aborted...lack of sleep and having a lot to do today won out. Sometimes begin reasonable is not too much fun :(

   The weather has certainly turned "bassy" here, heavy clouds, light rain, and the wind is swinging now from the NW to the SW and then to the SE where it will blow just right to kick up some 2-3 waves....and cool off the water a couple degrees (hopefully) by tonight. Tomorrow, the winds is supposed to pick up to 15-20kts from the SE. That puts tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night as good bass stuff...the kind that puts the bite on this near the full moon this time of year. I might just have to rig up some fresh rubber eels...mine are getting a bit banged up recently. The rubber ones have been at least as good recently as the real ones...they are one heck of a lot less hassle to rig and to keep in the truck. I must recommend Smelly Jelly on the rubber eels...it's almost a necessity...scratch that, to me, it's a necessity! It really adds something to them, maybe it's the shine, maybe the smell...who knows, but I do know it does get them bit more often and that's good enough for me! If we can manage to get out in the daylight a little, we'll throw the flies primarily...I'd like to catch a few albies and bones before the whole world is down there around the clock. It's been years since I caught an albie or bone on anything but the fly rod...at least on purpose...you do get surprised once in a while by them while throwing plugs. 

   I had a chance to throw the new 3 1/2" MegaBait plugs....they weigh 1/2oz, but they'll go every bit as far as the 6" bomber...at least on my surf spinning rod! I was pleasantly surprised by their casting ability...and when I watched them come in, I was really amazed. They dive about a foot, but they struggle and roll their way back to the beach, very "hurt" looking. I believe they will be important, the peanuts aren't even 3 1/2" long yet...so these small MegaBaits should really get knocked around by the fish that are honed in on the length of the baits. Some fish won't care, they'll grab anything close, but there's always those times when having the right length and silhouette is important. Just one more thing to keep around, just in case! 

   I hope you all have great weekends, try to get out there if you are looking for something going on, it's gonna happen somewhere this weekend with this weather...and if you can only get out during the day, it looks like pelagic time!

   Recent additions to the catalog:  The PowerPro Page was just added. Also, a brand new to the site, perfect for all the things we're gonna see around here in the coming months, ideal mullet or peanut bunker imitation...the 3 1/2" MegaBait plug! Man, these things are gorgeous, they are exactly like their super popular and fish killer big brother, the 4 1/2" MegaBait, but they are shorter and proportionally thinner. I don't think I've ever seen anything that looked more perfect to imitate the now resident peanuts and the soon to be here finger mullet. The best part, unlike any other floating lures this small, this one weighs a half ounce and is weighted just like the other MegaBaits...and that means it'll go a mile! I think I just talked myself into bringing along a spinning rod this afternoon, just to watch the albacore pound these little things...oh yea, I'll also bring a pocket full of the little MegaBait jigs, like 1oz...they are bound to be the killer albacore metal this year! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Weekend Brief 

Update: the new is up! Sorry for the delay, it was my fault...somebody stayed out way too late this morning trying to put some MegaBait jigs in front of some albacore and bonito...but the rat bastages never came within the substantial range that these things will go! :( Oh well, there's always tomorrow morning...but this time, we're launching the 'yaks to hunt these silver bullets down the right way!  The fishing last night was not real good...we did miss all the nice rain and all the cloud cover by not getting out till after midnight...the bright moon likely was the cause of the slower than anticipated action. We did have the pleasure of meeting Paul Naj's and his brother. Sadly, they were having the same success as we were...not a lot! We all ended up with one striper...all small ones. Charlie got the bonus striper in the daylight with a small Fin-S-Fish as we were jigging some nice fluke waiting for the albies to come into range...which they never did! Oh well...like I said...there's always tomorrow!

    Today's  really sums up how the bonito and albie fishing went for us this morning! ;-)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

The weekend...it feels like fall!

 What a gorgeous weekend weather wise! I love those cool nights...when I got soaked on Friday pre-dawn, in just shorts and a T-shirt, I was absolutely freezing! Freezing in August, now you just gotta love that :-) Friday's fishing wasn't that great, but we missed the clouds and fished under the sun-like moon...not my favorite by any stretch. We all had at least one bass, Charlie managed the bonus striper after daybreak on a small Fin-S-Fish. We had a few nice fluke in the am on Fin-S and MegaBait jigs. The albacore/bonito/Spanish mackerel came almost within range for us...but they'd linger just beyond casting distance. It was typical, we move from one vantage point to another a couple hundred yards north...only to watch the silver bullets tear up the area we left...they were easily in range from there! :( That's the way it goes with them critters, I think they have spotter planes as well ;-)

   Saturday night, again, almost midnight before we got out...actually, it may have been nearly 1am. The yaks came out for this trip. We fished closer to home and found the same small weaks...a very nice fluke....and eventually, I anchored in a tiny screaming rip, complete with tiny standing waves...and I was rewarded with 3 nice unicorns on the fly rod. One was about 12#'s, all fought bravely in the fast water! I tried to pull the anchor when the bigger one went screaming down current...I put the reel in between my thighs....grabbed the anchor line with both hands...and then the fish ran again! OUCH! That was a bad plan, I'm still a little sore "down there"....like a tiny boxer got loose in my boxers! All the more reason to put a substantial float on the end of the anchor clip, that way I can just unclip the anchor and chase down those feisty unicorns when need be! Live and learn....and I'm sure I'll heal up ok ;-) I called Dubs to get him in on what appeared to be the only striper bite that night...he anchored just a few feet to my left...but the rip I was fishing got real shallow off to that side and he caught nothing but mussels and bottom. Sometimes it is a game of inches.

   We'd like to welcome Steve Barratt of Let's Go Fishin' to our site. Steve will be the first sponsor of SurfTalk and StripersOnline.com and we're very proud to have him here! He's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to reels and fishing....and he is from Australia, so he's also a great source of info from down under. I don't know about you guys, but Australia has always been on my short list of places I must visit...maybe I can do it now and call it a business trip? ;-)  We will be featuring a long list of Steve's technical how to pages, most professionally done by him, on a new section here called Reel Service Tips. These tips will be first found on SurfTalk, and then they'll be archived there as well as be transferred to the new Reel Service Tips section! We're honored to have Steve here, I've done business with him in the past as have many others from this site, he gets two thumbs up from every person I've ever spoken to about him! He's a good egg, drop him a line and just say G'day! ;-)

  Recent additions to the catalog:  Hab's Perfect Poppers were added to the catalog. Within 24 hours, fully 1/3 of them were already sold out! Get 'em while they're hot guys, they won't be around long! I just placed an order for another 15 dozen poppers, different sizes will be added. Also, a LARGE order of Hab's Needlefish in sizes from around 1oz to his monster 3 1/2oz, they should be here in a couple/few weeks. After the interest for his poppers, I don't think the needles will be around very long either! The PowerPro Page was just added. Also, a brand new to the site, perfect for all the things we're gonna see around here in the coming months, ideal mullet or peanut bunker imitation...the 3 1/2" MegaBait plug! Man, these things are gorgeous, they are exactly like their super popular and fish killer big brother, the 4 1/2" MegaBait, but they are shorter and proportionally thinner. I don't think I've ever seen anything that looked more perfect to imitate the now resident peanuts and the soon to be here finger mullet. The best part, unlike any other floating lures this small, this one weighs a half ounce and is weighted just like the other MegaBaits...and that means it'll go a mile! I think I just talked myself into bringing along a spinning rod this afternoon, just to watch the albacore pound these little things...oh yea, I'll also bring a pocket full of the little MegaBait jigs, like 1oz...they are bound to be the killer albacore metal this year! 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent