A little fishin...not nearly enough

Aug 22, 2000:

    I gotta stop staying home on nice cool nights by misleading myself that I'll get out real early in the morning, in the dark and get a couple hours in. Never seems to work out that way. Down at the water this am right at the beginnings of sunrise....but in my eyes, that's too late to seriously bass fish....luckily, we were looking for albacore and bonito! They love the sunshine...they've been reliable for the past 6 or so days...so why not? Fly boxes loaded with albacore stuff (although I rarely catch them on anything but my own little chartreuse epoxy clouser. I try other things, just to pass the time while they aren't within range...and I've scored occasionally with the silicone spearing and with small sliders...but when I can get that little epoxy clouser in front of them, they eat it...almost every time. Anyway...we found some fish chasing spearing at one spot...they never showed and never hit...I think they were bass, but I couldn't be sure. As the sun got higher, I was expecting the silver bullets to make a few passes...unfortunately, they never did. They never even got into spinning rod range much less the fly rods were sporting! Soon enough, they'll be where we're looking and we'll get the backing straightened right out on some fly reels. Every time I'm out in the daylight, I'm reminded why I prefer nights....'nuff said!

  Hopefully, I'll get a chance to spend some quality dark time on the water in the next couple night, I love these cool nights and they deserve to be spend in the suds somewhere. Maybe tonight...but then again, I'm pretty toast after getting up a 4am to be fishing before first light...maybe I'll rest up tonight and look for the silver bullets in the daylight again. Wait a minute...I gotta stop that! ;-) If I'm awake tonight, I'm going! There's so much bait in this area that it's astounding, spearing, baby snappers, rainfish, and peanut bunkers. The fish really should be surfing the waves in the dark, grabbing mouthfuls of bait...this just needs further investigation! 

   There is some planning under way for the Fall Fling. Initially, it was to be about the first week in October...and somehow it's now looking like the 3rd week in September. That's really soon...I hope we can all agree on a later date than that! Regardless of the date, the location is pinned down, the west end of Long Island (Lawn Guyland for the residents there;-) The location is certainly suitable for a Fling...now we just need to find a date that the majority of those interested can attend. Seems like there's a lot of full plates towards the end of September. I'm not going to be around the second week in October...and that puts the brakes on the first or second Saturday in October. That puts us at the third Saturday in October. I'll have to check with da' guys and see how that date looks...this is getting bad, I want everyone who wants to be able to come, to pin down a date with many people already busy is not what a Fling is all about...but at some point, the date much be chosen! Oh well, we'll do the best we can and try to get as many folks as possible there.

   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, 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. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

A beautiful night in the suds...

  I dunno who ordered all these cool days and gorgeous nights, but I hope they keep 'em coming, this stuff is great! Last night I had the pleasure of fishing with the two Bob Thomas's from MA. Yup, two of them...a junior and senior. I met Bob jr. at the Spring Fling, but got to spend much more time hangin' with him last night in the suds. It was nice to fish with the both of them, these guys make a great father/son team. I'm still laughing about this one...as Charlie and I were pulling out of our nightly coffee stop, we just happened to catch Bob jr. telling his dad "Stop playing with everything!" as they were getting back in the truck. Talk about role reversal! ;-) 

   So, we left here around 10pm to walk the suds of the Fling zone. Armed with small plugs and light gear, ready to get wet. The tide was up about an hour or so, the water was just about ideal for this mission, 2-3 footers, rolling mucho white over the shallow bars a short cast from the beach...good stuff! We kinda split up, 50 feet or so between us. I had a bump after a few casts throwing a 6" MegaBait plug...not a real good shot, just enough to get my attention. A few casts later, I put on a 4 1/2" MegaBait and got another shot...this one I stuck. After a proper wrestling match with the light steelhead rod, I released a little 20" fish...I did note how feisty this little guy was! The fish creamed a 2/0 olive over yellow bucktail deceiver...a fly that was a great teaser in the late fall last year for me. One plug change later, I was in again...another good wrestling match and I was releasing one closer to keeper sized. I decided I'd look into the guest's rigs and make sure they were properly armed now that I had a little insight to where the fish's were and what they were looking for. They both were, Charlie was down the beach a bit...but he knows these beaches anyway. The fish were close to the beach, just this side of the shallow bar. We all milled around some and all got bites. At one point, I walked over to chat with Dubs after he released one...and down the beach comes Bob and his dad. Bob Sr. was holding a nice 13# fish...a nice specimen for this open beach and the tackle we were using...and then I notice, as he releases the fish, that his rod is busted in half! Actually, from the mumbled obscenities, I found the busted rod belonged to Bob Jr.! Uh oh! ;-) Seems the fish tried one last lunge at the surf line, Bob Sr. didn't think that was a good idea and tried to lean on it...just a little too much....POP! Hey, nice fish anyway, busted stick or not! ;-) 

  We continued on for a couple hours, it was perfect temperature wise, just the right kinda chill in the air, even while soaked from head to toe...did I mention the part where a 4 foot wave snuck right up and just collapsed 2 ft in front of me? Yup, snuck in quiet in the dark...just appeared right in front of me, collapsed just that perfect distance from me to rebound off the sand and land in my face. After I spit out the sand, shook off some water, I was ok with it...I just hate when they do that! Anyway, we decided about 1am that the incoming tide had spread the fish out a bit much, hits were getting scarce. We had a great time, it was a pleasure to fish with the two Bob's from MA. As it turned out, Bob Sr. had the pool winners at about 13#'s, I had high hook with 7 landed. We all got bites, all had some action, and besides the busted rod, no one got hurt! ;-) Add to that the 60 degree air and cool breeze, it was just a perfect night in the suds.....

    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, 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. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Fall's coming, bait's gathering....and stuff!

Aug 25, 2000:

    It's Friday folks, end of the week (for some!) and a time many look forward to as the beginning of their fishing. Things are really getting primed out there, spurred on by the past week of most gorgeous upper 50 degree nights. Yesterday afternoon I made a rare late afternoon visit to some of my preferred stomping grounds. I went with Paul and Dubs, but they were gonna go snorkeling, I was gonna fly fish. Sadly, the water was chocolate milk colored...I have no idea why, it was nice just 20 hours earlier...but it was nasty! They decided to go south and look for cleaner water, I decided to stick it out and get a line wet. I fished the entire jetty, every nook and cranny, poppers, sliders, clouser, deceivers...you name it, I threw it. Not a touch, not a sniff, not a swirl or a bump after an entire hour of working every white patch, every crevice, every spot I ever caught a fish from before. Matter of fact, the only bait I saw was a patch of spearing just hanging out. I even tried to catch a fluke...they are about the most reliable fly rod species while it's light out...nothing. I did see something that bodes well for the immediate future of the fishing! About 30 minutes before dark, huge patches of bunker were pushed to the surface pretty far offshore. Not just one here or one there, but huge 100yd long packs in 10 or 12 different spots all in plain view. Some 300yds off, some closer, and some as far out as you could see. Charlie and Paul came back, reported that they had seen loads of bait south, same stuff, patches of bunker off the beach. That means the bait I was watching get raked was covering at least 10 miles of the coast, probably more! Now that's a lot of bait! I hope the bunker boats all sink mysteriously in the night and this bait is allowed to feed the fish for a change instead of feeding the wallets of a few fat rich bastages! These huge schools of bait are what used to be along the coast season long...now it's a major occurrence to see so much bait spread out like it was. 

  Now, add to those bunker the steady stream of spearing and peanuts exiting all the rivers and bays...and the beginnings of fall are in the air! The other night, Wednesday night to be exact, Charlie and I did some exploring. We fished a couple jetties with pitiful results, 4 weakfish and one short bass between us.  But one of the weaks I landed spit up about 20 peanut bunker...from 1 1/2" to 3" long....good sized baits. The fact that these nuts were a bit digested leads me to believe that there's good daylight action in the ocean wherever you can find the nuts. It also made me think more about throwing plugs than rigged eels. So, after miserable results on the rocks, we decided to try some suds. We had enough time to fish but one small stretch of beach. The action was much better, I had 4 stripers, Charlie added 2 more to his one from the jetty. The hot lure was one that we hadn't put to the test yet but was the most likely after noting the size of the peanuts the weakfish had tossed on the rocks...the 3 1/2" MegaBait plugs. Yup, they are small, but they weigh a 1/2oz and cast very well. The fish were hitting them very well in the short time we fished them. Prior to putting the little lures on, I was getting bites on teasers...after putting the little lures on, the fish ate the plugs. Just thought you should know, my stock of these little things is miserably low, but I ordered a ton more after watching them in action! They should be here by mid week. I still have some, but I know at least another half dozen are going into mine and Charlie's jetty bags now! ;-)

   So, the weekend should be interesting, the bait's flowing, the fish are moving around, things should start to get better and better from here on in. I just hope the dirty water thing clears up, it was nasty. If you are fishing the rocks and doing nothing, get off and throw in the suds for a bit. Make sure you are using something 2-4" long, either a plug or a teaser, the bait's still kinda small...but that's changing too! Bring some poppers...some big ones and some small ones. The bigger bunker, should they escape the netters and spotter planes, should get to the beach every now and again, time for swimmers and poppers. Soon, the mullet will start moving out of the back areas and that will really get things moving!

  Another date has been tossed into the fray for the Fall Fling, October 21st, Saturday. It's more likely to be a date where the daytime action is consistent and the night time action reliable than mid September. I hope to gather enough input today so that a decision can be made over the weekend and the wheels of progress can squeak to life. Have a good weekend!

    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, 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. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Saturday brief

August 26, 2000:

UPDATE: The new is up! Sorry for the delay, I gotta stop fishing into the daylight on Saturdays, it's really setting me back! As always, the Rockfish gives us humorous insight into the underwater world of the critters we seek. This one no doubt gives us answers as to why the fish are thick one night, livin' it up....and gone the next! ;)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Fall Fling and fish in the foam....

Aug 28, 2000:

   Greeting folks, good morning. After much adieu, the date for the Fall Fling 2000 has been decided and set in stone....October 21st. The exact meeting location is still to be decided, I'll let Ditch and Alberto help us out on that one, they live right there! Also, we're initially figuring on meeting at noon on that day, a Saturday. We'll burn some burgers, consume non-alcoholic beverages, shoot the breeze and prepare to fish. I'd personally rather not see beer and hooch, clear headed Flinger's are safe Flinger's! ;-) I don't wanna be the hooch police, but that'd be my suggestion anyway. So, it looks good for the 21st, most of the folks who couldn't make either of the other dates appear to be all set for this one...that's good, I wasn't happy with the number of declines for either date offered in September, we'd like to see everyone there that wants to go! 

   What to expect? Well, I've been to this area a total of 2 times this year...my first 2 times ever! It's some beautiful waters there and I've only seen a small part of it. Much of it will be drive on access...but don't let that stop you if you either don't have a 4X4 or you don't have the permits, there will be arrangements made for those of you who want to get your permit and there will be many guys there who have permits already. We'll all get out there! Some of the concerns of folks are being addressed right now on , let's try to get all of them out in the air and we'll work through them one at a time! I think this fling will be a great opportunity to meet many of our northern brethren and the ones that couldn't make it to the Spring Fling we had right here in Spring Lake. Not to mention, our numbers have doubled since the Spring Fling, there's a whole lot of quality folks who have become wonderful additions to the growing family here at StripersOnline, it'll be a pleasure to meet all of them! In the winter, we'll have a Winter Fling down at Hatteras, that'll offer us the opportunity to meet our southern brethren! Back to what you can expect at the Fall Fling. The area offers (bear with me, I've only been there twice!) 2 inlets, miles of open beach, miles of protected back waters, a few bridges, and countless other interesting and very fishy waters! By October 21st, the mullet run could be behind us or it could be winding down...but that's not really an issue, the fish will be in full pant by then, stuffing their faces for their winter movements. I'd expect good daytime action and what could be a phenomenal night time bite! For those of you that got burned at the Spring Fling with the 6-8ft waves and 30kt NE wind, never fear, this Fling choice has good waters facing all 360 degrees of the compass...if you want the wind at your back, it's there. If you want wind in your face, got that too! Don't like big wave pounding sand into your scalp? No sweat, plenty of backwaters! You wanna fish a screaming current over a sandy bottom? Sure, miles of that too! Maybe you wanna fish rocky point with an impossible current bouncing right of the rocks and screaming into the main flow? Yup, been there too! Fly fishing? Sure, tons and tons of it, both inside and outside. My second trip to this beautiful location left me wondering about all the what's and when's of some of these spots...but in the spring when we had nothing but drifting shrimp in the dark, at sunrise out here, we watched a mile of sand eels on the surface! It's just a very, very fishy area...at least it appears that way! I expect this to be a very interesting Fling, to say the least! The one thing that's different, I'm relying on some of the locals up there who have offered to help in the logistics of the whole thing...but these guys I trust implicitly. So, the planning is under way, I'll put up a Fall Fling Registration page as soon as the time and meeting place are settled, we'll get the official process started soon!

   At the Spring Fling, I had boxes and boxes of stuff folks asked me to bring along for them to pick up. I think it would be a better idea if we got all the goods out to you prior to the Fling, that way you can sort it out and organize it all...not to mention, it's 1 1/2hrs from here, I'd hate to have to come back if I forgot someone's stuff!?!? ;-) Of course, I'll bring with me whatever it is you guys want me to, it'll just be smoother if we can get the bulk of the goodies outta here and in the mail to ya! Well, there's a lot to do to get the ball rolling, I'll see ya all on and work out the details over there!

I heard a rumor that Walkin' Jack is coming all the way from Texas! No, not for the Fling sadly, but for a family type visit...which is, of course, a good thing. I'd love to meet him...I sincerely hope Jack can work a short stop in along his route to visit with us. I'd love to drag him and his wife Pam down to the beaches in this area, just to get their toes wet, maybe throw a plug or two! ;-)  That'd be about the coolest thing I can think of....

  On the subject of throwing plugs...just a quick note. The fish lately have been feeding right in the foamy stuff, just prior to and just after the waves are cresting. It's normal for this time of year, they're eating spearing and sand eels...and they are eating them while the bait's all disorganized in the foamy white stuff. Even at low tide, we're catching stripers right near shore, a foot of foamy water! Yes, they'll hit out far too...but in general, only if it's white and rolling. This kind of fishing is a definite step away from everything you've been told about fishing plugs really S L O W....in the foamy stuff, too slow and your plug will get all rolled up in your leader. With your teaser, the knot can be horrific! Fishing with the waves, casting at an angle, you must keep up with the wave...or at least, you must keep some tension on the line as you allow the waves to overtake your rig. Slack line here is a mess...not to mention, you'd never feel the hit! So, in the shallow stuff, let the waves tell you how fast to reel, you don't wanna beat the waves...ideally, you'd like to have you rig in the wave and the white stuff as long as possible. I like to add a sharp snap to the retrieve...usually right at the point where the plug's been drumming in between the waves for a couple seconds....just as the next wave is sneaking up...a quick snap here can often trigger a vicious shot from any stripers that mighta been thinking about making a meal of your plug! Just some stuff I though you might be interested in! ;-)

    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, 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. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Lovely weather, interesting fishing

Aug 30, 2000:

    Have I ever mentioned that I love this kinda cool, rainy, cloudy weather? Perhaps I have ;-) It's not so much that I loved this weather from the start, but over the years, these kinda days just plain feel "fishy". It's the fish who have taught me to like this kinda weather. Yea, it's not real popular being the guy who prays for rain on Saturday and Sunday, but that's me! Gimme rain, drizzle, clouds, cool onshore breezes...now that's a weekend! Unfortunately, this one got outta hand, the E wind cranked all day yesterday...all night last night...the result? 5-7 foot chocolate milk waves last night...no tellin' what they're up to now. Our weather buoy is, as usual, on the fritz...everything there but wave height :( The Long Island weather buoy is registering a mild 3.6 feet...that's nice plugging/eeling water...and the LI Buoy is usually a bit higher than our local waves. That means that there's likely some very nice waves out there to pleasantly coincide with this wondrously cloudy day!  Unfortunately, a daylight attack is completely outta the question today. Just too much to get done in a short period of time...a wedding Friday will keep me outta here for a few prime hours, the reception that night will keep me outta here for even more hours, but it's my younger bother's wedding, I won't hold it against him ;-) Well, maybe not for long anyway! ;-) A planned fishing expedition for the end of the weekend will keep me outta here even more...so I got a lot to catch up on between now and Friday morning. If you got a chance, go throw stuff in the surf today, it should be interesting.

   Last night, I dragged Charlie kickin and screaming into the hard E winds and 5-7 foot waves. He doesn't like big waves, hates the wind, much as I remind him of all the LARGE taken in the nastiest of conditions, he'd just rather have the wind at his back and not get hammered by the waves. Grudgingly, he let me drag him out on a jetty on our way to fish some Raritan Bay waters. The tide was out a bit, the wind was blowing no more than 25kts ENE...the water was whupped up to a foamy froth....I was in my glory when it started to drizzle!  The big waves were slamming the sides of the jetties, I was in my "nature boy" garb, Dubs in full battle gear. "Nature boy" garb for me is shorts, work boots, Korkers, and short sleeved shirt. And when it's rough, windy, rainy, and cool, I'll wear a light breathable rain coat - no hood. Full battle gear for Dubs is exactly the opposite, whereas I will get drenched from head to toe, he covers ever possible inch, neoprene waders and light raincoat with hood up. I'll do that when it's cold out, but when the airs in the low 70's in the dark, I'd just prefer to mix with the elements a little more! ;-) The water was really wild, waves slamming into waves as they bounced off the jetties, towering waves coming in at all angles....always looking east to see what was coming next. After a few real big sets while we were very near the front, the waves and foam collapsing all around us, Charlie say "Eerie, huh?" I said "Yup...that much more of an adventure!" It really was, it was a job casting...a job trying to stay in touch with your lure...a job watching what the water was doing...spray flying, wind screaming, waves booming all over the place...really makes you feel alive, that's for sure! With all the waves there comes current...a rarity in this bass-less nightmare they call NJ ;-) I figured a big Smilin' Bill might be the ticket, we hadn't had a bump yet on rigged eels and a couple plugs. A few casts with a 1 1/2oz Smilin' Bill with a 7 1/4" black over purple Pork-O and I had the first shot...missed it. A couple casts later another missed shot. And then a third! I'm thinking the Pork-O might be too long...but then realize if it's too long, the fish are probably small anyway! Looking to bend the rod, I replace the big Pork-O with a Fin-S-Fish....nada. Try the other side of the jetty....nada. Hmmm...must a been the pork they were after. We threw a couple more plugs, a few more jigs, and decided it wasn't worth it out there.....I suggested we try inside, when the water gets this big out front, often the fish will be hanging from 1/2 way in all the way to the beach. I can tell Charlie's about had it with the wild waters. A few casts on the way in and he's on the sand, looking for "stuff" with his light. I'm back to a rigged eel, working my way off...and the very last cast to the very last narrow band of water before the beach, I get creamed...and I get the rod bent for the first time. The fish dives into the screaming rip alongside the jetty and is headed east...it feels decent. My only shot of not losing the fish, the black rigged rubber eel, and my leader is to get off the jetty to get an angle that will get my line off the rocks. I'm headed to the sand in a hurry...not cause it was a big fish, but cause my line was all over the rocks as the fish used the rip to get outta there! I jump off on the sand, get control again, and land a nice 14-15# striper. A few seconds reviving it as the waves clobbered me on the beach and I let it go, thankful to get a shot on the last cast there. I goad Charlie into coming back out, he does, but he ain't happy with the wind, waves, etc, etc...so we bail in short order. 

  In the end, we headed up to the Raritan Bay area where we caught blues, weaks, and more stripers. All told, I had 6 stripers, the biggest was the one from the surf...2 bluefish, real bluefish, not the little 1# rat bastages that have been blitzing all day and night all over, these blues were between 6-8#, just as nasty and mean as I remember...and one real nice weakfish around 5#'s. Charlie had a similar score, but he was the real lucky one, he didn't have to deal with any of them bigger rat bastages! We both busted of at least one good fish, just the way it happens some times. Interesting evening to say the least......

    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, 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. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent