February 23, 2000:

  Well, it turns out another person had to be shown the door, but the majority of folks were not surprised. Why do I write about such events? Because I would like for everyone to understand why such drastic measures are taken. If this bores you, my apologies. The person had to be removed, they just refused to adhere to our simple rules here, a total lack of respect for themselves and certainly for the other few hundred folks...that's just not tolerated. We will continue to keep this site respectable, honorable, lighthearted, fun, and most of all, educational for as long as humanly possible! Outbursts like the one last night by the offender are not ever going to be tolerated, there are other sites that will allow them, not here. Order has been returned, please resume normal programming and continue where we left off.....

   I made the link below more obvious to register for the Spring Fling...I received many questions yesterday about it so I made it a little clearer and easier to find! I'm constantly working on better ways to make the things here more visible without cluttering up the place...a challenge to be sure! Suggestions are always welcomed:  suggestions@StripersOnline.com. There were a couple folks concerned yesterday with the insecure ordering pages...I spent much time on that one last night...I do own access to a secure server but had some problems getting the shopping cart (dreaded words!) moved over to the secure server. I will get it there, but at the moment, your credit card purchases are insecure. For those of you that understand that, you will realize how secure "insecure" actually is! First, the way credit cards work is that in the extremely unlikely event that your credit card number and info is intercepted, you are only liable for the first $50 in charges. At least that's the way my credit cards work! What would be involved in capturing someone's credit card info online even on an insecure server is an immense amount of work...it's much easier for criminals to find your social security number and make up phony cards in your name!  The credit card companies will have you shaking and quivering at the thought of someone stealing your credit card info online...that's because they are responsible for the bulk of the charges should such an event actually happen.  Nonetheless, I will diligently and feverishly work on moving the cart to the secure server to lower the likelihood of such an interception from 1/10,000,000 to more like 1/1,000,000,000. Nothing wrong with being safe!  It's easier for a crook to intercept your cordless phone conversations, much easier, than it would be to intercept the numbers in transit between computers. A simple hand scanner can pick up cordless phone conversations for about 1/2 mile!  I will move the scripts, regardless of the actual danger, a perceived danger is more than I would like my potential customers to have to deal with! BTW, thank you all for your orders, things are really moving here! It's only February...my guess is things will really heat up once the fish begin to draw more and more of our attention! As usual, if you ever receive anything from this site that is not 100% to your liking, regardless of our friendships, please send it back to me!  I won't hold it against you, I swear, I would like to have a 100% satisfied customer base...that means everyone of you!  I have yet to receive either one negative comment on the products I've shipped or receive one item back...either they are as good as I say they are or you guys are just being too kind! I won't be insulted, I would rather you be completely satisfied with what you paid for than to think for a moment that someone, somewhere is sitting on an item that wasn't all they hoped it would be....it's ok, I won't take offense!

We're staring at another beautiful day here, it's gorgeous! I am tempted to grab the stuff and give it a go tonight....I just may! Cabin fever hasn't really had a chance this year, we caught fish solidly right up to January 12, it's only been about 5 weeks since then...a long time in a relative scale, but not a long time as far as winters go! Tempting...lows in the 40's...it would feel a lot like the nights in December where the fish were climbing all over our stuff. Even if nothing were caught, it would still feel "right" being out there on such nice nights!  Then I remind myself that soon there will be hordes of stripers rolling in the waves and in the rivers...and it will go on for at least 10 months...and I think how valuable it is when I can at least pretend the fish aren't here!   I dunno Paul, you up for an excursion? :)

You'll notice that there are a couple of links immediately to the right ----------->>>>
They are there for your enjoyment, they both represent different areas attempts at keeping our beaches accessible for all purposes. Many of our friends here belong to these two organizations, take a peek, it can't hurt. No monies have changed hands with these organizations, it's just a courtesy that I am providing while I mull over the advertising options that are presenting themselves to this site. Eventually, these links will move to a link page, a prominent link page, but a link page nonetheless. I have no affiliation with either group, I don't receive any monies for the attention that you folks give them, but I do believe that thier existence as organizations is imperative to our continued access to the shoreline!  If you like the freedom to walk or drive onto the sand, check these folks out, that's what they are here for...to fight for our right to continue to fish from the beaches in our areas! There are other groups like them in other areas and we are working on link swaps with them. If you have any contact with the other groups like these, please contact me and we will try to work out an arrangement with them to help make their cause more known to the folks in their associated areas. 

Have a good one folks, it's nice out, take a walk with your loved one at some point today, it will do the both of you some good. If you live near the beach, do it on the boardwalk and smell that sweet salty air.....ah, I'm imagining that air now....it's sweet....cool....salty....and wait....is that a hint of bunker offshore mixed in with the salty spray?!?!  Damn, where's my rod?  :^)

  StripersOnline.com mailing list: I'm putting together a mailing list for this site, response is quite excellent thus far, it's been available for two days and there's 81 folks registered. I know there are more of you. Let me encourage you to sign up on the mailing list. It won't be used in any derogatory manner, just in an honest attempt to keep you up to date on the many things that will start happening in very short order with this warmer weather. It will also allow me a method to get info to those folks who want it without requiring them to roam through this whole site to find it. A mailing list is one of the tools that a site can use to get info to people who want it in very short order. A complete mailing list is even better! 

   Click here to register for the---> StripersOnline Spring Fling!  Registration for the Spring Fling is under way, response is good, I expected more right away, but I realize that it's still quite a ways away! The sooner you register, the better. An initial idea of the number of folks intending to be here will help in the preparations of this event. So far, there are about 15 paid registrants, at least another 15 verbal agreements to come that haven't yet filled out the form.  My expectation is that around 50 of us will be getting together on that fateful May day to enjoy each others company, fish through the night, then feast in the am....I think it will be an event as to yet unperformed by any website....although each one has threatened to do it...this is the first that I'm aware of to actually be moving forward and will actually happen.  I love the thought of getting not only to meet many of you, but actually getting to fish with you guys. It will be a night of constant moving around, shaking hands, working the surf over a 7 mile stretch...it will be an event to remember, I give you my word!  The breakfast the next morning will be awesome....Laurel & Hardy assure me of it! I met with Rich the other night here, he says "I got a few tricks."  I'm sure he does...much as he is a unicorn hunter, he also hosts dinner parties and does much of the cooking at his house....a truly diverse angler!  Signing up sooner than later will help on this end to get things done accurately and promptly. DPowell is helping me out with a logo which I hope to get turned into T-shirts for the event....so sign up and be counted! :)

Also, for the guys that have been asking, I finished the Deadly Dozen Teasers, and I believe that the teasers/flies there are an excellent starting point to any surf situations! Let me know how you guys like this format, I'll do another one if this one goes over well. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

February 25, 2000:

  As promised yesterday, I moved all the credit card and ordering pages to our secure server, you can now rest assured that your purchases are 100% secure. The secure server uses VeriSign Certificates for authentication....the best and most secure in the industry. Encryption that almost defies reason! Shop...do it securely...we are glad to be able to provide this added measure of comfort for you! Also, I put the first Lex Lures on sale last night...I reduced the price of the Pencil Poppers from $10.75 to $9.99 for the 2oz and from $11.75 to $10.99 for the 3oz! If anyone ordered them within the past week, consider yourself having a credit here for the difference in the pricing...just let me know on your next order that you previously ordered pencil poppers...I'll do the rest! What more could you ask for? :)  These poppers are sure to become everyone's favorite pencil, they are unique in that they have a flat belly running 3/4 of the plugs length. This will help this slow sinking popper to come right to the surface immediately upon beginning your retrieve....something many other excellent casting poppers will struggle to do. Now, as soon as the plug lands, you are fishing...no wasted cranking to get the popper up top, it'll pop right up! I'm looking forward to a few mornings at the Cape Cod Canal as soon as the bass get up top on bait...I'm guessing that will be as soon as the herring begin to fill the Ditch! Man...can't wait for this season...I've never been so well armed...but then again, I've never had such input on the design of such an excellent lure as the Lex's....the unicorns should be quaking in their lateral lines right now! :)

   Things are moving along nicely here, Surf Talk  is hot right now, we're tickling the 300 registered member plateau and the messages and input there are just phenomenal....if you haven't read through some of the posts there, you are missing out on what we feel is the best tool online anywhere to help you catch more stripes. Don't be shy, sign up, the folks there love to help new folks, spelling doesn't count, and no grades or judges you on grammar! Come on in and check it out!  Surf Chat is becoming so second nature to folks, there is no better place to get info immediately! There's not many times during the day or night when you can't find at least a handful of guys over there chatting it up! Don't hesitate to just throw a question into the fray...there are often people there going on about whatever that are just looking for a fishing oriented question...again, I point out that there is no where on-line a group assembled like we have here, helpful, knowledgeable, and patient surf veterans just waiting to make you feel at home! When you register on Surf Chat, please only do so once....then shoot me an e-mail if you need to be approved immediately and I will do so. Registering multiple times will not help you get approved sooner...it will just make it more difficult for me to weed out and decide which registration I think you'd really like to have! All these precautions are in preparation for the new law that will come into effect on April 20, 2000. This is a child protection law that is long overdue. Below is a snippet of the email I received this morning outlining the changes that will be necessary: 

We want to remind you that the upcoming "Children's Online Protection Act" becomes
law in the United States on April 20, 2000.  This may affect even non-US sites.
 This is an excellent law, designed to protect minors from being victimized on
the web, but full compliance requires changes to the registration process.

We will release code on March 21 to allow you to comply with the new law, which
requires children under 12 to have parental approval before giving out any information
about themselves online.  

    This law is welcome and long overdue! There will be no more automated approval for registration for any type of bulletin board or chat room...we will be ready for compliance immediately and these precautions are already being taken to some degree. Keep in mind for the minor inconveniences that you may have to deal with, a little kid somewhere may be spared his life...a very small price for us to pay to do our part.

For those of you that asked, I spoke with Tony "12 beavers" and he agreed that unpainted lures would be an excellent idea. Stay tuned for pricing and which models will be available as plain, unpainted lures.  We have only scratched the surface with the Lex Lures....I can't wait! Have a good one folks, back to the grind! :)

You'll notice that there are a couple of links immediately to the right ----------->>>>
They are there for your enjoyment, they both represent different areas attempts at keeping our beaches accessible for all purposes. Many of our friends here belong to these two organizations, take a peek, it can't hurt. No monies have changed hands with these organizations, it's just a courtesy that I am providing while I mull over the advertising options that are presenting themselves to this site. Eventually, these links will move to a link page, a prominent link page, but a link page nonetheless. I have no affiliation with either group, I don't receive any monies for the attention that you folks give them, but I do believe that thier existence as organizations is imperative to our continued access to the shoreline!  If you like the freedom to walk or drive onto the sand, check these folks out, that's what they are here for...to fight for our right to continue to fish from the beaches in our areas! There are other groups like them in other areas and we are working on link swaps with them. If you have any contact with the other groups like these, please contact me and we will try to work out an arrangement with them to help make their cause more known to the folks in their associated areas. 

  StripersOnline.com mailing list: I'm putting together a mailing list for this site, response is quite excellent thus far, it's been available for two days and there's 81 folks registered. I know there are more of you. Let me encourage you to sign up on the mailing list. It won't be used in any derogatory manner, just in an honest attempt to keep you up to date on the many things that will start happening in very short order with this warmer weather. It will also allow me a method to get info to those folks who want it without requiring them to roam through this whole site to find it. A mailing list is one of the tools that a site can use to get info to people who want it in very short order. A complete mailing list is even better! 

   Click here to register for the---> StripersOnline Spring Fling!  Registration for the Spring Fling is under way, response is good, I expected more right away, but I realize that it's still quite a ways away! The sooner you register, the better. An initial idea of the number of folks intending to be here will help in the preparations of this event. So far, there are about 15 paid registrants, at least another 15 verbal agreements to come that haven't yet filled out the form.  My expectation is that around 50 of us will be getting together on that fateful May day to enjoy each others company, fish through the night, then feast in the am....I think it will be an event as to yet unperformed by any website....although each one has threatened to do it...this is the first that I'm aware of to actually be moving forward and will actually happen.  I love the thought of getting not only to meet many of you, but actually getting to fish with you guys. It will be a night of constant moving around, shaking hands, working the surf over a 7 mile stretch...it will be an event to remember, I give you my word!  The breakfast the next morning will be awesome....Laurel & Hardy assure me of it! I met with Rich the other night here, he says "I got a few tricks."  I'm sure he does...much as he is a unicorn hunter, he also hosts dinner parties and does much of the cooking at his house....a truly diverse angler!  Signing up sooner than later will help on this end to get things done accurately and promptly. DPowell is helping me out with a logo which I hope to get turned into T-shirts for the event....so sign up and be counted! :)

Also, for the guys that have been asking, I finished the Deadly Dozen Teasers, and I believe that the teasers/flies there are an excellent starting point to any surf situations! Let me know how you guys like this format, I'll do another one if this one goes over well. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

February 26, 2000:

    Saturday...I'll be brief! The new is up! This one is one of the creators favorites....DPowell is liking the attitude of the monster bass (rockfish for you southern folks!)  I agree, I've always wondered about those funny "humps" the old fish finder will show that have been apparently barren!  Good one Dave....you have one unique sense of humor! :)  

   The Lex Lures continue to grow in popularity....wait till you guys start throwing them in waters where the fish are...you're going to be well pleased!  Tony's outdoing himself with the quality of these plugs, they are solid and his new finishing process is really tough. I can't wait to get out there and start throwing the new schoolbus and black-n-purple surfsters to the fish that need to be educated as they pass by our little piece of coast on thier way north in a couple months!  Have a good weekend folks, the chat should be lively tonight at 9pm...and very lively for tomorrow nights weekend wrap up! See you there.....

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

February 28, 2000:

 Can you believe it's almost March? The weather feels more like April lately...but I still think it's too soon to actually be March already! Don't get me wrong, no one likes to see winter end more than I do...but I still have so much to do before the season starts again...I'm gonna really have to get crackin'! Before you know it, the water will reach the magic point and the fish will become a nightly occurrence.   I do plan on fishing a little more during the afternoon hours this spring, just for the variety of doing so....we missed a lot of potentially good fishing last year by only venturing out in the dark of night. It seems that in the spring, as in the fall, there can be some pretty interesting daytime action...sometimes even better than the corresponding night action! I'll deny the whole thing about recommending to anyone to fish during the day....but you might see me out and around with the fly rods before the cover of darkness this spring. :)

The weekend was too short, again, but Monday guarantees to balance out the weekend by feeling too long...lucky for us! I took a few folks to see Tony "12 beavers" operation last night, they were duly impressed. I also got the first of the Polaris Poppers from him...pictures will follow this evening! They look sweet....they will obviously cast like guided missile from the feel of them!  We swam a few plugs yesterday, mainly so John could cast Stuu's Breakaway rod....MikeP and I went to actually throw things in the water in an attempt to temp a unicorn. That's didn't go real well, but I think our actual "fishing" casts may have been limited to one or two each! John really liked the rod Stuu bought over with him....I watched Stuu send John's 4oz bucktail into orbit...without the line, but it did go an impressive distance! :)  Me, I just had my trusty old Loomis, every time I use that rod, it reminds me why we've spent so much time together...it just works...it does everything. I don't know if that's a causal relationship...maybe it does so much because I'm so absolutely comfortable with it.....or possibly it's ability to do so much has afforded me the opportunity to use it so much!  The Loomis 108-20C....it's a wonderful rod....I can't wait till the bass come back!  

I'm working on a map and some lodging recommendations for the weary travelers that will partake in the Spring Fling. Lodging in this area is not a problem...at least not before Memorial Day...but I'll put up a few places anyway. None are more than a couple miles from the beach.  I'll put up a map as well...but it's pretty easy. Get on the Parkway...get of at Exit 98...go east till you can't go east anymore...that's the ocean, just fish! I'll do the maps anyway, some folks that are planning to attend are going to be traveling a considerable distance!  This should be a super gathering, the folks that are already registered alone would make it awesome, and there are still 80 days remaining! We will allow registration up to maybe 2 weeks before the event, that will give us an chance to properly prepare in advance for our guests.  

The new is up...check it out, DPowell has once again outdone himself!  Sorry I missed the Weekend Wrap-up on Surf Chat last night, I decided it would be an excellent night to really add to the brownie point jar!  Have a good one folks...this warm weather should it remain in tact will have us with another early spring, catching bass nice and early in the season...am I for one, am counting the days.....

  As promised, I moved all the credit card and ordering pages to our secure server, you can now rest assured that your purchases are 100% secure. The secure server uses VeriSign Certificates for authentication....the best and most secure in the industry. Encryption that almost defies reason! Shop...do it securely...we are glad to be able to provide this added measure of comfort for you! Also, I put the first Lex Lures on sale last night...I reduced the price of the Pencil Poppers from $10.75 to $9.99 for the 2oz and from $11.75 to $10.99 for the 3oz! If anyone ordered them within the past week, consider yourself having a credit here for the difference in the pricing...just let me know on your next order that you previously ordered pencil poppers...I'll do the rest! What more could you ask for? :)  These poppers are sure to become everyone's favorite pencil, they are unique in that they have a flat belly running 3/4 of the plugs length. This will help this slow sinking popper to come right to the surface immediately upon beginning your retrieve....something many other excellent casting poppers will struggle to do. Now, as soon as the plug lands, you are fishing...no wasted cranking to get the popper up top, it'll pop right up! I'm looking forward to a few mornings at the Cape Cod Canal as soon as the bass get up top on bait...I'm guessing that will be as soon as the herring begin to fill the Ditch! Man...can't wait for this season...I've never been so well armed...but then again, I've never had such input on the design of such an excellent lure as the Lex's....the unicorns should be quaking in their lateral lines right now! :)

Also, for the guys that have been asking, I finished the Deadly Dozen Teasers, and I believe that the teasers/flies there are an excellent starting point to any surf situations! Let me know how you guys like this format, I'll do another one if this one goes over well. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

February 29, 2000:

    Happy Leap Day! Wow, that just sounds stupid...I'm surprised the card, gift, flower giants let us get away with this. Here it is, one day every 4 years, a very important day...without it, our calendars would not work....yet, as far as I know, there's not one celebration held for it! There's not a whole row of cards, there's not a flower arrangement named for it, nor a box of chocolates known as the Leap Day Assortment. Sure, it's not a holiday, it's just another day on the calendar...but happening only once every 4 years, shouldn't it be 4 times more reason to celebrate than say, January 1st? January 1st comes every year and is just another day on the calendar. There is one bad thing...if it wasn't leap year today would be the first of March!!  Now that's a reason to celebrate!  With this continued unseasonably warm weather, I have no doubt that the rumors of bass being caught locally will most likely start this weekend. Wow, this winter was seemingly the shortest one ever!  Figures, I got about two more months of getting ready to cram all into one month....luckily the fishing doesn't usually start off hot and heavy....and like the stripers, I will ease into it.  The worm dunkers are already preparing for their initial assaults...some have no doubt already begun soaking blood and sand worms on the warmer outgoing tides in those places that have become way too popular in the past few years. Thankfully, I have zero interest in drowning worms to catch stripers...I'm not in any rush, I can wait for them to take flies before I get started!

    The Spring Fling continues to gather attention...I will now begin putting together a list of motels/hotels in the area that you weary travelers can book to recuperate on Saturday before either fishing again Saturday night or before driving home. A full day of work on Friday followed by a full night of fishing on Saturday followed by a big egg and pig parts breakfast on the grill...that just sounds like at least 6 hours of sleep should follow immediately! :) There's a couple more wrinkles to be worked out. We think now there should be some distinguishing between guys that intend on primarily fishing bait and guys that want to plug or fly fish. This is strictly from a logistics point of view....it would be difficult for a bait crew to keep up the pace of a beach plugger. It wouldn't be fair for the plugger to have the bait guys moving constantly....and conversely, it wouldn't be fair of a bait crew to ask the plugger to continue to beat the same water over and over. We'll have to add that criteria to the process of team selection. The other thing will be a map to show you how to get here. It's really not necessary, it's got to be the easiest place in the world to get to. Once you're in NJ, there's like one more turn to get to the beach here and that's it.  I'll make up a map with one of my mapping programs and make it available on the site.

   I just received the stumpy needlefish and the polaris style poppers Sunday and put the pictures of them up last night...I couldn't be happier with both of them! The stubbies, or "stumpies" as Tony calls them, are perfect in the schoolbus, black, and black-n-purple finishes....I'm still waiting on the blue over white!  Awesome....  The Polaris poppers are super nice, little necks, little heads....nicely weighted in the rear to cast like bombs!  I can't wait, the bass will certainly be caught off guard with all the new lures in new flavors...they won't stand a chance! :)

  Again, to the right here, I'd like for any of you with any interest in continuing beach access for any reason to check out these two links. Both these groups are fighting for continuing beach access for fishermen and all other user groups. The biggest problem with beach access is the fact that the homes on the beach are often multi-million dollar homes and the owners of such mansions are usually of the mind that they "own" everything and they do not like people "intruding" on their beach of fishing in "thier" ocean. Yea, and next time a big government project takes place there, see how fast they was federal dollars to save thier private beach and private ocean! ---------->
Hypocrisy should be against the law...but the already burdened jails would certainly be in real trouble than!  I am looking to get a link for the LIBBA...if anyone has a contact there for me to reach in this quest, please shoot me an e-mail at suggestions@stripersonline.com and I will work out the details with those fine folks! Check out these fine organizations and if you are concerned about access join one of these groups, they are among the few fighting the good fight!

  That's it for now, I'm hoping you all enjoy this weather and have a great day...spring is on it's way!

  As promised, I moved all the credit card and ordering pages to our secure server, you can now rest assured that your purchases are 100% secure. The secure server uses VeriSign Certificates for authentication....the best and most secure in the industry. Encryption that almost defies reason! Shop...do it securely...we are glad to be able to provide this added measure of comfort for you! Also, I put the first Lex Lures on sale last night...I reduced the price of the Pencil Poppers from $10.75 to $9.99 for the 2oz and from $11.75 to $10.99 for the 3oz! If anyone ordered them within the past week, consider yourself having a credit here for the difference in the pricing...just let me know on your next order that you previously ordered pencil poppers...I'll do the rest! What more could you ask for? :)  These poppers are sure to become everyone's favorite pencil, they are unique in that they have a flat belly running 3/4 of the plugs length. This will help this slow sinking popper to come right to the surface immediately upon beginning your retrieve....something many other excellent casting poppers will struggle to do. Now, as soon as the plug lands, you are fishing...no wasted cranking to get the popper up top, it'll pop right up! I'm looking forward to a few mornings at the Cape Cod Canal as soon as the bass get up top on bait...I'm guessing that will be as soon as the herring begin to fill the Ditch! Man...can't wait for this season...I've never been so well armed...but then again, I've never had such input on the design of such an excellent lure as the Lex's....the unicorns should be quaking in their lateral lines right now! :)

Also, for the guys that have been asking, I finished the Deadly Dozen Teasers, and I believe that the teasers/flies there are an excellent starting point to any surf situations! Let me know how you guys like this format, I'll do another one if this one goes over well. 

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent