January 24, 2000:

Well, I hope you all had an excellent weekend, it's Monday, and the ocean's likely too cold to have large numbers of bass cruising near shore. I say large numbers, as I don't doubt that there are some, and the waters coming back up in temp, but it's been below the most feared and dreaded level...it's dipped below 40 degrees! Brrrr..... It didn't stay there long, it was up over 43 again last I looked, but even I, the king of optimism, am not harboring much hope for too much striper action. Now, keep in mind, the fish were cooperating well in the surf in January this year, and it wasn't due to extremely warm water...there was some other factors involved in their extended stay. That being said, there is a flicker of hope, deep down inside, that maybe they just won't leave...maybe they'll just take it easy right here in NJ this winter...maybe they won't have to dodge hundreds of miles of nets south of here.....maybe, just maybe, they'll be excellent fishing in the spring in the surf when the water hits 45 degrees!  That's the temp where we were killing them in January, it's not really too far fetched! Who am I kidding, I've actually enjoyed not going in the past week or so, it's nice to be home with my better half, and as she would say, "It's Carole season now!"  I couldn't agree more, the stripers have been here too long this year, I don't know if 10-12 weeks is enough time to heal 10 months of hard bass fishing....I'll let you know in April! :^)  

Well, I must say, you guys have again made me proud to be your host here! The new "cool thing" here, Surf Chat is an astounding hit! It started almost immediately Thursday when I let you guys know about it...but it picked up steam that night...Friday was quite impressive...I think it became self perpetuating on Saturday and Sunday. Now? I doubt I'll get a chance to apply all the updates to that directory without a fight! ::))  It really does my heart good to see you guys using the things that are available, I guess it has to do with being involved every step of the way. I love nothing more than to run into a half dozen or more of you over there, just hangin' out, talking fishing, teasing JohnM, a.k.a., "Typo." I think it was Saturday, I teasingly suggested that I write a script to interpret some of John's more predictable typos...Charlie figured decoder rings might be a better idea...John suggests a "Let's Pick on JohnM Forum" might be in order! :)  The pace can get frantic there, but I think I'm actually strengthening up my stomach muscles with all the intense laugh sessions there! I gotta hand it to many, many of you, you are sharper and faster than I am at the helm there....I'm often in stitches laughing before I can even reply! You are a witty bunch. MikeP had some sort of revolving door syndrome on Friday night, he's in....he's out....he's in...over and over...that alone turned into a blast, JeffH, ChrisR, and SamF had me in stitches again!  I can only take the frantic pace in there for a little while at a time, Charlie and I were switch hitting from here on Saturday. I was a little surprised to see him hangin' there from home when I checked in last night as Paul and I were eating some Amish friendship bread that my wife made. Good stuff...the bread and the chat stuff. So, keep an eye over there, or setup a chat just by letting others know when you plan on being there. You can do it by e-mail, posting on Surf Talk or even a phone call! It's pretty cool, I'm still working on the controls from here, there's a lot of things to do keep track of to see who's doing what when, but the gentlemen of this site have proven themselves again! Kudos to all of you, you're making my end of this easier by not forcing me to "lock" things up. I can't stand bulletin boards where they have absolutely no trust, either in their current users or new users, they force you register, then you have to wait for the password to come by e-mail, then you can go register again with this password, then you can change the password to your password...and then you can post on the board! Too much work for the casual poster. Honesty and trust breed themselves, snowballing into a family...I guess so to do their evil opposites....I guess you reap what you sow. A little respect for others really goes a long way in this world and I thank each one of you for returning the respect I've shown you, I haven't been let down yet, you are true gentlemen.

Lot's of things in the works, not the least of which is the Lex Lures that I am now carrying! I'm excited, but I think I went over that before, Tony has given you and I both a unique opportunity. Exclusive plugs and colors for people who frequent this site...they won't be available anywhere else in the world...just for you guys!  I want the Lex pages to be top notched, they are taking a bit longer than I thought they would, but I'm going to let you loose on the pages anyway. Mind you, the only page that is finished is the surfster style swimmer...the others wait only for the addition of the pictures and the color/size chart.  So, I'll let you see the process in the works. Lex Lures on StripersOnline! The rest of those pages will be done before tomorrow, I ran into a little problem upgrading my Front Page software last night...eesh, I don't even wanna think about that....I'll have them done then.

I'm also struggling to get the "Recommended Dozen" pages up...my personal 1 dozen picks of teasers. I was doing fine, till I realized that I had no pictures of my two new favorite teasers...the two that really scored this January, both of them caught impressive fish for the crew! The one is a 4/0 Schoolbus hackle teaser, a.k.a. "Paul's Teaser"....you don't wanna know how many of the keepers taken in December and January had that thing in the faces! :) The other was a late arrival, but also landed my best bass of Y2K so far on it's opening debut, a fish over 20#'s on the 4th cast ever made with it...not bad for January! :)  That one's a ominous combination of many long black saddles, a deep purple collar, gold, blue, and pearl flashabou, in just the right amounts...a strip of lighter purple on top of that, topped with a nice little pile of peacock herl...it's a pretty one! So, I gotta get those two flies pictures, then I'll have the dozen selection all done...I want it to be good, not just 12 flies in a box that I'm selling, but twelve flies in the box that I would choose over all the others I make as the "must haves" of teaser fishing. It is a daunting task, it cannot be taken lightly...many of my teasers are right now trying to stay on my good side, lookin' for that "edge" to make the cut, pullin' out all the stops! (I don't want to tell them it's been decided, I like it when they're all on their best behavior! :))

Also, we've been blessed with the talents of one of the regulars here who will now be bringing us his own and our own surf fishing comics!!  The ones I have seen are hysterical! Dave Powell is a gifted thinker and a very talented artist...and has an almost eerie fishes perspective of things! ;^) His pages are the very next to go up this morning, but I'm rushing to get this one up...the phone won't stop...and my inbox sounds like some symphony warming up at Carnegie Hall!! Hey, who's complaining, you guys are the best! Or, as DanO would say "You guys rule!" So, stop back shortly, I'll put up the link to DPowell's new StripersOnline only comic strip...it's called "Rockfish"...and it rules! Thanks Dave! There will be more details on the pages where the comics will be. 

I feel like I'm leaving something out, but I gotta get this page up!!! If I can think of what it is, I'll just added to the top of this page as an update. Have a great day folks, things are gonna get real interesting around here in the near future, and all the thanks go to you guys/gals that have helped to keep the ball rollin'! :)

Hope you all have a great day, and remember to keep young Kraig in your prayers. One of our friends, KenK has asked us to keep his son and family in our prayers as Kraig is going through some tough times. See the "Future Surfcaster needs your prayers" thread on Surf Talk for all the details. We're praying and pulling for you Kraig and Ken, in God's hands is about the safest place you can be.

Charlie Fact: According to my records, I've caught 214 stripers since Charlie's last trip on December 4th...a fair number of them were keepers...the fishing just continues on, even though the weather is becoming less and less pleasant, they keep on eatin'! **NOTE: I was secretly shooting for 200 before they left...now I'm thinking that might have been a bit pessimistic of me, let's see if I can get to 250 before they leave! :)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

January 27, 2000:

Man, things are getting a little crazy, it's all I can do to keep from falling off the horse here!!  Not that that's a bad thing, don't get me wrong, I just have to work out a better plan for keeping this, the main page, my pride and joy...where I get to talk and you get to listen :) up to date! I think with the fishing so poor (well it is winter and there is 10 inches of snow on the beach) that my writing is suffering the withdrawal of those first few weeks without so much as a cast into the salt. It is sad, but we all know that the whole body is connected to each other part, physically and spiritually...I think when I go to write, my hands are of the mindset "How can you ask us to do such a thing!!! We're in mourning here, no bass slime for fifteen days now!!!!" I encourage them, talk to them, I'll pick up the little trout rod that's rigged for Calvin and lob a few casts into the hall way and let the cat "surprise" the little "fuzzy mouse" when I hop it past him.....but my hands ache for the sweet smell of striper slime! :) I think I'll have to keep a fillet in the freezer next winter, I could at least take it out, hold it, maybe put just a tiny piece of it on my desk near me so that deliciously mild, almost erotic scent, can waft up and tickle my olfactory system....  A hobby? I doubt it. I need these fish! ::))

So, the Lex Lures deal is well underway, I've got 3 big boxes here, all of them represented on the pages except the 1oz and 2oz Lex Style plugs...I'll do them this evening, God willing. I will let you know when all of the pages for these lures are up, right now I don't have any Polaris style poppers for photos, and the 3oz Dani style plugs either...but I did talk to Tony yesterday, he's been busy as 10 beavers, he's got tons of stuff done and ready to swing by as soon as he can. I have a new nickname for him, "The Whirling Dervish of Wooden Plugs!" You can't slow this guy down, not for a second! I gave him a pretty tall order...2 custom colors for all the 2oz swimmers, the schoolbus and the black-n-purple, gave him another color to work on, handed him 2 plastic plugs that I want to see in wood, requested that he add 2 styles of needles exclusively for this site, and picked out some colors on a couple other things. Two days later, he calls to ask me "What else?" He's incredible! :) I understand, according to the folks Tony met in CT, that Gibbs is discontinuing their stubby needle. Now, around here, it was never popular, I never saw one till I went up to the Cape Cod Canal with MikeP, JohnM, and Dubs last year...but I fell instantly in love. Then I started to hear more and more about them...I think they were just ready to become very popular in my area, and now they are done. That is until I gave Tony specs on two of them that will only be available here! I think you stubby needle guys will be very happy with them. You'd think that being exclusively available here, I'd be able to price them at a painful number, but I promise to keep the price at a very reasonable number, you won't find any gouging going on here! My goal is not to make tackle shopping painful for you folks, it's to make the best lures, flies, jigs, and stuff available to you in one place, all of it tested, all of it first class, and all of it very reasonably priced! I'd rather keep the prices under control, get more readers to the site, and make money through sponsorships and associate programs. See, when it comes down to it, unlike other sites, I am but one of you, I know the pain of casting off a $16 lure...know what it feels like to lose 13 jigs in an outing...I can burn up fluorocarbon leaders faster than anyone I know...and when you're getting gouged to buy all this stuff, it takes the fun out of fishing! The last thing I want to be accused of is taking the fun out of anyone's fishing, I want to add the fun, increase your successes, limit your failures, and most of all, I want to make this place your striper fishing community. So far, so good, there's over 200 folks registered on Surf Talk, nightly sessions on Surf Chat that defy reason, and about 50 folks on the Photo Pages! It really is happening, the family is coming together nicely, and it's not just "people" that can be found here, but kind, respectful, knowledgeable, surf fishermen...it's more than I could have ever asked for! Each one has my utmost respect, from the newest guys to the oldest friends, you guys/gals are the best, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! One thing that I've noticed, there aren't many women around, at least not registering anywhere or letting me know that they are snooping around. I think that's a shame, I think women are awesome, they have skills and thought processes that men have to really work at. They bring something to a place like this that is very necessary, I'd like to hear from a few of you regarding this. If you are of the fairer sex and are interested in surf fishing, please shoot me an e-mail at TimS@stripersonline.com and let me know if there is anything that is keeping you from "going public" on this site! I will keep all e-mails confidential, I promise, I am just curious as to why I'm not hearing from some of you. I find myself to be very much like the majority of surf fishermen here, I am sure you will be treated like a woman, respected like you deserve, and your husbands/boyfriends will be envied like crazy! Secretly, many of us wish that our wives shared in some of the insanity that we all live while the stripers are near! :)  I want to be certain that everyone feels very comfortable here, in every facet of this site, and the only way I will be able to do that is to hear from some of that aren't. We'd all appreciate any input that is given, and you might just find that us guys really aren't all that bad! :)

We've just welcomed a new contingent to Surf Talk, a group of mainly boat fishermen from the Chesapeake area. I think that's cool, as it's an area that I have no experience in but long to try. I'd like to make sure, again, that all feel welcome there, including the ones who chose the motorized fiberglass fishing platforms as their main plan of attack. If you guys would like, I can add a boaters type forum on Surf Talk, where you'll expect to run into more like minded individuals. There's no harm in a couple boating threads in the main forum, but if they begin to overwhelm the surf oriented nature of the joint, I'll have to boot you boaters to your own digs! :) I think a boating forum would be a good idea, there's plenty of died in the wool surf fishermen that will occasionally confess harassing the bass from above...and some will even fish for other fish...which brings me to another point, I just recently have been told that there other fish besides stripers! SteveS was among the ones who opened my eyes to this, he says "Of course there are other fish, there are bunkers, herring, and shad as well!" Thanks Steve, I had long suspected this, it's good to know that I am not alone in these suspicions! :)

On Tuesday, I gave Poppy a little razzin' here about his most successful boating trip recently. I didn't realize it at the time, but the cartoon for this week, the debut cartoon in fact, also featured Poppy. The result? Good natured jest from Poppy, accusing D_Powell and I of attacking the "greatest surfcaster of the Delmarva"...well, you can guess where that went!!  Plug, always on his guard, did not let that one slip past without reminding Poppy of thier first and only trip so far, where Plug educated the lone striper that evening. It keeps snowballing from there...and it's too funny! :) Dave and I were trying to figure out a way to humble Poppy in light of his recent "fame"....Dave, think this will do it? :^) In reality, I don't think you'd find such good sports as hang here anywhere, the humor and quick whit of these folks never ceases to amaze me...I always thought surf fishermen were just plain folks, never realized so many had such a sense of humor...I was pleasantly surprised by it all!

I've got a bunch of new pictures for the Photo Pages!, they are going up a few at a time. I put up Rick7's pictures last night, I still have others to do! I'm working with DaveC trying to get them to me in a format I can use, have one of Mrs. JohnM with a nice striped marlin....unfortunately, there's one of Mrs. JohnM that we'll never get to see here...it's the photos of the time when she caught a 38#+ striper while John was chasing snappers on a sunny afternoon down at IBSP! Seems something "happened" to the camera....accident? I don't know...I'd be a little suspicious of that one, the families largest LARGE...taken by the missus...convenient accident, perhaps? ::))  There are so many others, it's a pleasure to put them all up, but the editing and making of the pages takes a little time...but I am ever vigilant in doing so, they'll all make it there and I'm begging for more pictures!! It helps to glue the community here together, sharing memories of our fellow surf brethren...so send 'em in guys...all of 'em! If it made you smile, we want to see it! I will have a new e-mail setup just for pictures, pictures@stripersonline.com, but it won't be active until about 6pm tonight, so send them to TimS@stripersonline.com if you have them ready before that! :)

That's it for now, I hope to be able to get back on track tomorrow with this page being updated first thing in the am, but I've been extremely and pleasantly busy lately, with no fish to report, but will keep you all up to date with the goings on around here. Have a great day folks, I'm going to start the count down to 50 degree surf temperatures soon! :) And thanks again to all of you, you are really making this site "happen!" :)

Hope you all have a great day, and remember to keep young Kraig in your prayers. One of our friends, KenK has asked us to keep his son and family in our prayers as Kraig is going through some tough times. See the "Future Surfcaster needs your prayers" thread on Surf Talk for all the details. We're praying and pulling for you Kraig and Ken, in God's hands is about the safest place you can be.

Charlie Fact: According to my records, I've caught 214 stripers since Charlie's last trip on December 4th...a fair number of them were keepers...the fishing just continues on, even though the weather is becoming less and less pleasant, they keep on eatin'! **NOTE: I was secretly shooting for 200 before they left...now I'm thinking that might have been a bit pessimistic of me, let's see if I can get to 250 before they leave! :)

January 28, 2000:

Winter is really apparently intent on sticking around this time! We've had some of the coldest weather here at the Jersey shore that I can remember in a good number of years...and that's not the kind of start to winter that I prefer. Actually, in retrospect, it was a grand beginning to the winter, there were stripers caught by many of the guys who ventured out in the cold right up until January 12th. Not just stripers, but lots of them. Not just lots of them, but good ones...some night, the keepers made up half the catch. That was probably the oddest thing about the beginning of this winter, the size of the fish we were catching till we quit. Last night, Paul told me the temp on Sunday/Monday is supposed to be in the mid 30's or so...and I told him I'm in! I'm dyin' to know if the bass will still take plugs. I've never tried anywhere near this late in the season, one thing I've learned, if you aren't trying yourself, don't count out the fish. That's just a different way of saying "Don't believe everything you read." We all fish differently...some guys have trouble getting bit in a blitz and some guys can pluck stripers out of a 55 gallon drum in the backyard...gotta try it yourself to really be sure. After all, reports are really not that important other than to find out how others are doing. For instance, if you are a clam soaker, a report about guys killing them on bombers on jetty fronts has no relevance to you...other than to know that the fish are around. Ditto, you throw bombers, a successful clam fishing adventure does you little good as well. There's even another way to look at it, my eyes just recently opened to this one on Surf Chat by DougC. He said to me "I recently learned not to let your fishing reports bother me." I inquired "How's that?"  To which he replied "I now know that how you do has little effect on how I will do." I commended him on his astute observation and agreed to the truths in his statement. Again, we all fish differently. The guys that have spent any time on the water with me can attest, I generally do not know how to give up on the fish. They may not be there, but I'll be the last person to be convinced. Long after the rest of the gang is standing on dry land flappin' thier gums, I'll be going through the checklist, making sure I didn't miss anything or leave anything out. This has spared me from the skunk skin cap on many nights! Tenacity, optimism, or uneasiness that I have been beaten by the fish, I'm not sure which it is, but I just hate to concede that they are not there! Don't know where this all came from, I guess I just miss my friendly neighborhood unicorns to the point of flappin' my gums about them! I need to go fishing.

Sorry about the Photo Pages! yesterday, they were looking good from here, but when I published them instead of using FTP, changes were made without me knowing and they were usable yesterday, but a mess! Embarrassing to say the least, no one complained until Carole got home...she told me she was trying to show a friend of hers from school and it was "weird." Almost immediately I was working to rectify the problem, then JohnB fired me an e-mail. It was titled "The software tester in me...." I smiled, I knew what it contained even before I opened it...and I was correct in my assumption! Thanks JohnB, I got it all worked out now! :^)

Surf Chat continues to entertain many folks, myself included! The people over there have continuously showed me what fine folks they are, I haven't had one problem with anyone as of yet. Well, almost anyway. I'll take care of the one holdout who just seems to forget that he's talking to a room full of adults in a surf fishing oriented chat room. I almost had the chance last night, but as soon as he logged in with some long name that the JAVA truncated, I think he saw I was there and he bailed. I'm guessing he reads this page as well and if so, keep it to fishing, fishing related topics, or whatever the "flow" currently is...not one person that I know of logs on there to hear someone too young to vote going on about politics. I'm sure there are places online where you can find a politically oriented chat room with folks hangin' there for just that reason, but Surf Chat is not one of them. I don't have many rules, just one, we all know what it is, and by ignoring the cries of the others in residence when you turn the topic to your elementary politics, you are breaking that rule. Nuff said, the respectful way or the highway, your choice.

I am working on refining/rebuilding the Fishing Reports! section this morning, so it may be down or just plain "funny." It'll be better when I am done...I hope! :) I will make it append the current report to the top of the page, so you won't have to scroll to the bottom in hopes that there is a new report telling us that the fish haven't left yet and are still feeding voraciously (I know, cause I check everyday looking for the same report!) I'm also looking for a different type of fishing report handler, the one there is a simple one I made up myself....it's not bad, I'd like to be able to break it down into regions or states or what ever. I think I can the way it is...or at least integrate a search engine into it so you can search for "NJ" or "NY" or whatever. I figure this is a good time to work on that page, as the reports just aren't flowing there with the lack of fishing that is going on....and that's sad! ;(  But, there will come a time, only maybe 6 or 7 weeks, when the "first" bass will start to make a showing, and by then, I'd like to have the fishing reports be a useful tool in helping you get a feel for where the bass are. (See first paragraph and you'll understand why I didn't say "helping you catch bass.") It will help you catch more bass, even if it only frustrates you into fishing more or fishing methods that you don't normally use...but I won't promise that!

It's been about a week since I let loose with a new "cool" thing...I'm due. :^) I'll try to figure out what's next in store for you guys, there's still a few buns in the oven, just gotta see which ones are properly cooked and I'll serve it up. Hang on, I'm just thinkin' here....this week so far we got and Lex Lures....that's two new things! :) Aw heck, if I can come up with another, I'll let it loose before the weekend anyway! It's the least I can do, here it is ice cold and bleak outside, and you fine folks are still placing orders...you deserve more cool stuff! :)

The Lex Lures thing is moving right along, I put up another page there last night, the one that many of the locals have "forced" Tony to keep making, the Lex style swimmer. It's a Fatboy plug with the top shaved down surfster style. It's shorter and a bit fatter than a surfster, but the sloping head gives it the best features of both plugs! I didn't hear from Tony yesterday, but I'm sure he's still going through a jungle of wood everyday trying to get out all the new exclusives that I put him up to....so a group chant of "Tony, Tony, Tony" might be in order here, he's gotta be feeling it by now! :) I don't know how you do it Tony, but I'm certainly glad you are! Keep up the good work...we'll have to find some water to test out that new one...lots of things are all froze up now! :)

Hope you all have a most excellent day today, TGIF and all that stuff! I'd like to wish a good friend all the best as they "start over" professionally. Sometimes changes thrust upon us by others end up being the best thing that ever happened to us. Best of luck, I'm sure you'll get what you're looking for!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

January 31, 2000:

**Update: Surf Chat  is back up!! I moved it to a new directory, so please follow this link to the new location. If you book marked the old place, it won't work anymore! 

*Update: I almost forgot, the new   cartoon is up! It will be replaced with a new one each Saturday morning, so long as Dave tolerates my forgetting to mention that it has been changed! :)

The last day of the first month of the new millennium....sounds like a baseball statistic..."This is the first time that a lefty has pitched to a righty with the moon visible on a rainy Tuesday on the hitters daughters 4th birthday!"  Yea, like that's relevant to anything in the world outside a book of baseball firsts! Anyway, sometimes that baseball thing can make for good analogies!  So, the Super Bowl is over, the Rams win...and I didn't even turn on a TV yesterday...not once. I hear it was an excellent game, I'm glad for you guys that watched it, nothing worse than a bad Super Bowl...you know the ones....27 point lead at the half...thrill a minute. Those are usually the ones where I've put in the effort to get dressed up nice and go to someone's fancy Super Bowl Party....you know the party...the one where you wish the game was more interesting!  To tell you how much football I watch...I hadn't even heard of the Titans before Friday when I happened to nose through an actual printed news paper (the on-line ones are much more efficient with all the search features!) 

I hope you all had a nice weekend, got to see some friends and spend some time with your families. Sunday afternoon I learned that Surf Chat was down!  I was shocked...it's been running smoothly since I put it on the server. After much adieu, I finally gave in an loaded a different chat script...but I don't like it! It was kinda humorous though, I was working on making it private and secret (two terms that I didn't really understand when it comes to IRC) and people just kept popping in and saying hi. Normally, that's expected, but some of these people had names that I knew didn't come from fishermen! I ignored them, but felt rude...I was working on the scripts though.  Just after Midnight_Angel popped in for the second time, SteveS comes in...he sees that it's just Angel and myself in the room and says "Tim, what the hell is going on here!?!?"  Then Angel says "hi" to him and he says "hi" back.  I was laughing in my chair...waiting for his wife to look over his shoulder and have him try to explain why Angel was in a fishing chat room!  Anyway, I explained to Angel that this was a fishing site, being setup for surf fishermen....she said "cool." I explained the problems I was having and she spent nearly an hour walking me through some of the things I didn't understand. Although we really didn't get too far, she did help me understand more about the way it all works...so Angel if you happen to come back this way, thank you for your time, you were a big help! It was also funny when Carole sat down to see what I was up to...and it was just Angel and I in the room chatting! :)  I explained that she was helping me understand the way it all worked...Carole was a little suspicious...but Angel and I plugged away, trying many things to get the room off the lists where it popped up when I registered it.  Just as Angel and I split up, Jim-DE e-mailed me...and I called him over there. Jim used to host a mIRC room...he helped to further my understanding of the way IRC works. Even though it worked, and Paul, DougC, Jim and I chatted for a while, I don't like the format! I did manage to somehow keep the casual observers out, I guess the secret thing worked after all!  Hours later, I found the answer to why the other room had gone down and let my domain host know what needed to be done. I am waiting on an answer right now from them. I miss the other format! Won't be long, it'll be back up.

I got another page of Lex Lures up...two actually...the Lex Style Swimmers and some Dani Trolling Swimmers. The trolling swimmers are actually just up there in two colors that will be discontinued...I have all of them left that Tony had...once they are gone, they may be gone forever!  Hard to tell with Tony, but that's what he threatened....he says he doesn't want to make the rainbow plug anymore...it has 13 coats of paint on it! I don't blame him a bit...that's a lot of paint!  I'm waiting on the custom colors and the first 4 of the exclusive plug designs. He suddenly split Saturday for a show in NY...I was planning on going over and gathering up arm loads of new stuff for photos...but that didn't work out as he wasn't there! I did manage to switch his site over to point in this direction...he really wants out of the internet portion of the business, I gladly accepted! :) I expect to have photos of the missing plugs up there this week...as soon as I get them I will put them up!

Charlie put in considerable effort on Friday night to get the new logo up at the top of this page. I think it's cool with the water on the bottom of the page, but I don't know if it really satisfies me. I think it is lacking something! If anyone has any ideas on it, let me know as suggestions@stripersonline.com as I can't put my finger on it as to why it leaves me wanting...maybe you can help!

The question I posed last week as to women on this site has as of yet gone unanswered. It did turn into an excellent thread on Surf Talk that BrianBM started. Tres supplied some photos of some real women surf casters...not the least of which was Surfgirl...someone that many of us are familiar with from the WMI board! Surfgirl, if you read this and try to register, I think someone took your name. I doubt it's sincerity though, as the e-mail address they used appears to be a phony one. If that wasn't you, shoot me an e-mail at tims@stripersonline.com and I'll remove it the unused name so you can register in the manner to which you've become accustomed! Maybe if you do come to Surf Talk, you can help us Neanderthals understand some of the challenges that women find in the suds! :)  I received a phone call from the wife of a surf caster...she's also my wife's best friend. Sue is unique, if she had any inkling to fish the surf in the middle of the night by herself, she would. As it stands, she does go when DJ takes her, but I know if she was truly hooked, she be going whenever she wanted to! DJ knows he's got a good one in Sue, she's a sweetheart. If you happen to be snooping around here either Sue or DJ, hello!  DJ, send me some pictures, I know you were scoring some nice fish this fall! :)

Well, that's about it for today...the fishing trip that was in the wings for last night was put off with the freezing rain and the snow...the outlook is bleak to say the least! I will try again given a decent weather forecast one evening...just to be sure they have vacated the area, but I'm pretty sure that they have! They'll be back before you know it, so get all your gear ready, organize all the "messes" that resulted from last years efforts...maybe even catch a few nights of sleep...you'll need them when the bass come back in but 6 or 8 weeks! Have a good one folks, I'd like to end this one with a hearty thank you for the continued excellent reviews of this site and the continuous orders that you folks are placing! You guys, again to quote DanO, "Rule!"  

Hope you all have a great day, and remember to keep young Kraig in your prayers. One of our friends, KenK has asked us to keep his son and family in our prayers as Kraig is going through some tough times. See the "Future Surfcaster needs your prayers" thread on Surf Talk for all the details. We're praying and pulling for you Kraig and Ken, in God's hands is about the safest place you can be.

Charlie Fact: According to my records, I've caught 214 stripers since Charlie's last trip on December 4th...a fair number of them were keepers...the fishing just continues on, even though the weather is becoming less and less pleasant, they keep on eatin'! **NOTE: I was secretly shooting for 200 before they left...now I'm thinking that might have been a bit pessimistic of me, let's see if I can get to 250 before they leave! :)

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent