All right, it's been exactly one full day since I put my site into the public's keen eye. I've heard a lot of compliments, I'm sure you are all being too kind, it's a very new thing, both html publishing and this site, so I thank you for being gentle. I am going to try something a little different than the same old page showing up every day, instead, I will try to put some thoughts down for each new day! You know, some reports on the fishing, maybe some conjecture as to things yet to come, maybe some things that are happening somewhere else on the striper coast....who knows? Anyway, I'll start this one off with a report.

This evening, Charlie and I got out for the first time since Saturday evening...what a washout Saturday evening was, but that's another story. Let me add first, that our club, the Shark River Surf Anglers, placed a respectable second place in this past weekends tournament, losing to Team Mullet by 6 or 7 pounds I'm told. Just think, one more cast, maybe an additional cup of coffee, a little more effort, one more keeper could have put us in the front of the pack, but we'll take second any time we can get, being that we are grossly outnumbered by the bigger clubs, we more than hold out own! Regardless, back to this evening. We started out with plans to get in on some daytime action, but the daylight was dwindling as we were dawdling, and we ended up not wetting a line till almost dark...so much for that! As luck would have it, my first cast resulted in a good shot...I set up...and the drag slipped...a lot. Oops, I forgot, I had just cleaned and lubed the green beauty and forgot to set the drag..my bad. As luck would have it, the patient little striper waited for me to right the drag situation and was promptly released...I did notice it was a bit skinny. That was it for a while...not a touch. Charlie stuck one after a bit, a little bigger than mine, and it too, was released. Then my turn, bigger yet...released. Then my turn again...bigger still, possibly legal, released. Then Charlie's turn again...released. We were fishing 5/8oz ball jigs with Fin-S-Fish in a spot where the slackening tide can make for some excellent action. As the tide died however, so did the fishing. The tide was turning, so we decided to hang around a bit, see what the outgoing would yield....nada. Scant moments before I was going to verbalize my desired to split, there was a little bunker scattering going on upcurrent from our position...we decided to investigate. Turns out it was a good thing we did, saved us a half hour drive and some driving on the beach (that was Plan B). After the smoke cleared, the final tally was not too shabby, I had 23 bass and one 5# bluefish...all released. Charlie had 25 bass. I'm guessing about 1/3 to 1/4 were keepers, and although I walked away with Charlie edging me out by a 2 fish margin, I did have the biggest, maybe 13#. Most of these fish ate plain 1 1/2 oz Smilin' Bill bucktails. Some ate plastic stuff on ball jigs, but the plastics don't last like the bucktail does, so we opted for the hair. All these fish were released, unharmed, if you don't count the hook holes in their lips! I almost got the bluefish on the finger treatment, after about 30 bass between us, I almost stuck my hand blindly into the razor lips face...but just as my instinct was moving my hand towards where the jig was attached to the fish, I got that little chill down the spine, a warning like that could only come from above, and I put the light on the little fish...sure enough, it was a razor lips! That was a close one, and I'm usually very careful, but was a bit tired. I thanked the parties responsible for the warning and let the little blue back go. That was it, 48 bass and one lone blue fish. I think my next trip out will be in the suds, they were flattening out nice and holding that dirty, off colored look that I like...maybe the bass will hit the beaches by tomorrow afternoon, I'm betting there will be a good showing in the suds before dark tomorrow, but it's all speculation.

We have another tournament this weekend, my favorite kind, a 32" minimum and we can fish all waters! That's the rules I'd pick if anyone asked me to make the decision, all tournaments would be with those rules. Sadly, no one asked me, so I blunder along, following the rules each club makes for their own tournament. Well at least the rivers and bays count for this one, last weekend was a tough one in the suds around here, I'm glad that's over!

There it is, my first report on my first web site. I'd like some more input from anyone who stops by, let me know what kind of things you'd like to see here, send some pictures, reports, or stories you'd like posted. Whatever, this site is here for you, the loosely knit bunch, the striper hunters!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

First, last night's report:

I'm feeling a little out of touch again with the ocean. I've been fishing twice since last weekend, and neither time did I make one cast in the surf, I miss it. Yesterday I was intent on staying home after work, resting up for our tournament which started at midnight...but then I got the frantic call from Hardy...he was standing in the midst of breaking bass, jumping peanuts, and he said some of the fish were of epic proportions. Needless to say, this was enough to drag me from here and put there in the water with him....I even convinced Charlie to go, even though he looked really intent on waiting till midnight. So, we drive up, gear up, hit the water...and it's desolate...not a sign of life, except for some peanuts. We had to look for Rich, as he was hiding behind a big concrete barrier and was not visible when we first walked up to the sand. There were a few guys there, waiting no doubt for the tide to change. We hung out, casted for a while, and watched the tide finish coming in...I gave Rich some jigs as when he called, he said he just stuck his last one to the bottom. Laurel (Geoff) showed up not too much later. I forgot what nice guys these two are, I hadn't fished with them in some time, they are worth knowing. Once the tide slacked out, I stuck one on a special weapon, a hybrid rigged eel/jig contraption...it's not as complicated as it sounds. I released the little fella and promptly stuck it's twin. We were in the wrong spot, the wrong angle, every rule of physics was against us here. Charlie landed a little one a few minutes later. Geoff and Rich were "learning" this spot and this type of water, which is very new to them both. Charlie lost a nicer fish, due mainly to the physics of the now outgoing tide. The fish were putting on quite a show in the dark, busting up the peanuts pretty good, much to Geoff's amusement. I'll never get tired of watching people overflow with the enthusiasm that comes with newness, in it's purest form it's absolutely shameless. One of the biggest thrills I get in fishing is sharing an experience with an older person who has caught ten of thousands of bass, and watching them get as excited as a schoolgirl with the anticipation of approaching breaking fish...it makes me smile inside as I know that's what keeps these guys young! Back to the fish....OK, so they're bustin' up the nuts, but there out of range, not distance wise, but structure wise...one by one, we shift to the other side of the structure to reach the fish. They are quite fussy, even though they are breaking easily in range, not a hit between Geoff, Charlie and I...I'm a bit flustered, as the same fish last night whacked bucktails with abandon. We cycle through some different lures, different jigs...there's much speculation as to why they aren't hitting. As the fish slowly stop breaking and the peanuts appear to relax and reschool...suddenly, Geoff is in. Mind you, this bucktailing thing is quite new to Rich and him, so along with some pointers about not too much action, I gave him the only 1 oz Smilin' Bill in my pocket....and this is what the fish grabbed. I enjoyed watching Geoff land this fish, it wasn't big, maybe 5-6#, but very fat and feisty. Geoff and Rich certainly have two different perspectives while fighting fish, I'll call Geoff's the "gentleman's approach" and I'll call Rich's "kickin' their asses", complete with verbal assault...but the verbiage has been getting better! Geoff remembered to bring his camera, so I got a couple shots of him with the guest of honor, and then the fish was released. Charlie and I casually dismiss this, we are both glad for Geoff, we had some fish on the other side and it was good to see someone getting more comfortable with this uncomfortable type of fishing. But then it happened again, Geoff's in...a little bigger fish, landed, admired...released. OK, two's not that big a deal, we are now looking for the right bucktail, like the one I gave Geoff...this is when I realized I had given him the only short shanked 1 oz SB in my pocket...again, no problem, I have 1 1/2oz ones. Rich slides up from the other side, I inform him Geoff is starting to get in a groove...Rich says something about "noogies", we all laughed. Uh oh, Geoff's in again, I start to get the feeling I gave him the lucky jig and inform him of such... I think Geoff landed 4 fish there before I got a hit. That's pretty impressive, as Charlie was likewise drawing blanks. For each fish Geoff stuck, he was missing a hit or two...so he's now had about 10 hits, me and Charlie, zero. Something's amiss here! Finally, I get a hit, not on a bucktail, but on the eel/jig hybrid....I land the fish, tell Geoff his parties over, and Charlie hooks one...than another...then it's my turn again...ok, things are looking up. Completely out of the blue, Rich shouts "Man, I have no idea how many Big Mac's I'm gonna eat when I get outta here!" This catches all of off guard, we all laugh, Rich has a way of doing that. Geoff got a couple of very rare action shots of me locked in battle with the fabled unicorn...just as I hold up the guest of honor, Geoff ran out of film...oh well, those may easily be the very first pictures of me at night with a bent rod!

We continued to catch fish for another hour, taking turns having the hot jig or magic touch...I lost two nice fish, both exactly when I announced that they were nice fish, they fell off...two in a row...strange. I broke off an awful lot of braid at one point, it basically shut me down for the night. I showed the new guys what happens to a guy who uses braid on a non-level wind conventional reel too much...I had two grooves in my guiding thumb that had finally gotten through the skin and were now in the red stuff...and they really hurt. I fixed both cuts with Zap-A-Gap and was able to continue...gotta love Zap-A-Gap! I wasn't keeping track last night, we fished till about 9:30 or so, I'm guessing between us we may have landed 20 or so fish, nothing big, but the company and conversation was top notch...thanks guys for a good time on the water....

This afternoon, we'll start fishing for the tournament, we didn't go back out last night as we had threatened...instead, we split up, and hit the sack after watching a morbid comedy, "Idle Hands"....pretty funny when you're in that tired, easily humored frame of mind. I'll add more to this page later this morning, I got some phone calls and work to do, but I have another hundred thoughts or so to put up later....

Again, I urge all input on this and the other pages, please let me know what you think, what you don't see and would like to, and how you think this could be better...you are the only input I have on this site...please let me know! Till later.....

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

Once again, we'll start with last nights report. Well, we have another tournament this weekend with 32" fish being the minimum, and as stated before, I like that stipulation, I think as a state that would be a good minimum size, but that's a hotly debated issue. Last night, wouldn't you know it, the first fish I hooked was 31 3/4 inches? Also, it ended up being the biggest one I landed...so none for the scales for me and Charlie last night. My original plan was once again scrapped, as we didn't get out until after 10pm to the place we had intended on being around dark, but that kinda stuff happens. What interrupted us was a frantic phone call about 3pm that things were breaking open on the southern beaches, and much as I tried to fight it, the fisherman in me won out and we were in the truck by 3:30 headed down that way. When we got there, the SE wind surprised me, as I didn't know it had planned on going that direction. Yes, there were fish there, but they were W-A-Y out, and with the 15-20kt SE wind, it made for tough doing. I managed 4 landed, 1 lost, and a nasty razor lips of about 8#. Charlie landed 3 or 4 as well. I had to resort to a 3 oz Smilin' Bill to take my teaser to the fish, but it was the only thing working! All in all, I saw two other fish caught, most people were too interested in chasing the birds, I often wonder if these people are really trying to catch sea gulls?!? We ran into Phil, he was coming north on the sand, he had managed a few a little south of us, but nothing really of note. As we said good-bye and were preparing to leave, I saw a guy sliding a 34" bass quietly into his cooler...I don't miss much. We gave them their room and stopped the truck a couple hundred yards south of him, we took a few casts with plugs, I tossed a rigged eel, but it wasn't feeling right, hard SE wind had the water moving to the point where I would have needed my spinning rod and maybe some Mambo's or Yo-Zuri's, I was in the mood for the conventional, being strange as I am, I left rather than resort to the spinning rod...sometimes, these things don't sound odd till I think about them later!

Ok, so it's home to eat, finish up all the things I left undone when CharlieK's frantic phone call came in, spend a few hours with the wife so she'd recognize me if anyone asked her, rigged a few hybrid jigs, and split...about 10:30pm. Oh, we had all sorts of plans, speculation, theories...we ended up having to immediately go to Plan B as Plan A was out of the question with herds of people in a place where it's technically illegal to fish. Plan B location was far lower than it should have been, we promptly each lost a jig and decided it was too low...there was one more spot attached to this place we could try before moving...I got a hit there first cast, and it felt like a decent fish, thought for sure over that 32" minimum, but it wasn't to be, the fish was fat and only 31 3/4" long....I'm not one for "wishful measuring" as I've seen others do, I lay the fish on the tape on a flat surface and measure them that way...as that's how the game warden or tackle shop will measure them if they want to know. Too many guys will hold the tape across the fish trying to eke out the longest possible measurement, but that's not really the fish's length, it can be close, but if the fish is "near" the length you're looking for, lay it flat and do it right, it'll save you possible embarrassment later! So, the fish was just shy of 32" and released. That was it for Plan B, one hit between us, decent fish, but no other action...we gave it the customary half hour just to make sure that fish was alone. Plan C, a shallow flat leading out to a bar that runs parallel to a main channel...a likely spot indeed. No joy, the current had all but gone slack, although we did try it for about 40 minutes with not a hit. I found a sunken 16' boat on the wade back in that I didn't know was there...walking through thigh deep water in the dark and noticing the way the waves are responding to something big under water about 10 foot to your right isn't the most comforting feeling...I put the light on it...thought it was a big rock but upon closer inspection realized it was a boat that had been sunk there for sometime, but was whole none the less. It's funny, on the moon tides, you can take different paths while wading to a bar, I usually do, I like scenery changes, now I know where there's a big piece of structure on an otherwise barren beach....made the mental note and resumed the hike to shore. I did notice an abundance of spearing around the sunken boat and I'm sure on a deeper tide the bass know this...I'll check next time out there.

So, back to Plan B as the waning tide is the preferred tide there, and as such, I was immediately into a strong fish....stronger than the 31 3/4" from earlier. I landed it and was a bit surprised, it was only 30 3/4", but had a couple pounds on the bigger fish from earlier, and the first one was no slouch, this one was just a pig! Released...good fighter...good genes to pass along to future stripers. I caught 5 more in the next 20 minutes, Charlie had 3, he was out of the magic hybrid jigs in the right size, I was on my last and had none to offer him. Then, in the middle of the night, the most unlikely of things happened in the most unlikely of places...I got crowded out by a schmuck who decided that 1am was a good time to go blackfishing and literally 2 feet to my right was a good place to do it. I asked him if he was serious when he slid up on my right in a place that's barely big enough to hold Charlie and I, and he looked at me with that "just got smacked in the head with a 2 X 4 look" and said " I just thought I'd use up this black fish bait and this is a good spot to do it." Some people...this reminded me that I need to write something about people spacing on this site, I'll do it after the weekend. I said aloud to Charlie, "Is someone to close when you can feel their breath on your neck?" Charlie said he was pretty sure that was too close, so we left the fish for our original Plan A which was now vacant. We caught some fish there as the tide turned to come in, certain we would murder them, but it didn't happen. I'm guessing we landed 4 keepers there, a couple shorts, but even the keepers wouldn't stretch to that 32" mark on the tape, so one was detained for a nice guy we ran into who wanted it, all others were released...and we were exhausted to the point of needed a nap before the drive home. We parked somewhere along Raritan Bay (NOTE: Kurt, this is the bay I usually am referring to when I just say bay in my posts :) ) I'm not being vague here to protect the innocent, I really don't know where we were when we napped, just a safe looking dark spot. We awoke to daylight, go out of the truck, walked over the dunes and were greeted by a beautiful morning complete with diving birds, scattering peanuts, and breaking bass...but it was not in me, we got back in the truck and headed home.

Final tally for the evening, 5 bass between 30" and just under 32"....5 others that were legal, and maybe a dozen shorts. Not a real good night in the rivers up north we know so well, but it beats watching TV! Tonight, we will do it again, maybe add some jetties to the agenda for good measure as it is surely the right conditions for rubber rigged eels...and I gotta make some more hybrid jigs before heading out, so I gotta get started, it's already dark out! Hope all your weekends are panning out, the fish are apparently well spread out, I'm sure you're all hooking up!

Another note, I will do my absolute best to make sure that this page is chock full of fresh info and posted EVERY day before 9am...so if you check here before 9am, you may get yesterday's stuff, check back after 9 for the latest info. Also, in the works, I will be working up a little something for you guys largely unfamiliar with some of the places I like to fish. I know, it sounds like the kiss of death to my fishing haunts, but I know I gotta give you all something instead of just retracing my trips for you. I think you will all benefit from this upcoming earth shattering look at my NJ as MikeY likes to remind me that I must be fishing in a different NJ than the rest of you! And as always, keep sending the pictures and requests, I'll do my best to keep up with them. Oh, and the thing about a new page everyday is obviously not including weekends, as this am just before 9am I was on the parkway headed south groggy and beaten from a long night of striper hunting!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent

November 7, 1999:

What a tough tournament for Charlie and I, we weighed exactly zero pounds...the first time this fall. Don't get me wrong, we had many, many nice fish, unfortunately, none over 32"! The very first fish I caught during this tournament, as I said yesterday, was 31 3/4"...and that was the biggest all weekend....unbelievable. I'll guess that we landed somewhere around 22 legal bass, yet not a single one over 32". There were very few small fish caught as well, maybe 15 or so under 24". All totaled, we had around 75 bass over two nights and 16 hours of fishing.

Last night, we got out a little earlier than the night before, I'm guessing we had lines wet by 9:30. Our plans had changed from the prior night, we headed south, Lil' Ditch. Very tough fishing. We got there as the tide was going slack, not a bad time in general, but it was desolate and seemed to take forever to creep to a stop and turn. As it started moving again, we decided we might want to take up another station rather than continue where we were...so we hiked about 50 yds south and found a spot where there weren't a bunch of guys yakking about who said what and other assorted hum-drum. The tide was quickly picking up now, and promptly I stuck a decent fish on a 1 1/2oz SB with a Fin-S. It's amazing how many times over a fast current can magnify the size of a determined bass, I thought for sure this one was cooler food, but alas, it was only 31" and released...the saga continues. We fished this area fairly thoroughly with just one more hit, saw no fish taken, but then the guys below us were only casting about once every 5 minutes, I guess they were there more to socialize, to each his own. We walked back to where we started, no joy. Got in the truck, realized that the wind was kicking at about 20-25 kts from the NW, that cut couple backup plans out of our agenda. We tried an unlikely spot about 200yds south of our original spot. It was windy, Charlie hates the wind, he stayed in the truck. I motioned to him to come out, he declined, put the seat back and chilled...if this were a beach Dan, there'd have been a nest right here ::)) I had been listening to little nuts flipping around and the seam they were doing it in just reeked of bass, so I dutifully through my SB along the faster edge of the seam...I missed a good shot, and stuck one on the repeat cast...a good fighter...again, just 30"! The fish was sporting a poorly tied leader rig hanging from his mouth from some clueless "clam tossing tourist", about 36" of 50# mono to a fluke hook, and about 8# line tied in a triple overhand knot to the end of the 50# where the 50# terminated in an overhand loop knot....it just stank of cluelessness....I relieved the bass of 35 of the 36" inches of line, saw the hook was better off left internally and wished him the best of luck as I released him. What a fat moose of a 30" fish, I'm guessing a good 11-12#. Now I had Charlie's interest, and he popped out of the Explorer and quizzed me...grabbed his rod, promptly lost his jig and was back in the truck after re-rigging...and I stuck another one, this one was only about 26" and wasn't even detained long enough to tape...it was released with the same best wished the bigger one got. Charlie's back out again, kinda like a Charlie-in-the-box! Ten more casts, I stuck another, maybe 28-29", definitely not 32", released. No joy for Charlie, I could tell his heart was not in it. Like most guys, Charlie's enthusiasm about a spot relies solely on his past performances there, and here he said he's done nothing but lost jigs. I am a different kind of fisherman, I call it the eternal optimist. I look at each spot in a new light each time I see it, I will weigh the conditions, the bait, the latest info I've heard about the area, the time of year, my energy level, what I'm throwing, what I feel like throwing, and I'll make a decision on whether or not I think it's worth a shot. In my eyes, everywhere is worth at least a shot in November! You have an almost equal shot at taking a 40# fish at a noon low tide on a flat shallow beach as you do in the whirling darkness of the Lil' Ditch at full steam, it's November, the fish are moving and they are serious about just one thing, getting FAT! I try not to put on the rose colored glasses for they can keep me in an unproductive area far too long, but I also hate to walk away feeling like I didn't give a spot my all. The best is a mix between these two extremes, and that's what I was trying to do, I knew there were some heavy fish using this place as of late, so I thought we'd give it a go looking for something with shoulders. Even though I had taken 3 decent fish inside a half hour, Charlie was convinced this place stank....I conceded and we moved a few miles north...found very difficult bottom, made some lead contributions to the bottom monsters and decided on a major change of scenery.

Headed north, I though a jetty might be in order for a change of pace. Last week, we took some 28-30" fish on a jetty, heard of a couple bigger taken, so though we might give it a shot...actually, I though we might give it a shot, Charlie had already decided it would also stink, but grudgingly appeased me with his presence...he was partially right, I had a good hit first cast on a rigged eel, and then nothing. Funny thing, I found myself on the front of a big jetty with my trusty Loomis/Mag Elite combo in hand, longing for my Lamiglass 9 foot spinning rod! This was a strange occurrence to me, as I am a conventional rod person, except for when I am firmly planted in the sand somewhere, then the spinner is in hand. I actually felt a little out of sorts with my good friend Loomis SUR108-20C...and this took me aback some. I realized later why this was, I had taken many good fish on this jetty from the front back in my days of spinning rods and Penn 650SS reels...and I guess somewhere inside my head was making this the excuse for me not landing any fish here...I know, this sounds weird, but I am often a bit analytical about things like this, and this is all I could come up with! A spinning rod on the front of a jetty has about one use in my book, and the rod must be a stiff one, like my Lami XS9MHS and the reel must be loaded with mono, as the Lami and braid combo has pulled enough hooks from good fish that I no longer employ it for such. Anyway, throwing plugs, swimmers, and needlefish from the front of jetties in the calm, cool waters of fall are the only uses I can think of for a spinner with mono...and that's exactly what I am convinced my insides were telling me would have worked here....next time, I will load up an old 650SS, stick it on the Lami which is now missing the collector guide, and bring it out with me. I am cursed when it comes to rigged eels, I cannot muster the proper feel with mono on a spinning rod for them and as such don't bring the spinner out on jetties with me much as rigged eels are often my weapon of choice any time I am on a jetty...such is life, I now have a project for tomorrow night...Note to self: Dust off 650SS, spool with 17# Trilene XT, stick on Lami. Back to the jetty, we landed nothing, and decided it was time to move further north and inland a bit. First, we stopped off the check the sand for sharks teeth, but that's another story :)

Our last stop was a complete success. We grabbed the big stuff, bit the bullet, and fished right into a stiff 25 kt Nor W'ster...and it was quite a wind chill shock to our warm weather softened bodies...we bundled up. Actually, once fishing, the chill was soon forgotten as we approached and found fish cart wheeling through tiny nuts....jackpot! Unfortunately, none were over that magic 32" mark, a scourge we found everywhere this past weekend. We caught fish here as fast as we could put the jigs in the water, often getting 3 or 4 hits before burying the steel solidly in the screaming wind. Many nice fish, 28-30"...only a few little fellas. They ate both ball jig/Fin-S combo's, 6" Shad jigs, and especially, 1 and 1 1/2oz SB jigs/Fin-S-Fish combos. As of late, I've been finding the fish taking the plain SB much better than the ones with anything on the back, but last night, the fish north and south wanted a Fin-S-Fish on the back, and luckily, I had enough of them to indulge them! I think their reluctance to take the SB's with a trailer lately had to do with the length of the baits they have been eating, but last night, the bait looked smaller and they wanted longer jigs...go figure. If fish could talk, I'd have had one of them under a bright light and asked them what was with this sudden preference for longer baits, but they can't so I didn't :)

The outlook for this week, much to Reel Ranger's delight, is a good one, there were fish up and down the beaches on my drive home, yet I did not take one cast, I was done at 6:15 am, I had till 11 am to sleep then off to my dad's surprise 60th birthday...boy, how fast those years add up! I love my parents, we have a unique family, the kind you don't see too much anymore, we all pretty much stick together, openly love each other, support each other, I am truly blessed to say that our family is wholly in tact. It's the breakup of the family unit that is responsible for the failures of today's society, it's sad to think about the repercussions throughout the family unit when two parents cannot work out their differences. It breaks my heart just to think how two people who were so in love as to swear before their families and the Lord that they'd be together till death parted them, only to find that some argument at some point was irreconcilable, I cannot imagine such a thing with my lovely wife Carole...... Back to the outlook...the beaches came alive Friday and should continue to produce fish all week long, maybe much longer, and I long to get out their in the suds again. Hope all of you had an excellent weekend!

Sincerely,

Tim Surgent