surfrat59

Bottles need to be fished in big water to be effective and then they produce. My 2nd choice after the darter, actually both are my 2nd choice after big surface wood! Prefer SS to Gibbs anytime, something amiss about recent vintage Gibbs plugs.

1364M is definetly too heavy, mine throws 10oz and a chunk no problem. If you like the feel of glass rest assured the 1363M will throw 4 or 5oz bucktails very well, pair it with a good braid for better sensitivity and hook set, you'll like it, and for the price you can't go wrong. I've seen them here on LI for as little as $69 for the blank.

My most reliable conventional is a 7000C3 that I built a fully adjustable mag assy for...the levelwind is a real plus when plugging at night and the mag setup lets you throw 5" bombers on up to 3oz bottle plugs with confidence. Pete if you go with the Abu swing by my house one night and we'll mag it up.

Guys were pretty tough on the man, too bad, he contributed some great patterns and ideas. I have no problem with his methods, I'm sure he'd rather be casting to breaking fish around the boat like anyone would, but conditions dictated getting down deep and the flyrod was his method of choice, so he designed a beautiful fly for the situation AND was successful with it, congrats John. The love of the flyrod shouldn't dictate how it's used, that's bringing it back to the elitist's days of snubbing all other fisherman and their methods, which will result in no good at all for the sport. Bring them ideas back John, we love em!

Still a novice flyrodder learning to deal with wind and surf so probably 75% is plugging, but there is a real excitement in catching fish in close on a fly I hand tied...the ratio changes each time out!

Since hunting big stripers this time of year is primarily a bait and wait game in the deep hours of the night, except for those lucky enough to trek east to Montauk regularly, this is the time of year I like to hit the beaches before dawn and give the flyrod a good workout, throw some new patterns I tied and maybe hookup with a respectable fish or two. I'm thinking a 1 day impromptu gathering on a Saturday, 2-3 weeks from now, we can work on a date depending on location, tides, to get together and fish a bit. A nice BS session afterwards to swap stories, share patterns, maybe a BBQ at my backyard if I can convince the wife to cook and put up with us all. Backside of Demo, the sand flats at Sunken Meadow, or any place convenient for everyone.Anyone interested post name, preffered place and date, and we'll put it together. Like to have a reply by this sunday if possible so it can be planned for sometime soon. Anybody interested...Spigola is on vacation but I'm betting Lou will be up for it, so that makes 2 already. Hmmm, only two, that leaves plenty for me to eat at the BBQ!

I'm in...Smithtown NY

I don't do alot of bait fishing anymore but I do throw large plugs most of the time, sometimes with teasers when I feel conditions warrant them. Rarely throw small plugs anymore so I guess I subscribe to the big plug, big fish theory...except that my biggest striper ever, 43lbs, came on a Rebel swimmer, and my biggest fly caught striper, 25lbs, came on an inch long epoxy sand eel tied on a size 2 hook! Hope that answered your question Rob! Ah, the debate inside me rages on...

We're on for this Sat Aug 7, we meet at the air station at Demo 4am, anybody want to BBQ afterwards gotta let me know, I'll arrange some grub on Friday...see ya there

Great all around surf rod but really not sensitive enough for bucktailin, by todays standards anyway. It will comfortably throw plugs from 1 1/2oz on up to the biggest ones you got.

I built my SW1208 40HH-30-25-20-BSVLG-BPLT 20 tip Great rod! BC, how's the little one, keepin you up at night

Busted open a broken power mirror at work one day,( auto tech) and made off with the 2 electric motors inside. One turns my flies and the other turns my rods, talk about cheap!

Sounds like this post is heatin up...fishing must be slow and tempers running fast! Some good points made by both sides, but the bottom line is, a large arbor reel must be of a significantly larger diameter than its standard arbor counterpart to offer the advantages they were originally touted for and still retain the same backing capacity.Then, yes, the advantage on big, hard running fish shifts to the large arbor reel. And no, most reels advertised as large arbor today are NOT true large arbors, even the high end models. Abel, Tibor, Ross Canyon, Bauer, Orvis Vortex, none are truly large arbor reels. If you ever read any Bauer literature, who, by the way I believe, were the originators of the large arbor concept, they clearly state their reels are a medium arbor design, built that way after much research showed them it was the best compromise between capacity and retrieve rate without adding unnecessary bulk/weight to the reel. The only true LA reels I have seen are the Lamson Litespeeds, Waterworks, Loop, and Orvis LA Battenkill, there's probably a few more, but if you pair anyone of them side by side with other so called LA reels you will immediately understand the LA concept! That's all I know about fly reels, so that's it from me! By the way I fish Bauer M4's and M5's, wouldn't trade em for anything. Had a Battenkill LA5 and liked the LA retrieve and the way it handled, but backing capacity was in serious question and the offset drag looked like it wouldn't take much punishment, so off to Ebay it went!

Just got back from 3 days R&R on LBI...no time for fishing, beers and "sight seeing" only. The weather report is good for this weekend, so anybody interested, we're on. Still up in the air about the BBQ, if anyone is definetly coming or reasonably sure they're coming post -I'M IN- and I can plan grub accordingly by how many attend. Hope to see as many as possible. CD you don't have to sleep in the garage bro, I got some comfy lounge chairs out back by the pool with your name on em!

All the hype about large arbor reels is really just fallacy conjured up by the manufacturers to sell more products. Most reels touted as large arbor are in fact medium arbor or wide arbor, to truly be called large arbor the minimum diameter of the spool should be close to the maximum diameter of the spool, ie LA Battenkill,Lamson, Waterworks. The advantage as Brian said is faster line retrieve and less line memory, the bigger disadvantage is a serious reduction in backing capacity as compared to a standard arbor reel of the same overall spool diameter. Here in the NE surf any reel that can carry 200yds of backing and line is sufficient for the fish we encounter. Either style works perfectly fine, I'd be more concerned about getting a reel with a strong, smooth, low startup inertia drag.That being said all my current reels are so called "large arbors", just worked out that way.

Going to LBI for a couple of days, figure if I stuff the wifes pockets with cash maybe I can sneak off to IBSP for a day, any recommendations for plugging or flyrodding...or would it be more productive to stick to beers and "sight seeing".

Welcome back Lab...anything you tie that seems suspect just send it to me, I'll put it to good use!

Rob,use the lucas just like you do for the reels.After filling the box with your best flies pack it with the lucas grease and squeeze the lid shut. I guarantee you'll never deal with a rusty hook again! Ya comin to the outing next Saturday or what, anxious to see how that fly box came out!

Ditto on the korkers...the only places in Montauk you don't need them are the sand beaches behind town and the Gin Beach to Shag stretch, anyplace else you will truly regret not having them.

I'd like to meet that fish too! Usually add a foot of 30lb hard nylon to the tippet and switch to my bluefish flies, all tied at the back end of a long shank hook. Don't mind losing some flies to them toothy bastages once in awhile,it's worth the price for the fight they put up.

My normal whitewater setup is 4ft of 40lb Mason hard nylon, 125lb sampo ball bearing swivel, and coastlock snap. It's the most abrasion resistant material I've ever found. Had teen size blues swallowing 5" storm shads whole one morning and I landed over a dozen before they even put a dent in it! Been using seaguar fluorocarbon for back bay and flyfishing situations for years, in 30lb and 15lb test,respectively, like it alot. Never thought the low visibility was an issue in rough surf, maybe on Mike's recommendation I'll try it out. Only problem with the 40lb Mason is difficulty tying knots because of its stiffness. If you use it pretie plenty of leaders using heavy gloves and pliers, not something you want to be tying by hand on a dark, wet night.

I'm in...38 flies.

For me a 6500 mag elite that's tuned for fishing, not casting.

Was she wearin a hat, guess I'll have to look again.