Mattyice572

Hey guys, im planning to purchase a new rod for striper/blue fishing from a boat. Was interested in either the tsunami slim wave spinning rod or the tsunami air wave elite in a 6’-7’ length. Anyone ever used these rods for stripers or large fish? The slim wave looks awesome but im not sure if it could take a beating from a 20lb or larger fish. Im sure the airwave elite could handle the job, but the slim wave seems to be lighter and thinner so im leaning more towards that rod but would be upset if it snapped with a fish on.

Finally gonna have a chance to do some fishing this upcoming week and hoping to land a decent shark actually id **** my pants if i caught anything other than a dog fish. Can anyone tell me around what time of day is best Sharking from the surf? Planning on hitting samdy hook or seaside park if anyones had luck there please fill me in and what youre using for bait. I was gonna get some bunker and mackeral but open to anything that gives me a better chance at hooking a beast!

Went to ibsp the other day and only came up with a dog fish and a skate. I tried using fresh bunker chunks, clam, mackeral chunks, peanut bunker, and even tried some pink gulp baits. This was my first time using gulp baits and it caught nothing but to be fair only got 2 fish in an 8 hour window and both were on bunker chunks. I just ordered this bait called fish bites after a friend recomended it. Anyone have any luck with gulp baits or fish bites from the surf? If so what scent and colors are you using and what are you catching? Also in regards to the gulp baits, anyone have an idea on how long the scent releases for until it needs to be changed out?

Hey guys, i know its early in the season but im trying to olan my work vacation around a shark trip. Was wondering if anyone knew of a shark fishing charter in nj thats got decent prices and a solid crew that will make for an enjoyable experience. Really want to land a mako but a thresher would be cool too. A great white would be flippin epic

Whats your secrets guys? i went weekly to sandy hook, and seaside park and all i got was dog fish sharks and sting rays. Managed one huge ray the size of a tire among dozens of smaller ones, took me about 45 min to finally land it. Also got lucky and landed a cobia. Bought 2 surf rods specifically to land sharks and nothing. Used bunker and mackeral chunks, frozen squid and live eels. Any tips you guys have for me?

Hey guys, my fathers birthday is coming up and he really wants this reel so if you have it and dont mind parting with it id really, highly appreciate it. shimano symetre 500. He had one, he loved it, and it got damaged on his last fishing escape. It was crushed between the tailgate with the strength of a old drunk italian man... so, please let me know, thank you!!

Hey guys, was just doing some reading and found that alot of anglers are putting higher rated weight line than the rod weight suggests... im about to buy the 2018 st croix imperial rod and was wondering which rod weight you guys suggest for best performance. I have a waterworks lamson guru 1.5 reel and its spooled up with rio gold trout series weight forward 5 line. So im looking at either the st croix imperial 8’ 4wt or the 8’6” 5wt to go along with what i already have. Thanks for the input.

Hey guys, so i spend every possible free minute on the water fishing, but somehow in almost 30 years of fishing, i have never once tried fly fishing. So this season im putting myself to the challange but i have no flippin clue wtf im looking at. The other day i stopped at a local fishing shop and picked up the water works lamson guru 1.5 reel with a pack of rio fly line and backing, tippets and leaders and a few basic flies to get me started. The salesman didnt want to let me walk out of the store without spending over $400 on a rod and wouldnt show me anything more moderately priced so he lost the sale. Im looking to get a 5 weight rod, and was looking at the st croix imperial and the orvis clear water... any thoughts on these or something better or similar within a $250 price range? Im not opposed to spending less lol but i own many st croix rods and love them, and i like the warranty that both these companies offer as well. Should probably mention this set up will be used mostly for trout, panfish, and small mouth bass. Attached is a picture of the reel and my awesome selection of flies which im sure are probably terrible because im new to this.

Hey guys, im getting ready to purchase yet another rod set up this year. I have never really splurged for the more expensive rods until a few months ago when i bought my first st croix rod, the trout series and wowzers what an amazing stick it is. So now im in the market to buy a new spinning rod, medium light/ fast action and i have a few in mind but wanted to see what your opinions were. I was looking between these few choices but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!! 

These are the main 4 im looking at

St croix avid series 6' ML/fast

st croix avid x series 6'6" ML/fast

st croix premier series 6' ML/fast

St croix triumph series 6' ML/fast

these are the ones on the fence

St croix bass x series 6'10" ML/xfast

st croix mojo bass series 6'10" ML/xfast

Just thought id share this pic from my recent deleware fishing trip. While trying to retrieve my hook from a shads mouth, the fish thrashed and the treble drove into my hand. As it pierced my skin, the fish thrashed back and forth forcing the hook deeper into my hand, as a catch and release guy, im sorry to report that i had to squash the fish to prevent further damage to myself. Lots of pain pushing this hook through the other side my hand. Never again will i try to get a hook out of a fishes mouth without my trusty rusty pliers.

for me the line depends on the fish im targeting. Different lines have different features and having the correct pound test is a big factor. A few things to consider when choosing lines.

Mono is the cheapest to spool which is great when youre buying alot of line. Mono had a tendency to "float" in the water. Mono can be damaged by time, and UV rays making it weaker and brittle/easy to snap. Mono has the greatest stretch of all the lines avaliable which is a great shock absorber for bigger hard hitting fish. 

Flurocarbon is moderately priced. Fluro "sinks" in water. Fluro is not affected by time or UV rays. Fluro had little stretch properties. Fluro is "invisible" under water which is very advantageous with line shy fish. Fluro is my personal favorite. 

Braided line is moderately priced. Braided line is not affected by time or UV rays. Braided line has 0 stretch properties. braided is thinner that all other lines of equal pound test. Braided floats, braided is damn near unbreakable. I use green braided line when i use it, and only for big game. I mainly use braided on my surf rods when im targeting xxl fish. 

That being said, i highly reccomend a good quality flurocarbon line and keeping your drag somehwat loose. And keep in mind that you get what you pay for. Lots of people tend to spend a pretty penny on a reel and rod and then get the cheapest line they can find. If anything, this is the most important of the 3 because this is what is attatched to the fish youre pontentially trying to catch, and where alot of the pressure of the fight is exerted. 

Hey guys, I have been fishing all my life and i have never once been fly fishing. My friend talked me into taking a trip with him to Pulaski NY for a week long salmon and steel head fishing experience. I have never caught these fish before and i have never been fly fishing before. I am looking to get something nice for the trip that is good quality and will last me a while. I have about $400 maybe a bit more if necessary to play with here if anyone has any recomendations on what i should buy. Definitly looking for a strong rod, i hear these guys can put up a fight and i dont want to drive 8 hours and have my rod snap lol I visited a local tackle shop and was looking at the Lamson Guru 2 reel any thoughts? as far as a rod and line and lures for salmon and steel head i have no flippin clue what to get. any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!!

I take an annual camping trip to the deleware river around the port jervis area. Me and 2 of my friends have been going every year for about 15 years and we bring inflatable rafts with us. We launch a few miles up river and float down to our campsite and fish the entire way. The river is loaded with small mouth and shad and catfish. Best areas we catch fish is by "rapids" we  pull our rafts to the river side and fish imline spinners before, and after the rapids areas and kill it. Im heading down the next weekend for the trip myself, best fishing time of day seems to be near dawn and dusk. Good luck!

Hey guys, me and a few friends are trying to plan a trip to salmon river for this fall. None of us have ever been salmon fishing before and we are trying to have a fun experience there. Does anyone have any insight on where we can stay a few nights and maybe some thoughts on where abouts on the river we should be? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

Been fishing for about 25 years and have never heard of this method. I very Much appreciated this video and highly respect style of fishing. id imagine it is very difficult to land a fish this way. Thank you for the find!

I didnt notice a barb, but then again i wasnt inspecting the whipping tail lol but i think most sting rays have a barb. 

So after reading about a shark getting pulled in sunday night, i headed down to seaside park nj to try my luck. Had my line in the water for about 3 hours and nothing, then it hit hard! My rod tip bent over fast and i grabbed the rod from the sand spike and jerked the rod back with all my might, the hook was set! Had no idea what was on the end of the line but it started taking line fast. I reeled in a few minutes and then it took off again, i stopped to turn up the drag a bit and continued the fight. Though i almost had it at the shoreline when it gave me another run, after making sure i wanst going to lose it, i stopped and turned up the 20lb drag as tight as it will go. The fight continued for another 5 minutes or so til i felt it near the beach and again it took off as if the drag were non-existant. Whatever it was made my fight with a 30" cobia last week seem like childs play. The rod digging into my thigh and my arms tiring out i couldnt allow myself to give up. I finally tire it out after a long 30 minute fight and i see it finally hit the sand. Its a huge sting ray! Not the shark i was after and expecting after that fight, but definitley made me give it my all. I rush over and grab the ray at the front of its disc and pull it up on shore a bit. Flipped it over and it was a female. Got my hook out, took a quick photo and dragged her back to the waves. She laid in the wash a few seconds and then took off into the darkness. Best fight ive ever had and hoping to get back out there again next week and try for a shark again.  If anyone knows the species id be interested to do some research on it. Thanks!!

Been looking to get i fairly cheap inflatable kayak to bring on my camping trips to the delware river. For years i have been using an intex seahawk 2 raft and it does well on the river and carries myself and my fishing gear fine and handles the rocky areas well. Now its time to step in up to a kayak and was just wondering if anyone has the k2 model and could give me an honest review. I am 250lbs of flabby burger meat and carry about 10-20lb of fishing gear and beers on the river. Do you think ill be good with this kayak or do you recommend something else? Looking to make a purchase within the next week.

I recently picked up a shimano thunnus ci4 and wow what an amazing reel, and the bait runner feature is awesome! Take a look and feel how smooth its ocilation is. I was looking at the VS myself but after  trying it out in store i didnt like the feel of it, not as smooth but definitly well built and tough as nails. I feel the VS isnt nessesary for what youre targeting id save the money and opt for a different reel imo and soend the money on a quality rod and fresh or live bait youll get more hits on them than frozen stuff

I use a nice LED head lamp for night fishing, it had a few features, white spot light, white flood lights, and red flood light. I ise the white while tying on my lures so i dont hook myself, but then switch to red for casting out into the surf. Your eyes will naturally adjust to the darkness after 10-15 minutes and using a red light will help to keep your natural night vision sharper, once the white light goes on, the brightness of it will cause another 10-15 minute wait time for your eyes to re-adjust to the darkness. Ive seen videos of people spot lighting the water and fish seem to go for it, but ive never night fished fresh water and feel like it wouldnt really have an affect in the ocen waves. Post how it went after, im curious to hear if you have luck spot lighting trout.

7 hours ago, FunkyBunker said:

Quiet in S. NJ. Flounder aren't cooperating with me. 

Getting any fish in? Im heading down to seaside monday night for my usual 14 hour fishing session lol was graced with a cobia last week, hoping to have the same or better luck this week

Anyone have any input on the tsunami air wave rod vs the trophy series? Looking to get a 12' surf rod for sharking nj beaches

On 3/26/2017 at 1:09 PM, bunnymoney said:

 

 

Buy, install, and learn to use this^^^^^^^^^^.  Your finger will thank you.

Got this after my buddy almost took his finger off on 80lb braid. Works amazing and definitly helps with the long cast as you dont have to worry about slicing your fingers off, lets you really put all your power into your cast!!

Hey guys, im looking to get another surf set up. I have been using the shimano bait runner 8000 OC and its been treating me great. I absolutely love the bait runner feature and for surf fishing i dont think i can ever use a standard reel again. So ive been looking into the shimano bait runner d 12000, and the thunnus ci4 12000. Being that i have the bait runner OC i dont think theres really an advantage to having the bait runner D, but any input would be appreciated. On paper it seems that the thunnus is a much better reel, but does anyone have one that can give me some insight before i drop almost $300?? I plan to use the reel for summer sharking mostly. Was going to pair it with a tsunami spinning rod probably looking at something around 12' if anyone has suggestions on their line up as well. Thanks!!

IMO shimano makes the best quality reels, although the daiwa ballistic is pretty damn awesome, but as far as pricing, you get what you pay for. I wouldnt expect a $50 reel to peform as well as a $200 reel would and i like to buy equipment thats built to last. No matter what you buy, you should always do cleanings and greasing at least annually. I use all shimano these days, but in the past have used daiwa, penn, and okuma. Go to a local shop and put them in your hand. Feel the quality and how smooth each reel turns and get the correct size reel for the fish you are targeting. I have about a dozen or so full set ups, and all are shimano except 1 okuma salt set up i use when just dropping my line over the edge of a boat. My personal recommendations are;

shimano symetre 500

shimano stradic fk 1000

Shimano stradic ci4 1000

shimano sustain 2500

500 size is an ultra light

1000 size is light

2500 size is medium

3000 size for heavier fish but i feel its not nessesary in most fresh water applications.