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petespeak

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Everything posted by petespeak

  1. Gloomis!!! Forgot about these rods. They always have a solution...but so many models to keep sorted that it gets confusing. Shimano rods if I'm not mistaken...I think Shimano rods are always priced below their performance rating...except with Gloomis...a solid go-to, I still find them a tad pricey for what you get but def a great rod... I'll most likely grab one that fits if I can't find what I'm looking for...thanks for reminding me about G Loomis...they always have something close when it comes to inshore and open beach lightweight fishing rods.
  2. A bit short for my immediate needs but I'll check these rods out...sounds like an excellent flats wading rod which I also for the spring. Thanks for the chart.
  3. Some of the old St Croix blanks from that era are very durable...my Ben Doer still fishes well after thirty years of abuse on the rocks. Tidemasters were a great rod for their price. I need a nine foot two piece for travel...my scout rod never leaves the truck and needs to be broken down and locked up in the cab.
  4. I've seen your description of this rod elsewhere...a bit long for my area...need shorter handles for maneuvering up and down rock piles and landing fish on a cramped ledges. For open beach that rod would be lots of fun.
  5. I need a 9 ft two piece rod for casting Albie Snax. I am not looking for a so called "albie rod". I need a rod that can throw the 1/2 ounce Albie Snack rigged on a 3.0 Titan Rider swimbait hook for distance. I am simplifying my approach to using only the highest percentage baits for my area. Albie Snax out-fished everything in my bag this season so I'm sticking with Albie Snax exclusively for blind casting this fall. I need a two piece, 9 ft rod for out front that has aprox. 3/4 0z sweet spot capable of pulling in bigger fish. Zenaq and other high end JDM rods fill this niche nicely...any other input for unicorn rods tossing 3/4 0unce a half mile with a decent backbone would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
  6. finding some fish In the usual high percentage spots...but outliers non-existent. Spot hopping (hour race-rides bombing down backroads) only way to beat the skunk...need a kick-ass playlist and caffeinated gas to get there on time.
  7. Ain't rocket science: if you're allowed to eat all the fish you can catch, you won't buy any fish...questions?
  8. Fished Island Beach State Park in NJ last week: 2am: idiots running generator, six foot long running neon light bars on the sand, music, wind chimes...a mini Burning Man Festival...at least a 50'x50' area fenced of with strings of blinking dayglo LED's and not a fishing rod in sight. Not a welcome sight when fishing for solitude beneath the shadow of the moon.
  9. I do the same when surf casting on the coldest nights for the same reason, but I'll throw on a pair of lightweight and waterproof mechanic's overalls on top of my full wetsuit. I'll also use the overalls when rock-fishing and the surf is rough and I'll be getting bounced around a field and rubbing up against barnacles a rock shards. Barnacles eat all my wetsuits long before they wear out.
  10. Wetsuits perform best when wet...dry suits keep you dry...I prefer wetsuits when I'm boulder fishing, wading flats, bounce-fishing sandbars, or just beach walk casting. I'd 100% go with a drysuit when kayaking. You are not constantly in the water and would be happier dry: can be discouraging when sitting in slimy a wetsuit right above the water on a cool autumn night, a stiff wind full of a NE drizzle and a trace of skunk in the air. I'd rather be toasty-dry in a kayak. Wetsuits are for water. Dry suits are for air. Dress to your comfort level...I'm in a wetsuit all season and can say if they had a dry suit that was as sleek and felt like a second skin when beach-bound I'd use that exclusively. Movement is "high speed" in a properly fitted wetsuit: think running around naked: I usually wear a pair of ripstop shorts with large cargo pockets over my wetsuit for carrying my lures in sealed tubes: also keeps your lumpy butt hidden from public view if that is a concern....most importantly, in a drysuit you are layered up and clunky, your thighs rubbing together making swishy sounds: My advice? Go ninja at night in a wetsuit when hopping fences and sneaking through the rich guys side yard to get beach access. Use the dry suit when being truly dry is preferable, like when you are sitting in the dark all alone and get creeped out on the bay at 2am. I admit it. I do get the willies from time to time when the moon is dark and the seals are skittish and hugging the rocks.
  11. ince June I've been stalking.textClipping
  12. Since June I've been stalking a pod of 38-40 inch fish that have taken up residence in a remote tidal creek. Water clear and cold as a vodka martini, these fish have been untouchable, hundreds of big fish, literally swimming between my legs, snubbing every technique and lure/bait I offered. Juvie sand eels, crabs and mumichugs were the only forage I could see, and knew it wasn't enough to keep these fish fed and returning to the marsh so consistently. Night before the big blow: rising mist full of starlight, water dark, newish moon, an hour before dead low tide. I hiked back deep into the marsh along the creek to the where a deep channel suddenly opens up to a pond fifty yard across. The surface rippled as I approached the bank and slipped into the inky water, spooking several big stripers that streaked off onto the shadows in a V formation. Once again I threw the contents of my back-water bag at the closed lipped fish and skunk-a-roonie. I fished the slack then started bounce/floating against the mild current once the tide switched to incoming, blindly casting into the night. Nada. I fished that way, floating all the way out to the open ocean, where the creek empties over a massive sand bar with sweeping currents that rush across acres of shallows and bumps and rocks. I waded/swam out to a boulder that's accessible only at the lowest tides: zilch. The tidal surge pushed me back into the creek and I bounced/floated along the bank, tossing small bucktails and dragging them along. I floated into a pinch point in the creek where I made my stand. Suddenly over my head, I found myself in the midst of a frothing mat of ADULT sandeels: the incoming current was now surging over the sand bar washing swarms of sand eels into the creek where it ran along the beach. Long story short, it took me several tries before I finally dialed in the bite: Pink Super Snax and an epoxy teaser fly The Snax alone didn't get touched. Only when fished with a teaser did I get hit. The fish had spread out along the channel that had filled in when the incoming tide finally gushed over the bar, washing thick schools of sandeels into the wash at my feet. Every other cast produced an explosive hit on the Super Snax. I had it rigged with a 7.0 BKK Titan Rider worm hook. Glorious sky, entire beach to myself. Milky Way shining on the dunes. I fought half a dozen thrashing 38-42 inch until my arms got tired. Took a break and did it for two more fish, the last a solid 45 inches. The fish were there. I had them dialed in. That was enough. I sat on a log for an hour or so. Thats how I go to church.
  13. My surf fishing origins are rooted in the sandy bottom out of a five gallon: customized slots cut into the rim for hanging mullet rigs, a Hopkins and a Striper Swipe: a tangled web of rusty high-lo rigs, dried bunker guts and three pounds of sinkers rattled in the bottom. Hauling ass through 1/4 mile of foot-sucking dune trails, waders rubbing, sweating bullets, swatting skeeters...dreamt of the day I afford a 4 wheeler. Dreams come true and after a couple of seasons cruising the beach I watched all those guys in boats catching all the fish...yup, boat envy took over and vroom vroom 200$ in gas, hose downs, sweating out breakers in the inlet...now I'm back on land: wet suits, rocks, eels and bucktails by night...and beach casting shiny bits for flatties in the sunshine...that's where I'll be these days.
  14. Compulsively fishes on rocks at midnight? Check.

    Quotes Hunter Thompson? Check.

    Conclusion:=high potential to fall down a boulder-field rabbit hole and develop a cult following.

    Seriously, I've been referring back to your response about boulder fishing. This is the most comprehensive how-to on rock hopping I've read. It needs to be published. I have written several articles for fishing mags and I think you should get a hold of the staff at The Fisherman and show them your post and my guess is they will help you get it into the proper format. Can't hurt...I paid the bills for a few years fishing all night and writing about it the next morning. Great side gig.

     

    I'm always into developing new gear: What would you think of a streamlined fishing wetsuit with built-in pockets for minimal tackle. Goal: no plug bag. And I dream about a mini jet-sled/kayak where you lay down and steer with joy sticks to shoot out through the breakers, cruise around until you see some bait, drop anchor, cast your line, and use it similar to a dive float, or troll about on your back watching the night sky for shooting stars....may as well install a speargun rack while I'm at it. I bet you have a bunch of easy mods you could whip up and sell off season.

  15. I have tried Farmer Johns, shorties and separate tops, thinking layers would be a good way to adapt to changing conditions. I always come back to full suits with back zip. Convenience, performance and simplicity: the logistics of storing, transporting, changing in and out of multi-piece wetsuit gets complicated and causes more problems than it solves. Rock hopping is specialized and gets complicated: takes me at least 1/2 hour to get out the door if everything is where it should be. Two suits are ideal for me in cold water Maine: 3/5mm 5mm dependent on conditions. I'll go 5mm when the skeeters are biting through the 3/5mm thick neoprene. Conclusion: buy a dedicated for fishing wetsuit, one piece 3/5, back zip. I like O'neil and NRS, there are better, but ALWAYs buy best you can afford. Blend in with the night, tight and light: ultimate goals: one skin, one rod, one lure. Reminder: FOOTWEAR! LIGHT! PHONE! Nothing darker than moon shadow at midnight. Add greasy rocks: dive flash light and korkers. You will fall DOWN on slippery rocks more times than you fall OFF slippery rocks. SPIKES SPIKES SPIKES. Big waves, seaweed, granite shards: compound fractures can be a death sentence. 911+cell=another sunrise.
  16. I've doubled and tripled up the tag ends of braid and used Chapstick to stick several twisted strands together, making the knot and several inches of the tag end immensely stronger and easier to deal with than the usual single-stranded tag end. I now treat several inches of braid with spray adhesive and twist several doubled and tripled strands of braid into a thicker strand of line. Then I'll attach a swivel and keep it there as a connection point. If going with a line to line connection skip the glue and use smear of silicon caulk up and down the line before building up you tag end. Try to keep less than a total of two inches of enhanced before it joins up with the single strand. ots with braid because e
  17. I won't say where exactly: productive spots this far north in Maine are precious and held close: PM and we can trade if you have a spot worthy of mine. But for now, think south of Port Clyde Maine, north of Scarborough, close to the river, 1/4 mile out where my favorite low-tide boulder stands a foot or two above the breakers and kisses the sandbar goodbye. 360 degree fishing for as long as you have the balls to stand there with the incoming running strong and surging up all around you: I've been swept off that rock several times and sucked out by the monster rip that pops up every mid-tide..Don't try this at home:I've got decades of ocean life-guarding experience and grew up in salty water. TIP: when caught in an outgoing rip, relax and swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the current. EZ PZ if you don't panic. Ever notice how waist-deep water feels hostile at night? That's your intuition flashing: "Shark bait! Shark bait!" Yet beach toddlers and babies safely swim there during the day: think old ladies soaking their swollen ankles like it's a hot tub. Same water. But the same danger? Nope: every night white sharks hunt seals in the shallow troughs of water between the fishermen and the beach while they are blindly casting bloody meat-chunks in the water wearing a wet suit/seal costume. Hmm.
  18. I'll admit to viewing the world through a kaleidoscope.
  19. Last week swapped the incoming tide and my plug bag for a night of wining, dining, and some nighttime wrestling with my squeeze.. In the afterglow I lit up and visions of stripers finning through my fave boulder field filled my head and heart. Then last night night, while smelling nothing but skunks on the beach, shivering at 3am on a wet rock, I dreamed of "wrestling matches with the wife", Netflix, snuggly blankets and adult diversions...go figure.
  20. I grew up on Barnegat Bay and IBSP...learned early on only guilt-ridden fishermen whose Dads fought in WWll eat bluefish: waste not, want not way of thinking left over from Depression Era. Barbless hooks solve all problems when blue fishing.
  21. Smoked bluefish rules...or else fire the Weber, toss bluefish fillets into the trash, and flip some burgers onto the grill: Stopped force feeding myself bluefish around 1979.
  22. A slightly under-filled spool...hmm. Never thought about that. I'll give it a shot. If it's that simple I'll gratefully owe you one.
  23. Left on its own, wispy strands of braided fishing line twists itself into a sticky spider web. Keeping a tight line while moving is imperative at night when you can't see that errant loop of braid twisted around the top eyelet and toss your parted leader and lure into the drink after a mighty cast. Just walking in the dark with an ultra-light Suzuki set-up on a windy beach guarantees your rod, line and tackle bag getting tangled up in a jumbled mess of dried bubble weed at your feet. EVERY mishap I have on the beach at night is braid related: I usually fish what most would call extreme conditions and hate-hate-hate blurry-eyed leader reties while wiping skeeters off my hands. As an experiment I'm using a 30 lb 33' wind on fluoro leader tied to 30 lb braid mainline spooled on a vr150. The rod I modded for this trial ballon is a St Croix Triumph with 12 inches cut off the butt section. Went from a moderate/fast action 10 foot entry rod to a versatile jetty stick that reaches over ledges and rock. The shortened handle provides you with a nine foot rod that has the mobility of an 8' footer and yet still fishes like a 10 footer. Can't maneuver around a jetty or boulder field with loose braid blowing about and not expect your line to catch on something. Love braid for tossing sinkers over the horizon at the local ballfields. Hate braid for surf fishing after dark on a breezy night. Seriously considering on old school switch-back to mono...I long for the innocent days of tying my lure direct to 17lb mono mainline...caught way more fish like that, what most modern surf fishermen (like me) would consider half-assed fishing technique. But then you realize: 3$ five-gallon buckets can easily replace a $50,000 4x fishing truck to chase the occasional striper you find swimming along the beach. It's all in our head...fish are stupid creatures who mistake wooden pencils for sandeels. We make things complicated and blame our baits and fishing strings when dramatically shrinking schools of fish turn our nights into skunks. We would rather think the lack of catching is our fault and can be fixed by blindly spending food money on fishing lures and exotic string: Like most of us, I will bust open my bank account and throw money in the ocean when there are no fish to be found. Conclusion: sane people do not stand on rocks at 3am in the shore break while tossing wooden sticks at 50 lb fish. And I'm certain I'll continue to fish braid and complain about it. What else you gonna do when all the skunks in the world are moving to the beaches? Quit throwing sticks at phantom fish? Yeah, right, like that would ever happen.
  24. I'm usually a four-inch fixed blade kind of EDC kinda guy, but this knife is by far the most useful I've ever owned...have them stashed in various places such as the my steering column on my truck. Cut myself out of seat belts while hanging up side down twice...watch your head on the way down...much further than it looks...watch your head haha!!! The angle of the blade lets you cut downward with power and is a natural movement when employing a closed fist grip...I've drilled hole in the handle and tie in a 3 inch paracord lanyard and a 1.5 inch metal ring that I hang out of my front pocket for quick pinky access when carried in a custom pocket sheath. Also works great when road rage crazies try to reach inside your window...a quick downward slice across the back of the wrist is a nasty surprise.
  25. I hang everything on a slotted board where I can pick what I need before I go...every piece of gear takes up a little brain space in your head. I cut out several decisions and steps such as opening countless boxes looking for that misplaced blurple needle. The only way you can screw up if you get lazy and don't put your stuff away when you come home. In my truck bed I have a steel wire crate filled with thirty tubes...use this when fishing from my truck on open beach. I'll fill it up before heading out. System works great just hose the crate of when you get home and hang up your stuff ASAP: But 6am, home just in time to shower before work, your shoes and shorts full of sand, you know what I'm saying: stomach growling, mosquito bit, smelling skunky with a coffee headache coming on: this is not the time to put your stuff away properly...just do it before you head out or else you are always playing catch up and end up constantly yanking jig heads out of your car's floor mats.
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