PeteA

With maybe a few shorts runs I reel the fish it to the point my leader is showing and the swivel is a foot or two from the my rod tip. The fish usually still has a lot of fight left thrashing like mad. The fish is really close but not under control. So, Ive been losing fish really in close. As per some of the suggestions, It might be a combo of rushing the fish in and rod angle.

Ditto, Casting egg. Great find.

This is all very helpful boys. Lots of very good advise here. I do like to keep a fish every now and then if possible and never really thought of dropping blues as a good release. But you guys are very right. Gets you back in the hunt even faster. A few good take aways: > Not to rush getting the fish in. > I think the rod angle mentioned is key. Upon reading this post I have for sure been keeping the rod tip to high. > I also like the notion of maybe setting the drag a slight bit lighter and adding drag with the palm or finger. Hopefully the yellow eyes are still here for this weekend! Thx Boys!

This is exactly what was happening on those quick releases!!!!

I’ve been into bluefish recently here on Long Island. I’ve been dropping 2 fish for every one landed. The blues are somewhat bigger we’re I’ve been fishing so I’ve been keeping my drag pretty tight trying to get them in quickly for release. I’ve set the drag to take a pretty strong hand pull to engage it. I thought the bigger fish and strong fight would demand a tighter drag. I get the fish in to the point my leader is showing the fish still have a lot of life. The last head shakes and acrobatic have them spitting the hooks. This has been with both trebles and singles and I’d say sharp hooks. I’m wondering if a lighter would wear down the fish a bit more and take out that last fight to help me land more or would the longer fight just give the fish the opportunity to drop off sooner. One additional note, in fishing in the surf or back bay from shore. Any thoughts and insight boys?

I’ve used one of these for years. Only issue, I have my phone in an Otter Box case and it’s tight. Also, the clear plastic of the case is not always txt sensitive. I wear it around my neck and tucked in my waders. Always have my phone handy for a quick picture or an emergency call.

I really liked the action on this lure. Very erratic on the surface. Not like a pencil popper, not like a walk the dog spook. Even more so with a really face retrieve. I did everything I could to not have a mechanical retrieve. Somewhat similar to a Roberts Ranger.

I have a number of older plugs from my days of casual surf casting on CC durning summer vacations. This lure must be 20+ years old. To tell you the truth I can’t remember ever catching anything on it. I threw this top water lure in the bag to give it a whirl. Blues were in last weekend and I thought I remembered this have a good side to side wobble action. It casts surprising well. The action was very much like a bait fish jump out of the of the water being attached by another fish. I worked it with a really fast retrieve with some short pauses and it skittered anything the surface. I hooked up on a couple nice blues with it. They followed the lure all the way in and slammed it about 20 ft away from me. I can’t recall the name of the lure. Pretty sure I bought it on CC. Any idea boys.

Most of my surfcasting was more casual while on vacation in CC may years back. I'm now on Long Island and trying to get back into it more myself. The book below is about 15 years old. It has descriptions of each type of plug with suggested retrieve methods. Might be a good place to start if its still available in print. Also I've been starting to throw more of my plugs so I can see just what they do and how they feel. Hope this helps a bit.

I do something similar to dannyplug1

Sorry don’t mean to hijack the post. Anyone use the green backs?

Anyone use either the Palix River or Frogg Togg Hellbenders for salt? Looking for an economic stocking foot solution that will hold up for a weekend warrior who is trying to get out more and do more fishing. Probably used 85% for salt and 15% fresh water. All insights welcome.

What popper is that?

Nothing to do with catching fish with or a good action. Just all out love to cast. That lure in your bag that just seems to cast a mile no matter what the conditions. When it's slow I clip on a Roberts Ranger, red and white 3oz. I can cast that thing a mile. I also do like the action, top water side to side wiggle. I don't catch many fish with it buts it just fun to fool around with. I'm hoping to change the catching part on so blues this week!

Have the same BW Sports bag. And saw this photo in another post somewhere. Did something similar by attaching a nylon strap. Great mod Stewie. Never worried about this bag opening again.