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This month Ill be targeting stripers at a location where there is a bottleneck of action. During the nighttime outgoing tide, bait fish are carried to this bottleneck and the stripers feast. You can see the flash of stripers slicing through this bait ball. But considering the heavy action I wasnt happy with how few we caught last time I fished the location. I was using live eels, hooking the eels through the upper jaw and livelining them. Im wondering if there is a better way. Should I try a sinker rig instead? I was thinking about tying a weight at the end of the line and tying the hook a couple feet above so the eel cant dive for cover and is flailing in the middle of the water column. Any suggestions?

Hey! Looking for a solid new surf belt. So far, I've used a cheap belt that is is flimsy, has all plastic components, and problematic as the buckle often pops off due to fraying of the belt (yes, I've burned the frayed portion many times). Ideally, looking for a stiffer belt with stainless buckle that can handle a 60lb boga, plug bag, bucktail pouch, pliers, & knife. All suggestions welcome!

I've got a recipe I'm going to give a try this Sunday. Has anyone done this at home on kettle grill? Would I be better off using the Weber Smokey Mountain with the water bowl removed? I don't have a rotisserie for my Webers and my Kamado Joe is in need of warranty service. Any words of advice or tips for this cook? I'm prepping the pork and making the marinade tomorrow. How should I set up the coals to cook this? Do I surround the meat with coals and let it cook like that, or bank the coals to one side and just rotate the meats every 15 minutes?

I've got a recipe I'm going to give a try this Sunday. Has anyone done this at home on kettle grill? Would I be better off using the Weber Smokey Mountain with the water bowl removed? I don't have a rotisserie for my Webers and my Kamado Joe is in need of warranty service. Any words of advice or tips for this cook? I'm prepping the pork and making the marinade tomorrow. How should I set up the coals to cook this? Do I surround the meat with coals and let it cook like that, or bank the coals to one side and just rotate the meats every 15 minutes?

I've been fishing for about a year now, and surf fishing for half a year. Since its Christmas season, I'm intending on getting a new rod and reel for fishing from the surf in NJ (mostly for striper). I have a budget of about 300$ to buy a surf rod and reel. I will mainly be using it for throwing lures but I also want to be able to put bait on it and just wait for a fish to bite. What rod and reel do you guys reccomend and where and when do you reccomend I buy it. Also, if anyone has a Van Staal, ZeeBaas, or similar reel for sale in NJ can you message me if you would be willing to sell for around 200$? Thanks for the help.

so far in my fishing season this year, I have only caught one sea robin by accident. I live right off of a harbor, boats going in and out all day, and go down to my dock all the way to the end and throw plugs and swimbaits and pretty much anything. I'm in the Fairfield County area. I've even brought 4-5 rods and thrown out chunks of clams or small crabs. at this point I'm not looking for striped bass anymore, more like anything that will bite whatever I throw. even at the dead of night around 11 ish, i will watch small fish break the water and when i throw past them and catch up to them they splash on the other side of the dock. in the area where I fish its all seaweed beds or rocks so I get snagged. I've checked weather conditions, tides, water temperatures in certain areas. still nothing and nowhere. normally id go to a different pier but its been swamped with anglers recently. I've gotten fish there before so I know they are there. I just don't know whats going on. I have everything from 12ft rods to 6,6 rods. am i just having a bad season? dunno whats going on. sorry if this is in the wrong forum, first time posting.

Hi Everybody, I'm planning on heading out to Sandy Hook this coming weekend to try to catch, well, fish. Whatever fish I can. I just moved to NJ from the Rockies and I haven't done much salt-water fly fishing and none in the mid-Atlantic region, so I'm a total beginner at this. Any advice on what to do once I get out there would be much appreciated, especially what to look for and what to throw at the fish this time of year, and also any recommendations on shops in the area carrying flies and fly gear. I have a few clousers and some shoddy home-tied bunker patterns but if I want to use anything else I'll have to pick them up between now and the weekend. Have a 9 wt with intermediate line.

I moved to Brooklyn this year from Cape Cod. (yeah pretty terrible timing) l spent my first 10 years out of college starting an eCommerce saas product while gillnetting and longlining seasonally. I have fished for stripers my entire life on the tidal flats of the Cape Cod Bay and surfcasting along the national seashore. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or suggestions for shore fishing for stripers in Brooklyn or else in nyc. Any and all advice is very much appreciated. It’s not easy to admit but I am far less of a fisherman than I used to be (or think I am!) Thanks & tight lines

Ok I need guidance, just moved to Long Island and love fishing. I never realized how much goes into the sport. I have a lot to learn. The last two seasons i’ve Been surf fishing but with not much luck( yes, i’m a bait soaker). I have tried some lures ( buck tails, diamond jig, spoons) out a few times but since I didn’t know what I was doing I kinda gave up. I have yet to catch a fish on a lure. I would like to be able to learn the lures and someday catch a damn fish. I have been to the trusty YouTube watched a few videos in hopes that things would change this year. Watched vids on how to tie different rigs, on how to read the beach which I still don’t know if I’m doing right. My gear so far: 10’ st croix mojo surf paired with penn battle 6000 12’ penn rod with penn fierce 2 live liner 8000 the 6000 has 40lb braid I believe the 8000 has 50lbs mono i think both rods are medium to heavy what the hell do I need to do other than “ get out and fish more”? More YouTube I guess any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Hi Guys! As you can probably tell, I am very new to this site. I love stripper fishing and I am happy I found this community! One thing I have I trouble with is fishing offshore in windy conditions. For example, I fish in a lot of marshes and notice I can't get the correct action on some lures in these conditions. What is the best way to combat the wind and be more effective on these days? I could use a heavy lure or even bottom fish. Just curious what other's do to fish on windy days.

Hello Gang, new here looking for some advice on a surf casting setup. A bit of background. Ill be spending a good chunk of weekends this summer down on LBI and its about time I start casting the surf there (if anyone has a boat there and wants some company Im happy to join). Surf casting is just about the only fishing I have not really spent any time with yet. I grew up fishing the lakes in VT and fly-fishing the rivers up there. Moved down to PA, fly fish a lot of the streams around here and the smaller lakes. When I can get out on friends boats we usually jig for fluke or sand sharks or what ever is down there. I own a bunch of fly rods, some small spin casting stuff for the lakes and a few boat rods. It would seem none of that is quite right for surf casting so I'm looking to get some new stuff for the summer. Anyway heres what Im considering based on what I have read, 12 ft pole, spin real, 30Lb mono and some poppers or a double hook rig with some clams or squid chunks. Im looking to fish largely on the beach from mornings, sun up to when the beach gets busy (lets call it 9:30 am) and evenings (any time after 6pm to sunset). These are just the most practical times to fish where Ill be near as people are a factor mid day. If the weathers bad ill most likely sneak out for some mid day fishing. Nights are more than likely out. There is one jetty near buy that I could head to so if there is a nice compromise setup that could work but sandy beaches will be the majority of it. Im open to poppers or bait no real preference but I was going to seek some local advice on that front when I arrived. Plugging may be a bit more engaging than just dropping a line so lets say Ill lean that way for now. Budget, lets say keep it under $250 total (rod and reel). Reel: Im a big fan of Penn reels (all my spin and boat rods have them) and being a Philly guy they have a special sentimental value for me. I know they build quality stuff so I have been looking at the Spinfisher V somewhere from the 5500-8500 size. Looking for some advice on size and line combos for this one. Not married to the penn stuff if anyone has suggestions otherwise. I have owned enough mediocre gear at this point to understand paying a bit more upfront will be better in the long run. If I go on the smaller side, I would consider the 5500 with 20LB and the bigger side would be 40LB on the 7500 or so. Line: A bit lost on this one. The stuff I have been reading seems to be all over the place. 30LB mono? 60LB Braid? Leader, no leader? Steel cable? Should I just get a spear and forgo all of this? Some sources are saying go as low as 20LB with a 9ft rod while others are saying this is way to inadequate. Rod: Not looking to go crazy here and buy some $300 graphite madness. Ive got an UglyStick 7ft that I use for small lake stuff and really like it, looks like they make a 12ft and 15ft anyone used these? Im open to advice on anything in the sub $100 range or right around there. Some sources are saying 9ft rods (I would go with the Penn) are optimal while others are saying 12ft (Possibly the penn or the ugly stick) is the way to go. Bait: I'm gonna head to local shop and chat them up when I get there but any advice in advance is always good. I have some poppers, lures and spoons lying around from the boat fishing I have done. Lots of egg sinkers and up down rigs as well. Anyone surf cast with gulp baits? I have had a lot of fluke luck with them boat fishing. Open to any advice here... ---EDIT----- After a bunch of research today Im leaning in the direction of the Penn Squadron II 10ft (model SQDSFII1530S10) and the Penn Spinfisher V - 7500 sized with 20LB mono and a 40lb shock leader casting 2-3 oz poppers. Thanks In Advance Dave

Hello everyone, Last year a bought a Star Rod Stellar SG90IS. Around that time one of the swanky exclusive beach clubs in my area decided to push a bunch of sand right up to the adjacent groin that separates their beach and the public beach, this effectively created covered crevices (booby traps) between the rocks. So while i was walking on the sand next to the rocks my foot plunged through the sand into one of these covered crevices resulting in a nasty leg scrap, a dislocated pinky and worst of all I broke the top piece of my brand new rod. I tried contacting Star Rods to see if i could purchase a replacement top piece since the butt piece is perfectly fine. Star Rods was gracious enough to ignore my communications, awesome customer service! Since I have a practically brand new butt section I wanted to try and build a new top piece on my own. I am new to rod building so I thought this project would be the perfect way for me to get started. Additionally I think it will be fun to experiment with rod pieces to use for different applications. I wanted to see if anyone could offer some advice about how I should go about picking a blank to make the top piece from. I understand that the rod relatively inexpensive and it might make more sense financially to just replace the entire rod but it would really bother me to just throw away the butt section. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hey guys, I've recently become enthralled with hitting the surf for some bigger fish than the 6-inch dinky Large Mouth Bass at my local lake. The idea of using the biggest body of water available to me to catch fish that I can actually take home and eat is extremely appealing to me. The fish I intend on hitting primarily are Perch, Corbina, Halibut, Rockfish, Lingcod, and Striped Bass (if they're around). I am unsure as to whether Rockfish and Lingcod inhabit my local Orange County jetties but they look like loads of fun to catch! I know that Leopard Sharks, Rays, Guitarfish, as well as other larger species inhabit my local beaches so I'd like those fish to be taken into account on the off chance I hook one. I would prefer my gear not to snap and leave me a little in the hole! I've been doing a lot of research on gear and technique and have been looking at a few reels and rods and would appreciate advice on my choices. The reels I am looking at (Open to suggestions, of course): Fin Nor Lethal LT60 Penn SSV Penn Battle II For the rods (open to suggestions again, and also unsure of what size rod I should purchase): Offshore Angler Powerstick Star Stellar Lite Daiwa Beefstick Ugly Stick Surf Rod I've been watching a ton of videos on rigs and general fishing tips. So I have a rough idea as to what I need. I know that I need a variety of 1-4oz sinkers (both pyamidic, round, and coin), basic sabiki rigs for bait fish, ~30(?) Pound braid and fluoro leader, and hooks (unsure of what size). For baits, I've heard that Berkeley Gulp Sandworms are "Perch Crack", shrimp and sandcrabs are good; however, I am uneducated in swimbaits so I would also be open to advice there. General beginners advice for the species I have listed would also be very helpful. Any advice and help is much appreciated! Thank you!

I am looking into getting a new surfcasting set up this year. I did quite a bit of research and decided I want to get a Penn Spinfisher V and the LLBean surf rod (because of the warranty). I am wondering what size Reel and rod I should get. I am relatively new to surfcasting but not to fishing. I do not see myself getting fish bigger than 40lbs in the near future but am not sure on the size. Also for line I have never tried braided but I have been fishing long enough (15 years) that I believe I am capable of using it without getting constant bird nests. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Hey, I really want to get into kayak fishing this year but I don't know where to start. I'm in long island and want to fish the bays and backwaters behind Jones/Moses and also the town bays in this area. I was going to buy a roof rack first with some tax return money and then hopefully get a yak before spring. I would like some advice on what kind of roof rack and yak to buy based on the fishing I would be doing. I have a 2015 chevy cruze and would like to carry the yak and a small rod holder (2-3) rods. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking for new friends who would be willing to kayak fish with me next season as most of my friends only surf fish. Thanks so much guys, Andrew

(I apologize in advance for this post, I'm just really excited to go fishing this summer) I spend a lot of time freshwater fishing in the north shore area and it was just this summer that I started to transition towards saltwater fishing. Last summer however, my lack of proper saltwater gear and knowledge of the fishery limited me to jigging up squid and mackerel from the Salem Willows pier. Currently, during my Christmas break, I've been spending a lot of time researching the striped bass fishery and purchasing new tackle for this coming summer. Hopefully you guys who are familiar with the fishery in the north shore area will be able to answer a few of my questions regarding tackle that I would need and some other striped bass related questions. The equipment that I have right now is: pflueger trion spinning combo (6'6'' medium action graphite rod, trion 30x reel, 12lb mono) - the only saltwater readyish rod that I had last summer unfortunately Ugly Stik Bigwater 9' medium-heavy + Okuma Avenger abf 50 + 17lb mono w/40lb shock leader - just recently bought from a friend barely used I plan on purchasing: -a couple 3/4 oz bucktails -a couple 4 oz bucktails -pack of softbaits (something along the lines of berkley gulp) -2 floating daiwa sp minnows -2 cotton cordell pencil poppers -Berkley big game 17lb -Berkley big game 40lb -a bunch of the basic tackle (bank sinkers, swivels, hooks, sabiki rigs, etc.) This season is going to be mostly a figuring things out time for me, so I don't plan to put too much money into it, but I am willing to spend enough to where I'll be able to figure out what works and what doesn't. I honestly have no clue how to surf fish for striped bass and bluefish, however I did spend some time browsing forums and reading articles on the subject, which gave me a pretty basic understanding of what I'll need. I'm not too sure though so I have a few questions. Will the surf rod and reel (the ugly stik and okuma) that I picked up work well for surf fishing in the area? Also, do you think that the lures that I picked out will be sufficient for catching bluefish and striped bass? I understand that giving away fishing spots in a big no no in the fishing world, but as someone who genuinely is clueless as to where to fish from, do you think you guys could direct me to a general location in the north shore that would a good place to for me to get the hang of things and learn the ropes? I've heard good things from the plum island and Gloucester harbor areas. Also, I don't really need to go to an established "fishing' location like a pier or a jetty right? Like with surf fishing I'll be able to just set up along a beach that seems fish-able and make a day out it? Last part I promise. This is purely out of my obsession over getting everything planned out as soon as possible. For bait, I hear a lot about using clams, mackerel chunks, bunker chunks, and eals, but I seldom hear anything about squid. After last summer, I've gotten pretty good a catching squid. I was wondering if I'd be able to rig up a squid the same way you would a fish chunk and cast it out for bluefish and striped bass. For example, on Monday I spend day catching a whole bucket of squid off the salem willows pier and throw them in the freezer right when I get home. Would I then be able to use it for bait later in the week. This would save me a lot of bait money. Hopefully I won't get banned or something for this ridiculous post, but thank you so much to those of you who reply!!!

Hello everyone on this forum, this is my first thread partly because iv allways been able to find the answers to most of my question till now. I recently been running into some bad luck with losing my tackle on the beaches when fishing, most recently all of my bucktails and my pliars. so that being said i find myself digging to the bottom of my tackle boxes and closet for what ever i have left. i recently dug up some berkley gulp jerk shads i never even opened. so my question is is it worth it to rigg some of these boys up on my next trip to the surf? there is alot of bait fish in close and some pretty good numbers of cocktail blues between 12 & 17 inches, winds coming out of the NE which is good for me bec i fish the north shore of li sound, and orient point. thanks in advance for all of your input!

A friendly topic in the name of helping fellow anglers. Please don't grill and abuse. HAVE YOUR PERMITS ON YOU. It's free to register and they are coming down on this hard. If you can share or stop this happening to others. I have succeeded!! I was fishing off the beach close to the lighthouse in Montauk and was approached by a very *friendly* marine conservation guy. Drives the white 4x4 with the blue lights on top. Fully armed and tasered up. Obviously preparing for the next Vietnam or German invasion. Anyway I had switched tackle boxes and didn't have a copy of my license on hand (Marine, registry license.) I received a ticket on the spot. I asked for leniency but this nice fellow gave me none. Nada, 0 - I even offered to pull it up on my phone but couldn't get signal. (not that it mattered anyway) he still would have issued a ticket. $175 dollars without a court date. Or waste a day going to East Hamptons and dealing with these ****'s. Either way - Carry those permits as they are been absolute ****'s with 0 tolerance.