Thanksgiving Weekend Part II

Thanks again Tom! Tom arrived after Thanksgiving dinner with an Umberto’s Pizza which I promptly ate since extreme traffic and discomfort from sunshine burning through my window gave me the idea to forgo my dinner plans.  More importantly, Tom’s powers crafted a splendid morning bite on Friday.  Tom, Doug, and I hit the sands early and had what is best described as an all around good time- the fish were there, the wind was just right, a nice little set rolled in every now and then which was nice to watch, the air temperature was comfortable, and no one crept into our space even though our party was putting on a show banging out the fish.

Doug holding one of the smaller models caught Friday morning.  Most of the fish that were taken were 30 inches or better which is remarkable for fall.

After the morning bite, the fish went into a steady feed, and we left them biting at 10:30am with a slow pick.  Now, I strictly practice catch and release, but by strictly I mean that I am flexible.  I used to keep at least 3 or 4 fish per fall until I got too lazy to clean them.  After getting banged around in the surf for hours on end, I realized the last thing I want to do when I get home is yet another somewhat intricate procedure.  But when Tom, who is in advanced school, lives on his own and has a girlfriend, asked if we can keep some fish I knew it was time to “feed my people”, a phrase that we like to say in a tone similar to Riley Martin, friend of the Aliens.  So it was time to keep some fish for Tom.  I pulled out two keepers in no more than the first 10 casts at first light and Tom landed his own half an hour later.  I really am still trying to figure out his aura, it’s like being around a magician or something.  We caught plenty more keepers but the cooler was already overstuffed!

Tom and I doing the double hook-up in the morning light.

I don’t know whether or not it’s touristy to weigh in a fish but it sure felt like it.  Of course, with it being the holiday weekend, I wasn’t going to let Tom get away without the full experience.  Tom received his wooden nickel and his name in the log book and on the website.  31 inches and 9.50lbs.  Nice Work!

After we left the beach that morning, I think Tom and Doug got to experience how doing this stuff can take over because even after you leave the beach you really aren’t done fishing.  We left around 10:30am and were scheduled to arrive back around 2:30pm.  In those four hours we stopped at two tackle shops, weighed in the fish, went to the bank, cleaned the fish, bagged the fish, dropped the carcasses off at the beach, talked on the phone with some people about fishing, re-geared the tackle bag, cleaned out the truck, let out and fed the dog, went to Wawa, and picked up a lunch/dinner combo of food.  And it was all done, of course, with military precision without a second to spare.  Really what we should do is move Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s to the middle of the winter to spice those months up more.

Two fish had empty stomachs and one had only 3 totally fresh sand eels inside.  This is migration time.  Feel free to criticize my fillet job, but explain your thoughts clear enough so you can make me better.  Either way, Tom went home with 6 real nice pieces of meat to “feed his people”.

We cruised back up for the afternoon bite, but couldn’t repeat the success of the morning, since the fish were mostly off the feed aside from a slow pick.  Like any good addict would do, I was undeterred and told Tom to plan for a hot night bite.  Unfortunately, when we got back to the beach later that night the weak west wind couldn’t hold and had shifted south.  Damn.  Sorry Tom, but I personally don’t fish at night during a south wind, usually, because it sucks.  We did the 7 casts per spot thing to cover a lot of ground but found nothing.  I blame the damp south wind for the lack of action, but either way we still had a nice night under the stars.  I thought maybe we weren’t working hard enough for them, though I heard a second hand report from two top notch sources that the night bite stunk, and they confirmed it was all a morning thing.

Saturday was possibly the world record for crowded fishing.  The holiday weekend, easy weather, and a near total lack of fish on most other beaches forced everyone to occupy the same strand of sand.  The people that are in the Ava jig business will be getting some fat checks real soon.

I have never seen a crowd like Saturday.  There were truly perfect conditions to create a crowd of historic proportion- no fish except anywhere except for one beach, mild weather and no rain, and with instant communication the way it is even farmers in Texas chopping down their dead trees probably heard about the hot striper bite a thousand miles away.  The fish were there again in the morning, but did not put out as motivated a feed as the day before.  Maybe they were finally a little weary of the thousands of Ava jigs being hurled at them from every which way. 

Doug and I cruised the beach just to watch the show.  After a bit we stopped where there was just enough room for Doug to squeeze in.  I decided I would nap for a bit while he went to cast.  Of course it was too entertaining to sleep when I could watch the guy next to Doug throw Avas on his 6 foot conventional set up.  And of course the guy hooks up on a fish.  Now, when you hook up and your fish is going down the beach, it is customary to keep in line with your fish and travel with it.  A simple ’I’m coming down’ is the proper etiquette for these situations. 

Instead, this guy’s fish runs off to the south at about a 45 degree angle, yet he is planted like a telephone pole.  Since I trained Doug well, he let the guy know that the fish was coming near his line.  The guy responded with a rather condescending ‘you better not be anywhere near my line’.  Hmm.  After about a five minute family photo shoot the guy spent another three minutes with pliers unhooking his single hook Ava before releasing the half dead fish back into the water.  I have no problem with people that innocently suck at fishing but this guy was not in that category!

It seemed the looney bin was also on holiday this weekend.  Actually, after watching this guy I was kind of sold on this one.  Going fishing?  Yes dear.  Don’t forget your ladder!

The bite continued to wane so that by Sunday morning I was content not to fish in the crowd.  I called Doug out of the water before sunrise with an idea that only certain people would actually find exciting.  ‘Let’s count everyone fishing on the whole beach!’ Doug was on board and hopped in the truck.  We started at the bottom of the beach and began the count . . .1 . .2 . . .3 . . . 100 . . . 200 . . . Hey look there’s Rick and Steve! Numbers 282 and 283 . . . 300 . . . Hey There’s JM and Billy! Numbers 317 and 335 . . . 400 . . . 500 . . . Dude, oh wait I almost didn’t see that guy (he was decked out in full camo waders and jacket) . . . 600 . . . 700 . . . 712.   

That’s right.  There were 712 people actively fishing at the water.  There were 200 in the first mile and a half of beach!  And of those 712 people only 3 had a fish on as we were driving by.  I interpreted that to mean it‘s time to get the hell out of here.  Such concludes the great 2011 Thanksgiving Day Weekend fishing extravaganza!

Isn’t it cool that you can pretty much find stuff like this in any situation as long as you are aware of your surroundings?  Kind of makes fishing shoulder to shoulder with 1,000 other people seem like a good idea.

 

Thanksgiving Weekend Part I

I passed my test.  The fishing this week garnered the following quote from Shell E Carris . . .

. . . and I do not feel bad for missing it.  Well, maybe a little, but it's just awesome that stuff like this happens in New Jersey!  And it was not just numbers.  Shell E said a lot of the bass were keepers and that there was a fair number of fish from 15-20lbs.  Hmmm.  That's just the way it goes sometimes!

Will and Doug were down this morning for our Thanksgiving Day tradition of watching miles of bass and birds going wild out of range followed by the fish coming in right as we are about to leave.  Seriously.  Just as we were about to leave at 10:00am, a small of school of bass broke off the main school, and was just in range on the back of the bar.  And of course I had to get a fat 30 incher on my "last cast".  That fish prompted about 50 more casts and made us quite late leaving the beach.

Doug actually prefers when the fish stay off the beach since he is a rope fisherman.  "When the fish are in I waste a lot of time fighting and unhooking fish," Doug explained.  "Today was great.  There was a storm yesterday and the fish stayed offshore today.  Perfect rope fishing conditions.  I wait all year for days like this.  This made my fall!"

Tom is set to arrive shortly, so that means we're probably going to have a pretty good morning tomorrow.  Maybe even a great morning.  Maybe even the best morning of the fall . . . 

You go to the Beach, You Catch Fish

In the last post I remarked that bluefish have been noticeably absent this year and right on schedule reports of blues on the beach start coming in. The dominant bite is still bass on sand eels, though, from what I gather. Word is the body of fish has slid south some. I haven’t been up at the beach much for the past few days because I am doing this training on my self to gauge my reaction to not fishing a few days during the peak of the fall run.

See, I used to be addicted to surf fishing, because I love it much, so much so that I would neglect all other areas of my life. It was so bad, that for nights in a row I wouldn’t eat dinner until 1:30 am because I was out fishing all morning, working, and then fishing again. And there I would sit eating my cold dinner at 1:30 am with racing thoughts about what I was going to do for the morning bite at 5:30. It was a great program for rapidly learning how to catch a lot of fish, but it wasn’t good for much else. Now that I know what I am doing, the past few days my body was tired and I felt a cold coming on, plus I had some other things to do, so I decided not to fish. Do not underestimate how much this amazing activity can control your life.  The only thing I ever want to be controlled by is a dominatrix so I figured I should make some changes.

Since I am away from the water, I can feel the stoke level building back up for the arrival of Will, Doug, and Tom this weekend. Tom is amazing, he has been in a city, owns no car, and has been plugged into the matrix since summer, but he will probably come down here and catch more fish than the locals.  Will too, the catching fish part, and he is also amazing.  Doug as well, who is above and beyond the 'buoy' stage :)  I hope these guys can experience a night bite using Needlefish or at least score in some other way.

I know there are fish right now, has been fish, and that there are some nice ones to 20lbs. I also know, personally, that I need to be more balanced and well rounded and not so extreme all the time . . . Until this weekend at least. For now, I am understanding there is no substitute for waking up without an alarm, to actually complete a cycle of sleep. I mean, you don’t start peeing and then walk away mid stream, right? Other functions of the body are not much different.  They feel good when you finish them.

Morning Bite Regimen

For at least the past 7 days it has all been about the morning bite. Miles of bass have taken up residence along the shore and have adopted some qualities of domestication, at least in terms of regimentation. Like many of us do, we eat at roughly the same time and work at the same time, the bass are doing too. The formula for a fun hour or two fishing each day is to have the discipline to get to the beach by first light and the ability to work a needlefish or metal lure in just the right way to induce strikes.

Though the fish are in a feeding pattern, time wise, not every one is catching fish the same like during a blitz. I have been having success working a needlefish with a lot of jerks, stops, and pops as opposed to just a straight slow retrieve. For example, in multiple instances after getting a bump I would shake the rod like a popper, and the fish would slam the needlefish almost instantly. Others are having success with slim metals, and metals with a black tail are hot right now.

A fantastic hour or two of fishing each morning has been the norm over the past week. Slim metals and Needlefish that imitate sand eels have been hot lures. Those who have been imparting some finesse with the lures have been taking the most fish.

Bluefish continue to be missing from the surf or are only mentioned like a rumor. It’s all bass right now and has been the entire time for the most part. It’s like a really good steak that is missing a sweet potato or side of vegetables. The action right now is really good; it just needs that extra bit of nutrition, which would be bluefish. Bluefish provide more action during the day and make the bass more competitive.

Either way, after a late start (warm weather and a lack of bluefish) now that the bass and sand eels have settled in, and the water is fishable more days than not, this season, so far, has ended up turning out very good.

P.S.  Just scored a nice bass and dropped 3 or 4 more in the dark not more than 30 minutes ago.  Since I know I will get them good in the morning I'm choosing sleep tonight.

Madness . . .

There is so much life in the water right now that just dipping a toe in would cure the worst state of catatonia. Miles and miles of gannets dive bombing the water, bass boiling the surface for miles at first light, hundreds of crazed fisherman patrolling the beach, yelling and shouting over the roar of the waves. It‘s an experience even for someone who has no idea what is going on up there. This is when the beach is alive. Long gone are the summer days of lazily sunbathing, unwittingly under the damaged stratosphere. Here are the days of engagement beneath a cooler sky.

A curious beach walker studies a mass of birds screaming over the surf.

There are sand eels, herring, bunker, and peanut bunker. Each morning at sunrise the ocean as far as the eye can see is boiling with bass. This is the best showing of bass in quite some time, actually I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen anything comparable. 2009 was a great fall, but was all sand eels that year so the fish were laying low. Last year sucked. With the mix of baits this year, the fish are showing all over the place, everywhere.

After an epic Friday, I still managed to put together very good morning bites this weekend with 12 and 7 fish, respectively. Unfortunately, junky SW and SSW winds seem to keeping the fish hanging out of the surf just behind the end of the cast, and have not made the night bite worthwhile. Out in the boats it's a different story. Eric H., who is normally a surf rat, motored out to sea and reported 60 bass yesterday and 100 bass today! Insane!

It’s a busy surf bag right now. An assortment of sand eel metals and big poppers and swimmers are necessary to adapt to the changing conditions.

It gets busy on the beach now, too, on a sunny Sunday when the word is out that the fish are in.

At all times in life, if possible, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and the responses your are getting. I will not name a name, but I will say that it’s a good idea to try and work well with others when we have to be sardine canned like this. I witnessed an angler today walk over a quarter mile to take the spot, almost to the grain of sand, of one of the only anglers who was catching fish on the beach. If you were having sex, and when you took a moment to take a breath someone rolled you off and got in your place, how would you react to that? How would the offending adulterer expect you to react?

Judging by the holes in the ozone and the wars, I know there is still a challenge for many of grasping the concept of being ’civil’. Though it may seem daunting to solve it all, it’s still worth a try, and being respectful and courteous to others is a good way do go about it. How many industrialists have a mantra that says ‘I can’t change the world’.  Answer: None of the good ones. Carrying yourself well has a greater impact than you can imagine, especially if your imagination is dull.

Some pretty cirrus and cirrostratus clouds moved in this afternoon, associated with a broad flow of southwesterly winds that will linger through Thursday. So so for the fishing. Hopefully there is more west than south if it’s going to blow that long.

Will it ever rain again? The last time it rained in my backyard was October 29^th during the Freak Northeast snow storm. I noticed because I’ve been leaving my waders on the porch for some time now and I haven’t had any need to bring them in at night to the point where I’m saying ‘what the heck is going on here?’ And yet it someone pees on the rain gauge in Philadelphia tomorrow this year will go down as the wettest year in history. Lots of rain . . .dry dry dry dry dry dry . . . Lots of rain . . . Dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry . . .

After being up since 04:30, I appreciate the junky SSW winds allowing me some sleep tonight . . .

Absolutely Epic!

This is Fall . . .

Cool weather. Miles of bass. Sand eels everywhere. Perfect sandbars. West Winds. Perfect amount of waves.

Wake up at 05:00 . . . Shave and brush teeth . . . Get dressed . . . At the beach by 10 of 06:00 . . . Birds are working the bars before it’s light enough to see . . . Bass start popping with the next stage of light . . . First fish on at 06:15 . . . 36 BASS TO 34 INCHES . . . Last fish at 11:45 . . . Epic! . . . Leave the fish biting to meet Donald for food . . . Eat a bowl of soup and some pineapple with a big glass of water . . . Ride bike to Charlie’s to buy more Ava jigs . . . Retool some tackle . . . Go back up but at 14:00 but the bite is off . . . Nap from 14:30 to 15:30 . . . Eat another bowl of soup . . . Gear up . . . Fish from 16:00 to 18:00 . . . Only 1 bass but quite a few hits after dark . . . . . . A fish ripped a hook off my Needlefish . . .  Seems like a night bite might be happening tonight . . . Drive to bank to get money and dinner . . . Eat dinner with a big glass of water . . . Retool some tackle . . . Going back for the night bite at 21:00 . . .





 

All 36 bass this morning were caught on a Shoestring Teaser and bright green 017 combo. I would estimate 20 of the 36 bass fell for the Shoestring.

Thanks to leftovers from Sean there was just the right amount of wave to keep the bite going. The waves stir up sand eels and keep the rips flowing which keeps the bass active longer into the day.

For me this was the best day of the fall so far. So that funk or whatever is gone. Crushed. Trampled.  I consider any event with over 10 fish worthy of recognition, so 37 bass today was certainly noteworthy. There are miles and miles of bass feeding like wild so my personal records may be in jeopardy:

100 bass in one calendar day
141 bass in two nights (70 the first night and 71 the next)

And the great part about right now is that it’s not just stupid fishing as some people like to say. Other than some surface action around sunrise, there was nothing to show the fish were there for the rest of the day. It was all about reading the water and looking for the most likely place a bass would be feeding among the sandbars and rips.

Epic!

It's a Steady Feed Sand Eel Bite

Wow there are a lot of bass around right now. For the past two mornings, bass were popping on the surface as far north and south as I could see. In some experiences, however, in spite of all the surface commotion the bass would not respond to lures. How exasperating it is to see fish splashing the surface for miles, yet not bite. That was my experience the morning prior and Donald’s experience this morning.

Following the morning tease, a slow or steady pick commenced and lasted through most of the day, and guys were picking away at fish as long as they could maintain casting stamina. Though the day bite was very good at times, never was there a frenzy feel or blitz feeling to the action. Instead, it was a choose some good looking water and keep casting metal kind of thing, but do that long enough and double digit numbers were attainable.

A steady day bite under sunny skies lasted most of the day on Monday and Tuesday, though was better Monday.  The night bite was also very good on Monday.

A Dark Cloud has Moved in . . . It’s Part of the Surf Fishing Experience . . .

Every person who fishes will at some point or another go through what I am experiencing right now which is a ‘funk’. It is something that happens eventually to everyone no matter what skill level or years spent fishing, and it happens regardless of preventative measure or steadiness of mind. I typically have one or two per fall season, and they usually last anywhere from 2-5 days. It’s my equivalent to a period since my body parts don‘t allow me to experience the real thing.

It began on Sunday night during my dreams. Everywhere I looked, to my left and to my right, everyone’s rod was bent but I couldn’t even get a hit. Then I got hit- with an inflatable pool that smashed me up against my Jeep and possibly broke a rod or something. Next I was on another beach, and I got the ’you just missed it’ from everyone when I pulled on. Even though it was ‘only a dream’ I got stuck into that mindset, the one when everything is going wrong and you say ‘What else can go wrong?’ And then of course you find the answer to your question. Maybe a better question would be ‘What can I do different to get off this track?’

Anyway, I woke up to my snooze alarm in the funk. It’s like a dark cloud has moved over, there is just something different. ‘Ok’ I told myself. ‘It’s here, but let’s just take it easy and let this thing run it’s course.’ I got to the beach and I knew there would be fish. ‘Once I get a few fish I’ll be out’ I told myself. The sun started coming up and the fish were popping everywhere- and they wouldn’t touch a thing. I watched them pop all over the surface for a good hour and threw everything at them. The only hits I got were on a popper which is normally a goofy thing to throw during a sand eel bite. One hour of boiling fish and I couldn’t get one to the beach.

I regrouped, and moved to another beach to fish the bars since the fish would probably start biting in the rips with the dropping tide. I pulled on the beach and spotted Rick with a bent rod. A guy to the left of Rick a few sandbars down also was hooked up. ‘Ok. This looks good. Right?’ Wrong. I went out on the sandbar next to Rick and fished the other side of the rip. One fish, two fish, three fish . . . Rick was banging them up pretty good. Four fish, five fish . . . And all I had was a half ass hit. ‘Screw this I’m going home’. And I left.

I had some things to do at home, but it was hard to function fully knowing that fish were definitely happening up at the beach. Forget about those stupid fish. Then later that afternoon Donald called me, ’You better get back up here. I had four fish in only 20 minutes. I have to go a meeting and I just left them biting.’ Ok Donald . . . Fine . . . You sold me. After a few hours of distracting myself with other things I felt better. ‘Ok. Time to get back to it now. I’m refreshed and ready.’

And then I turn the key to the Jeep. It sounded like someone shooting a machine gun. Damnit! It was idling so rough it felt like an earthquake. What the hell is this? This is just like that dream last night! The check engine light started flashing and I smelled unburnt gasoline coming from everywhere. I immediately turned the motor off. ‘Ok. It’s not over yet.’ I figured first I’d go up to the beach and catch a few fish, relax, and then deal with the car in an hour since I couldn’t drive it anyway. I went up to my local beach and couldn’t get more than a soft hit. Only 15 minutes after and only a half mile away from where Donald caught his fish I couldn’t even get a real hit!

So it goes. I rode with Donald today and we were on the beach from 1:30 pm until sunset. I had one hit and he caught a fish. ‘I’m telling you we were nailing them this time yesterday but they’re not here today’. I know Donald. We watched some other people catch some fish. I saw Dave hook up on 2 fish within 10 minutes. Then Steve came up and told us some impressive numbers from last night’s night bite and the day bite and how he caught 5 fish in 5 minutes on some magical sandbar earlier today . . .

Since I can’t have the real thing, this will suffice as my period. I’m irritable, moody, lazy, and I feel like I ate too much. After not catching any fish with Donald, AAA came and towed my Jeep away. I know there is a good chance of a night bite right now, but all I want to do is sit down and curl up in comfy clothes since I am car-less and fish-less.

This too shall pass . . .

The Fish are In Between Pesky Northeast Winds

Three separate northeast wind events in week! First was the freak snow storm, followed by two annoying dry nor’easters that only served to waste calendar time since the westerlies never returned with force after the snow. Northeast wind events will usually make for an exciting bite, that is when there is enough time between them so as to let the water settle out some and the fish regroup. To have them right on top of each other in one week was less than ideal.

The good news is the bass are here in numbers, as some very good bites went down on days when the water was cleaner and more fishable. Even when the winds were blowing, gulls and gannets were working hardcore two casts out, just beyond the dirty/clean line. Large schools of bass were surely going crazy beneath them, feeding all day out of range of us surfcasters who were impeded by short period waves and gusty winds. It was ‘Ok. That was a good cast.’ One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Bam! And a fish would hit nearly instantly. The problem wasn’t that the fish weren’t there, rather the problem was fighting the waves, wind, and drift for another ‘good cast’.

Some very good sand eel bites went down on the days between northeast winds when the wind and surf was relaxed (highlighted in blue). During the northeast winds, the bites were generally poor with the fishing not much better than a pick. This was counter to the normal modus of great bites during northeast winds, however that rule applies to when the northeast wind events are not as successive. On some of the sandbars, gulls are feasting on sand eels at low tide, and by the nature of the bites it’s obvious a good amount of sand eels are residing on the backs of the bars.

A good bite happened on the morning of the 3rd, as soon as it became fishable after the wind and waves of the 1^st and 2^nd. The bass were stacked up on the back of the sandbar feeding on sand eels. It took a long cast with metal and a teaser, with most hits coming during the first few cranks, but those who were there landed a good number of fish over a couple hours. This was at a place where the sand eels have been thick since September, so it was only a matter of time.

Unlike the excessive precipitation of the freak snow storm, northeast wind event 2 of 3 this week was a dry one- a dry nor’easter. Coming only two days after the last northeast wind, there wasn’t really enough time for the ocean to recover and fishing was only a slow pick.

Finally the wind and waves calmed some on the 3rd and a great bite went down.  A good number of people were out in the afternoon trying to recreate the success of the morning.

Just as things were looking good northeast wind event 3 of 3 arrived. The fish were feeding hard two casts out during the blow but we were blocked from them by the wind and surf.

The first annual Berkeley Striper Club Catch & Release Tournament was thwarted by northeast wind event 3 of 3 on the 4^th and 5^th. The back bay was the place to be at the start of the event, where Steve George from South Jersey scored 6 bass in an hour to win it. Congratulations Steve!

This morning, Sunday the 6^th, after northeast wind event number 3, I scored a very good morning bite. The fish were feeding heavily on the back of the bar. Because of the northeast winds, the trough had widened, so the back of the bar was way out there on the best cast. The fish were only hitting on the first few cranks, so it was very important to time the waves properly and not waste a cast. Those who are apt at the long cast-good timing method took the most fish. Every time I looked to my left or right I saw at least one person hooked up on a fish, and usually it was the same person, Billy, who was doing well on the long cast with a tin squid and teaser.

After spending too much time fishing lousy surf for the tournament free fishing this morning turned out a lot better. I scored two double headers on the Tin Squid and Shoestring Teaser combo and had 8 bass total. It was all about a long cast to the back of the bar. Those who couldn’t do that spent their time watching us bang them up.

After a post-tournament late start this morning Rick demonstrated a fish could be taken on the inside too. A fish on the inside is a good sign!

I am really excited that the next afternoon bite, night bite, and morning bite will be very fun. The days are growing short, the sun will be setting very early today, the fish are here, and the water is finally fishable. This time of year is so special- the energy is in the air, the water, and even in the Wawa when comparing catches with a cashier. It looks like there will be yet another annoying east wind event and large waves this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, though the local winds aren‘t forecast to be as strong. A cold front with a good west wind, finally, is forecast to move through at the end of this week. Hopefully a good calm water Needlefish bite will follow that front . . . For now the metal thing is perfectly fine as long as it continues to produce!