From The Surf
9-29-2010
The mainland angler with that ALOHA Spirit
By: Paul Danielczyk
Hi everyone, well its fall and the beginning of the run has started early it seems. This first report will be a general all around one telling you the ins and outs of where to fish and what was used to bring them to the beach. I hope to use this forum to allow you to be the judge as to where to target your next fishing trip. I will have more specifics on areas up and down the coast so stand-by.
So far it is hard to tell where all the good spots are simply because there are fish all over. This rain lately has not really put a damper on the amount of fish being caught but the reports are fewer and farther in between contacts. Why because only the diehards are out there having fun. Once the weather breaks I am sure that the fishing will be as good if not better than this past weekend. So get out and let’s hear from you.
I have found that a lot of anglers are not seeing the whole picture when it comes to fishing off the surf. I get a lot of people that watch me fish and wonder why I catch and they are not. Well simply put, it’s knowing where to put your offerings; live, frozen, or artificial it makes no difference. You have to be in the right place and your chances of catching will rise substantially. Well how do I know where to put my bait? Look for the structure. It’s that simple.
One of the first things I can tell you is to look for structure and fish it in the right manner and your chances will go up. Take for instance, in New Jersey our shore line is dotted with jetties and groins. These structures are there for a purpose and that is to capture sand and to protect inlets. You can travel from Sandy Hook to Long Beach Island and have great success fishing these man made structures if you know how and where.
If you Google any number of towns along the coast and zoom in you can find these rock piles jutting perpendicular to the beach. Looking closer you can see that the sand for the most part is gathered up on the south side of each and every one. So, that tells me that there is deeper water on the north side and that is where you will see and in most cases catch fish. Look for Sea Bass, Tautog and Stripers to be lurking there especially during slack tides or slow current times.
Right now the smaller blues are attacking our beaches and by the looks of the amount of bait around they will be here for a while. I have done quite well using fresh mullet and a rig some call a stinger. Pass the hook through the mouth and out the gills and attach the hook (circle hooks work best here) somewhere along the side close to the tail. Why, because the blues love to go for the tails of the bait first. I have made these rigs up using a Fish Finder slider and I have to tell you I have been having a blast with blue after blue.
I gave a rig to someone I met on Island Beach State Park that was having a hard time and was not catching at all. He was in a good spot by reading the water, as he was close to a cut in the sand bar and a slight rip was being established. I showed him how to rig his bait and told him not to dead stick but to rather hold the rod to feel the fish and when he feels the strike to just start reeling in. Well, on his second cast (the first he missed the strike) he pulled in a nice 3 lb blue. I just love to see the smiles of someone that is catching. Needless to say his catching rate went up quite a bit from that point. Good going Matt and Sue.
So the bottom line is to know how to read the signs Mother Nature is giving you and be ready to catch. More next week on the where and how to locate that elusive Striped Bass that keeps you up at night. If you have any comments, be sure to log in and post away. We are all looking to have a productive time this Fall season. It looks like this will be a season to remember.
Happy Catching
Paul
