Finally started my season this past weekend. I spent a few hours on the beach and came up empty, but wasn't at all unhappy about it. My new gear worked gread and I was glad to have the opportunity to try it out. I ended up with a Tsunami graphite rod of the 10 foot variety and a Quantum Cabo to go with it. It casts so mich better than my Ugly Stick but may not be quite as good with a sinker and bait. I was also trying out a few new pieces of kit to go along with my new stick. I had purchased a pair of neoprene Glacier Gloves and a Helly/Hansen Roan Anorak with neoprene cuffs to keep out the cold and wet. These coupled with my waders made for a toasty bad fisherman...In fact I was actually hot at one point despite a 10kt wind in my face and temps in the 40s. I also had the fortune to come across a nice set of aluminum pliers to hang from my new Simms wading belt. A very professional looking setup if I do say so myself...Now I just have to live up to the appearance.
I tossed about half my plugs before breaking off a bucktail due to nothing more that my own stupidity. Resigned to a night of beautiful stars I decided that casting practice was far more purposeful than continuing to work an empty water column. I wound up, not unlike the "pros" I had seen in a few YouTube videos, and attempted to hit Martha's Vineyard with a 2 ounce bucktail only to be greeted by a resounding"crrraaaccck" as my 30lb Cajun Braid parted ways with what was left on my reel; I had completely forgotten to open the bail. The saving grace was that it took forever to hear the splash of my now liberated lure so it is entirely possible that I set a new personal best casting distance record. It wasn't particularly cold, but it was far too cold to take off my Glacier Glove and try to re-tie. So all in all I ended up spending my time star gazing and practicing my casting. I don't really even think I had a single bite although there was one that felt like a nibble but could have been something in the water like seaweed or structure. Another trip is already planned for two weeks from now and I'm really hoping that there might actually be something in the water then. In the mean time I'm going to retie some knots and make sure I'm ready when the next opportunity arises.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Off-Season
Off-season - [awf-see-zuhn]
noun
1. a time of year other than the regular or busiest one for a specific activity: Fares are lower in the off-season.
2. a time of year when business, manufacturing activity, etc., is less than normal or at an unusually low point.
3. a time of year when fishermen start to go out of their mind and their heads spin with unrealistic expectations of all the fish they will catch this year
Not that we've had any real weather that one could call "winter" but it is never the less the off-season. The time of year when surf fishing can be unpleasant and is almost always unproductive. Just because we haven't had much of a winter doesn't mean the fish stick around. I have however, had the opportunity to get out a couple times to try new gear and just mess around in general. New gear has been abundant this off season with lightweight, breathable, boot-foot waders, a new bait knife, a set of glacier gloves, a bunch of Dick's gift cards, and some korkers...Christmas was good to this Bad Fisherman!
This is actually my second set waders, and that's a bit of a funny story. The waders were purchased from Dick's thanks to a combination of gift cards and scorecard rewards points. The day I got them I took them right out to Rye state park where I know the beach gradually slopes to the water and is free of rocks and obstacles for the most part.
I pulled the waders on, grabbed my gear and trudged to the waters edge before carefully stepping into the water feeling not unlike an astronaut. Having never previously thought about what it must be like to walk in the water without being wet, it was quite the experience...for a few minutes at least. After popping on a 1oz. bucktail I began to work the water column; I saw bait ripple the surface on a few of my retrieves but never had a hit. I was up to my waist at this point and happy as a clam...until I felt it that is. At first all I noticed was a little bit cold around my calf. For all I knew this was normal so I didn't give it too much thought but within the next five minutes cold had turned to wet. Completely bummed I headed back to my car where I took the waders off and found a soaked right leg and a damp left one. Obviously this company's quality control leaves something to be desired. With the waders (somewhat) packed back into their box I headed back to Dicks's, luckily they didn't have a problem exchanging them for a new pair.
Fast forward to my last trip to the beach when I managed to hook and loose something big as well as a bucktail to a errant cast. That brings me to the final point about the off-season, it is a time to reflect on and evaluate the previous season and to set expectations of the upcoming season. Below is last seasons catch stats.
2011 Stats:
Money Spent - Lots$$$
Scup - 5
Bluefish - 3
Lost Lures - 3
Sea Robbin - 2
Smooth Dog Fish - 1
Fluke (Summer Flounder) - 1
Crab (significant other) - 1
My hopes/expectations for 2012:
Catch a Striped Bass
Hire a shore guide
Fish with a friend/my dad
Fish freshwater
Hone my bucktail skills
Read more fishing books
Learn "my" beach and jetty inside and out
Blog more.
So, that being said here's to tight lines and fish on the hook! Good luck in 2012 all.
-Bad Fisherman
noun
1. a time of year other than the regular or busiest one for a specific activity: Fares are lower in the off-season.
2. a time of year when business, manufacturing activity, etc., is less than normal or at an unusually low point.
3. a time of year when fishermen start to go out of their mind and their heads spin with unrealistic expectations of all the fish they will catch this year
Not that we've had any real weather that one could call "winter" but it is never the less the off-season. The time of year when surf fishing can be unpleasant and is almost always unproductive. Just because we haven't had much of a winter doesn't mean the fish stick around. I have however, had the opportunity to get out a couple times to try new gear and just mess around in general. New gear has been abundant this off season with lightweight, breathable, boot-foot waders, a new bait knife, a set of glacier gloves, a bunch of Dick's gift cards, and some korkers...Christmas was good to this Bad Fisherman!
This is actually my second set waders, and that's a bit of a funny story. The waders were purchased from Dick's thanks to a combination of gift cards and scorecard rewards points. The day I got them I took them right out to Rye state park where I know the beach gradually slopes to the water and is free of rocks and obstacles for the most part.
I pulled the waders on, grabbed my gear and trudged to the waters edge before carefully stepping into the water feeling not unlike an astronaut. Having never previously thought about what it must be like to walk in the water without being wet, it was quite the experience...for a few minutes at least. After popping on a 1oz. bucktail I began to work the water column; I saw bait ripple the surface on a few of my retrieves but never had a hit. I was up to my waist at this point and happy as a clam...until I felt it that is. At first all I noticed was a little bit cold around my calf. For all I knew this was normal so I didn't give it too much thought but within the next five minutes cold had turned to wet. Completely bummed I headed back to my car where I took the waders off and found a soaked right leg and a damp left one. Obviously this company's quality control leaves something to be desired. With the waders (somewhat) packed back into their box I headed back to Dicks's, luckily they didn't have a problem exchanging them for a new pair.
Fast forward to my last trip to the beach when I managed to hook and loose something big as well as a bucktail to a errant cast. That brings me to the final point about the off-season, it is a time to reflect on and evaluate the previous season and to set expectations of the upcoming season. Below is last seasons catch stats.
2011 Stats:
Money Spent - Lots$$$
Scup - 5
Bluefish - 3
Lost Lures - 3
Sea Robbin - 2
Smooth Dog Fish - 1
Fluke (Summer Flounder) - 1
Crab (significant other) - 1
My hopes/expectations for 2012:
Catch a Striped Bass
Hire a shore guide
Fish with a friend/my dad
Fish freshwater
Hone my bucktail skills
Read more fishing books
Learn "my" beach and jetty inside and out
Blog more.
So, that being said here's to tight lines and fish on the hook! Good luck in 2012 all.
-Bad Fisherman
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