After reviewing my fishing journal, I concluded that based on tide, time of year, and moon phase, July 9th 2005 looked like a good night to go fishing at hot spot “x” for striped bass. I arrived at hot spot “x”, the rain started falling from the heavens as if gravity’s force tripled. The thunder and lighting lit up the dark sky. If I was not a surfcaster, I would have gone home. Ten minutes later, in typical New England fashion, the isolated thunder storm shower passed and a rainbow appeared in the sky, which proved to be a good omen.

I read the beach and hypothesized where a linesider would enter the surf zone. Not wanting to waste time, I treked to the water’s edge and cast my custom Hi-Lo rig hung with Owner SSW in-line circular hooks dressed with clams and pulled vertically via 3 oz pyramid sinker. It was another nice Pendulum cast….until the spool slipped; I forgot to tighten the main drag. The tide was incoming, so I let it sit on the bottom.

While my bait rod was in a sand spike, I prepared my plugging rod. I waded into the water until I was knee deep. I made a cast and stared a slow retrieve. Out of curiosity, I looked back….Holy Poseidon! My Med-Heavy 10 footer was bent over and the spool was spinning so fast that there was almost smoke! Have you ever seen an Olympic athlete sprint in waders? I picked up my bait rod and negotiated with the fish. She pulled and pulled. Once she got in less than 5 feet of water, she traversed 30+ feet to my left. I finally landed her: a 37 inches Striped bass that pulled the scale down to 18 lbs. Beautiful fish! Classic circular hook penetration: right in the corner of the mouth. Beautiful! I examined my rig…there was a hook missing. What ‘da! I must have hand two biggies on at the same time. So I thought. Not! I examined my specimen more closely. Aha! The missing hook was in her tail! So, at one point, I had her fish hooked on both ends. No wonder she was so irate.

Remember my plug? My plug drifted into my friends line. He uses mono. I use braid. Guess who won? In short, I got spooled. Go figure, the reel that got spooled did not even catch the fish.

During the next six hours, I pulled in schoolie after schoolie (13 – 19”). And I started thinking: Are we as Surfcasters trying to to accomplish too much in too little time? I was trying to bait fish and plug at the same time. I know keep it simple, travel light, and only fish one method at a time: bait, eels, plugs, or flies.

Journal Entry
Date: 07/09/2005
Location: “x”
Rod: 10 ft EC Medium Heavy
Reel: Penn 5600 Live Liner
Line: FireLine 20 lb smoke
Rig: Custom Hi-Low made from Ande 50 lb clear mono
Hook: SSW In-Line Circular 8/0 hook
Bait: Clam
Species: Striped bass
Length: 37 inches
Weight: 18 lbs

In my third year as a self-proclaimed surfcaster, I was fishing the incoming tide on a dark summer night with two friends.

Two hours after slack tide, two gentleman walk onto the beach. They said nothing. We said nothing. Fisherman keep secrets.

Three hours after slack tide. No fish. I walked over to the gentleman and said “Any luck?” The first gentleman who was baiting his rig, said: “Nothing yet”. I looked at his rig and knew why. I have fished with “wacky” rigs, but this one was fish-hooking challenged. “Have you fished this rig a lot?”, I asked. “No. This is my first time fishing in the ocean.”, he responded. That explained the rig.

Breaking with fishing tradition, I told him how to make a rig that I have had success with on the beach we were fishing. He looked at me in surprised. But, followed my suggestion. I said “Good luck!” and walked back to my hot spot.

Four hours after slack tide. One skate. Out of curiosity, I looked over to see what was happing. Bang! The first gentleman was struggling to hold onto his rod while walking toward the water. I put my rod in a sandspike and sprinted like an Olympic athlete towards him. The tip of his rod could not get any closer the butt of the rod without snapping the rod in two. I did not hear any line coming off the spool. He was not gaining any line. “Loosen the drag!”, I yelled. He looked at me in surprise. But, followed my suggestion. A few minutes later, a fat 35 inch striped bass was at our feet.

Five hours after slack tide. Two schoolies. Out of curiosity, I looked over to see what was happing. Bang! The second gentleman had a fish on the line. I put my rod in a sandspike and sprinted towards him. “Open the drag”, the first gentleman said. A few minutes later, a fat 30 inch striped bass was at our feet.

Six hours after slack tide. No keepers. The two gentleman went home with camera full of pictures. And I went home with the 35 inch and the 30 inch striped bass. If I had kept my fishing rig a secrete. I would have gone home without any fish. Keep secrets selectively. Give and you shall receive.