The only thing better than running your own boat is having a buddy who has one and you just bring the beer and ice! I say this being 'the friend with the boat' from April to October....
Once you get used to braid mono feels like fishing with a rubber band. The sensitivity of braid is crazy. i always joke that I can feel the fish breathing on the lure before the strike. Nothing like feeling the jig skiping over the bottom then the feeling of a striper thumping the bucktail. Bigwetmonster, just think small in the beginning, fish the rivers and slowly expand out as you get comfortable, it can take years to expand your range and trust the equipement. I still hang very close and never venture out into the open ocean in my little boat. I have come to know my 10 mile range in the bay like the back of my hand. There are so many variables to learn and how each microspot responds to tide and wind it could take decades to fully understand. I have one spot that fires on a nne wind and an incoming tide. Go there on an outgoing tide with any wind and its dead as a doornail. Even the bridges have specific hotspots based on tides. One span could fire on an outgoing and be dead on an incoming while the next span is going off.
Funny you say that, I used a buddies outfit one time, braid, St. Croix rod and Amabassador reel. I told him I could tell what kind of shell I just bounced across.
Thanks Z! You got me in the mood to show off, unfortunately, I'm done showing off after this pic. They're a couple years old too.
Fishing for "sport"... catch and release... is not my thing. In fact, I can't stand it. Putting fish on the table is what it's all about for me. Too bad it will kill you around here.
We have plenty of fast growing fish that don't get filled with mercury. Ciguatera would make me nervous a little further south.
nice fish clem. i love fishing. hobby, sport, for food ....... whatever. i totally enjoy having nothing to fvcking think about for a few hours. being on the water in south east nor cack is awesome. even if i throw everything back, it's still a great day. some times i bring my ar-15 and shoot the fvck out of a gatorade bottle on the spoil islands before while i'm out. god i love it.
Well just found a short coming of braid. Tried to get my buddy to fish this afternoon but he thought it was too rough. I launched and quickly thought I had made a mistake as a wave rolled into the ramp and dumped a couple of gallons i to the back of the boat. NE wind is brutal at this ramp, ill have to remember that. Anyhow made it out and ran across the bay to a spot I like in a NE wind. It was rough as hell as I started casting but on my second cast I had a big hit and a break off. I retied and casted back to that spot and BAM! 30 inch bluefish, over the next 15 minutes I had 2 more bite offs before I got smart and put on a steel leader. Caught 2 more blues over 30 inches and 2 short stripers in about 2 hours. Not bad for a windy and abusive ride on the bay. Note to self, blue fish can bite through braid like its a cotton thread. They also chew the heck out of soft plastic baits. Here are a couple of pictures. That cooler is about 32 inches long.
Damn dude, that's a nice trout! And nice Edgewater! We used to get big trout round these parts, but you hardly see them anymore!
Back when I first started fishing salt water- I remember catching a blue fish, after getting the hooks out- I looked at the fishes teeth, thinking 'wonder how sharp they are' well I held the fishes mouth open- and just touches the teeth and they where like razors!!! Really- totally cut my finger and wouldn't stop bleeding... No more alligators for mr Belmar...
