Fishing reports for November 15 - 21

[Coop]

There were a few fish caught last week,,,hopefully the week ahead will bring in more fish for the tourney.

Good luck to everyone fishing in the tournament this weekend,,,fell free to post yout reports here, fish or no fish.

[Coop]

Last night for just a few hours, 6pm - 9pm,,,spinies were very bad at times and the crabs were really bad,,,bait disappeared pretty quick,,,no stripes.

[igormothra]

Was down past 32 lastnight for a few hours with Oma and NADA oh well

[Coop]

BTW, Thanks for the bait Oliver,,,that stayed on the hook much longer than my other stuff.

[Sam]

Not to add insult to injury, but at the AMSA meeting last night, I saw some nice camera shots of big fish caught from the surf recently. Bev had some too... Come one guys, lets do this!

[pwf]

I am starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong! I've used eels, minnows, and bunker chunks so far this fall and I have not hooked a Striper yet. I basically rig a sliding fish-finder style rig with the weight on the slide. I have fished low going high both at night and day. I am good at reading the beach for breaks in the sand bars I have surfed for 20 years. I've hit the route 50 bridge, although I met some strange dudes up there around 1:00-3:00 am. I think I'll stick to the ORV zone from now on. Last weekend I even went out right before we got that big storm and threw bunker chunks for a few hours. I know there are fish as there are people up or down the beach getting keepers. I have started to use Harbor Tacke and they are very nice and helpful. Their bait is nice too. So if any of you guys could dial me in to a trick or two I'd sure appreciate it. I am usually alone out at Assateague in a gold/brown 1998 jeep grand cherokee. I don't head down too far usually the first open spot I see with a good hole. Thanks for any advice -Pat

[ocsnapper]

Pat so far this fall it's hit or miss sounds like your setting up fine, it just seems that the fish are not here in force yet. Just keep trying

[Coop]

PWF,,,how many hours have you put into the sand at one time?,,,I see you posted a few hours,,,many will spend 10 hours and more for "1" fish if they are lucky,,,so far I have logged over 40 hours and have had nothing landed,,,sometimes it's just in the right spot at the right time,,,I truly think this fall is really slow compared to others,,,I have only been surf fishing for a short while and out of the last 3 falls, this is by far the slowest, only comparing of what "I" have caught this fall,,,others may be getting into em this fall, but not me.

If you are buying bait from Harbor Tackle, then I know it's not your bait,,how many rods are you fishing?,,,if you are using 3, vary your casting distances, 1 long, 1 medium and 1 short,,,I use 4 during the day, and 2 I cast out as far as I can, 1 medium and 1 short,,,don't sit in your chair,,,I find myself doing this sometimes too much,,,change baits often,,,I try to change them every 20 minutes,,,if you reel it in and the bait is still on the hook, change it anyway, except for maybe heads,,,bait can get washed out pretty quick,,,fish HARD!,,,those that fish hard score fish-constantly changing bait,,,when you need a break, cast out all heads and relax for 30 minutes or so,,those that sit in the chair often will catch far fewer fish than those that fish hard.

Are you fishing on nice days, with little or no wind?,,,increase your odds and pick a day when the wind is blowing in your face,,,on shore conditions,,,when the surf is blown out and you can't surf, you should be fishing,,,you just need the proper equipment so you can cast with at least 8's,,,I catch more fish when that wind is onshore and more times than not the weather is going to be crappy in those kind of conditions,,,so dress for it,,,if you are fishing at night now,,,you cannot sit down,,,crabs are horrible,,,so fish hard and you will be rewarded soon,,,good luck and hope to cya on the beach.

[Mighty Quinn]

Fished AI yesterday below the bullpen and managed one striper, 32", around 3:00 pm. Was caught on a chunk of bunker on a fish finder rig with #8 circle hook. She pulled so hard at first I thought my rod would be in the sand before I could get to it. After a couple short runs she came in pretty easily. Other than that, one other short run (never got to the rod) one skate and two seagulls. Man those seagulls are a pain especially when you are using braid and you don't want to cut it cause it's so expensive. One of the gulls was so big I put a beach chair over it to hold it still so I could untangle the dang thing. Also, if you go, take alot of bait as the crabs were terrible and I was loosing bait left and right. If you want I can attach a pic when I get home although it's nothing special as fish is just sitting on the sand. Was by myself and in a hurry (wanted to make sure fish was big enough and get back in the h2o if not) so had to do a quick shot. Anyway, saw plenty of gannetts about a 1/4 mile off the beach crashing the water so it looks like they are starting to arrive.

[Bohica]

There won't be any rockfish in the surf until snapper get's his truck back. lol.

Me, I'm headin to barnegat....

[ffemtreed]

Those Rocks are waiting till I move down after turkey day!

[old_bald_guy]

QUOTE=Coop: you said it all and very well too!
So fish hard and you will be rewarded soon. The late & early hours makes my wife sometimes thinks I'm up to sumthin no good so it's very important to come in smelling a little fishy. So make sure you keep some bunker slime handy.

[chomper]

pwf...myfirst legal surf caught striper was on an eel. It was not rigged fishfinder style though, was rigged eel style, with a 6 ounce egg sinker on the line above a swivel and a 12 inch leader attached to an 8/0 circle hook. Brought in REAL slow through the water.... per instructions from the folks that run Old Inlet bait and tackle shop. Like Coop said, put in the time.... youll be bound to be in the right place at the right time sooner or later....

[pwf]

So you guys all fish with #8 hooks? I've been using 5&6. As for the eels, I rigged them with the egg sinker, fairly short leader. One more day of work then I'm on it again this weekend. I'm going to try bunker chunks and maybe some live minnows. Thanks for the advice guys. I'll vary the casting distance and put in longer hours, Sat pm. My wife will kill me as we have two little ones. So... Hope I can post a picture of a lunker soon. Pat

[Mighty Quinn]

pwf....starting this past spring I began snelling my own #8 Gamakatsu circle hooks (or however you spell it) with 60lb flourocarbon. That's what I was using in the pic above. A striper or red won't have any trouble getting that size hook in it's mouth. The circles are great because, as you probably know, a striper loves to swallow it's food way down but a circle will usually get caught in the upper or lower lip, again like in the pic in my earlier post. Just remember to not "set the hook". Just start reeling at a normal pace. That's provided it's not peeling off line. In that case it will probably set itself.

I have a good feeling about this weekend. Not sure I'll be able to get out but I have a feeling we will be reading alot more fishing reports come Monday. Good luck everyone and take a camera so we can see these beautiful catches.