How about some of your favorite misconceptions about striper fishing, that you've heard time and again over the years? Here's a few of mine.

1. Eels don't work in the spring (my all-time favorite).

2. Bass won't touch a bait if there's a wire leader on the hook.

3. Pogie heads only catch bluefish.

4. Darters are strictly a fall plug.

5. In the fall, the fishing is better during the day than at night.

6. You'll never catch a good bass on a popper or a tin.

7. Bucktails only catch small fish.


Any others?

1. All bait dunkers are clam tossing tourists

2. Eels are electric and difficult to handle

2.5 Eels bite

3. That the fishermen are the ones that ruin the beaches

4. That you can actually purchase excellent fishing gear at Chain Stores

5. That Jimmy Houston thinks those fish are actually big

Seriously,

1. It is necessary to have the longest rod and biggest reel to catch big fish.

2. Big fish will only hit big baits

3. Little fish won't hit big plugs

4. You need to cast very far to reach Stripers

5. There are no big fish left after October

6. Only boats get the big Bass

7. Only use poppers at sunrise/sunset

8. The best time to fish is when the sun comes up

9. That the Striped Bass is fully recovered and that current management practices are a model for other fisheries

10. The Dog Run works!!!

Hey the dog run does work!

Most of my favorite misconceptions have been covered.

I tend not to follow the "laws" and try what I feel will work.

Here are incidents when I broke the laws and showed people up.

Everyone laughed at the eels. Proved them wrong.

Then, another time, we were being hounded by blues day after day as peanut bunker were going with the tide for days and everyone was doing well with small krocodiles those days. Once the peanut bunker got up the tidal creek, they stayed in the back for a few days. Well, the next day, the blues weren't exploding. Thinking they were deep, I tied on a very heavy krocodile and boom, hooked up immediately. The blues were just deep. They were heading up back to nail the peanuts.

Another time, people were waiting for fish to nail their live lined snapper blues. Thinking there were no fish around, they all went into chat mode. 3 casts with the windcheater, 3 large bluefish.

What I'm getting at is, too many fishermen use rules too much. If I followed the rules, if I opened my tackle bag during the day, I would be just stuck to jigs and tins. I open my bag now, look at my choices and base my selection on what will produce in regards to what bait is around. It gives me more choices so I will not lose hope as fast as I would.

John, you can actually get some good stuff at large chain stores. The rod selection stinks, I'll give you that. But reel selections and plug selections aren't all that bad. The thing is, you have to know exactly what you are looking for because you know you aren't getting help from the shop staff. You can't say, "Hey, I'm looking for a spinning reel to use with Whiplash that will hold this much line" But if you go in saying, "Hey I need a shimano sustain 4000", you will make out allright. That's why I like tackle shops. You can be a total googan, go in, spend a little money and come out knowing something.

Hey, Thanks, Patrick, you just reminded me of another one:

8. Guys who work or hang out in tackle shops really know what they're talking about.

I'm not ragging on you now, I know you deal with a certain shop that you trust and rely on. But as you travel, you'll learn that when you ask for advice and recommendations from the guys behind the counter, you're making two big leaps of faith--one, that he knows how to fish, and two, that he's going to steer you straight.

Tackle shop owners have precious little time to fish themselves. Their "where-to" information is largely based on customer reports, and you know the old saying. "garbage in, garbage out". The sharp guys don't blab in the first place, and if they happen to weigh a fish in, you can bet your bottom dollar that the place they said they caught it was miles from where it ate its last meal. The guys hanging around all day shooting the bull are what professional pilots call "hanger flyers". They talk a good game, but if they're sitting in a shop drinking coffee and eating donuts well into the morning, do you think they've been up all night hitting the suds hard?

Some guys that run tackle shops, like Pat Abate of Rivers End, are great fishermen in their own right, Pat was a guy who rubbed elbows and was an equal with guys at the very top of the game at the Cape and the Block/ Mike Thomas has fished his entire life, and knows rods and gear like he knows his house in the dark. Not every tackle shop guy is like them. You probably know more about fishing than at least half of them.

Also, what makes you think that a guy is going to steer you to the right reel for your application, rather than the one that has a higher mark-up and thus more profit for him? Penn reels have a very low mark-up, and many Shimano models do, too.

Tackle shops are kind of strange. The one guy that I go to has proven himself time over time. After years of being right, I just accept what he says as being right. Typically though, I don't ask where they were catching since I stick to my own little spots anyways. I just ask the general info.

In fact, I know some people who report their catches from being from somewhere else. They would say they caught a fish from the marina when I know they really got it off of Southport harbor. Of course I don't do this because it seems like the nights I do well, word gets around faster than I can walk. When I don't do well, I have everyone come up to me and say, "How'd you do?" Such is life I guess.

There are other shops in the area such as Ricky Mola's Fisherman's World and Stratford B&T. Both of those owners has been in the Saltwater Sportsman Magazine Seminars so they have to be good anglers or something but I will continue to patronise the other shop.

Heres one you'll like Mike, "You need a conventional to fish the Canal" as quoted by none other Mr. Canal

Or, my other favorite Mr Canal-ism: "It's a waste of time fishing the Canal on a low slack".

Your right Canalrat, you don't need conventional gear to fish the Canal. You can also use a fly rod.
Conventional gear seems to work best there however. I think that may be why every true Canal sharpie that I ever knew used that type of gear. Its sort of like why FW tournament bass fishermen generally use conventional gear. Both spinning and conventional have their applications ... sometimes one works better than the other. Not to the exclusion of the other .. just better than...

Mike P (04-29-2001 14:34):
8. Guys who work or hang out in tackle shops really know what they're talking about.

Don't get me started on shops!

Yup......I have learned my lesson about a million times over when it comes to shops......I never realize it until it too late :( I can generally tell once I have paid and walk out the door though....if I have been told a straight line I feel fine....if they gave me a bunch of bull....I feel sick to my stomach (later on to find out I REALLY HAD been fooled) Why is that??? why cant my radar work while I am still in the shop??? beats me!

Jenn,

Not just that but the lack of helpfulness.

Services has definately gone out of the service business. :(

A few from down here:

MirrOlures only catch trout
Riggies only catch rock
Orange bellies only work in the fall
Black only works at night
White only works in the day
Eels only work at night

Misconceptions are anything told to you by tourists who are walking the beach and trying to impress their female companions. I had one dimwit tell me that I couldn't cach fish off the beach, as they didn't come in that close. He barely got the words out of his mouth when the rod bent in half. I think I said something to the extent that I must have caught another swimmer. It had stripes, though. I think every "expert" fisherman in the world has offered me unsolicited advice. Questions, I'm happy to answer. Statements I don't want to hear. Why weren't any of these "experts" fishing?

A few of my personal favorites

Any boater can catch all the stripers they want.

Or the above statement, with large before stripers.

You must fish after dark to catch large.

Big plugs for big fish, small plugs only catch small fish.

[img="http://www.rgsiroisco.com/fisherman.gif"]
Tight lines.

Marty...that was a good one! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall (or beach) when that happened! Bet you were feeling pretty damn good about yourself then huh? HA!HA! That must have made him feel like a total *ss!!! Too funny!