Along the Eastern Seaboard a Select group of anglers ( some young and some old) Year after Year produce Documented Monster Bass from the Surf. A few of these gents have been around before most of us were born and are still going strong. Whats the Secret. Please share your thoughts.............................

They do there homework, and have time to fish alot of nights, 7 nights a week, they know where the structure is and what tides/times to fish them.
some have old timers to show them the ropes other do it on there own. it just takes them longer

They do there homework, and have time to fish alot of nights, 7 nights a week, they know where the structure is and what tides/times to fish them.
some have old timers to show them the ropes other do it on there own. it just takes them longer

What the guy above said....spots, times, tides plus experience.

My secret is in your backyard.GET BACK TO PAINTING BOY!!!It's time.

Well , they must read the Pro-Jo fishing report and go to secret spots.

A few of these gents have been around before most of us were born and are still going strong. Whats the Secret. Please share your thoughts.............................

High fiber diet.
:D

Insomnia? :smash:

Along the Eastern Seaboard a Select group of anglers ( some young and some old) Year after Year produce Documented Monster Bass from the Surf. A few of these gents have been around before most of us were born and are still going strong. Whats the Secret. Please share your thoughts.............................

I have the pleasure of knowing a couple... the secret is.. wish I knew. :) Yes, they put their time in, know more about the forage for bass, than most others will ever know about bass. They know tides, moon phases, weather patterns, etc. Barometric pressure changes, affect them first,... they just know in their bones. they know that some beaches will produce at a certain tide, certain bar, for maybe 20 minutes, to half an hour, then they will move, before the fish do, so they can be at the next feeding station.
They pay a high price, professionaly, personally, for their passion for the surf, some will even tell you, in a reflective moment, that they regret ever taking up surf fishing for stripers, as they have suffered family relationships, and jobs for it. They are truly "Hard Core". I think the "secret" is that fishing for them, comes first and foremost. First over wives, kids, jobs, bills, everything.
That is the price they pay for their "secret". There might be some that can balance, "normal life" (whatever that is), and "Hard Core, Pure Fishing", but I have yet to meet one.

simple::if you live where you have friend's in these area's.I've used these before, so have other's.cheating? no!just another fishing tool.


#1.plane's...siteseeing/tuna spotter's



#2.local comm. fish pier

#3.local dive shop

did I win a prize ? or just piss off some local ledgend somewhere .

simple::if you live where you have friend's in these area's.I've used these before, so have other's.cheating? no!just another fishing tool.
#1.plane's...siteseeing/tuna spotter's

#2.local comm. fish pier

#3.local dive shop

did I win a prize ? or just piss off some local ledgend somewhere .

Yes for honesty and perception...send me a lure please :hee:

whats mentioned above and lots of luck

There were two local ledgend's here long before the internet came along..These two would wait till the cover of darkness then slip into their boat and head into pleasent bay.Before first lite, they come ashore and head to the local fishmarket with hundred's of lb's of fish.Folk's would stop by in the morning at this market to see what was dropped off. There would be a huge pile of fish with the same two names nite after nite....Where? How? Boy these guy's are good......got gillnet? they were never caught....the moral of this story is if you dig deep enough into SOME of these ledgend's you'll find something fishy going on.

1. They make sure their tackle is in top working order at all times.
2. They concentrate their fishing in big fish areas. They are willing to fish areas where they may catch only a few fish but have an increased chance of catching a large fish. They will travel to the areas where the bigger fish are based on the migration season. It's more important to be where the fish are then to know an area inside out.
3. Learn how to fish the plugs or baits that are known to work on big fish in a given area. Eels, live or rigged, being number one. Jigs in fast water areas and swimmers and needlefish in the surf to note a few. Need to have faith in what your using to the point where your always thinking the next cast might be the one.
4. A small group of good fishermen willing to share information and work together is a great asset. This was an invaluable asset when I was a kid surf fishing the Jersey coast in the 60s. Today with the advent of the cell phone it's even better.
5. Fish every chance you get.

I bet their jobs/life style's allow them to fish harder then most. I hope dudes like tat spend at least half the time they do with their kids as they do after big fish,,, Being a father/husband should be first, I've been guilty. If your job involves hard labor then your body can only put up with so much before break down,,no sleep ect. ect. I bet most of those guys have jobs that allows them to fish or are atleast flexiable

{ A small group of good fishermen willing to share information and work together is a great asset. This was an invaluable asset when I was a kid surf fishing the Jersey coast in the 60s. Today with the advent of the cell phone it's even better.}
fish whisperer, via the telephone.

I have the pleasure of knowing a couple... the secret is.. wish I knew. :) Yes, they put their time in, know more about the forage for bass, than most others will ever know about bass. They know tides, moon phases, weather patterns, etc. Barometric pressure changes, affect them first,... they just know in their bones. they know that some beaches will produce at a certain tide, certain bar, for maybe 20 minutes, to half an hour, then they will move, before the fish do, so they can be at the next feeding station.
They pay a high price, professionaly, personally, for their passion for the surf, some will even tell you, in a reflective moment, that they regret ever taking up surf fishing for stripers, as they have suffered family relationships, and jobs for it. They are truly "Hard Core". I think the "secret" is that fishing for them, comes first and foremost. First over wives, kids, jobs, bills, everything.
That is the price they pay for their "secret". There might be some that can balance, "normal life" (whatever that is), and "Hard Core, Pure Fishing", but I have yet to meet one.

Exactly :uhuh:

They ask "Iron Mike" .............

Living near the beach helps. Alot.

cows dont care much for plastic or wood so use live bait or chunks

Along the Eastern Seaboard a Select group of anglers ( some young and some old) Year after Year produce Documented Monster Bass from the Surf........ Please share your thoughts.............................

The best fisherman I know don't "Document" anything. They keep quiet about it.

cows dont care much for plastic or wood so use live bait or chunks

Is that a fact? :doh: :rollem:

big old bass get that way by not being caught or getting caught and released(which is very likely),think about it a 50lb striper is around 18 years old this old lady has seen everything from rigged eels to danny plugs.but in a sense when your fishing with bait your not tricking the bass into striking like with a plug,you are feeding the bass with a chunk of mackeral or a live pogy or eel which they will take down in a heart beat.

big bait = big fish

big old bass get that way by not being caught or getting caught and released(which is very likely),think about it a 50lb striper is around 18 years old this old lady has seen everything from rigged eels to danny plugs.but in a sense when your fishing with bait your not tricking the bass into striking like with a plug,you are feeding the bass with a chunk of mackeral or a live pogy or eel which they will take down in a heart beat.

Whatever you say :rollem:

You should ask stiff tip about the 50 plus lb. fish in the canal that ate his plug many years ago.

You should ask stiff tip about the 50 plus lb. fish in the canal that ate his plug many years ago.

Or, you could ask Al McReynolds, Tony Stetzko, or Charlie Cinto, all of whom took 70#+ fish on lures (Stetzko's even hit a teaser fly instead of the live eel that was on the same leader), or Tim Coleman and Iron Mike who have multiple 60s on wood.

Frank Daignault, 7 stripers over fifty on plugs or rigged eels, and countless amount of 40 pounders. It doesn't take any skill to use bait it's all luck. Tony C. last year caught a 62.5 on a Habs Jointed Neddle

I like to duct tape chunks onto my plugs :humpty:

You should ask stiff tip about the 50 plus lb. fish in the canal that ate his plug many years ago.
technically the plug belonged to falptail and stifftip hoed it to fish with after seeing Steve nail bass after bass on it.



how about this for cow bait? :hihi: courtesy of Striperknight

technically the plug belonged to falptail and stifftip hoed it to fish with after seeing Steve nail bass after bass on it.



how about this for cow bait? :hihi: courtesy of Striperknight


that is awesome

that is totally awesome, I think if that worked it may prove that stripers feed more based on sight and/or instinct than smell....
hmmmm...

One thing that we do not Need in the Fishing Game at this time .....Talking about a few guys using nets to catch fish.....I'm sure that the fishing community at the time did not recognize these men as Legend's and especially not future legends............ The close knit family of Striped Bass fishing as a whole know's who earned there status and I am sure we all agree on that . Are you saying that these two men became legends without using a rod and reel ????? And were never seen by anyone during the daylight hours ???? As far as someone becoming a legend because he fishes twenty four hours a day... I don"t think so....If a hundred anglers fished twenty four hours a day all season long, You would still have only one or two that would attain respect by the rest... I know a couple of past and present respected angler's that there family life was batting a thousand and there children went on to make great careers for themselve's, Aided by both parents guidance... As a whole our sport is healthy and I do not think that we need to post negative things that can hurt us................

i take my wife and kids every chance i get and they have a ball. on any give night they catch 3-5 schoolies from shore....i hope i am building future legends of the bass fishing community.

It's sad but no everyone plays by the rules

It doesn't take any skill to use bait it's all luck.

Completely disagree.

Reasons?

Ive thought a lot about this thread today and here's my 10 cents which will be added to my next book "striper-mania"

The best striper men out there stay quiet, avoid attention, operate in the shadows and most of them trust no one. They may have boasted at one time, they may have enjoyed the spotlight, and they may have trusted a few. But, to go the long haul, the very best stay quiet and focus all of their energy on where to fish, when to fish and how to fish. They use the tactics that they know will A- produce the largest bass B- use tactics that are not tireing so they can fish long periods of time, and C- they use these tactics over and over and over in the same spots that they know will produce at a certain moon stage/tide. For them, fishing the suds is not a hobby, its not a passion, its an obsession which has made them sacrifice all in life to possibly catch the one fish out there that will validate everything that they have sacrificed so much for..

Reasons?

Using eels takes skill and experience. I know plenty of people who fish with eels and do well but then there are those who seem to consistantly catch large. Do you think that they are just lucky? I don't think so.

Using eels takes skill and experience. I know plenty of people who fish with eels and do well but then there are those who seem to consistantly catch large. Do you think that they are just lucky? I don't think so.


Most of us don't consider eels bait. They are in a class by themselves. Not lures, but not bait either. Kind of a hybrid of the two.

The best striper men out there stay quiet, avoid attention, operate in the shadows and most of them trust no one.
Well, that pretty much rules you out :hee: :rotf2: :rotf2:

Sorry.

Bait can certainly take skill to consistantly produce big fish, and eel fishing is an art to its own...

Habs makes a good point as well, if the fishing hurts the family then there's something lost.

For me it's all about time on the water. You can't learn to catch large if you're not fishing enough to monitor and recognize behavioral patterns.

-spence

Most of us don't consider eels bait. They are in a class by themselves. Not lures, but not bait either. Kind of a hybrid of the two.


Negative, a live eel is bait, a dead "rigged eel" is a rigged bait, and a rubber eel is a lure.

Using eels takes skill and experience. I know plenty of people who fish with eels and do well but then there are those who seem to consistantly catch large. Do you think that they are just lucky? I don't think so.

I don't consider Eels Bait, A rigged Eels is definitely a lure. and a Live Eel is live bait, but it is fished like a lure. I concider Bait to be A chunk of fish or clam thrown and let sit on the bottom. baits that are fish like a lures I don't think is bait fishing.

Bob, I've stood right next to a guy both fishing clams and been outfished 5:1.

The simple reason being he had intimate knowledge of the beach we were fishing and could place his bait where the fish were holding nearly every cast.

So you could question if this was really skill, or just experience...but if you're learning from your experiences then what's the difference?

-spence

Hello all, I have been Lurking around for a wile and have read some very educational and some very amusing threads. I have put more then my allotted time in on the water, or so my wife says, and Fish everything from Plugs, T&W, Eels, and Yes, Dead Bait. In any type of fishing there is a certain amount of luck involved, right place right time scenario, but to say Bait fishing consists of more luck then other types, and I would have to disagree. The guy with the sand spike in the middle of Scarborough Beach @ noon on a Saturday who lands a “trophy” you can say is lucky. The guy/girl who knows that only around the new moon in May, there is sufficient water to support a trophy fish in a spot no bigger then a 1 car garage, No Blues around to scatter the bait, The Squid spawn is coming to a end so that 20lbr is closer to 30lbs because she has been munching on dead squid in the bays and know she is out front looking for one more squid before she disappears to her deep water haunts for the summer I think has a little more then luck on his/her side.
All in all a SKILL is to be able to fish the best method @ the right place @ the right time, be it Plugs or Bait.
Just my opinion… Take it for what its worth…

One thing that we do not Need in the Fishing Game at this time .....Talking about a few guys using nets to catch fish.....I'm sure that the fishing community at the time did not recognize these men as Legend's and especially not future legends............ The close knit family of Striped Bass fishing as a whole know's who earned there status and I am sure we all agree on that . Are you saying that these two men became legends without using a rod and reel ????? And were never seen by anyone during the daylight hours ???? As far as someone becoming a legend because he fishes twenty four hours a day... I don"t think so....If a hundred anglers fished twenty four hours a day all season long, You would still have only one or two that would attain respect by the rest... I know a couple of past and present respected angler's that there family life was batting a thousand and there children went on to make great careers for themselve's, Aided by both parents guidance... As a whole our sport is healthy and I do not think that we need to post negative things that can hurt us................
Exactly how I felt when I read some of the comments. It bothered me. It caused me to put something together, something to try to make people understand what is really going on that they can’t see. When I post it, I hope it will be enjoyed and not trashed. It’s a life that some know exist, and some do not! Please stay tuned to under a wing.

Using eels takes skill and experience. I know plenty of people who fish with eels and do well but then there are those who seem to consistantly catch large. Do you think that they are just lucky? I don't think so.

Any bait .... live or dead can be finessed to catch more than if not except for the rare situations which still may contain skill. Luck is always a factor for those who excell and for those that don`t ....I think.

Hello all, I have been Lurking around for a wile and have read some very educational and some very amusing threads. I have put more then my allotted time in on the water, or so my wife says, and Fish everything from Plugs, T&W, Eels, and Yes, Dead Bait. In any type of fishing there is a certain amount of luck involved, right place right time scenario, but to say Bait fishing consists of more luck then other types, and I would have to disagree. The guy with the sand spike in the middle of Scarborough Beach @ noon on a Saturday who lands a “trophy” you can say is lucky. The guy/girl who knows that only around the new moon in May, there is sufficient water to support a trophy fish in a spot no bigger then a 1 car garage, No Blues around to scatter the bait, The Squid spawn is coming to a end so that 20lbr is closer to 30lbs because she has been munching on dead squid in the bays and know she is out front looking for one more squid before she disappears to her deep water haunts for the summer I think has a little more then luck on his/her side.
All in all a SKILL is to be able to fish the best method @ the right place @ the right time, be it Plugs or Bait.
Just my opinion… Take it for what its worth…


you sound familiar :huh: nice post!

em?

as far as eels are concerned,whether they are rigged or live is an art within itself, just as rubber worm fishing is in sweetwater. in regards to luck involved when catching cows, i feel the elite who know the water, the tides, the moon know that something LARGER (30+#bass)will be holding in a sepcific spot (boulders, rips, 1 foot drop in the middle of a 3 mile long beach). Put your time in, keep a log book and it will pay off. But there is without a doubt skill to fishing with eels.

No Way is it luck

Karl F. I could not have captured it better. Also MikeToole, and TattooBob
Quote: “I think the "secret" is that fishing for them, comes first and foremost. First over wives, kids, jobs, bills, everything. That is the price they pay for their "secret"
They will move, before the fish do, so they can be at the next feeding station.
And finely this Nebe. Quote: its not a passion, its an obsession which has made them sacrifice all in life to possibly catch the one fish out there that will validate everything that they have sacrificed so much for..
I agree!!!!

Great subject. Habs! I will respond to “Please share your thoughts.”This is a view from the boat!
I would imagine I will take my yearly beating on this! I don’t post often because, where I go can be controversial! Any way here I go!
The following may only pertain to my area. I cannot elaborate on other areas. May be some one else can. I could right a book about this stuff. 99% of the people will think I made this stuff up, or it was totally fiction. I still and currently, am in training under the wing of a person such as this, and I am 61. I have been in training for 25 years now. I am still being shown new things. Old tricks of the trade, new ideas that come out of the winter hibernation. And, I am not a slow learner. They just have trouble giving up the knowledge that sets them above the rest. We fish for and target large fish only...
The down fall is, many of night coming home with nothing.
It’s worth it for the stories alone.
My mentor says, when they asked you a question, where did you get the fish, he says, tell them the truth, they won’t believe you any way. And that will keep them guessing where we got them. They don’t and wont tell you when, where, or how, because, if the “secret” got out, they would be competing with these same folks on the spots they have spent their life time finding out, or something that was passed down in secrecy, the when’s and where’s. You can fish on either side of there boat, as close as 5 feet on either side, even on the very spot when they move off of it while they are fighting a fish, and still not take one! Only to have that person move on to that spot and hook up almost immediately. It drives people nuts! You could not learn in a life time what these guys know. The person I fish with was taken under the “wings” of some Kings! I have and still joke to other people that, these men must have sold there very soul to the devil him self to acquire such knowledge about bass. It’s like they are in the head of the fish, or have been re-incarnated from a striper, keeping the knowledge of their past life, as a bass.
An insight to this hierarchy! I consider my self third layer. There is a group of fisherman that are incredible fishermen. After fishing “only” stripers for my first twenty years I came upon a group of men in the early 70s. An old time bass purchasing agent and fisherman in his 70s said that the men on the list of names I was putting my name to were the “elite!
They are your, best of your best! I thought, may be I should take a hard look at the names on it. I consider these folks the next layer above my self. “They” look at people such as the person I fish with in both revered, envy, and hate at some times. The hate comes in because no matter how hard they try, they cant out fish them. Surprisingly all of these men know each other and share knowledge, times, places, and how they did the night before, with each other. They are shown places, times, and tides that they are sworn to secrecy. Not to reveal. You are not even allowed to fish their even if you know the fish are their, if some one can see you. You get one of these tid bits when you are willing to give one up in trade, or in most cases have earned the respect of said fishermen.
This is a good size group. Could amount to as many as 15 to 25 people in my area. Three of these men have lost there marriage over the fish.
I have always said, fishing stripers is not a sport, it is a sickness. Some will and have risked there lives for the fish. Three of these men have taken and weighted fish over 60 pounds. All have taken multiple fish over 50 pounds. They don’t even bother to enter them in the Massachusetts state yearly tournament. Nor do they belong to clubs!
They just don’t care. The small acknowledgement that they get from there peers is more important to them.
It’s this level of men that select the next layer up, Kings! Kings are men who will take fish on nights when no one can! Consistently take fish over 30 pounds every time they fish. Even if they fish daily. You take one, they take five, you take five they will take ten. You can stop them, they are doing something that even the elite don’t know, or can’t figure it out. It’s that dam secret; we would all love to know.
I don’t know if the people they call Kings, know, if in fact, that they are a king.
When you get this title they give you, it’s yours for ever. Their can be more than one king. I still do not know if the man I fish with has received the title of king, because I don’t run with the elite.
I have had the privilege of knowing three kings and have fished with two of them. Both of these men shared some of their knowledge but not all with me. Like pirates the take their treasure/knowledge to the grave with them, telling no one what they were really doing. May be they figure that they owe this to the fish that they have revered, and have developed such a respected for such a great opponent! Well I’m ready for my beating. For those that understand this stuff, I hope you have enjoyed this small insight to a world that not many people know exist. May be its only exist in the minds of these elite group of men that slip away into the night when people try to follow them. They all say, they can loose any one. You don’t get good fishing in large quantities of people. You do better alone with the fish. I know I will get shot for this. I will leave you with a piece of knowledge that I am not supposed to share.
I bet, some will say, wow guy, why do us a favor. Some may and will take it to the bank.
You can not whip the fish you “all” seek.
You need to fool them and out smart them!
There is more going on with the moon faze than most people think. Some people have looked very hard at it and think there is no correlation, others know it’s there, but just can’t figure it out. I could be shot for this. You need to look at the moon and the water at the same time. That’s all I will say about that!
Your Mustard 4/0 triple (XXX) strong hooks are not large enough!
Rat, you need to fool the fish, go with wood!!!
No gill nets here Sam, just tons of knowledge!!!!!!!!!!!!
That will do it for now. Hope you have enjoyed some of this, Stuff!
My Quote: You are only as good as the man who drives the boat!
Peace All! :cool: :skulz:

Hiya Linesides :cheers: :btu:

I'm on Layer 7 :huh:

Good read, but im jonesing for more..........i believe what your saying, and i need to learn more, dont go back underground. How does one find a mentor ? I was fortunate enough to have a guy take me out fishing down cape, about 12 years ago, and at the time, because i was just starting out, didnt realize who this guy was, but a few years later, realized this guy is a striper fishing legend, and perhaps even a king, as you speak of. In the 2 short hours i spent fishing with this guy, he taught me things that would have taken me years to learn. He was nice guy, very humble, and i dont think he post online in these type of forums. I ran into him at Nelsons B&T a few years ago, and talked to him briefly, i wished i had asked him to take me out fishing again:uhuh: , but didnt. Oh well, one thing is for sure, ill never forgett fishing with him. Thanks for the read, now i gotta settle down, and try to get my mind off fishing, and get some work done...:)

One thing that we do not Need in the Fishing Game at this time .....Talking about a few guys using nets to catch fish.....I'm sure that the fishing community at the time did not recognize these men as Legend's and especially not future legends............ The close knit family of Striped Bass fishing as a whole know's who earned there status and I am sure we all agree on that . Are you saying that these two men became legends without using a rod and reel ????? And were never seen by anyone during the daylight hours ???? As far as someone becoming a legend because he fishes twenty four hours a day... I don"t think so....If a hundred anglers fished twenty four hours a day all season long, You would still have only one or two that would attain respect by the rest... I know a couple of past and present respected angler's that there family life was batting a thousand and there children went on to make great careers for themselve's, Aided by both parents guidance... As a whole our sport is healthy and I do not think that we need to post negative things that can hurt us................

JHabs,, did not mean to sound negative, nor offend anyone. My comments were based on my life observations, and experiences. Now that I think of if it there is at least one elder statesman whom is an exception, to what I stated. I am sure there are more. Again, my apologies.. and your words.. they are almost verbatim, of words I heard from someone else, (I mean nothing by that, just an observation, that makes me smile)... :) I agree, Negativity is not needed, but opinions, and observations, well, we all have a different take. I hope that is allowed.

I certainly did not mean to imply negativity in my original post. I admire these gents of whom I speak, for their fishing prowess, and learned and earned abilitys. I cast no aspirtions on any man, or his offspring. However, truth be told, it was, and still is for some... Fishing First. I don't fit that mold, not my nature, my loss.

CS..
the only thing those two were legendary in, is that they were cheaters, their secret is not as closely gaurded as some may think. They are certainly not legends of the surf, or from the boat. How can you fish a rod with a reel that won't crank?...The only hall of fame they will end up in, is the Cheaters Club.
Get yer boat wet yet?

linsides, good post..

pops.. if it is the gentlemen whom I am thinking of, you met "The King"

I meet a guy at work about 15 years ago. We became good friends and started fishing together. At that time I was catching fish, but nothing like what this guy would catch. He began teaching me his spots. One spot off Falmouth is so particular that you have to approach the spot perfectly. Your line needs to be down ~45 feet. He had it worked out that you need 100 yds steel line with a 10 foot 80lb mono leader. The detail was incredible. It took him years to perfect this, but that spot with that technique works every year. The bottom line is that some guys put in a lot of time perfecting technique and spots to fish.

That's what pisses me off about On the Water. They give away spots that have been favorites to a handful of folks for years. It's unfortunate that sometimes the only way you ever get to really catch fish is to meet the right person.

What is their secret?

It's simple. They have put in their time. Most have probably fished since they could walk. Some have walked away from careers and family to fish. Others just bring their family along for the ride and schedule some kind of career around their fishing. Either way, it's like anything else in life, you can only expect to gain based on what you've invested.

Hey Mr. Linesides I would love another mentor:kewl: You need your lawn mowed or your car washed:D I'm all ears. paul

:kewl: I think it was him also, like i said, ill never forget it.

LUCK- WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY

Put in the time.

Be more intrested in what others are telling you than what you can tell others about yourself.

Keep good records.

Understand your tackle.

Focus on a handful of areas rather than trying to focus on where you hear it's hot so you can fish your spots and learn a rotation between them.

Be flexible, don't overfish a spot that's not producing, don't keep trying the "go to" lures if they aren't producing.

Fish hard during good tides when you can instead of just trying to fish
as much as possible.

Bob, I've stood right next to a guy both fishing clams and been outfished 5:1.

The simple reason being he had intimate knowledge of the beach we were fishing and could place his bait where the fish were holding nearly every cast.

So you could question if this was really skill, or just experience...but if you're learning from your experiences then what's the difference?

-spence

I never said bait fishing was a bad thing, Because I am a 50/50 fisherman, I fish with live herring/alewife in the spring, cut bait and sea worms the rest of the year. I also use my share of plugs and plastics. you have to be a well rounded fisherman and know when and where to use what. I have no problem with bait fishing or people who use bait 100% of the time. I just think it is all luck when a new comer or kid throws a chunk of bait out in the middle of the day and catches a 50 pounder.

Negative, a live eel is bait, a dead "rigged eel" is a rigged bait, and a rubber eel is a lure.live herring or any finfish is livelining,live eel is "remote" fishing,rigged eel is plugging that is how it was thought to me.