That's the problem, Caring what others think!!
I don't, just trying to have fun doing what I enjoy.
I'll take fish either way. All the same..... :wavey:

its not the same.

I would have a lot more respect for the person who walked the appalation trail from maine to florida than the guy who drove his car frm maine to florida :D

That's funny!!! :laughs:
Did u find a mag yet????

This is a great thread now that I read the responses, thanks to all of you for participating. I love the surf and like Karl said it do cleanse the soul. One thing I like about the beach is the feeling it gives me or should I say the reminder it gives me of how small I am. Being 6'-6" I loose that perspective. As to respecting a beach fish over a boat fish, I don't know. I mean standing in the elemental fury of the surf and playing a big fish is the one way we would all like to claim our fifty but standing on a heaving deck in a hal glae at Sow and Pigs in the middle of the night when the skipper makes it a point to tell you what to do if the boat flips, well that has some merit too. I think a fifty either way are on the same plane as far that is concerned although it took me many years to reach that conclusion and cast away prejudices of one fishing method over another. Where I cast the island shores I do not rely on electronics, actually more on things I gained from shore fishing. Things like moving water, structure etc.

Karl, that New York had some great fisherman as you mention but almost all were pilgrims who made the trek north in response to what the central mass and Worcester crowd first opened up. Alot of the names you mentioned came much later actually in the middle to late fifties, sixties and seventies. I wonder what FD would be doing for the summer if he had had conditions in the 60's and 70's as we have now? Seems he might have had an epiphany of sorts lately from what I hear.

Laine's big secret was he was one of the first and certainly one of the most daring that took a small boat to the beach, launched it in the surf and fished from it on the outside of the bars along Peaked Hill etc. I interviwed the Perry boys years back for an article and their Dad Leo , who was the impetus for the reverse Atom and many squid plugs, fished with Laine all the time and told me how he ( laine) would push off in his skiff with a piece of plywood about six feet long and two feet wide which he would lay on and sleep as he was anchoerd up until the tide was right or after the fishing was done and come ashore at dawn with the skiff loaded with bass while the guys on shore caught nothing.

After it is all said and done both methods have merit and some inherent risks that make both equal on the striper playing fields. I go to the beach still quite often as there is nowhere I would rather fish than on the sands of Truro and P-Town. It is beautiful and there are sights you won't see anywhere else. The clarity of the night sky, the smell, the vista of the mighty Atlantic and the power it holds, the milky way and shooting stars and the endless rythym of the surf as the waves crash to the shore. But is missing something. Occasionally we get a taste and, like seeing a lover we once had and cannot get out of our minds and know we will never have again, it is a place that brings out a memory that cuts a small piece of your heart away each time we go there. Of anything that FD wrote, that sentimentality, and the memory of what once was and will never be again, is the most haunting to anyonme who ever experienced it when it was good.

I was out Saturday in that thick stuff, thank god for GPS, good bite in the morning in the Westport area and then for yuks; we did head to Cuttyhunk. I'm just crazy enough to do it and at 25 knots mind you, but with enough prop in the water, I can make a rapid and radical course adjustment.

I've been in a few surf vs boat threads, in fact the all mighty #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& and I went at it good the first time I joined up. I can see his attitude hasn't mellowed much with age, but to each his own, at 52 I couldn't give a rats ass how or if you catch bass. I say catch them any way you can and by all means with a method and location that makes you happy. If that's with your feet stuck in the sand, slinging a slimmy creature so be it. If your mental and plugs and funny pants are your thing, go for it. If you like serious work and canal fishing, jig away boys and girls.

I like your attitude Flap, you and I definately need to spend some time out there. I've got my boat back, so if you can provide the ramp, I can provide the boat. I might have some rubber we can use too:).

pics and dates

tell the timetable.. (bottles (CC local)... any good stories about him :D) no big deal who came first, or who made what first.. heard nothing but good about most of the NY boys from the grey haired crowd, and some of the Worcester gang, I have talked to.

Some nice shots, and even Arnold hung with some of these guys.

And knowing what it once was, well, as meloncholy as it is, it is also nice to remember. Good thread Flap... Thanks!

Eben -- ya skipped all over the place // in your 1st post you rated boat fish as less of a fish or better words// accomplishment // all I said was in certain situations it [[could]] be that the boat fishing has its challanges //
Flap /put it in different words but you have to [should] respect everyones choice /of fishing == Also it may not be someone,s first choice/ but its this way or no way ==for physical, medical ,or dollar issues //
I choose not to troll /but if I went tomorrow /except for the T & W I would get my A$%% kicked....
there are soooooo many tricks of the trade that we can,t even start that thread.....
what,s easier or more thrilling // catching a 50 from shore on frozen squid . or a 50 from boat on L/L with a homemade plug //

both guys are charged/proud and right they s/b

you just have it in your mind that shore fishing is that more challanging /all I was saying .& flap added to it ;;[[DEPENDS}}

fishing the inside of S/P because there is a heave on while there are guys plugging the outter ledges of B/R in rigs /getting tossed to Chit ,knowing they could flip at any time ======= surf rules //
don,t think soooooooooo // I,ve been fishing a loooooooooooooong time & seen a ton of fish caught // never once did I ask the angler //boat or shore ?????? :confused:

well said and i agree. What i had in mind about boatfishing is trolling around a wireline and a parachute jig with a fishfinder on and seeing the fish on the screen before they bite- There are many levels of each field- You could stand on the tip of a saltpond jetty and chum up a 50, or you could farm the holes along the beach throwing needles. its all apples and oranges.

clammer- you surf cast from your boat- those fish count :D

boat or shore it dont matter to me

Yup.... :humpty:
fish is fish

Steve that was very eloquent and poignant. You should write for a living. ;) I also agree indubitably. Paul

F#$%% you Steve /you started & ended because you use 50 cents words :nailem: :claps:

Clammah.. he might use 50 cent words.. :D but, yours are priceless.... when I use them, I have to put several quarters in my daughters "cuss" jar.... :hihi: :kewl:

Karl /Just wait a little /I,m gonna buy a camper ///just sooooooooooooooo I can be near you <<>><><> :pop:

You shouldn't be alowed to have a camper the way you drive!!! :eek5:
Jacknife!!!! :devil:

I think Eben captures 95% of boat vs. shore fishing. There's a lot of money and time that goes into a boat - the boat, docking, maintenance, insurance, gas, etc. That and you have to get a different set of fishing gear for the boat.

I know of a lot of marriages that have been strained because of boats (and not all of those guys fished).

Having said that, a boat is a more efficient means of getting to the fish, no question about it.

But, there is a certain romance in standing up to your neck in ice cold water flailing a stick on the off-chance you might hook up with a fish.

I do love and enjoy both.

What's the point of just limiting yourself to one modality?

Is an angler really more accomplished just because he fishes the shore exclusively?

You can transfer a lot of fishing skills from the boat to the surf and vice-versa, IMO.

One other thing I can see. Surfcasting can be tough on the body - maybe it's a younger person's game. I notice that as people get older and less enthusiastic or able to put out a ton of effort to fish from the beach, they use the boat to compensate. What's wrong with that?

Those old pictures are great!! Boat vs. Shore no doubt I like boat fish, but thats because I love to be on the water. However I'll never knock shore fishing as fishing the outer cape beaches puts you in another world.

Karl those photos are classic. Those boats they used look to be 10 to 12 foot tin boats. I don't see any trailers either, must have put them on the roof. Boy those fish are fat too. Lot's to eat back then I guess. Must have been fun. Thanks for posting the site. Paul

F@#$% it I,ll just wear my waders & Korkers in the Boat :hidin:

Dave /Got a couple of Speeding tickets towing the boat .SOOOOOOOOOOOOO might just as well add with camper //

already resereved a day site at Hooters & a nite site at the Foxy :lurk:

Tell me.... better yet show me.... that landing a 42.5lb bass in the boulder fields off block with 15lb test mono aint fishing or doesnt count :fishslap:

show me the guy who can do the same from shore :gf: :jump:

Lemme know I'll shake his hand... :jump:

you guys all sound like very experienced stripermen, and by the sound of this thread it seems like you all agree that surfcasting for stripers is on the decline overall. Is this true and if so why do you guys think that is? Are there just less stripers around now than say, 5-10 years ago?

Fishing from shore is slow for me, but that is because I am a beginner and I have a lot of work to do. But I grew up always going to the beach with my parents so I feel at home on the beach and that is why surfcasting just appealed to me, we never had a boat so boats are foreign to me and I am not 100% comfortable on a boat, that is not to say I would not get a boat and learn the ropes if I had the money, and you do need the money for a boat, some of you guys mentioned small 19' boats, you could buy all the best surfcasting equipment, Van Stall, all that stuff and still come in cheaper than a boat!

Did he say "modality" :fishslap:

:wavey:

[QUOTE=Rockport24]you guys all sound like very experienced stripermen, and by the sound of this thread it seems like you all agree that surfcasting for stripers is on the decline overall. Is this true and if so why do you guys think that is? Are there just less stripers around now than say, 5-10 years ago?
QUOTE]


Man I Hope so :hihi:

Rockport, that's a loaded question. IMHO, there are still plenty of bass ( although the guides who dominate FFSW would disagree but that's another debate). One only has to venture offshore a 1/2 mile or so and voila', tons of them. For the last two or three years the fishery off of Chatham for example has really opened up to guys drifting jig heads and sluggos as the sand eels are there up the duppa ( thats Polish for ass btw). Last year we watched as some interpid fishermen off of the race took sand eel baited rigs and paddled them out for guys sitting on the shore with the attached rod to beyond casting distance and once in the zone simply dropped them into the water and started to paddle back to shore. By the time they were halfway in the guy onshore with the rod was hard over onto a fish and some nice ones at that. Meanwhile Mr. Piniped was swimming with a group of friends near shore in the surf zone, which is a major problem as since they eat 20 to 40 pounds of fish per day the bait and the bass get the message and stay clear. In the waters of Cape Cod Bay thier are fish by the thousands in various shallow water areas, some so close to shore that it is scary but the vicinity they frequent can only reached safely by boat even though the water is two feet deep and hordes of sandeels hover nearby, all this of course on flood tides.
Something is keeping them off of the beach and, again IMHO, it's the seals. We no longer catch windowpane flounder while surfcasting as we used too. We don't see the giant schools of sand eels the way we used too. Nor the schools of juvenile Pollock, Pogies, sea herring, and seas worms that were absolutely huge while raking sand eels. Crabs have taken a nose dive as well as Moon snails. It always got dicey in late July and August as water temps rose and the red junk piled up on the beach but it used to come right back in shape by mid september, not even close now. The only guys catching anything are those who spend almost every night out there and odds are that they will eventually collide with something somewhere but there is alot of empty casts in between. I do believe, heart and soul, that a 28 inch limit x two for recreationals is having an effect more than the 34 inch limit for commercials who season is regulated and observed no matter what some others will tell you at least thier catch is truly documented. 2x 28 should be changed back to one at 36 or one in a slot and one trophy over 45 inches. Comms should be 36 as well, the best bass fishing we ever had was when it was 36 inches, hands down. The National Marine Mammal protection act had everything figured except one aspect and that oversight was a giant blunder on the feds part. The blunder was that no one really knew how large "historically" the seal population ever truly was and once the act was made law it was a wait and see. Well now we see and it isn't good for anything but the seals and will eventually begin to affect them as well when they haul thier emeciated carcasses out of the water on shore because they ate everything in sight and all that they will do is respond by moving into places they are nopw only rarely seen like the Caper Cod Canal ( can you imagine what the tree huggers will say when they start having boat/seal hits? All marine traffic will be diverted back around the outer cape probably) Sandy Neck will look like Monomoy south and from Dennis to Sandwich, Wellfleet and Brewster the problem will manifest itself tenfold. The feds really don't have a clue of what the outer cape can sustain for a seal population and what the final impact on the other cape marine species will be. Sad, really F%^#$%^ sad. One more thing, we as humans have a right to the use of the shore and it's resources for pleasure of sustenance, we are one species of animal, more intelligent (hmm) but a animal speicies non-the-less. :doh:

Flaptail, I understand your point about the seals and maybe something should be done about them because it does sound like the fed f'd up big time on that one. You confused me with your comment about the 36 inch reg and how fishing was great with that, so are you saying you think the population of larger stripers IS, in fact, in decline lately?

I find that reading these forums on the internet kind of screws with our sense of reality. I mean, yeah people post that they caught some nice fish, but that is only a select few out of what? 3000 members? Surfcasting is a discouraging game, but a fun one none the less.

there have been some comments about FD in this thread, but I want to mention that in one of his books, he DOES say that it is easy to highlight the good nights because there were so many slow ones.....

I may catch fish on a boat, but when I go 'fishing' its from the surf. Its a matter of style over substance. Even when I worked on partyboats as a mate, afterwards I would hit the beach and go 'fishing'.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but from what I have read - two things come to mind

1. Who the F#$% cares what any one else thinks?
2. Do what you enjoy?

There have been plenty of statements made here and elsewhere that I would be willing to argue, but quite simply, I do not really give 2 shts what others think of how I go fishing.

I enjoy surf fishing, but (and maybe it is me, but I hear a lot of the same) it just doesn't consisitently and readily produce the way a boat does.

Is it more or less sporting - who cares? If you are getting out and enjoying yourself - doesn't matter who cares.

This thread and the thousands of other posts regarding surf vs. boat seem try and make this uber-enjoyable, relax sport we all love into some sort of competition. I personally fish because I like it, and I obviously prefer to catch fish vs skunks. I am not setting out to be "the best and most sporting fisherman." I am there to enjoy myself and hopefully pull a few.

It is all good; chunk, wire-line, boat, show, plugs, live bait - as a great philospher once put it "its all good" (slingah 2005). Why put someone else enjoyment down, because it is not what you like? In my opinion the only reason to put down another fisherman is the obvious ones everyone seems to agree with; googans, littering, taking shorts, fishing illegally - I think you get the idea.