I think its been answered... for most people its time and location. If a person only fishes 2 nights a week then they have maybe, what 10 chances in the fall? What if its once a week. Then what if you only get to a big fish spot for a 2 or 3 trips. Odds aren't good. What percent of people get out 4+ nights a week in top locations.
I know when I was fishing the canal 3 or 4 nights a week in the fall a few years back it was much easier to rack up big numbers. Now in western ct it is a little harder to find the bigger fish from shore especially since I don't know the area as well yet. Only get to cape areas and rhody for a handful on nights a season. Harder to get a feel for where they are showing. A few years ago I was at the point where 40" was ok, but nothing special. Now, even fishing 4 or 5 nights a week for at lest an hour or two I am very pleased with a fish in that range. Maybe I am just losing it :conf: .

WTF, U need a camera man, nice fish Dave, I'll do the pic takin' 2nite though..:rotf2:

Nice fish Dave, looks like a 30 to me!!:uhuh:

Good to see you got a decent one Dave. Knowing when not to go is huge, although you need an infinite amount of knowledge to be able to arrive at that observation. My fishing trips now are all less than 5-6 hours. Figure 2 hours of driving, and 3 or 4 hours of fishing. Again, I don't and can't kill myself with real long nights, because experience tells me that it usually doesn't pay off most of the time. Find the sweet spot of the tide for the spot you are fishing, and stick with it. When I fished heavy commercial in the 90's, my partners used to laugh and quesiton why I gave up so early when we've been slamming them all night.The reason for me was that most of the damage gets done over a couple hour period of time. I feel the same now as I did then with regard to the sweet spot theory. I think in one of Daignault's books he refers to good surfcasting as a "miserly conservation of one's energy". One of the best statements I've ever heard. Hope I added something to the thread, Krispy. Be generous....:smash:

What do u add..U contstantly complain about threads or post's in threads.
The Kid caught a good fish.He's proud of his accomplishment.I'm sure there was more to follow an there was. 30's are not as common as #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& says or U would have more.

What makes u think ur so special...
I never ever once read any Info out of u that I could apply to be succesfull.Yet u always chime in with ur remarks..
U must be the man..Surfcaster above all...
Krispy The Great..I bow at ur feet...
Flamer...

Factors? One factor people overlook is that you need to fish in a place or time that is conducive to not just hooking, but landing, a big fish. I hear people say all the time,"she wrapped me on a pot". Well, don't fish near the f#$%^%$n pots then. It may be a good place to find and hook a fish, but a bad spot to land one. How about the canal,rivers, and breachways? People tell me "I had a monster, but it got out in the current". Solution? Fish when the tide slows a bit or is just about stopped. Sounds simple, but people forget these things. Landing, not hooking, is the key. Why have most of my jumbos come from the outer cape? Its the best place I can think of on the eastern seaboard to LAND a big fish. Lets say you can hook five jumbos in the rocks and land one of them, or you can hook two jumbos on a sandy beach and land both of them. Where would you go? Higher landing % makes the most sense to me if you are looking for numbers of real big ones, beyond 40# fish.

I just wasted a ton of time reading this whole thread :eyes:

and to me the old saying is true

90% of the fish are caught by 10% of fishermen.

and doesn't mean no one is catching it just means there are people catching they are just not telling anyone

The last page and a half of this thread speaks for itself..
All I wanted was to get more info on consistently catching 30+ fish, not wade through banter and guys boasting how everyone is catching 30s and the rest of us must suck.
When I become successful, Ill start posting some info for you NIB
Its to bad this site is spiraling into one useless thread after another or good threads gone stupid

This is far from a useless thread, lots of info here, apply it for christs sake and stop bitching...

Now that's good info..:kewl: :kewl:

Finally, hey NIB Great post and I agree with it...... If you want to know how to consistantly catch 30lb fish krispy....follow the guys around who do just that! You do have a habit of asking a question and then attacking the person or person of your choice who answers it...screw that....go fish..."Cows Redux" sounds like some c rated french movie.......As I look over the thread I think the question has been answered numerous times....Put the time in...simple as that....Human beings are far smarter than fish....the things eat, know where they do and when they do and catch, really isnt much more to it than that......How many years have you chased stripers seriously from the surf? there are guys here who have many more years and time and grade, I think anyone who catches large bass consistantly should be listened to..You make comments on things you know nothing about...like saying certain things about people you dont know. Listen to what has been said and go apply it....Cows??? %$%$%$%$ that you catch whats there, size of fish is what it is...I think one other piece of advice I could give , is that far to many guys here are fixated on the use of "wood" or plugs, that seems to be the in thing, however at least here in Rhode Island, they are no where near as good as a live eel....not even close......Being a martyr and saying one only fishes plugs is no badge of honor to me ...its a badge of stupidity...But hey I have also witnessed first hand the plug purists beg for an eel when they are getting there arse handed to them by the eel guy on the beach.....

Anyway, keep attacking, your very good at it.....I am not great with the computer or these war of words but thats fine, I will glady take my fishing skill over computer skills any day of the week.......Catch em" up

I think it's called fishing. So fish. Enjoy the journey. Your day will come.

well said!

Back Beach makes some good points. I fish 3 spots 95% of the time, all around five minutes from my house. All 3 spots can produce big fish, but I've never experienced the big-fish bite to last more than a couple hours max. I try to keep a pretty detailed log, and up to this point I have not been able to predict with any certainty when a spot is guaranteed to fire. I believe it's possible to have a much better handle on things than I do, but I'm not there yet. Part of the fun for me is trying to make sense of it all. I think a lot of the appeal of fishing for large fish would evaporate if I had it all figured out.

Another good point BB makes is the difference between hooking and landing big fish. The spots I fish make it very tricky to land big fish. Since I like my spots I'm content to lose a lot of fish while trying to figure out how to improve my odds. This is an interesting thread.

This question's for #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&/NIB/and a few of u other guys who get many 30's during the season. When you say many how many is that, i mean, i have 2 this year, which is a good season so far for me..not including the late run of OCT and NOV. On AVG how many 30's do u guys generally get in a year?

I think I got 6 or 7 last year.

:drool: :drool:
Usually i get my big hit of fish in late OCT/Nov down here, I expect 2 more for the season but 7 would be sweet!!

It varies. every year is different and you cant catch whats not there...Having said that, I have 8 fish just at or over 30lbs this year..Last year I had more including a 43lb fish from the beach.2 -30lb fish is very good, I will cocede I have much more time than most to fish...is simple mathematics, my chances go way up because I put in more time and I realize that...I may live line bunker in the morning and then head out with live eels at night, just many opertunities, I also baught a boat this year so I could fish many different ways.

Targeting large fish only has its drawbacks....Its better to relax and let it happen, fishing with the intent of only catching large makes you fish tense... What I do is study my charts....I know the 2 or 3 places I fish most often intamatly, Agter of years on the same pearch you simply just learn when the opertunity for a big fish is there, you know that its worth going on a south east wind and not worth going on a southwest wind. I know that there is a window of time where I have the best shot....Notice , I dont say "I know the fish will be there" all you can do is make sure everything else is right condition wise and then just fish the place you have chose....I also fish my spots at everysingle stage of the tide coming or going, thats how you learn a spot....Some places I have stumbled upon by accident ! I went at the wrong time and caught fish and learned something in the process...If I catch fish at a new place , I look at a chart the next day and it hits me..."Oh thats why" there is a drop off here and deep water with a reef just under water" I also look at which way the currents move along a particular spot, sometimes its more important than the tide, sometimes its only good an hour before dead low or even still There are places where you can only reach the structure you want to fish on a moon low tide..


There is much to learn and its a constant process however, I like to concentrate on two or three spots and stick with them, they produce and I have taken the time to learn them.

When someone tells you they got fish at spot A You want to rush down there, well there is so much more to it than that....when did they catch, what was the wind, how did they aprocach the spot etc..etc..etc...What stage of the tide.

I dont follow tide rules, I only use the tide as it relates to a certain spot, Like I said some spots are good on low, some on high some in between...you have to learn your spots!

What you fish with is important, in my opinion you cannot beat live eels...just cant...over the course of a season nothing is more consistant, its a live bait! My numbers and size of fish should speak to that....I use eels from may until decmebr and have never ever had a problem catching fish...never! On the cape, guys do well with plugs...but , again, I am no expert on cape cod because I dont fish there aften....So what works for them is not for me to judge...I am an expert in Rhode Island and can tell you matter of fact, you can cast plugs till the hooks rust off and not even catch a third of what the live eel will catch...The eel also attracts large fish and all my 40lb and up fish have fell to live eels...Now why would anyone have a problem with that? Its the truth! So, while fishing to some is not about "catching"....it is to me..I dont want to lose sleep for a week straight and get skunked ! I want results and the live eel produces results!

So, its a matter of learning your spots well, if you have fished a spot for a few seasons and got nothing better than a teen size fish..odds are that spot just doesnt produce large....its not your fault...like I said earlier, you cant catch whats not there....I would then move on and learn and try new places. You want certain things, deep water within close range of the shoreline is important to me , load of structure is important to me, its the highways bass use to move and ambush and hide, lots of bottom forage is important to me, lobsters, crabs, etc... It is my belief that large bass would rather grub to eat than chase a baitfish all day long...and just to add to that....eels are fished very slow....


My ideas for catching fish may differ from others and thats fine , it works great for me....I have it down to now I only have to fish a couple hours a night, no more all nighters....my body cant take it anymore anyway...I never stay home on a full moon, I have caught some of my best on a full moon, again its time on the water...Sometimes its a matter of luck...some guys have a touch or a "golden horsehoe" or whatever you want to call it...weird things happen in this sport that confound.

But lastly and to pound it home... YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE TIME...its as simple as that, you cant catch fish staying home...I realize all about peoples work etc.... but still this sport is a matter of time on the water...

If you want to catch large consistantly

1) Put in the time!

2) Learn a few spots well instead of jumping all over the place or following or chasing reports...here today gone tommorow..

3) Know how tide and current affect where you fish, know how wind makes a difference, sometimes a certain wind will puch the current break closer to you...

4) use bait...sorry folks...but it really works..

5) Fish your chosen spot around the horn at every tide stage before you say its not good there....once you hit them, make a mental note

6) realize that some places only give up small bass and thats all your gonna get....move on

And put in your time!!

7) Have confidence! this makes all the difference in the world! Have confidence in what your fishing!

Go Catch large!

8) RELAX......They will come and it will happen!! Hope thios constitutes a helpfull post

WTF, my eyes are sore now..:eyes:
Got writers cramp now??///

Just trying to add something of value dave!

"u can't catch what aint there."
Well when they are there u have to make the most of it.Normally in a good yr 3 or 4 can be a great yr.I have hot spots.That hold big fish during a time of yr.Usually I can intercept em.One is a jig spot the other I ply with live bunker.The past few yrs here in NJ we have had big baits an big fish together.I have more than 30 fish over 30 lbs this yr.Thats a conservative number.They where there an I made the most of it.before sunrise an after dark every day for a month.never missed a beat.
Sounds like ur right on target to a good/great yr.if the weather holds up an the fall progresses as usuall u should be on ur way.There's some science to it for the most part if they are there u'll get em.Tough to beat a bait with a heartbeat but u can illicit strikes many different ways.Like first light with a pencil popper.They will take this lure out of aggression.It's a excellent big fish bait..

You did, thanks

Your right, however....in surf fishing, you never know whats there or isnt there unless you can see underwater...as long as you have done your homework and put in the time all you can hope for is a fish, the rest is up to the fish gods...and again that goes back to puttin in the time!

I have tons of respect for alot of u guys, i know what it takes to get a couple 30's..its alot of work..but with the numbers you guys put up it really is amazing!!

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& where do you get information about currents, that Eldridge book? Do you recommend having that?

yes thats what I use....Not only recomend it, Its a must have! It has all the currents...Listen, dont get to technical however, I glance at it or make a mental note but, I dont go crazy...its just there in the memroy bank....

Bill, if you can find it, there is an even better resource book as to the currents than Eldridge. I think it was last put out in the late 70's, but it is basically a larger version of the current charts that are in the Eldridge. A guy in Gansett I fish with has the only copy I have seen, but it has been very informative and easier to read than the little current charts.

I agree with #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&! Put in your time and it will happen. Also, knowing where to go and when to go is very important which comes from time spent on the water. In addition, if you really want to catch BIG bass consistently in the surf, put away the plugs, except the 9 inch Slug-go, and use live or rigged eels.

Nice post #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, good stuff.

A Lannyism.

I can hear him now. Show me the slips!!!!