Beginners getting started
 

When first starting out salt water surf fishing there are likely to be many questions for the clueless. The best thing to do is to get out there and gain experience by trying on your own the different methods used to catch fish which you should have read about by now. There are many ways to learn about surfcasting, reading magazines,books and articles on the net are good ways to do all the research you need to get started. Usually if you can establish a good repoir with the local tackle shop, you may get hints about when,where and how to get a few fish. Maybe you want to start out bait fishing like most do, or maybe you are a freshwater flyfisherman and want to try flyfishing the salt. Whatever you want to do, go out there and try it. Trial and error might be the best way to learn for some, I believe you will remember things better by doing them and figuring them out for yourself than only by asking on an internet forum. When I first discovered these forums on the web, I just spent time reading lots of pages in the history and read between the lines to pick up info to help me catch more fish. I didn't just come on asking everything I wanted to know. Many questions have been asked hundreds of times. There are so many fishing forums that there are answers to everything from the most basic thing like which reel to use or line or how to tie a knot.

Here is an excellant site that answers all kinds of questions so you don't have to clog up the boards with trivial questions, I suggest you really search through it and download many of the pertinent articles. They are invaluable. www.bassdozer.com

Now if some of the begginers can utilize the search features on sites, there will be less junk clogging up the forums. Also don't ask for spots, find your own like most of us have done. If someone is kind enough to show you a spot, keep it to yourself and respect that person by not showing others.

Now get out there and fish.:happy:

this is recommended for all beginners. i found a lot of good info on the bassdozer.com.

again, thanks, slipknot.

May - OTW
 

In the May 2003 On The Water there are three informative atricles on The Canal, Gear, and Baits which I think would be appropriate for novice/intermediate fisherpeople to read.

If anyone has this issue, can you tell me what the modified laundry basket at the feet of the guys on the cover is meant to hold? It's tough to tell the way it's sitting.

Jimbo, that's what we put our live herring in while we fish. depending on the size, they hold about 12 herring and keep them alive just fine and within arms reach to rebait quickly. Simple to make.
That issue is very good for begginers.

Thank you for the tip!
Try not to get to frustrated at us newbies... we're just like new dumb privates... gotta be taught the first few steps, then let us loose on the general population... :nailem: (as I remember, much to their dismay!!)
I'll check that sight out, and thanks again!

The basic info is very much appreciated. Just a little can go a looooong way. Besides, while I muddle through newbieville it's fun to try stuff out randomly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it does work, it's something to put in the memory bank:)

I'm an experienced surf fluke fisherman. I've caught many fluke, oyster crackers, tautog, and even a couple of dogfish and blues in the surf, but i had never caught a 7+lb striped bass until I caught one on a modified fluke rig tipped with squid strips. Now all I think about is catching another one, but I'm completely clueless. :confused:The local tackle shop told me 20+ #ers were coming in at night on clam, but that hasn't been productive for me resulting in 0 fish in total of multiple nights on the beach. :bsod: I was hoping maybe someone could help point me in the right direction.

Try different spots, stripers are always on the move. Find a spot that works, and then work it. Structures and sandbars and etc are good places to try... try chunking mackerel on size6/0 hooks

Thanks jugstah. I'll give it a shot the next time I get a chance to fish.

That is a great site, I have taken alot of info from it and applied it. But I totally agree, experience is the teacher. Listen when people talk,watch, do what works for them. It worked for me.... Thanks to all on this site/MS...

honestly, I cant believe just how MUCH information there is on this site, I"ve been on others ,and just didn't see it, I love talking fishin' to any one, especially the newbies, its great to pass on this awesome sport!

I would like to hear some more success stories about fishing on the HUDSON

If you really want to read some amazing information search for posts from flaptail , he's no longer with us but his words are written in this forum. There's a ton of information on here all very valuable Numbskull, Rockfish9 etc etc ..I'm sure I'd leave a few names out so I'll stop there. As a numbnut who couldn't tie a knot when I started I was amazed reading their posts and their personal experience they shared. Now I'm just a numbnut...:rotf2:

good thing I did not teach you how to tie knots

success stories
 

Imagine the movement the bass are on, its spring,spawning time .They move into the Cape area, then head down torward Long Island Sound. In a moment of Gods time there is a split in the schools of hundreds of thousands of fish. Mountauk Point gets it first,Orient point at the same time and down further,Long beach Jones beach and Fire Island get bombarded with fish. You guys and gals get "em first, and we, way up north 100 plus miles away start hearing about it. Were on the phone, on line, any where but there, and were with you, the Surf casters, plying methods of expertise handed down through generations,waiting for our chance at the spring spawning run. Lets hear the stories of Hudson River striper fishing beginning this April, 2015 only here at Striped-Bass!!!!:bounce: Its coming!!!!

why, would they Slip? :hihi: