[MAKAI]

Originally Posted by 2na

Zeno, could you clarify as to what you mean by stating that BB's input that 'flat water with wind at your back is good, don't believe what you read in the books about needing white water ' and 'I used to boat fish alot on the outer cape and noticed many, many nights the fish would be just out of range for the surf guys unless there was a strong SW wind' 'is an exaggeration and misrepresentation of facts'. I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I happen to strongly agree with both of these points. I have also found that you don't need white water (white water is a very good thing, but not needed) and I have found that flat water with the wind at your back is good, especially on the back beach - it is one of my favorite conditions (and if you are not familiar with the back beach, sw is at your back in most spots). I've learned to take advantage of gaining even more distance in such conditions by tying up some larger than normal dressed hooks just for those times - they act like a kite. And back before seal when you could flip eels the extra distance of a strong wind at your back made a big difference in reaching fish/covering more water. As far as his statement regarding the fish being just out of range, over the years I have worked hard at lengthening my casting distance to get to these just out of distance fish. One of my favorite tricks to get that extra distance is to tie on a 3 oz bank sinker trailing a fly and letting it rip - always good for an extra 30 yards. In a place where distance is king and no one else can reach that far, your offering is the only game in town. This is also why over the last 5 years or so we have seen the proliferation of the kayak bait droppers up near Race Point. If you are not familiar, these guys kayak bait out a couple hundred yards to reach the fish, drop it, return to shore and put the rod in a sand spike - and they do well. This tactic illustrates BB's point - these fish are out of reach for a surfcast, but still relatively close to the beach.

Would you be kind enough to explain why you feel his statement is an exaggeration and misrepresentation of facts? I'd be interested in your point of view because I believe his assessments to be accurate, and if I'm missing something I would like to be enlightened.

The one thing that I've learned about fishing for striped bass over the years is the importance of asking questions of other fishermen. I was fortunate enough to have one of the late old timers take me under his wing when I first got on the beach, and the knowledge he had about conditions, situations and history was astounding. If I didn't understand why or why not something was happening I could always ask him about it.

The second most important thing I've learned is to know a few areas close to home very very well rather than covering large areas in search of.

Hey I know who started that kayak thing and boy is he sorry.