Surf Fishing vs Boat Fishing!

[BigFish]

Easy everybody easy....it's not what you think! I just thought it might be a good thread topic to simply see what everyone likes in particular about the type of fishing that they choose to do, be it throwing a line from a soft, sandy or even rocky piece of shoreline, or drifting and trolling from a floating piece of heaven! Just describe your ideal fishing scenario just as if you could be there right now, on your best day or night, doing just what you love to do! I will go first....

It is a beautiful October morning, just before sunrise! I have secured a favorite spot on the beach at Race Point and I have my trusty beach buggy, (my CJ-7) by my side. The nearest fisherman to me are spread about 50' apart on both sides of me as far as I can see.......I throw a Habs blurple 2 oz. needlefish into the curls of the incoming tide and wade in to my mid-calf. Suddenly, on my fourth or fifth cast, the water explodes as the needlefish hits the water and I am hooked into a good one.....I can hear fisherman on both sides of me uttering the magic words...."fish on" as their rods also double over and they begin to struggle with a striper of their own! The water is churned up with fish as they have pushed a school of baby bunker into the beach! My reel is screaming as the fish resists my best efforts to gain some line and bring it towards the beach! After a few minutes of give and take, I have the fish almost into the wash and suddenly it breaks the surface and I can see it is by far the biggest striper I have ever had at the end of my line, and just as the striper sees the beach, it splashes back into the surf and makes another run for freedom! I can only hope my knots are good ones and try to turn its head back into the beach! I can see the fisherman on either side of me as they slide what appear to be nice stripers in the mid 30 pound range onto the sand as I continue to hold onto my catch! After one more run of about 60 yards my striper seems to be tiring as I gain more and more line......I can now see the huge striper thrashing in the surf as I allow the waves to help me slide her up onto the beach. As the wave pushes the striper up as high as I think it can, I rush into the wash and clutch the beautiful striped bass by the gill plate and struggle to free her from the force of the backwash of the tide. Now high and dry on the beach, and with the days first rays of light stretching across the water, I can put a tape measure to the biggest striper I have ever landed. The tape says 51" and I am hopeful that the scale finds my striper at least 50 pounds. I drive off the beach to Nelsons and hoist it onto the scale hook and wait for the scale to stop spinning......."Darn"!!!! 48 pounds 15 ounces.....just my luck a little over a pound shy of the fifty mark! I am happy just the same because it is my first striped bass over 40 pounds so how can I possibly be disappointed with that????

Hey....I can dream can't I? Spring is coming soon and I will be ready when it does!

[Backbeach Jake]

If I close my eyes I can see it all, Bigfish. Happened a couple of times this past season. The fish weren't as big, but I greeted the sun many times with my biggest grin. Nice dream!

[BigFish]

That is not what this thread is about BEETLE it is about where you the individual enjoys fishing and what would be your ideal dream situation if you could write the script! Do we have any other dreamers? Glad you liked it Backbeach Jake!

[BEETLE]

post deleted - misunderstanding of intent of thread -

[beachwalker]

We have been through this a billion times...........

[leptar]

Both are good. If you know the spots you can catch fish. Early season, mid season, and late season. Each has it's own advantage over the other. I can not say 1 is really better then the other, I catch Stripers either way.. throwing chunks of pogie in early august nights at gooseberry in westport. early morning plugging in newport ri. wire trolling jigs at BI in june for Bass over 40lbs...ect, ect, ect.....

Nothing like landing a monster on the surf.. I will admit that any fish over 30lbs on the surf is a challenge to land... Patience is the key though... hehe sometimes even on a boat when the Bsharks are about landing a 15lb bass is also a challange.

But my ideal situation would be a late August mid afternoon at the point over at Sachuest http://newportvisions.com/home/sachuest1.html
Bait fish as far to Sakonnet Point as you can see and up to the rocks out about a mile from the point. Stripers surfing the shoreline, blues breaking in the back. Bonita and Albies Ripping thru just massive,MASSIVE explosions in the water. The weather.. 82 degrees, low humidity, no wind, no clouds, no birds to tangle into, and everyone cast's straight.
Thats my dream of a good day

[macojoe]

Well my best day of fishing is, loading up the boat and headed out about 20 miles from Chatham. When I get there we start jigging for Cod. There are schools of Mackerel the size of an acre!! From time to time you see a bunch of fin’s and you think at first that there is a school of Sharks then you think no that is not a bunch of Sharks it is one a Baskin Shark got to be 20 + feet long, just floating around with its mouth wide open feeding!!
Then you get a hit, Wow it is bending the rod over and the reel is screaming! What a Cod this must be! Then just as you think the cod is coming to the top your rod doubles over and starts the reel screaming again, but it is not the same as before?? It is pulling out faster then anything you have ever encountered before! After about 10 min of fighting your fish comes to the top, it’s not the cod that you thought you had but a shark!! A Maco about 10 to 15 feet long!! It jumps out the water does a roll and is diving to the bottom again!! Your heart starts pumping like crazy!! You don’t want to lose this one, but how are you going to get this in the boat?? How are you going to kill it?? Will the line hold??
When all of the sudden it comes to the top again!! And does another jump straight out of the water followed by two more!! God let me catch this fish!!
After about an hour your 100 pound braid is still holding! And the fish is getting tired, I am now beginning to gain on it and about ten min later it is next to the boat!! What a fish I said!! But with no way to get it into the boat, no way to kill it, no way to sell it, I just let it go!! I and my buddy take a good look at it, he congratulates me and we cut it lose to live another day!
We finish the day with about 300 #’s of Cod and with sites of half a dozen Blue sharks, and on the way back we are about ten miles from shore we site about 6 whales one of which is just sitting there slapping his tale in that water!! What a site, what a day, a day that would give me my name of Macojoe and a day I will never forget!!

This is a true story from about 8 years ago!! With my friend Mark in his 25 foot Wellcraft Sportfisher.

[FishChick]

Big Fish - I just love the way you write!

[MakoMike]

Nice warm August morning, sun shining, water flat calm. On the troll. pack of bigeyes eats everything, mayhem in the cockpit, we go three for four. Back to troll, 90lb yellowfin every 20 minutes or so, we ran out of ice so headed back in with all the coolers packed.

[Swimmer]

Bigfish thats what we all do in the winter. Go to bed thinking about our names next to an I.G.F.A. record and thats what we wake up too. At least Fishchick gave you a hubba hubba!







Singing the Vineyard blues here!

[fishweewee]

Originally posted by BigFish
It is a beautiful October morning, just before sunrise! I have secured a favorite spot on the beach at Race Point and I have my trusty beach buggy, (my CJ-7) by my side. The nearest fisherman to me are spread about 50' apart on both sides of me as far as I can see.......I throw a Habs blurple 2 oz. needlefish into the curls of the incoming tide and wade in to my mid-calf. Suddenly, on my fourth or fifth cast, the water explodes as the needlefish hits the water and I am hooked into a good one.....I can hear fisherman on both sides of me uttering the magic words...."fish on" as their rods also double over and they begin to struggle with a striper of their own! The water is churned up with fish as they have pushed a school of baby bunker into the beach! My reel is screaming as the fish resists my best efforts to gain some line and bring it towards the beach! After a few minutes of give and take, I have the fish almost into the wash and suddenly it breaks the surface and I can see it is by far the biggest striper I have ever had at the end of my line, and just as the striper sees the beach, it splashes back into the surf and makes another run for freedom! I can only hope my knots are good ones and try to turn its head back into the beach! I can see the fisherman on either side of me as they slide what appear to be nice stripers in the mid 30 pound range onto the sand as I continue to hold onto my catch! After one more run of about 60 yards my striper seems to be tiring as I gain more and more line......I can now see the huge striper thrashing in the surf as I allow the waves to help me slide her up onto the beach. As the wave pushes the striper up as high as I think it can, I rush into the wash and clutch the beautiful striped bass by the gill plate and struggle to free her from the force of the backwash of the tide. Now high and dry on the beach, and with the days first rays of light stretching across the water, I can put a tape measure to the biggest striper I have ever landed. The tape says 51" and I am hopeful that the scale finds my striper at least 50 pounds. I drive off the beach to Nelsons and hoist it onto the scale hook and wait for the scale to stop spinning......."Darn"!!!! 48 pounds 15 ounces.....just my luck a little over a pound shy of the fifty mark! I am happy just the same because it is my first striped bass over 40 pounds so how can I possibly be disappointed with that????

Foreplay for the Surfcaster.

[beachwalker]

Pretty cool fish porn.

Well worded Bigfish

I hope that you dream comes true.

I thought this was another boat vs beach and I didn't really read your post. I got myself in the middle of one of those once ! Didn't mean for it to sound like a snub.

I want a dream like that !

[BigFish]

I love to day dream....what can I say?

[BigFish]

Beachwalker....I had a feeling you were a little off on the topic but thats OK man, no sweat!

[Jamie M]

This is a good way to mentally get away from winter...

Late September, just before first light, backside of Fishers Island. Warmer than usual for this time of year. It's a Wednesday, which I was fortunate enough to be able to take off from work. So as I look to my left, no boats in sight...I look to my right, no boats in sight. We have the water to ourselves.

I motor up to my favorite rockpile. Boy, I think to myself, the engine is running smooth and quiet today. In fact, as I look around the boat, everything looks great - the hull is clean, the upholstery is shiny, the electronics are working, all screws are in tight, all is well. We have a few beers in the cooler, plus my friend Woody was able to stop at that Italian deli in Waterbury, so the sandwiches will be AWESOME today.

Woody is up in the bow. The wind is blowing lightly out of the west, setting up a perfect eastward drfit. We each put a lively, wriggly eel on our hooks. I pull up to within casting distance of the rocks, position the boat to drift parallel with the island, and cut the engine. The drift is perfect, the wind is light, the only sound I hear is the water washing lightly up against the rocks.

Woody lets his eel fly. I scan the rocky shoreline, and find a spot where the rushing water is creating just a little bit of foamy suds against my favorite lucky boulder. My eel is wriggling nicely, but not knotting up. I make a cast, and see the eel splash the surface exactly where I was aiming. Woody yells that he just missed a strike.

I turn the handle of my spinning reel a couple of times, just to take in the slack. Now I can feel the weight of the eel. With the braided line, I can really feel that eel wriggling. My senses are incredibly acute, my arms tingling with anticipation of the strike sure to come...

[JohnR]

It's early October now and most of the "residents" have gone back to NY and Connecticut. Parking is easier now and spots are much less crowded. I got some small keepers just at the incoming spot, now time for the High and start of the drop.... I just walked behind the "house", which in this case is no big deal because the local owners are fishin' friendly with their only request that you pick up your trash.... The wind is picking up now. On a more still night or perhaps with a breeze at your back, you might get a whiff of the wood stoves and chimneys burning with purpose for the first time in months....

Ordinarily, a clear night sky would have you see Block Island and maybe even the far distant shimmer of Montauk. THIS is the triangle of fish. You can really lose you mind as you wonder how many 40, 50, 60 and larger are in that triangle RIGHT NOW and how close are they? Will there be a hard tug tonight? Who will win? But this is not "Ordinary" tonight. The wind has stayed fairly hard southwest and what may only be half a day before it recedes north again. It's a good breeze, enough to pick up the spray as the waves hit the rocks and throw it up into the nostrils. I put on my cleats, hook an eel, and maneuver over to the right and down to the ledge. Its still early, high slack has just passed but I fan cast any way. A little less wind and I could put eel and bring it by that rock, today I'd be lucky if I hit the rock. I hope the eel makes a noisy landing.

Hmmm, been casting a little while now, picking some weeds but far from bad… Tides been dropping almost an hour now, if they are gonna be here it should happen...

"Tap Tap", a soft hit, drop the tip, hit the clutch, don't feel much of anything,maybe a case of curiosity?.... Check set, nope nothing there, no pull, slow crank again, reel slow, humming some Floyd. Wish You Were Here is a tune I like at this spot, and Comfortably Numb, sometimes as light falls you see that ship smoke on the horizon.... Cast the same spot again, just a tic more west. Crank slow, crank slow, you're picking you speed up again, crank slow....

Decent cast, give the eel a chance to sink a bit, pull slack, engage reel, time to reflect on the day and wee... Bump Bump, drop the tip hit the clutch, there we go! One, two, three, reel quick, tension, SET! FISH ON!!! Nice bass too, peeling some line. AND NOBODY AROUND TONIGHT !! Working the fish, get it turned, semi horse, just enough rip rap to prevent a more relaxed play. Oh, there's another run, she's not done yet, some more peel as the line is pulled off the spool... At this size they are almost always a "she". I hope she is nice, she feels nice, who am I kidding? There all equally nice, just some are more equal than others! Ooooh, there's a splash, in a little closer than I thought, work it a little more left, head down to the next ledge.... Rod in armpit, plenty of slack, Hook in corner of jaw, nice fish, 26-28 pounds or so? Good looking fish and she look real good as a fifty, so I'm gonna let her go. Wife will be mad as I told her I would bring some home tonight, must tell her they were small or something.... There she goes, big kick of the tail!

OK, run fingers down leader, pretty good - test drag - check, Cast to same area? Sure why not, load, release thumb..... feather thumb, eel sink, pull slack, engage reel, figure stay for an hour and then go to... Bump Bump, bow to fish, hit clutch, there goes the line! Ear to ear grin .....

[JohnR]

Some people might be able to pick out the particular spot but seeing that I'm not going to acknowledge it online ... Hehehehe