Rough Water Bass

[Canalman]

Seems like the air in here is getting stale... we need some good ol' fishin' talk to bring us back to earth.

This past season, I really got into fishing rough water.. some of you may have seen my other post about this. I fished a lot of spots and times with water so rough that I usually would have gone home. My results were amazing... I found that at night if you can get an eel past the break it's deadly and letting the eel "do it's own thing" seemed to work better than reeling it back into the slop. I also observed some guys doing well on heavy needles (beachmasters). During the mornings of those same nights I used my Pencil Poppers (slowpokes) and extracted many nice fish from the brown frothy surf. I'd be interested to hear other peoples takes on this style of fishing, experiences, lures, impressive catches, theories... whatever you got... let's hear it.

-Dave

[lurch]

I like the nasty slop as well.

What I had to do was time my casts between the big swells and when the lure was able to sit or sink at a normal rate I was very productive. In the time I was able to surf big surf or nasty slop I was never using eels. I bet that the eel would be more productive because the eel could fight against the push of the waves...good tip, I will try using eels next time in the slop.

[vanstaal]

I have been trying new thing from time to time One with Eben's eel's
man they are awesome so many way's to fish them like the sluggo but I like the action the eels have I always been a plug guy for a lot of years.my question is of all the people who fish how many fish the same spots all the time with success, or do you jump around with success. I have eight spots I fish all the time with success more time than not trying new spots is always a big uncertainty thinking the fish are @ the spot I not !

[RIROCKHOUND]

Definetly fish eels if it's rough but not if it's ice-coffee water...
Woody, 90% of my fishing is at 3-4 Spots MAX...
I tell my self to jump around more but then get unconfident elsewhere...

[luds]

I love moderate to fast sinking needles in rough water. I either let them go in the wash or fish them with a pumping motion and a moderate retrieve. Nothing more fun than pulling fish out of big water. I personally prefer needles over eels when it's rough. I had one night the year before last that I kept getting hung up in the same spot. As soon as I got my needle free a bass would hit it. I couldn't pick up a fish any other way. Hab's needles......color didn't matter..

[Strider]

luds48 I love moderate to fast sinking needles in rough water. I either let them go in the wash or fish them with a pumping motion and a moderate retrieve. Nothing more fun than pulling fish out of big water. I personally prefer needles over eels when it's rough. I had one night the year before last that I kept getting hung up in the same spot. As soon as I got my needle free a bass would hit it. I couldn't pick up a fish any other way. Hab's needles......color didn't matter..

Bingo!

When the heave is up and fishing deeper waters, I have great confidence throwing needles which will sink rather quickly. Throwing needles in the 2.5 - 3oz. range gives me the ability to get past the heavy wash and bring the plug up to and through the wash. I apply the count down method working the different water columns to find the bite. Retrieve is moderate to slow, but look for a pattern in the presentation on consecutive hook ups.

[FishermanTim]

That's what seperates the men from the boys!

[numbskull]

I fish in rocks with plugs, but not in particularly deep water. I like it quiet. A little swell is nice, and a gentle breeze to give the water some texture, but once it blows more than 15kts, I find things quickly get too weedy and I get driven back from the spots were I want to stand. The one exception might be on a full moon, where wind usually means clouds and rough water produces cover to bring the fish within range.

[Clogston29]

Heavy needles or BIG eels for me. The big eels have been the key for me a few times when others have had smaller eels and couldn't cast into the wind or hold in the surf. The only problem is that the big ones can be tough to keep alive in the tank for long - though I'm speaking from limited experience on that.

[eelman]

Its just as good on the calm nights, fish still need to eat........I dont see any sense in getting beat to crap to catch fish that I learned a long time ago can be caught on the moderate nights also.......There is a point where the conditions become absolutly assanine to fish. Myself and others I know do very well on the better more comfortable nights and therefore there is no need to risk life and limb to catch a fish...for me it came with age and developing some "sense". I have been there and done that. I can tell you that when I was willing to be a hero and fish ultra rough water, that eels in fact were deadly and work fine in rough water, I simply used an egg sinker shoved down there throat it was a very good way to fish in heavy seas.Numbskull is right on with the weed problem, the best time to fish rough water is right at the start then of course you have awefull current sweeps that make it near imposible to present anything the right way.

[Nebe]

i always do best at the begining day of a rough spell.. after a day at least where i like to fish it gets all churned up.. weedy... etc.

[chief10]

In rough water I like to use an egg sinker about 10" above a large wooden needle. lock it down with a couple of tooth picks right on the leader. the plug gets right down and stays in the strike zone a little longer. Also in standing waves coming together right along the beach I'll throw a bottle plug and let it dig in.

[EricM]

I love it when it gets nasty out- especially late at night on the bay- docks and birms when the wind and the water is just slamming everything making a real washingmachine out of it all. Good sport either on spin tackle or even the flyrod if its getting crazy out there and you can't miss. I think that washingmachine effect maybe supercharges the water with oxygen making the finned friends feel good.

[EricM]

Just to follow up with a graphic, here is a pic of a day when I turned back and went home to the g-friend.

[shadow]

I myself like calmer nights,some times the rough surf is fun to fish in sometimes it's not,I have done well in rough surf with eels with 1/4 or 1/2 oz. egg sinker they hold better other wise they will be at your feet before you can retrieve your line.2 years ago I walked over 1mile to a point to fish in a huge noreaster,there was no beach had to walk up in the dunes to get there it was insane,I put myself on the lee side off the point and did well landing 2 very nice fish.The spot I fished this year was dead on nights with big surf.and if the surf was to big it was to dangoures to be there making it nesaserry to go to plan B.Yet my largest this year come from that spot on a rough night.

[shadow]

even thou I might be confessing to a surfcasting crime by saying this, some spots fish better in the daytime when it is snotty then at night I landed more then a few fish over 20# in rough water during the day to go back at night and get skunked.

[Backbeach Jake]

Dawn, with a nice stiff breeze in my face and birds going ape really makes me happy. Kastmasters to 4oz. or light colored heavy plugs.

[spinncognito]

One of my fishing-New Years resolutions is to fish the big surf whenever possible. During a BIG BLOW last September I was scouting the oceanfront along the N. Shore. The wave heights were easily 8-12ft and coming in steady sets. It is what I determined to be "unfishable" conditions. I stopped among the wave-watchers and saw one "idiot" standing at the waters edge on a small rock with 4 feet of white-wash breaking around him, heaving casts out past the first wave. The was so much weed being tossed around that his line was caked with it every 2 or 3 feet. As I watched, his line was bent way over and I assumed it was from all the weeds. To make this long story shorter- after about 20 minutes he pulled the biggest bass I have ever seen taken in person out of the wash- 40lbs. He was using a mega-bait or crippled herring and braided line.
So... I will be loading up on heavy metal and waiting for the first Nor'Easter to barrel through. Bring it on!

[GattaFish]

I really really like big water, and needle combinations...

[RIROCKHOUND]

Depends on the spot though...
A lot of my local spots big water = dead or unable to land a fish....

[Jim D]

I had one of my best days last year on november 24 right as a front was rolling through. Waves started building, the wind picked up. At that time we started catching fish between 25-35 lbs for the next few hours on bottle plugs. We literally got our a$$es kicked but it was well worth it

[GattaFish]

Falling or low pressure, South east wind and over cast make for some great days also,,,, Once again,,, depends on the spot,,,,

[eastendlu]

NorEasters!!!!!

[Goose]

I agree calm water for the most part is better eeling conditions but rough water is definant window of opperetunity for even 'bigger' bass. Whats the difference between big and bigger?.....IMO, 30# give or take a pound is common for a good night in the surf. If you can honestly say a good night fishing is fish between 35# and 40# on a regular basis then your fishing some place special and there are very few anglers like you. But from my experience shore caught fish are in the low 30# class for the most part.... I know there are conditions and times of year that prove otherwise.

My best shore bass are caught in rough water conditions but that doesn't mean I'm getting beat up #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&. There are areas where I can land big bass in deep water and I'm not in it. I can think of other areas where I'm in it and its still perfectly safe. Although you may have great calm water eeling that doesn't necessarily mean its prime rough water terrian.
The same is true for boat fishing. A while back I spoke with Gary Corrseti and he reassured me 'the rougher the water the bigger the bass' and he's proven it many times. Kenny has also proven that to me without a doubt, it doesn't take sceinctic evidence. My best bass days whether boat/shore, eeling, live-lining or what ever, have been in rough conditions.

[Back Beach]

I like it flat with the wind at my back and always have. The one exception for me would be the race, which is good in a raging southwest wind.Used to throw loaded 7" super strike needles right into it and do well. Same with eels and jigs.You can catch fish in all conditions, which I've said here many times. I just don't need to get beat up any more in big surf, at least not intentionally.Especially not in rocky areas, which is where I primarily fish now.

[eelman]

Originally Posted by Back Beach

I like it flat with the wind at my back and always have. The one exception for me would be the race, which is good in a raging southwest wind.Used to throw loaded 7" super strike needles right into it and do well. Same with eels and jigs.You can catch fish in all conditions, which I've said here many times. I just don't need to get beat up any more in big surf, at least not intentionally.Especially not in rocky areas, which is where I primarily fish now.

I agree

[Canalman]

Definately some interesting insight... although some misunderstood me thinking that I believe that big fish are only caught in rough water. I have taken almost all of my largest fish in calm to moderate seas but the few truly large bass I have taken in rough waves are very memorable. Next time I hit the rough water... I'll wear my hero's cape for you Billy

Lotta good info in there... I like the different spins on fishing different plugs under these conds.

-Dave

[steve24]

Alot of the time a hard Nor'easter is a trigger for a great night during the fall, especially near outflows on an ebbing tide with bottles, darters, bucktails... Is it still only January?

[NIB]

Black plugs into the whitewater in the daytime..

[Bronko]

Originally Posted by Backbeach Jake

Dawn, with a nice stiff breeze in my face and birds going ape really makes me happy. Kastmasters to 4oz. or light colored heavy plugs.

Sounds good Back Beach. Love that scene.