Still NOT dialed in, YET - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

BassDawg · 08-31-2008, 07:46 AM

went 0 for 6 last night on sum pretty impressive eel takes.
slingin' big snakes at my biggest producer up Cape Anne's way,,,,,,,,,,,,,
i had sum disappointing drops and tooooo much rookie error.

right place, tide, moon, & time;
evidently, the wrong surfcaster on the working end of the stick!!

some surf would've been nice,,,,,,,,,,slack-like water for 5 hours.
when the slippery ones hit the water it sounded like sumbody threw
a body overboard ~~as the surf was eerily quiet.

it was good to "feel" some bigger fish as it appears they are starting to move into their Sept places. it shore would be nice to find last fall's touch again. from Sept to Nov i was batting around .875 after TT shared his eel p-up tutorial. prolly could significantly increase my hookset ratio if i'd use the right sized(i used 9/0 gami's for 17"-22"ers; overkill, ya think?) hooks and could learn to COUNT to FIVE!!!

no worries,,,,,,,,,,,there's still time and at least three more nights of
New darkness. had the biggest of them beothces strip the hook of my largest eeeeeel. stinking through the mouth and out the throat hook position!!! and SHE was serious about leaving me the hook,,,,,,,,,,,
a very firm, lower half, grab/couple of head jerks/saaaay buh-bye to mr wiggly!

The Iceman 6 · 09-01-2008, 09:27 AM

1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi....

BassDawg · 09-01-2008, 09:39 AM

i hear ya, brother!!

different story last night, though

back to normal,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and went
one for one, nice one, 40"L x 21"G.

kinda skinny for the length, but she'll do!

GonnaCatchABig1 · 09-01-2008, 01:51 PM

i do think i'm even on the right wavelength, let alone dialed in this year. so far i've only managed to get around 5 takes on plugs and missed them all. (all on either brand new plugs or they had brand new hooks put on)

my hook sets are atrocious due to being used to circles.

Back Beach · 09-02-2008, 07:39 AM

Not sure what's happening Dawg, but when I get ghost hits I start setting the hook quicker. Had several fish the last couple weeks do the same thing to me and got them with a quick hook set after several ghost hits. Also, try letting the eel sink to the bottom and then retrive it real fast. Got several of my biggest surf fish doing that.

BassDawg · 09-02-2008, 01:00 PM

COOOOL, BackBeach!

thanks for the fast retrieve TIP.

on the other stuff i always let my eeeels sink. i count them down according to the stage of the tide. part of the problems that night were also that my drag was not tight enuff for quick hook sets,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we fish and we learn

when you say fast are we talking 70mph, or 100mph?

steve · 09-02-2008, 01:08 PM

BD, way tooooo big on the hook as well as the eels. Try 12 to 15 inch eels and 5 or 6/0 gama octupos hooks. You'll catch more!

BassDawg · 09-02-2008, 01:16 PM

thanks, Steven, will do!
did you get my pm??

LUV the gami octopus line. 6/0's have always treated me right in the
past,,,,,,,,,i was trying sumthing different with the mambo snakes.

so much for the bigger bait = bigger fish philosophy~~~
with eeeeeeeeels anyways?

thanks again, guys!!

steve · 09-02-2008, 01:24 PM

Yes BD, Thanks. Smaller eels WILL catch big fish and make it easier for the smaller ones. A dropped eel usually signifies a small bass was snooping around. Big bass don'thave a problem. So don't feel too bad about the drops.

Back Beach · 09-02-2008, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassDawg

COOOOL, BackBeach!

thanks for the fast retrieve TIP.

on the other stuff i always let my eeeels sink. i count them down according to the stage of the tide. part of the problems that night were also that my drag was not tight enuff for quick hook sets,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we fish and we learn

when you say fast are we talking 70mph, or 100mph?

Let it sink to the bottom first, then retrieve fast. I would say if you can see a vapor trail behind the eel(110 mph), you're right on. Don't be afraid to put some weight on either.

Mess around with the retrieve until something works. Then, at the drop of a hat they may want it slow. Like a well known author once told me, the big ones are all females, thus they change their mind often.

Back Beach · 09-02-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve

BD, way tooooo big on the hook as well as the eels. Try 12 to 15 inch eels and 5 or 6/0 gama octupos hooks. You'll catch more!

Good tip Steve. My personal best striper came on an eel I thought was too small to use. It was about 10". Go figure.