How would all the "new" boat guys be doing from the surf???

[JFigliuolo]

I can't help but think their opinion of the season might not be the same...

I am in no way trying to diminish there boat accomplishments... Just curious.

[clambelly]

it is a given that it is a bit easier to get yourself on top of big fish, or just more numbers of fish, if you have access to a boat. however, saying this, there is still a lot of skill involved in banging a big fish, no matter where you are fishing. i don't have much experience boat fishing, and i've been on the water in the middle of a school of fish and hooking nice fish, but have had guys picking out BIG fish right under my nose.

just as there are certain techniques that are learned while fishing the beaches to entice fish, or to know where the fish will be at certain tides, these same skills are needed to be successful while fishing from the boat.

all fisherman, boat or surf, who are successful at catching BIG fish are to be commended for their skills.

[ThrowingTimber]

Personally for me its all about hustle. I think the guys doing the damage off the fiberglass jettys would still be putting a dent in them if they were shore bound. Because they would still hustle.

[zacs]

I agree with Vic 100%.

[JFigliuolo]

All good stuff, and I agree. But not what I was asking...

I KNOW that these guys were excellent in the surf. Right now they are high on life. There fishing has never been better. "LONG LIVE THE POGIE!!!"

The crux of my question is I highly doubt they woul be having such a great year if still bound to shore. WOuld they be doing better than average? most likely, the cream always rises to the top. But would they be living a dream? I highly doubt it.

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by ThrowingTimber

Personally for me its all about hustle. I think the guys doing the damage off the fiberglass jettys would still be putting a dent in them if they were shore bound. Because they would still hustle.

I can think of a few VERY good surfcaster that hustle w/the best of them that are having a slow year. You can't catch what is not there. A good night here or there, but nothing consistant.

[steve]

So far, june has been a bust in the surf!

[striperman36]

I fish the surf!!! Just from the ocean side not the beach side.

I don't do alot of trolling but where's there's white water or a rip, I'll be throwing somethin.
A boat is no different than the beach, right place, right time, right bait, right presentation = fish

[Slingah]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

I can think of a few VERY good surfcaster that hustle w/the best of them that are having a slow year. You can't catch what is not there. A good night here or there, but nothing consistant.

exactly......but why compare???
adapt if you want to or are able....I'd fish shore and boat if I could afford it or wanted it enough
your right it is all about putting it in front of the fish...you can't fool a fish that is not there....

[ThrowingTimber]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

I can think of a few VERY good surfcaster that hustle w/the best of them that are having a slow year. You can't catch what is not there. A good night here or there, but nothing consistant.

I hear ya on the nothing consistant but by the same token I know 2 who crocked fish yesterday land based.

Its a total dif ball game with the big bait, they arent scrounging for crabs and lobstahs anymore. I struggling from the surf as well, but I hitting points all over. Gotta adapt.. You know I'm pounding rocks and or sand 5 nights a week. I got out on the bay last weekend and we targeted fish pretty much at will.. Its the case of cant there from here... I'm trying Im struggling just the same. But at times I'm wishing I knew how to get out to some of the points in the bay where we're hooking up, Im going back landbased and trying to duplicate the success.. comin' up with nada, still giving it a go.

[eelman]

Unless they Knew what they were doing it would be the same...it takes alot of commitment to exell at either one...I know that now, why more of you are not trying the Bay is beyond me.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Probably struggling with a few good nights thrown in, but really who gives a %$%$%$%$?

The guys that are catching are catching well, boat or surf.

[Krispy]

Don't sweat it jf. A "used to" surfcaster is still a boat fisherman

[DZ]

What's a boat?

[Ed B]

Originally Posted by DZ

What's a boat?

Dennis, Dennis, Dennis, The boat thingy is what you take to go across the water to get to Block Island. Hey, that might make you a boat fisherman.

Pete G summed it up pretty well I think. But I will add this perspective as I kind of look at it this way with a different analogy to trout fishing. If you want to catch a cubic buttload of trout right now you could go to most of the trout ponds which you are familiar, get yourself a smalll craft, some jars of powerbait, drop lines down below the thermocline, drift around your structure and dropoffs, pop down some Brewski's to keep the energy and enthusiasm level up and become a commercial trout fisherman . There are many other possibilities as well included trolling deep and shore fishing the dropoff close to shore. Whatever. Yet there are still some guys who would only consider going to the rivers and streams of New England to fly-fish and that is what they will do regardless of how the fishing for the powerbait guy is in Lake Talupa, and the question of how the season is going for the Lake Talupa guys is kind of irrelevant.

It's really a matter of preference and telling a guy who is in the surf working the backwash from a stretch of boulders in RI or an outlet of a trough on the Cape Beach when the tide stage is just to his liking for a nice current to set up, how the boat guys are doing is nice but kind of an irrelevant piece of information, because he is a Surf Fisherman. Some surf fisherman with fly rods couldn't care less about the surf fisherman who uses bait, plugs or eels, just like the guy on the Wood River this evening who will be casting to a rising fish, the powerbait results on the Lake don't really enter into his brain.

I offer none of my preference as that is up to each individual to decide what is most favorable to him and how he wants to spend his time.

Ed

[DZ]

[QUOTE=Ed B;500398]Hey, that might make you a boat fisherman.

Yikes! You’re right Ed. From now on I’m flying to Block (not).

To actually help answer J’s question: There have been very few instances in my surfcasting life where great boat fishing has equated to just as good surf fishing. More often than not it is just the opposite.
To site just a few examples: I’ve been on Block where the boat guys have done a good number all around the island and the surf gang has fished a virtual wasteland at the same time. Another time at Montauk (Shagwong) I fished from a boat (I know, I know, Blasphemy) and took big bass on every pass just a hundred or so yards off the beach. An hour later I hit that same beach expecting that the surf guys were mauling the bass - 50 guys and not a single bass taken from that beach. Special sets of circumstances make up great surfcasting – they don’t occur very often and that makes you appreciate them more. My surfcasting size and catch rate hasn’t been that great this season (until last night). But I’m still having a great time “practicing”. Our fish will come.

[Back Beach]

[QUOTE=DZ;500422]

Originally Posted by Ed B

To actually help answer J’s question: There have been very few instances in my surfcasting life where great boat fishing has equated to just as good surf fishing. More often than not it is just the opposite.
To site just a few examples: I’ve been on Block where the boat guys have done a good number all around the island and the surf gang has fished a virtual wasteland at the same time. Another time at Montauk (Shagwong) I fished from a boat (I know, I know, Blasphemy) and took big bass on every pass just a hundred or so yards off the beach. An hour later I hit that same beach expecting that the surf guys were mauling the bass - 50 guys and not a single bass taken from that beach. Special sets of circumstances make up great surfcasting – they don’t occur very often and that makes you appreciate them more. My surfcasting size and catch rate hasn’t been that great this season (until last night). But I’m still having a great time “practicing”. Our fish will come.

I've seen the same thing on the cape, and have said this before....when surf and boat fishing were producing disproportionatley to one another, we opted for the more productive method. You have to adapt, or it will become a long season on the sidelines waiting for things to come around. This season seems to be shaping up just like last so far. We had a run of large fish from mid may to early june in the surf, now a lull. I have to believe another batch will be coming at some point if they aren't already here. If it does shape up like last year, the large fish will be sporadic for the surf guys. The "new" boat guys are really the fishermen who are adapting and utilizing the best method for catching large fish right now. That means they are serious about results, regardless of the method. If you plan to stick with strictly surf fishing, you will experience droughts, even when the fishing is good, its just the way it works.

[Nebe]

well I took to the soap box this winter about the pogie thing and felt pretty strongly about a couple of things. To recap, my points have all come true- Big pogies in the bay will equal big bass in the bay. Big bass that might have otherwise been cruising around close to shore are far and few between where they usually would be without the presence of pogies and there was going to be world class fishing FROM BOATS.



However, my analysis on the current surf conditions is mostly based on talking to those who have been really hitting the surf hard. I havent been hitting it hard due to my life's responsibilities, but when i do go out its hard to find quality fish.

ADAPT? of course. Because of the bunker, to succeed from shore you HAVE to fish in the bay. Its not the glorious surf, but if you want s-hit, you gotta look for flies.

but to answer the question, my season from shore is pathetic.

[Gobi]

Not getting a sniff at the shore, thought I'm going out now for a few hours (w/ eels, no less.)

[Pete_G]

Long post ahead. ADD cases should skip ahead.

I'll say it (and it's just my opinion, please don't take offense), since a lot of guys dance around it:

It's harder from the surf. It almost always is. This year it's been a glaring difference for a lot of guys. The boat is just a lot easier. Not there's anything wrong with that. Find pogies, turn on livewell, liveline pogies, catch bass over 20 pounds. I don't mean to diminish that way of fishing, to be sure I've done it a lot this year because it's fun and it works. It should also be said, catching truly large bass (in particular consistently) from the boat is a separate deal, just like it is from shore. But "good" fish from the boat, 20 pounds and above? Not too hard this year, as long as you have a snag hook.

My biggest fish are from the boat this year. I've caught from the shore, and got some good fish, but it's been hard, for me at least.

I'm very fortunate in that I can typically fish anyway I choose. I've got access to a 24 foot top of the line center console sitting in a slip and a couple other smaller boats. Or I can drive to my favorite fishing spots. I enjoy both, do both, appreciate both, etc. I haven't converted recently one way or the other. I could survive without the boat, but I can't live without the surf.

One thing I've learned over the years, is catching fish from the boat is different then catching from shore, even when working what feels to be the exact same water. I've tried to catch fish from shore at night from the same water I was fishing successfully by boat that morning and they simply weren't there or they didn't want any part of what I was doing. I've often called in to friends on shore about fish I though they could get into. They couldn't. It takes a long time to "see" what shore anglers can actually reach. Many times over the years I've discovered something in the boat and immediately couldn't WAIT to try and fish it from shore, only to discover even my best hero cast couldn't reach it, or only nicked the edge of the best structure. This happens more often then most boaters would admit. I've also discovered incredible water that is better fished from shore because I simply couldn't get the boat in close enough.

It's just different. It's easy to have a "the grass is always greener" perspective from the surf. I still often do. As I said, I have a boat to use anytime. I choose to go from the surf a lot of the time. I love it, and I can't picture ever letting it go.

There's no question in my mind though, that if someone told me my life depended on catching a 20+ pounder in the next 2 hours, I'd be racing to the dock, not the shoreline. Fishing from shore is hard. And that's the way it should be. That's what I love about it.

It's been interesting to watch this website evolve. I feel like there used to be much more of a surfcasting element here.

I think the bottom line is to fish in the ways that make you happy.

[ilovetwofish]

I agree 100%with you pete.

[numbskull]

Boats and bait make catching big fish easier.......but not easy. Fishing is for fun and we are each free to pursue that enjoyment however we choose. The trouble begins when we use fishing for something else other than fun. Fishing should be about you versus the fish, not you versus everyone else. Looked at that way, what the other guy is doing becomes unimportant.

[RIJIMMY]

Other than Eben, no one has really mentioned it but, the exact same discussions were taking place last fall. Boat guys were doing well in the bay. As DZ said on another thread, its a cycle.
From the shore, you have to change your focus. Another month or two, the peanuts will show up, that will result in schools of bass an blues along the coast, not huge fish, but good numbers. These big fish may disperse along the shore, they may not. They may head straight up north. My shore season has not been that good, but I look at Jim S's fish. Thats a hell of fish any time of year. I also think we have a number fo regular S-Br's that are in boats and post regularly. If these guys were not posting, I'd have no idea that there were so many fish around.

[fishbones]

I've had much better luck from the boat so far this year. I've caught fish when there were no birds present, nothing was showing on the fishfinder and there were no other boats anywhere near us. My shore "hotspots" haven't been that at all. I haven't been out much, though. All of my fish have been caught on plugs and have been pretty big. I'm hoping to get out from shore a few times in the next week, and may try bait even though I prefer to fish plugs. Who knows, maybe it will turn on and be great or it might just take some hard work. If you put in the time, you'll catch some good fish.

[Smokey14]

I have a boat and I love to surfcast. I just need time to fish. I don't care how I fish I just want the chance. CuttyHunk did not reviel her secrets to me last week so I think it's time to hit Boston Harbor and my best T&W spots.

[Joe]

All the things we won't do serve to lessen our chances....
I talked to somebody who fishes from a boat, but they don't like to go "way up" in the bay where there are turds floating and the scenery is less than bucolic - the guy said he knew there were big fish in the upper bay, but he did not want to spend his free time there...
The guys whose primary objective is big fish divorce themselves from the sentimentality of purists - they pursue trophy bass by whatever means is most effective.
Some of us won't do the live eel thing; some of us are surf only, fly fishing only, some people won’t fish in a crowd, some won’t fish the bay, etc, etc. There's nothing wrong with be a purist, but there is a downside that needs to be accepted - the price of purism.

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Joe

All the things we won't do serve to lessen our chances....
I talked to somebody who fishes from a boat, but they don't like to go "way up" in the bay where there are turds floating and the scenery is less than bucolic - the guy said he knew there were big fish in the upper bay, but he did not want to spend his free time there...
The guys whose primary objective is big fish divorce themselves from the sentimentality of purists - they pursue trophy bass by whatever means is most effective.
Some of us won't do the live eel thing; some of us are surf only, fly fishing only, some people won’t fish in a crowd, some won’t fish the bay, etc, etc. There's nothing wrong with be a purist, but there is a downside that needs to be accepted - the price of purism.

Right on the money Joe, I started flyfishing again, first time out with the wand yesterday and did better than I ever did with sluggos, I think I am a better fly fisherman than plug guy, I didn't really realize that until yesterday flaoting across white sand and gin clear water and I was able to tempt a 23 pound bass in the middle of a hundred schoolies to take the fly before they got to it. I fly fished only for stripers for 11 years, yesterday I realized how much I loved it and missed it. I put down the flyrod becuase after that 11 years 32 pounds was the biggest bass I could muster. Now I realize that was a real accomplishment given the size of the fly and the tippet strength.

Big bass guys target them with live and dead bait because that is what has always been the ticket to success and, like you say care not so much for where and when in most cases as long as the rsults come. Some people fish seeking the beautiful places and size of the quarry is not as important as the time and place. Some, like myself, scorn live and dead bait for the challenge of having a big fish take a piece of wood or plastic that I made come alive through my hands and extended through to the rod. Whatever method you choose, plugs only, fly fishing, wire line jigging or live or dead bait there is an art to them all and the most important thing is that you enjoy whatever method you choose regardless of the result and if that big slob comes along and eats your chunk, your fly or your plug it only adds to the total experience. Fishing is supposed to be fun first and foremost, how often we forget that.

[Gunpowder]

so far ive been out boat fishin a couple of time with a couple of keeper bass and some nice bug blues goin into the chest. nothin big comin from the shore for me either and i would much rather be catchin my fish from the shore than from the boat, but thats just me. i find it much more relaxing and rewarding to get my catch from the shore knowing that i am limiting myself with what i am able to do.

[fishbones]

From shore or boat, sometimes you have to be flexible and be willing to try something different. A boat affords you more mobility to find fish, but it still takes skill (and luck) to catch them. I've been out when there were a bunch of boats (including commercial guys) wire-lining and no one was getting anything. A guy 50 yards away up on shore was throwing plugs in broad daylight and was cleaning up with big fish. I threw on a popper and bam, on with a big keeper. I was marking fish on the bottom in deep water, but they would only hit up on top. If the guy on shore wasn't there, I'm pretty sure I would have gone home empty handed.