How many..........

[Backbeach Jake]

5-6 in two hours ,steady bite, not crazy fish. All out blitz maybe double that. That's c&r. Money fishing would be different, heavier line and rod.might hit 15 then in 2 hours. BUT...when I started bragging, it would be over 100. Good thoughtful thread, Flap.

[Karl F]

yep.. throwing a needle on the drop.. very slow retrieve.. and non blitz.. that means.. what 5 or more casts between bites,minimum, and how long does that slow retrieve take?.... land it, against the drop..no incoming to help push it on the beach.. revive it, if needed... time the receeding wave right and.. release it.. you do 3 an hour, one every twenty minutes.. that's a good clip.. and.. if you have to retie, or change out a lure??.. I'm thinking I might have been optimistic.. but, Steve did mention at least one LDR... (Long Distance Release)... so....


Steve.. give us your answer.. and at some point in time.. I'd like to hear the Senior Angler's Answer....

[Rappin Mikey]

Since you stated that the fish were in the wash. I would guess a fish I caught in the 20# class to take 3-5 minutes to beach. A 30# class maybe more like 5-10. Assuming I'm on the beach and not rocks, the surf is small to moderate, there is a consistant bite, and I'm not to drunk, I would guess 10 to 15. If you account for a tad of fisherman exaggeration, I would say 15 to 20. If you account for tough releases, gear failure, wind knots, grabbing a beer, I would say 5 to 10. So after reviewing all of these factors, I would estimate 8-12 fish!

[Bronko]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Bass could you land if you encountered the following:

3 hours into the drop, 2 am on an outer cape beach. The surf is moderate. A 3 foot swell with no wind but it's a new moon.

Big bass, 30 pounds and up are suddenly at your feet. Your fishing plugs. Needlefish to be exact. They aren't blitzing but they are eating well, not committing suicide but taking regurlarly.

You have a nine foot spinning rod with a braid friendly reel and 20 pound braid.

The bite is on for two hours then stops.

Being a reasonably knowledgable and skilled surf fisherman how many do you think you could expect to land given the weight of the fish, the line class your fishing and the time window?

This should be interesting!

You'd be really deep into the drop by the end of the 2 hours. Are you on a an outer bar or fishing a trough in front? I basically fish the backside with the outfit you have described...... I'd say 10-12 is a pretty good estimate.

[JohnR]

8 to 10 with a sheeet eating grin...

(less in Rhody cause of retying and breaking off 7 minutes into the fight on a couple)

[Slingah]

if I won I want a Flap plug....

[big jay]

0 - because I seem to be severly handicapped from the surf. But if I get in the boat and troll about 1/4 mile off the surfline with my wire and a 5 oz jig - I'll put a hurting on em.

[NIB]

Taking into consideration all the things I have read here.
I now have a headache..
Being as i have to use a 9 ft sissy stick an 20 lb braid.
The number would be< If i was able to use my usuall gear..
Where winching em in would be more condusive to a quicker release in 2 hrs i could do...,,.
I have no idea really..
I have a answer but What ever it is u say i will agree..

[fish4striper]

I'd say 8-12 in 2 hrs

I'd like to see someone walk away from a 30 and up blitz, you're either otta yr gourd or not into fishin

[Rockport24]

no way in hell I could walk away, but that's just me, I'm still relatively green to the sport and have never experienced a night like Flap is describing here, so I would milk it for all that it's worth. I guess if you've had your fun in the past and are really bent on a trophy, I could see moving on and looking for bigger. Fisherman are an obsessive bunch.

[BassDawg]

Hey, fish4striper!

Not trying to stir the pot, just aiming for a different target than you are. BTW, RIHound, I caught one fish from the 30# class last year, and like you feeshed me arse off! However, last year I waz not size specific in my quests....................I would pull over anywhere, anytime, anytide and be happy with anyfeesh!! I had my spots and considered last year a productive year, but this year will be different for me aside from the occassional belly-fillers for me and my family.

Not guaranteeing that I'll be able to pull it off, but Crazy Al is Crazy Al for a reason...................prolly one of the most successful surfcasters on our waters today...............and this is his philosophy. Just thought I would give it a shot this year. Difference is not always wrong, just different.

To assume that I don't like to feesh, simply cuz my focus has changed, or because it seems foreign to your methods seems somewhat narrowminded, brah? Whaddya think, the fiddies are just gonna wave their dorsals at me and shout "Hey Tracker, we're ovah heeah!! Come and LAND us..............PLZZZZ?"

If anything I'll be doing twice the homework I did last year, which in turn means many moons on the water, more specific pursuit, and a whole new approach from a tackle perspective as well. It ain't gonna be easy! Just some thoughts, gents, tryin' to chase this chill from me bonz....................

[tlapinski]

I ran into a situation similar to Flap's scenario 2 seasons ago on a rocky little island. Found the fish about 1 am, tide topped off around midnight. Sunrise was somewhere around 6 am or so and the action turned right off the moment you could make out a glimmer of light on the horizon. In this time frame the bass were all 25 - 35 pounds that were landed. Conservatively, I had 25 fish beached in that size range. Lost another 15 - 20 fish. Sometimes you would hook a fish, fight it for a minute, drop her, and another would slip right in and get hooked before you could even realize what happened. This was in a very rocky bowl, dropping tide, and 50# braid. So I guess in a 2 hour time frame, in this situation, I could pull 12 - 13 fish on to the beach. Put me on a sissy sand beach and I would have to say the number would be a little bit higher. This was all needlefish tossing with bass busting mullet. Several true hogs were lost in the battle, and the other 5 guys fishing with me had similar results. One of the many nights I will never forget.

[NIB]

Sometimes it is harder(takes longer) to land a fish on a sandy beach than from a rock.Any kinda of surf making undertow an u have alot of give an take till the job is done..

[Karl F]

Originally Posted by NIB

Sometimes it is harder(takes longer) to land a fish on a sandy beach than from a rock.Any kinda of surf making undertow an u have alot of give an take till the job is done..

Bingo...
especially shallow water on the drop.. other side of the bar a strong possibility.. light 9 foot rod 20 pound braid, that sand bar is gonna be a factor... you can't have the drag locked.. 30 pound plus class fish.. even if you hook up in close.. it will make a vigorous run right off..you might have to cover some sand, in a hurry during the fight, as well... a lot of factors if you read Steve's original question and limit youself to those parameters, and stay true to them...

[stiff tip]

all of um....

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I will let ya know after this summer.

[Joe]

I did not read it closely enough....I also thought that it was 20# fish.....I'm not too familar with the Cape and conditions pertaining to the the bars and strength of tide...those are valid points.

But anyways - I guess we need to be very skeptical when people claim to have 500# nights or better....

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by Joe

But anyways - I guess we need to be very skeptical when people claim to have 500# nights or better....

skeptical I guess is just part of being a fisherman I guess. I have a poor memory so I don't have to worry about remembering my lies since I tell the truth. Speaking of 500 pound nights, I and a good friend have had 500 pound nights in about 3-4 hours of a tide a couple of falls ago. fish from 15 to 30 pounds, the average was between 20 and 25 lbs, we each had almost 3 dozen fish a piece. Fished till our arms ached, put them all back too. It was a night I'll not ever forget. 600 pounds of fish each was a lot of fish. We had a good week or 2 and that night was the peak. You can believe it or not.
I bet if our other friend K was there, he would have done just as well too


Flap, I hope that scenario happens this year and I am there, because I'd be happy with just 1 30 on a needle.

[striperman36]

On needles 5. Too many other sand eels if they are slurpin

[Karl F]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

skeptical I guess is just part of being a fisherman I guess. I have a poor memory so I don't have to worry about remembering my lies since I tell the truth. Speaking of 500 pound nights, I and a good friend have had 500 pound nights in about 3-4 hours of a tide a couple of falls ago. fish from 15 to 30 pounds, the average was between 20 and 25 lbs, we each had almost 3 dozen fish a piece. Fished till our arms ached, put them all back too. It was a night I'll not ever forget. 600 pounds of fish each was a lot of fish. We had a good week or 2 and that night was the peak. You can believe it or not.
I bet if our other friend K was there, he would have done just as well too


Flap, I hope that scenario happens this year and I am there, because I'd be happy with just 1 30 on a needle.

Slip.. I just did the math.. figured... 4 hours, 36 fish (each) that was a cast, a hookup, a fish reeled in, (cranked, no time for a fight) and released every 6 and a half minutes!!!! Yikes......no time to retie, or even take a sip of water! and averaged in the mid twenty #'s..

[bassmaster]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

skeptical I guess is just part of being a fisherman I guess. I have a poor memory so I don't have to worry about remembering my lies since I tell the truth. Speaking of 500 pound nights, I and a good friend have had 500 pound nights in about 3-4 hours of a tide a couple of falls ago. fish from 15 to 30 pounds, the average was between 20 and 25 lbs, we each had almost 3 dozen fish a piece. Fished till our arms ached, put them all back too. It was a night I'll not ever forget. 600 pounds of fish each was a lot of fish. We had a good week or 2 and that night was the peak. You can believe it or not.
I bet if our other friend K was there, he would have done just as well too


Flap, I hope that scenario happens this year and I am there, because I'd be happy with just 1 30 on a needle.

yeah until u came up whine in mah ear
that week a few years back another time when i had to drag them fish all that week up that hill sucked big time

[Slipknot]

I wasn't the one whining that night, it was Jim
Atleast 30 fish Karl, I stopped counting at 25
A fish on most every cast at the peak, we'd go 1 cast without a fish and say hey, where'd they go? 20 pound was average, the fish were mostly around the 40 inch mark, easy to winch in at 12 lbs of drag, give them nothing, land them in a couple minutes tops, the 30's took a little more time, then a moment to rest. Twinkees surf in across the top. When you're used to doing it every day, it's easier. 10 fish per hour is not that hard to do the way we did it. Ya drive yourself to cast again because they aren't there for long and winter is a long time.

[tattoobob]

I would in noway walk away, the way the outer beach has been the last few years, I would be happy to catch stripers up to 30 pounds for 2 hours never mind over 30 pounds.

2 fish over 30 pounds last year, but I fished my butt off, and I had 6 months off.