Why haven't you landed a #50 yet ??

[In The Surf]

Originally Posted by BassDawg

Lots of good stuff here, gents. And though i've only got a couple of seasons under my belt, i'd like to chime in ~based upon what i've read, heard from seminars, talked to area sharpies about, and what the surf and the species have taught me in such a short time.

I believe that Trophy Hunting consists of three inextricable parts:

Part I:The Physical and Technical/Scientific Aspect of Landing Lahhhhge

Acquiring the skills sets and putting in the time to; learn the right conditions, the COW locations, the proper bait/lure, the habits and strategies of Large, and the ability to put in the time to get to that level of Trophy Hunter is the hardest part of this pursuit and requires the most work. This is the most critical aspect of Big Gurl success and requires the most knowledge and technique, since we all know that they don't get BIG without knowing some things about being hooked and getting themselves unhooked. I have lost 3 definite 50's and at least one 60, from the NShore surf, do to my own googanity. But each time i learned something i'll never repeat and I now know where and when to be where to put myself into the position for consistently LAHHHGE stripers.

Part II: The Mental and Psychological Aspect of Trophy Hunting

Once you've accomplished Part I, it's all about the mind set. Ask any of the area's sharpies or read their works and, to an angler, the response will be "Yes, I was targeting this 50, 60, 70#'er!" The drive to stay focused and driven to hunt Cows, FIRST AND FOREMOST, separates those of us who are out to catch anything from the anglers who land 50's and up often. This mental part of The GAME has everything to do with how you approach your time/window, spot/producer, plug/bait, striper/COW efforts in the surf.

In the infamous words of a Striper Coast legend "Are you content to just "catch" and will stay for 2 hours of schoolies to perhaps thirties or even forties '....until my arms could crank no more and it was a BLAST!!'? Or, do you want a 50lber plus bad enuff that you are willing to walk away from QUANTITY to land QUALITY?" Those aren't my words, but I subscribe to Crazy Al's Trophy Hunting Philosophy when it comes to putting yourself into the position to land lahhhge consistently, and not just once ~which could be counted as LUCK or happenstance!

Part III: The Sixth Sense or Artistic Aspect of the Big Gurl Dynamic

Ahhhh, yes.........................and the mystery ensues. This is my favorite part of the whole and just as important, imho, as the other two is the innate ability to find fish. It is probably my strongest suit and what drives me to the surf with a "perceived" advantage. Please don't misunderstand my point, i don't mean to sound arrogant or self-satisfied, but one thing that i've always been able to do is to ~find the fish, hence the moniker. And i know that i'm not alone! How many of us out there have that buddy that always hooks up? I've met several guys from the other site who share the same blessing.

Bill Nolan recently stated, "I'd rather be lucky than good, everytime I'm on the water."

Now, we all know that he has the skills (Part I), we all know that he targets BIG Stripers (Part II), and we've heard more than one person say that Billy Bunker/#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& has fishing in his blood (Part III). With some surfcasters it is luck, with still another set of them it is part of who they are and what they bring to the water within them combined with "preparation meeting opportunity".

Additionally, there is that sixth sense, or "feel", aspect to our pursuits that is intangible, yet very real for those who are "tapped in". In Pro Sports, they refer to being "in the zone". Why are TFB and RTM so freagin' GOOD? Hard work and preparation, YES! Unbelievably blessed, intangible abilities, that are perfectly suited to the supernatural performance of their position and the ability to draw on those intangibles and employ them at will, ABSOLUTELY!

The hardest part of this sport we love is to incorporate all three aspects into one, and to do so night in and night out. I think that it has far less to do with excuses, cannot be strictly managed by science, and no matter how often i hook a COW i still have to apply the right amounts of all three to take my level of experience to the next level of Sharpie, a consistent Trophy Hunter/Catcher.

Will multiple 50's be landed each year with our species in the midst of a resurgence? YES!!
More importantly, this year WILL be my year.......................will it be YOURS ???

Originally Posted by BassDawg

Good question, Nebe!

I am referring to the last two and 1/2 seasons that i spent in the NE surf, from when I first began until last year when i did get to within a foot or so of the biggest striper i've ever hooked and did see her from head to dorsal/from dorsal to 4th stripe ~head on view/from swish of tail to head and gone to snap my shock leader and be gone, She was massive. i was using big eeeels, right tide and time, and would put her at 60#+.

Same spot previous year, '06, and in the middle of a new moon bite landing 20's to 30's with schoolies, came a lunge in and back under take and hunker down while chunking a pogie head. She did not move, and I did not know how to move her then, or to wait her out, and she shook her shoulders a little bit then opened her big maw and spit my noobily "set" hook having stolen her morsel.

Same spot same year, '06, chunking again big head chunks about a month later. only fiftty or so yards away on the covered side of a huge boulder, new moon the second biggest take and hunker i've ever had in those NSore waters. She took it, shook it, I set up, she hunkered down beneath said boulder, then she began to rub away at the leader....................I kept pressure, that is until my worn leader gave way and i got back the last foot before my spool line started.

The other spot was MBLHD HBR, fall '06, do you remember me asking about using culls for bait or not? Just so happens i caught one chunking macks one nite at the harbour. so i chunked up the tail for chum, thru out the claws for more chum, and saved the head for something hopefully "good" on yer typical chunking set-up. I took a chance, I mean i HAD read "On the Run" .

Within two-three minutes the biggest and most powerful KAWHAM/take i have yet to experience inhaled that head and swam about three feet and hunkered down to an immovable position. the place where i was is loaded with boulders, but it wouldn't have mattered as i hooked the head with supreme googanity and she coughed my offering up once she was aware of the hook. I had rigged the hook in a way that it never would have stuck in her maw.

The only reason I guesstimate the above sizes to be that big, and these are all guesses since I landed neither of them, is i compare them to the monstah i did see this year, and to the several over 30's that i did land this year. the 43''er that i C&R in Sept was dwarfed by the ??60?? that got away that night in the same honey cove about a month earlier. Seriously, they looked like rats compared to the size of this cow. i've also landed bull reds and trophy tarpon in FL and those tugs on body and drag, you never forget!

I have no reason to exagerrate, Nebe, as this place produces BIG fish, often. While our minds in the surf can play incredible tricks, this BIG BEETCH is indelibly etched into my cereberal cortex and will be until i land her twin or her Momma this coming season. And I do know where, when, what, and why she's gonna be there. I just have to remember to let her swim a bit instead of trying to horse her in like some 25#'er. That was my biggest goog with her, i brought her in waaaay, way too green, like me during that fight .

Anyways, yer prolly right and i could be way off, but that's what they felt like then and i tend to remember the ones I didn't land moreso than the ones that i bested, because the "ones that got away" have taught me the most .

Originally Posted by BassDawg

Thanks for your viewpoints nightfighter, i just share what i saw and felt from my limited view. I think that the most impressive "LOSS" for me was the big gurl from the MBLHD area. Because she HIT so Heavy and so Hard and moved with such deliberate strength to her hunkering down spot. She was definitely in no hurry and am not quite sure she even knew that she was hooked/not hooked .

Originally Posted by BassDawg

Finally went back to work today and this thread has generated
grandchildren since yesterday......................Good Stuff, everyone!

Hello, RIJIMMY!
This is true, you don't know me nor do i know you.
So why should you believe me?

More improtantly, and I think more inline with zimmy's previous post,
the question i would ask you is, do you know the SPOT of which i speak? Doood, this spot is stacked! It is very difficult to access, and i am 95% sure that i'm the only one who fishes it from it's rocks. i've seen a few boat guys approach their nooks and crannies that are on its outside, but they cain't get to the honeyholes that lie within. And as often and as HARD as i fish this place, you'd think i would've bumped into somebody in two and 1/2 years????

The definiton of several is; "more than two, but not many". I should have been more clear and said 4, but did not intend to mislead or suggest any more than that. To me the intent of this thread was not what i've caught, or not caught, and it was not my intent to project myself as any "great" angler; but, to speak more about the mojo/luck factor as it applies to me.

It is not my nature to place my abilities above yours, your friends skills, or anyone else that you know have landed 30's and have seen land many 30's last year. i am more interested in offering my perspective and asking questions to improve my knowledge and hone what little skills i do possess . That being said, if i were to ever blindfold you and take you to this treasurecove , then i am certain that a surfcaster of your skills and abilities would have landed those that got away and would have surpassed my 4 by now, EASILY!!! This place is that LOADED.

Lastly, I do not own a Bogagrip scale and I do use the C&R formula.

Hey, if LXLXG/800 is good enough for OTW and their Striper Cup, then it's good enuff for me. Unless, of course you have a better way to guesstimate the weight of fish that allows for the girth variance. The place where these beetches hit gains obstacles as the tide drops, so there have been many girls that i have released that have not even been measured, but i've had to eyeball and feel their size. And with those fish, that i have not mentioned til now, i will not mention a weight or length since no measuring was done, but they are etched indellibly on the old noggin .

Also, just so you know i'm not going for "rock star cementment" as you so kindly assume, but i would like to know roughly the size of my bigger catches before I let them swim away to become my daughter's 50, 60, 70#'ers in the years to come, so that's why i like the C&R formula so well. It's quick, easy, and allows me to return our majestic quarry back to her ocean with good results.

THE ONE that i guessed to be a 60#'er, i only mentioned because we are talking about trophy sized fish. Here are some eyeballed, and I do use a tape everyday as a Journeyman Union Ironworker ~LOCAL #7~ Boston, numbers to consider.

From nose to 1st dorsal spike~~23"-25";
From dorsal to third stripe down, head on view/width~~12"-14";
From nose to tail, in a quick swoosh/a couple of jumps~~54"-66".
She snapped a 40# BGame mono shock to 30# PLine mono ~uni to uni knot like it was guitar string in one milisecond after i touched the leader with one tail to nose SWISH of her massive tail............and SHE was gone.

You ARE absolutely right, none of this is exact.
There is no picture, and why even mention it if
i can't PROVE it? I dunno, maybe cause she haunts me
STILL! The curse of a photographic memory!!

Maybe cause i'll "measure" all others by her until
i equal her, or land her MOMMA!!? in your vast experience,
how big do YOU think she was ~given those numbers and images?
i know i'll never forget her, and i know i'll land one bigger this year!

And the winner of OTW's latest fictional story "The One That Got Away" is.........

I think it goes with out stating I'm a non believer of anything you say/post.

You stated to everyone you were too exciteed and forgot to photo your 30 from earlier last year. Now you want all to believe there were others that were measured L and G. So where are the photo's? You of all people knew you'd be called into question to say it was acomplished again, especially if stated it was done multiple times.

It also amazes me that you of all people continue to bash Mike. He may ezagerate while you fabricate.

As far as your keen/accurate eye and photographic memory based on your measurements that would give that fish a conservative girth of 36-40 inches (actually much more) and that's taking into account an erect dorsal. Do the math, coservatively your're in the mid 100's.

My goal for the winter was to stay off radar and out of stuff like this but your posts are like a train wreck, it can't be helped.

I'll give you this, every year your stories get better and tougher to believe.

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by In The Surf

And the winner of OTW's latest fictional story "The One That Got Away" is.........
Just three questions ~oh most pompous one!
I think it goes with out stating I'm a non believer of anything you say/post.
What makes you think that i place any value in your opinions of me?
You stated to everyone you were too exciteed and forgot to photo your 30 from earlier last year. Now you want all to believe there were others that were measured L and G. So where are the photo's? You of all people knew you'd be called into question to say it was acomplished again, especially if stated it was done multiple times.
Do you take a picture of every single fish YOU catch large or small, Dave?
And contrary to your belief about my "ones that got away" i don't talk about ALL the fish i catch throughout the year. Nor did i always have a camera with me last year. This year will be different though, as me and my bride, for Christmas, went in on a Stylus790SW by Olympus!!!
It also amazes me that you of all people continue to bash Mike. He may ezagerate while you fabricate.
Once again, unfounded opinion ~unless you were there on any of the nights in question; questionable for you that is, because I was there, i know what i caught, and am in no need of your validation. It does sound like you are in serious need of...........???
As far as your keen/accurate eye and photographic memory based on your measurements that would give that fish a conservative girth of 36-40 inches (actually much more) and that's taking into account an erect dorsal. Do the math, coservatively your're in the mid 100's.
Unless you have a photographic memory, Davey, i wouldn't expect you to understand just how much of a blessing it is. I simply stated that it was a monstah, the biggest striper i've ever hooked, and that those #'s are my best guesses ~you are the person using words like accurate and keen. And i would never presume her to be that big, but anything's possible in this Power Spot!!! And in yer rush to smear and spew, i don't think your following my description to well to come up with a girth that HUGE. I'm talking about 12"-14" across when looking at her face to face, from third stripe to third stripe. NOT, from the dorsal down to the third stripe, there, slipshod!
My goal for the winter was to stay off radar and out of stuff like this but your posts are like a train wreck, it can't be helped.
Did you have a tough year ~in the smurf~ last year, Dave? OOOOPS, is that 4 questions, now 5? Damn, i am such a liar! I really gotta work on that, huh Saint Dave of AZZZZIS,HE!??!
I'll give you this, every year your stories get better and tougher to believe.

WOW, nice hearing from you too, Scooby Doo!
Now...........get back in the Van and get yerself
some more Scooby snacks, will ya!!!

[Skitterpop]

The real secrets to catching 50# stripers are:

Always fish alone and don`t take any photos. Plus always release your trophies.

Go to a few seminars and jaw with some real fishermen then insinuate you are their friends and they are your mentors.

Draw up detailed diagrams of an imaginary area you fish complete with detailed structure you could never see unless you scuba dived. Make sure to make a few marks here and there denoting where the fifties and sixties spend their summers with you.

Always use a catch and release method of measuring imaginary fish.

More to come later in other imaginary installments.

[BassDawg]

Well said, Le Counts.

There is a confidence, that must accompany the skills sets involved, that does go together with the mojo/luck factor. Some of us have more of one or the other at that "GIVEN" moment, and still fewer of us are able to bring it all together every time. I would wager that even the sharpiest of all Sharpies had a point in their trophy hunting careers that they lost more than they landed??? And i think that it's safe to say, that if one is at the top of their game things could still go wrong, but more often than not those guys do everything right ~hence the term sharpie, consequently more 50+#'ers to their name.

Thanks, Le Counts, well done indeed!

[bart]

Originally Posted by Skitterpop

The real secrets to catching 50# stripers are:

Always fish alone and don`t take any photos. Plus always release your trophies.

Go to a few seminars and jaw with some real fishermen then insinuate you are their friends and they are your mentors.

Draw up detailed diagrams of an imaginary area you fish complete with detailed structure you could never see unless you scuba dived. Make sure to make a few marks here and there denoting where the fifties and sixties spend their summers with you.

Always use a catch and release method of measuring imaginary fish.

More to come later in other imaginary installments.

this is just getting absolutely ridiculous.

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by Skitterpop

The real secrets to catching 50# stripers are:

Draw up detailed diagrams of an imaginary area you fish complete with detailed structure you could never see unless you scuba dived. Make sure to make a few marks here and there denoting where the fifties and sixties spend their summers with you.
Or many full and new moon's LOWS recon missions combined with me photographic memory and putting in over hundreds of haunts to burn such a prolific spot into said brain

Funny stuff, as always, Skitts!
Man i must really be getting anal, but
i thought everyone made maps
of their biggest producers and "x" marks the spot
types of stand-here-cast-here type of stuff ???

[Swimmer]

You know when you put your "tongue in cheek" the tongue gets bitten.


I think some of you guys are actually jealous of each other. See last ten or so posts. Either way, the guys who posted the last ten or so posts are.

[spence]

I plan to only target 50 and up fish this season, and I plan to only fish in my white Armani dinner jacket

It's going to be a great year.

Yes, I do really have one.

-spence

[NIB]

Well said Toby..
Fifty is just a number..
I do what I like, I do alright...Probably better than most.There was this gig a few yrs ago where Sitting on a bunker chunk for nights on end would have brought me one close to 50..I find that boring, sure I target large fish. I like to use lures.Perhaps thats my problem so to say..I really don't care that much about it.There's more to the true measure of a angler than the size of his largest fish..There are the guys who can go out an pull fish night in an night out those are the true anglers.Guys who produce fish larger than the most on a regular basis.Year in an year out.Those are your top anglers IMO...I truley believe my window of oppurtunity for fish 50 or better is very small in the area's available to me here in NJ.Surf caught 50's every year in The whole state only go maybe 1 or 2 per year.If I never land a 50, will my time as a surfcaster be a dissappointment??
No way, Not ever...