Crabcakes

I was under the impression that killing and filleting a fish while still fishing is illegal where I fish in Maryland and New Jersey (as fish and game cannot identify your catch/ people kill and fillet undersize fish). Conversely, to the best of my knowledge keeping live fish on a stringer is legal in Maryland (I never use one so I'm not well versed in the rule). I don't doubt you one bit, as you obviously know the regulations in your state as I remember you've posted about being a commercial captain in the past. However, it is interesting to note how the legality of two common actions can be completely reversed in two different areas. I don't have the rulebook in front of me, so I might be recalling these items incorrectly, but I am farily certian thats the case. I'm just bringing it up to reinforce to the original poster and all the rest of us how important it is to know the regulations of both your state and the particular waters you are fishing at the time. (Especially so when you are keeping your catch.)

Just realized you're already there right after I wrote that book. Hope the advice gets to you in time or maybe someone else gave you some pointers. Good luck.

I surf fish quite a bit, usually in New Jersey sometimes in North Carolina. Here's basically what I do. I'm no expert -this is just personal experience and some might disagree but my friends and I usually do pretty well. I'd use chunk bunker for the stripers. In New Jersey we use big clams as well but those are probably not available in Chincoteague. Just tie a simple mono high low rig. Use 40lb mono and tie two short droppers about 8 inches apart. Tie on a barrel swivel to one end and a sinker clip to the other. Attach two big baitholder hooks 6/0-8/0 depending on what size stripers are around. Cut your bunker vertically into pretty good-sized nuggets. Thread them through once putting the hook under the spine. The head works fine for stripers but I usually remove the tail. Just like so: http://www.striperspace.com/simages/clam_bait560.gif For bluefish I like mullet rigs. Finding quality ones can be hard in some areas. You just take off the hook and thread the mullet onto the wire through the mouth. Look at the picture and it should make sense. http://www.hatterasjack.com/fingermulletrig.jpg I don't have alot of experience with drum. I use a fishfinder with a short leader so the rig doesn't twist. I'd use a chunk of bunker or spot rigged on a circle hook depending on the most prevalent bait in the water. A fishfinder is also a fine choice for stripers People get too hung up on making a superhero cast. Sometimes casting farther is important but you want to cast into the BEST water, not the furthest water out. Just like casting for bass you don't hurl your bait haphazardly as far from shore as you can. In my experience stripers can be caught almost any distance from shore. Drum tend to require a longer cast (at least when I fish for them in North Carolina rather infrequently). Location is very very important on an open sand beach. You want to cast into water where there is structure or current flow. Look for deeper dark water. This can be in the form of a trough (or slough), sort of like a gulley running parallel to the shore, or a cut which is a deep channel running through a sandbar. There can be multiple bars running parallel to shore. Generally you want water that has sort of a choppy look where waves don't break and just sort of top off. Look for a steep beach or one that has lots of rocks or shells washed up. Where the water has eroded sand ridges or little cliffs indicates strong current. Read This... http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=417339 The fish can be 15 yards out or 150 yards out. It depends on alot of variables. Try to fish at dawn or dusk and during a moving tide. If you're in shallow water tide is more important than if you have a good deep hole. I like the outgoing for stripers and within an hour before or after the top of the tide for blues. As for tackle....Rod 9-11 foot. I've always found thirteen feet or over to be a little unnecessary. Use whatever reel style you're comfortable with. For the fish you described I usually use 14lb test with a 40lb leader. Seventeen or 20 is probably the norm. Anything more and casting will suffer. My main piece of advice is if the water in front of your cottage is overly shallow or lacks structure... fish somewhere else. Theres alot of sand out there and to maximize your chances you should be in a place that gives them a reason to be there too. And remember surf fishing is anything but consistant at times. Weather can really wreck things quickly. So don't be discouraged if the results aren't there at first. They'll come in time.

IGFA keeps record for American Shad but not other shad species I believe. Guys fish for American Shad when they run in the Chesapeake Bay tributaries. I guess in that regard it could be a "gamefish", but I don't know if there is any universally accepted definition for the word.

Good job man. Nice to see a local guy do so well. Good luck in S.C.

In a lake, the bay, or from the surf? and where-MD Del Jersey NC or elsewhere?

Yeah it's sort of a strange story with an equally strange photo. It strikes me as odd they didn't get a picture right when they electroshocked it. Theres also very little info to be found about it. But the fish is hanging in DNR so who knows. .....But back to the original topic. Why is this so hard to believe. If you're in a boat and your drag is set correctly and smooth there's no reason you couldn't land that fish. You have to remember hes not pulling it out of weeds and sticks he's following it around in open water. It may take awhile but its very possible. It's really the habitat the fish lives in that dictates heavy line size most of the time. We're used to things on a bass scale... but different kinds of fishing have different requirements.

Fish Chris as far as I know that fish was legitimately netted by the Maryland DNR. Details are surprisingly sketchy which makes me wonder qwhat exactly the story is. It was electroshocked and netted by DNR at the mouth of the Patuxent River near Solomons, MD. The picture is of the taxidermy mount taken later for a photo op. It currently hangs at the Maryland State DNR office in Annapolis. Not sure why but apparently it did not survive the electroshocking. At any rate the mount is there and it was caught by DNR.

I was doing 25 or more miles a week last year this time. School has interrupted my schedule and i'm not in the same shape but i still get in a couple 3 milers a week. I look to pick it up heavy again after I do a whole bunch of papers this week.

These posts are very interesting to me. Though I do not know LBH and P_Rock the way they conduct themselves on the forum has made me confident that they are trustworthy people. It's different to hear accounts from someone who has credibility to you than to see them on a documentary. I'll share my story. It's less incredible than some others but still strange. Several years ago while vacationing and fishing in North Carolinas Outer Banks my family and I sat outside waiting to the international space station pass overhead. People may not realize but it is sometimes visible on clear nights. Its nothing spectacular- just a small point of light like a faint star moving at a moderate speed across the sky. We had made a habit of seeing it the previous year or so we sat outside for the annual viewing. Several members of my family and extended family were there to watch it. As we sat there the space station appeared to come into view. Of course it's very far away so though it is moving at incredible speeds it seems fairly slow (think of a jetliner that while going hundreds of miles an hour seems to creep across the sky). We all clapped and concluded our family sky gazing when something strange happened. The small point of light we were watching stopped dead in the center of the sky. Then it turned around and went back in the direction it came at a faster rate of travel. This object was not the space station-The international space station is of course orbiting the earth. Objects in orbit do not stop nor completely change direction and certainly do not accelerate and decelerate nearly instantaneously. While not as dramatic as the other stories I have yet to find an explanation of this event. The object I saw resembled the space station (until its change in course) in that it looked like a small faint star moving across the sky in a straight line. It was very far away and moving very fast. It wasn't a flying saucer nor did it seem to visit earth. It did however fly in a manner that was to my knowledge beyond the capabilities of any man made craft. It is possible it was a tiny light from a plane but it did not appear to be one and its flight behavior would still put it beyond the capabilities of any plane I know of. Also if it were some sort of secret plane it would be very strange to have lights on and if it were a commercial plane it would have more than one tiny light. I have no idea what the object I saw was Sorry for the long post but I find this subject very interesting.

Sure. I probably wouldn't fish as much for lack of variety but theres nothing wrong with a carp.

I would agreee. Competition makes something a sport. It might not be an athletic competition but one certainly competes, whether against the fish and conditions or other anglers. In the end its all sort of arbitrary. For example- Pool is a game. Ping pong is a sport. Golf is an athletic event. Some people would disagree with those statements and some would agree. In the end it's fairly irrelevant.

You mean the one with the lip and the body joints? I got one once and it spun around like a helicopter. Not how its supposed to work. The wildeye shads with just the hook and paddletail are ok.

Oh yeah if they're bleeding or have swallowed the bait go ahead and enjoy. The reports do seem a bit mixed on the enjoyability though.

From what I hear bony but not terrible. I wouldn't keep any in that lake. I think you'll get more enjoyment out of catching them since you go there often. The pickerel fishing is very good size wise there with lots of big ones and not a ton of little ones.

I think this one hasn't been done before. With all the fish minded folk around here some of you must keep fish at home. Anyone have tanks? Big or small-fresh or salt? Share your pictures or descriptions.

Another intersting catch! I enjoy reading about all the unusual fish you catch FivePoundBluegill. Start an aquarium and charge admission.

stripersonline.com its the best i know of

MMMMM hummus.... also good with red peppers or on a sandwhich.

Yeah I know where that is. If you'd told me it was 60 I wouldn't have second guessed from the picture.

Dsaavedra I'd heard about that fish from somewhere else thats cool. I'm honestly surprised the tackle shop scale only went up to 50lbs. 50lb stripers aren't common but they're hardly unheard of. There have been stripers electroschocked in the bay up to 92lbs in the last 12 years or so. It'd be pretty aggravating if someone was trying to certify a record.

New Stradic 8000, some storm eels, saltwater bombers, sealskin waterproof gloves, wader socks and books.

Merry Christmas! I don't often post but I check the site often throughout the week and learn a great deal from everyone here.

Cheese is good.

I enjoy catching them very much. I don't run into them often where I fish so they are a welcome change. I actually prefer to catch them over bass of the same size. Suppose if they chewed up my lures day in and day out I'd feel different.