PhishLI

We first got wind of this repair attempt while our daughter was in the car while returning from shopping. The local garage door specialists were all backed up for weeks, so he watched YT, then got a buddy to help him out. I told her to tell them both to stop immediately and wear eye protection if they weren't already, and that getting blinded was a real possibility. They weren't. She was almost home during the call, and about 3 minutes after she was putting away the groceries his friend comes up and tells her that she needs to come downstairs because he'd gotten hurt. Naturally, she thought he was blinded, but he wasn't. He was lucky.

They're ocean run. There's an outlet creek that feeds out to salt water. They use it to migrate, and it's a prime spot. I'm not sure of their size other than the one's I've seen that had their tails sticking out of the throat of a bass. During their spawn the shoreline there boils with their activity. There are plenty of other baitfish species at this spot, so other presentations work well, but this time around I've prepped with as many Alewife-ish type baits that I could put together. Additionally, the state has built fish ladders to bring them back into areas which were dammed up many years ago, so I'll have other opportunities to try out these baits. That's pretty much how I like to fish, but my son in law likes to bounce around. Hopefully that'll change. A few weeks ago he pulled out a 6 and 7 1/2 pounder here in the same zone. On that day he mentioned that a guy who fishes there, and who's also caught a few 8 + pounders there, set up in one spot for 5 hours and didn't move. I immediately asked if he set a waypoint! Hopefully seeing this guy using this strategy left an impression on him. I can't tell you how many times that we were on fish, but he'd bounce to another spot anyway. His boat, his rules, but lately he's been opening up to ideas that are new to him. We'll only have 5-6 hours to work this place tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

I think eggs saved me. Let me explain. I've really beaten myself up over time with the activities I've chosen. Lots of joint and tendon pain in several areas. I really couldn't sit in air conditioned movie theaters beginning in my mid 20s. It caused really bad knee pain for some reason, and it would also inflame an old deep shoulder injury. Ibuprofen was the answer. I used to juice for breakfast. I'm not a coffee drinker and juicing gave me the burst of energy I needed to get going. About 12 years ago I decided to make eggs for breakfast one morning. Organic eggs. Organic butter. Medium heat. Fast cooked and over easy. Absolutely zero burn, but no runny albumen. Topped it off with McCormack Peppercorn medley. Delicious. I enjoyed it so much I ate it every day afterward. One day, about 6 months later, it dawned on me that I was no longer feeling joint pain, and I hadn't opened a bottle of pain killers in almost as long. Nothing at all had changed in my diet otherwise, and I was as active as ever. At this point I hadn't chalked it up to anything in particular, other than good fortune. A year later I was in the same boat, and began to think about it. The joint issues I was having previously aren't supposed to improve over time, but they had. My scheduled physical at that time revealed very low bad cholesterol and good levels of good cholesterol. I explained my good fortune with the doc, then shared my hypothesis where I attributed something in the eggs having something to do with this turn around. He didn't know what to think, but he didn't dispute it either. He just said to continue doing what I was doing, so I have up to this day.

I really wanted to bring my A-rig, but I'm limited to 5 3600 boxes for this trip where I usually squeeze in 2 tackle bags. Two 220lb guys on an 8.5' Sundolphin is a bit cramped, and my SIL asked me specifically to try to keep things light for this trip. He lost a battle with a busted torsion spring while trying to fix his garage door on Saturday, so he needs a bit more space this time. Stitches and a soft cast, along with a splint on his finger. Thankfully it's his cranking hand, so he'll make it work, but I'll be pushed more forward than usual. Anyway, I'm going with a Beast Coast Miyagi in Special Alewife for a larger profile swimmer, and I'll squeeze in a spook. Thanks!

I have a white super fluke Donkey rig ready to go that's in the neighborhood of your suggestion. Thanks!

I'm feeling pretty good about this selection of Alewife imitators, but any other suggestions that might give me an edge would be greatly appreciated.

I'd rather dance in the middle of the Southern State, thank you.

This about sums it up.

The water is quite low on the island too, but not that low so quickly. Too bad. BTW, Blydenburgh is shut down for fishing due to a toxic algae bloom. Last night wasn't all bad though. My brother came out here from Suffolk and quickly picked off a couple on a G2 before I got there just before dark. As soon as the sun went down a bunch of local wannabee Gruccis lit the lake up like the Normandy landing. I'm amazed I even got that midget before I called it quits. The aerial bombs were concussive.

It was that kind of day. Maybe we should start a support group??

TW is out of stock on the Gantarel Jr, but even if they weren't, I need this for a trip on Wednesday, and with their extended shipping times, forget that. BTW, TW isn't the only online retailer that sells it for $31.99. THT is also out. Me either, but we don't have much to choose from as I'm on an island, and most B&Ms here cater heavily to the salt crowd. The only one that has a little bit of freshwater stuff is run by schmucks, so...

For those of you who take a stance against shopping at certain retailers, this isn't for you. We have one F&S store in our area that sits side by side with a DSG, and it has a fantastic fishing section. Lotsa goodies. There are many opportunities for marked down items, but many are marked up significantly compared to major online retailers like TW. Typically, I shop online in order to avoid the 30 minute drive to this F&S, but sometimes I need, or want, something pronto. I was running low on VMC Touch-Loks, and a few miscellaneous Owner hooks, etc, so I needed to make the trip. Turns out some of the stuff I wanted was marked down to 1/2 price, which was great, but the Gantarel Jr I was thinking about was marked up $8 over most online sellers. $39.99 vs $31.99. At checkout I brought up a TW screen showing the price difference, and they matched it. 8 bux is 8 bux. I've done this a number of times there, and have never been met with resistance. It's their policy, so what the hey. Don't be shy.

Picking on poor @A-Jay now? Tsk-Tsk

The rains were expected to hit hard Friday night, so I gobbled down my supper and made it up there while it was still light out. I went through my normal weedless bait progressions in this weed choked spot, but nothing was happening. About the only treble bait I could sort of throw here was a floater like a Gantarel Jr, so I tied one on. This meant laboriously picking off weeds after every throw, but I had to change things up. Just like that it got slammed by a hard fighting Pickerel. My 20lb Big Game line looked fine afterward, but thank god I gave it a good pull to check it out, because it snapped like nothing, and because the next fish I caught was a chunk. I retied, waded out as far as my chest waders would allow, then threw the bait down a weedline where I lost a monster last week. I kept the bait from diving by keeping the rod tip high, and felt it ticking grass as it slowly pulsed. I ran it into a clump, then it got slammed. I felt her weight immediately. I jacked it hard to my left to keep her from running into the weed bed, and it worked. She went airborne, my heart stopped, but the stretchy line kept her pinned. I kept pressure on, and got her in. The trebles popped right out of her bottom lip without the use of pliers. Close call. About 5-15 Followed up with 2 more 2 1/2 pounders on the Gantarel, but then we got hammered by rain. Dryed out in the truck until it passed, then went back and got one more on a Livingston Bullnose. I needed a sesh like that.

????

I believe this notion about what people think about other's gear is a navel gazing internet phenomenon that spawns the comments that ensue in threads like the current Megabass topic. In the actual world, I don't believe anyone gives a crap about what someone else fishes with. They care about catching their own fish and could care less about how anyone else does it. I feel bad about your gear?

What always seems to get lost in these threads is that higher dollar gear's prices are justified simply by their low production numbers. Real R&D takes time, and those costs are factored in. Very few companies that offer high end flagship models, or even price points just below flagship, sell many total units. Small specialty companies, like MegaBass, also don't have the luxury of having high volume loss leader products that lead to bumping buyers up the line over time. Plus, they can't afford many mistakes. There just isn't that much room in the budget. Small companies are often walking a tightrope financially. There's also added value when designs are attributed to a particular personality and/or their proteges. As long as there's enough of a market for those who are interested in such things, then that's all that matters to a company. Being practical means different things to different people. If higher end gear isn't for you, by choice, or out of budgetary constraints, then a person has plenty of options that'll do just fine. Regardless, bass fishing isn't essential. It's a hobby. If you've spent more than $50 on a combo, then you've spent more than you needed to, but luxury isn't about need.

We had record breaking heat here yesterday, and the winds had subsided by go time, so I knew the repellent resistant mutant mosquitoes we get here would be on the wing again. My buddy drove all the way out here, but was foolish enough to leave his heavy sweat jacket at home. I wore mine, plus a heavy wool skull cap, so while I was soaked in sweat in the end, I felt no pain. He wore only a thin sweater, no helmet, and got eaten alive, and skunked out! I found 3 bass in total. One on the Nories, one on a Gantarel Jr, and a 1/4 of a fish on the G2. It was nice to recapture a smidge of my mojo after the spanking I took this past Sunday.

Before I'd ever seen a really big bait in person, I'd held baits like the Shellcracker G2 and a Ganteral jr, and at that time they looked absurdly large to me compared to typical bass lures. I caught the fish shown in the bottom picture on a G2 last night. Super small. I lost a tank last week on the same bait. Under a full moon, and right in front of me, it went completely airborne, bent out a treble, then waved goodbye. It would've been my best this year for sure. My best caught fish of the year, so far, pictured in my profile pic, came on a 4" MB Hazedong shad. My brother likes to fish swimbaits nearly exclusively, and catches plenty of 1-2 pounders on baits you'd never expect a fish of that size to attempt to eat. The hope for most people is that those bigger baits will weed out the smalls, but in actuality, it doesn't seem to play out that way.

A week has passed. Have you? Thoughts?

I'm pretty sure I bought my 500c in late '78, or thereabouts. Mowed alot of lawns to buy it, and still have it.

Either I'm a good luck charm for him, or he's a bad luck charm for me! We seem to swap those roles as we've never both had a great day on the same day. It's either him or me up to this point. He's hard headed, slow to change, and was strictly a finesse fisherman forever. The issue here was that he'd motor right past, or give short shrift to, many prime spots which were unfishable for him, but heaven for me. Very frustrating, and I really didn't want to go with him because of it. Got him to take the baitcaster plunge last season, finally, and now he loves how things have opened up for him. Both of those fish came on a 5/8oz heavy cover football jig I turned him on to, which wasn't an option on his ML spinning noodle. I'm sharpening all of my hooks, and we're going back next week.

If blowing hooksets were an Olympic sport, I'd be a god. With the exception of a few Lilliputian basslings, I just couldn't convert during yesterday's trip, but my son in law had a great day. He broke his PB twice within 15 minutes catching a 6.06 and then a 7.8. on jigs. I tried to find redemption later during a dusk thru dark wade, but it was more of the same for me as I went full Chuck Knoblauch yet again. Eventually I reset, and got one cocktail bass and a feisty pickerel on the Miyagi, thank Jehovah, and my buddy landed a nice 4.12 and a 3.13 throwing a Jackhammer. A good day for the dudes.

I couldn't have asked for better conditions than last night, but they were hard to find in the usual places. Eventually I got a few midgets to savagely attack my Beast Coast Miyagi on the end of dumb bomb casts out into the middle. A bassy smell on the thumb beats a head-to-toe stench of skunk any day.

Why are you holding out on us? Spill.?