Surfcaster79

I used to fish alot at night... ie; midnight to sunrise during a new moon, so dark you couldnt see your hand in front of your face I got tired of reeling a swivel through my top guide, been tying the alberto knot fluro to braid ever since.

Best advice I could give to any new to the scene fisherman and fishes from shore / wading is knowing when to fold em. Know when to move. If your fishing a spot or area you aren't familiar with and see no signs of life, no hits, no fish in 10 .. 20 minutes tops.. keep on moving on! Go to the next piece of structure you find in your lake or pond. The only time I don't apply this rule is if I'm familiar with a spot and it has times when the bite turns on and turns off. It blows my mind that I see someone casting over and over again in the same spot for hours and expect a favorable outcome. Next, lures are nothing more than tools that will allow you to fish conditions and parts of a water column. You dont need to bring half the tackle shop with you on a trip. Don't get wrapped up in buying 30 different colors, white/yellow.. black/purple will cover everything. The less you carry the more you can focus on catching a fish and not changing out to another top lure or another color that really isn't any different than the one you last had on. Last but not least... KEEP A LOG... notate temps, wind direction, weather (cloudy/sunny), moon phase, barometric pressure, time, date, area , lures used and what you caught.. You will be shocked to see there is indeed patterns!

been slaying them, it's really no different than finding stripers... Just find the structure and the bait...

For us guys that put on waders and are not driving around in a boat with fish radars, I noticed the senkos cast a bit further than the dingers, sometimes that extra distance is needed, no difference in catch rate.

Oh I know, I been watching the migration, glad I sold all my surf rods and van staal reels, I should say my wife is glad lol... They closed the chesapeake to fishing? anything to do with the spawn?

Always loved suffix 832 over PP....

LOL had to add the old "got a few trophy trip openings" ala bill wetzel from that post.

I think all swivels are worthless! They really just get in the way imho.

LOL I always said you shoulda been here yesterday!!!

I agree with this. I think your chances are slim to none you'll catch a trophy while hitting a school of 1lb fish... however, I would bet after those 1lb fish leave the big girls will be right behind.

No, if you foul hook one you'll think you have a monster on until you real him in... add that same fowl hooked fish in some good current and you would be really in for a surprise when you real it in.

Who hates them as much as I do and refuses to use one to secure a leader to your line?

Rod tip up...keeping tension slowly lowering tip as your reeling in, once your rod is about 30 degree angle, lift rod back up, rinse and repeat. You let the rod bring the fish in, your just reeling in the line, all while under tension. Has worked for 40lb plus striped bass in big current with tons of big rocks all around.

'Nothing like fishing a bucktail with a rind off some rocks!

I recently learned a new pond and also struggled my first 5 times there with only 1 bass per trip. I changed colors of the senko I was using and pegged it with 1/16oz tungsten bullet opposed to using weightless. That was the ticket, I lost count of the number I caught since making that change. If that lake or pond your in has very low visibility, try an all black 5in worm. Big fish generally have very small windows to be caught. I would certainly try getting to this pond before sunrise when its still dark out and fish the first 1-2 hours of first light and repeat fishing the last hour or so of daylight before its dark. I never fresh water fished overnight in the dark as I have for striped bass in saltwater, but the night time was the right time to catch the biggins.

New to fresh water fishing, but not new to fishing, I call myself a retired surfcaster that targeted only Stripe Bass on artificial lures. Looking forward to learning more and sharing the little I have learned.

Couldnt even get him in my net!! Well over 5lbs