Surf Report (Oct. 16, 2010)

                                       

Report: The weatherman said winds were going to lighten up as the night went on. So, Kint and I went out to try our luck Saturday night.

First off, the weather man was dead wrong. It was blasting about 15 -20 knots WNW when we got to the spot. Okay well, the weatherman did get the wind direction right, but the wind speed never quite dimished below 10knots as predicted. This made things really challenging but interesting.

Anyhow, so we get to our spot and did our best to fight the 2-4 ft LI Sound seas. Ugh.... Casting into the wind was no fun at all. Everything we threw into the wind was compromised.

The water was chocolately brown (as to be expected post-Noreaster), but thankfully, the 3/4 moon was out shining. Kint and I figured eels would be our best bet--> dark bait against the moonlight may just glow through the murky water....

Casting eels into the wind was a challenge. Drails are no good here. I tried weightless and soon landed a schoolie but missed a few other bites (none of which came back with cuts on the eel). During that time, Kint tied a clever bottom rig to get an eel down under the waves, and soon enough, he had a couple of run-offs as well which had all the signs of big bass.

Then, the winds actually got even worse and we were looking at huge waves crashing our feet (so much for the weather forecast). The next few casts did not really get anywhere.

What now? Luckily, I brought some small egg sinkers and placed a couple inside the mouth of a dead eel to try. Sure enough, I was able to cast further and let the eel drop down deep.... On my very next cast, BAM! Big time run-off. Bow, set, IN! This was wasn't a slob, but the fish really tested my wits as it hit really close, and instantly bee-lined it for some structure. I had to bounce around to chase it down to keep it off some boulders, and in the end, I landed a nice northshore bass. Wooooooooohoo! The fish had some battle scars on it --> its mouth was gnarled (obviously from a previous tussle with an angler).

After that, we tried a few other spots, but to no avail. The wind started howling even stronger as the night pressed on, so we called it a night.

It wasn't an easy night. It wasn't overly productive one either, but we still landed a quality fish.

Thanks to Kint for taking a nice photo. Tonight, the conditions were nasty (and a bit scary at times).

Tonight was memorable. Noreaster gone, and bass might just have moved in around here. No bluefish tonight. Looks like its finally on.....!

 

  

  

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I had a couple eels left over from Saturday. I thought I'd give it one last shot before the tide gets offset. I fished only an hour during a wind lull, but had fish right away- 10+lb bluefish and some teen-sized bass.
 

 
Funny thing - once I landed a blue that made short work of a 90lb fluoro leader, I switched to a wire leader (in anticipation of more blues). On the next few casts I got a couple of 'bumps' but no cuts on the eels. I switched back to fluoro as fast as I could, then, BAM! those bass were no longer leader shy! (They were finicky in spite of the choppy LI Sound waters! Uh-mazing!) I actually kept one for eats this week --> Mother Nature's economic stimulus package. Thanks to my friend for taking the pic. =)

Very short night, but it was nice to be out again while the fish were around, especially before a full few weeks of being couped in the lab ahead.... It looks like a pod of bass definitely moved in the Old Field/Port Jeff area.

 

 

Stomach contents:
Calico Crabs
Cunner (Bergall)
Mantis Shrimp?