ToadsToadsOnly
05-19-2011, 04:18 PM
What a fishing trip how do I start I took a trip out to Philly for my Girlfriends sisters graduation at Temple University this past week and we said heck why not lets make a vacation out of it. To me it is not a Vacation unless fishing is involved so I pack my fishing gear, LC’s Crocks, Reels etc. I wish I could of brought my rods but they are all too long. But that is what Walmart is for all I have to do is pick up a couple cheap ugly stick rods in town and they should do fine.
I planned to have a couple of days for fishing but with the busy itinerary the family had I didn’t have much time to squeeze any fishing in. Wednesday graduation at Temple in Philly, Thursday a day downtown in Philly and grad party, Friday and Saturday New Jersey hit the casinos, then Sunday New York. So I made sure I left Monday open for fishing.
When fishing a new area the only way to go is to do your homework and have a game plan. When S.W.A.T fish we don’t just go out cross our fingers and hope we get bit our success also comes from research “Knowledge is Power” Over the weekend I couldn’t help but search the web and started studying “Thank goodness for Google!” I searched, searched, and searched for what type of fish are in the area? Where the fish were biting? What to use? What exact location would produce best with the limited time I had? I think I read 50 articles, dozens of message boards, and called a dozen tackle stores and narrowed it down to 1 spot the Indian River inlet in Delaware. One last phone call to Bills Sports Shop to confirm “Hey how has the fishing been in the area?” “Fishing has been Excellent!” I was sold on the idea of taking the long trek to Delaware.
That was my destination it was quite far but sounded like it would be well worth it. I talk my chicks cousin to go with me and he said he would love to. 150 miles 3 hour drive later I ended up at the spot and started fan casting a 2oz buck tail and hour or so later Hookup!!!!!! It’s a Toad….!!! What the heck is it? This fish is fighting really funny “go get the net” I said. After about five minutes it comes up I was in awe OMG!... That thing is crazy it was a Horseshoe Crab not just one but two there was a second one hanging on its back. This had to be one of the craziest things I have ever seen.
CLICK BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/th_VIDEO0001-1.jpg (http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/?action=view¤t=VIDEO0001-1.mp4)
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0168.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0173.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0176.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0178.jpg
Snapped a couple pictures took a video and released the horseshoe crabs.
Shortly after I ran into a local named Bill really nice guy he gave me some great pointers on what and where to fish. He told me the daytime been slow lately the evening and night bite was the way to go. He said confidently if you stay for the evening bite YOU WILL CATCH FISH So I left to the tackle shop to pickup some gear Bill recommended three way swivels, more bucktails, 5oz weights.
I was in the car in the parking lot trying to get a quick power nap at 4:30 but it did not work all the troops rolled in within the next 30 min about 25 cars rolled into the empty parking lot I was in. All I heard was chatter on how the current was supposed to star ripping and that’s when the Stripers go off I hopped out the car to get a spot. The chatter was that the Stripers were going off and the fish has been big they said.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0181.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0182.jpg
When I rolled up the locals looked at me like I was a total newbie in which I was for ocean Stripers because my 7ft Walmart Uglystick bass rods still had the plastic over the cork. One of the locals was poking fun at me and saying what is this a bass tournament? I would love to see u land one with that little setup. Thinking I just picked up a cheap conventional reel to go with my Ugly stick. I just shrugged it off not a minute after he said that bam… HOOOKUP>>>>>>!!!! A couple minutes later the hooked pulled. I looked over my shoulder and these guys had a funny smirk on their face like that’s what I thought. A couple cast later BAM HOOKUP>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tell my self don’t farm this one bro I put the wood to the fish one of the locals were kind enough to gaff my fish and this guy was 36inches. The first keeper of the day out of 30+ guys on the shore.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0184.jpg
Guess what? The funny smirks on these guys’ faces got wiped off real fast when I landed the Toad. Little did they know S.W.A.T was in town and this was just the beginning of the slay fest about 20min later I slam another one I did a few cranks and handed the rod to Eric(girlfriends cousin) since he was not able to hook up one on his own. It was priceless seeing a non fisherman land a huge fish he had a smile from ear to ear and he handled the fish like a champ. I think he found a new hobby. This was his PB fish other than a batray.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0186.jpg
By 6:30 there must have been over 70 shore anglers shoulder to shoulder and 100 boat fisherman drifting the area. The way you fish the stripers is you cast up current with 5 oz weights and 1-2 oz bucktails and drift your bait down current. The current is ripping so hard you just barely bounce the bottom with 7 oz of weight. Talking about tangle galore the guys here has not adopted the no angle to tangle technique yet when they hook up the fish swim down stream and these guys try to reel their fish upstream past 20 other anglers lines. This actually kept the fishing exciting and kept you on your toes. Well I kept my line straight in front of me and did not pop any fish off and continue to put the hurt to the fish and we ended the day with 9fish from 10 to 20 plus lbs EPIC! Hands down this was my best day of striper fishing EVER.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/e167ff9c.png
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160103-1.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/97dd100f.png
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160104-1.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160106.jpg
Trunk fish
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0188.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0189.jpg
Dont worry guys its a rental.
Go Get Em Guys
Till next time Go Big Or Go Home
ToadsToadsOnly
I planned to have a couple of days for fishing but with the busy itinerary the family had I didn’t have much time to squeeze any fishing in. Wednesday graduation at Temple in Philly, Thursday a day downtown in Philly and grad party, Friday and Saturday New Jersey hit the casinos, then Sunday New York. So I made sure I left Monday open for fishing.
When fishing a new area the only way to go is to do your homework and have a game plan. When S.W.A.T fish we don’t just go out cross our fingers and hope we get bit our success also comes from research “Knowledge is Power” Over the weekend I couldn’t help but search the web and started studying “Thank goodness for Google!” I searched, searched, and searched for what type of fish are in the area? Where the fish were biting? What to use? What exact location would produce best with the limited time I had? I think I read 50 articles, dozens of message boards, and called a dozen tackle stores and narrowed it down to 1 spot the Indian River inlet in Delaware. One last phone call to Bills Sports Shop to confirm “Hey how has the fishing been in the area?” “Fishing has been Excellent!” I was sold on the idea of taking the long trek to Delaware.
That was my destination it was quite far but sounded like it would be well worth it. I talk my chicks cousin to go with me and he said he would love to. 150 miles 3 hour drive later I ended up at the spot and started fan casting a 2oz buck tail and hour or so later Hookup!!!!!! It’s a Toad….!!! What the heck is it? This fish is fighting really funny “go get the net” I said. After about five minutes it comes up I was in awe OMG!... That thing is crazy it was a Horseshoe Crab not just one but two there was a second one hanging on its back. This had to be one of the craziest things I have ever seen.
CLICK BELOW TO VIEW VIDEO
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/th_VIDEO0001-1.jpg (http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/?action=view¤t=VIDEO0001-1.mp4)
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0168.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0173.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0176.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0178.jpg
Snapped a couple pictures took a video and released the horseshoe crabs.
Shortly after I ran into a local named Bill really nice guy he gave me some great pointers on what and where to fish. He told me the daytime been slow lately the evening and night bite was the way to go. He said confidently if you stay for the evening bite YOU WILL CATCH FISH So I left to the tackle shop to pickup some gear Bill recommended three way swivels, more bucktails, 5oz weights.
I was in the car in the parking lot trying to get a quick power nap at 4:30 but it did not work all the troops rolled in within the next 30 min about 25 cars rolled into the empty parking lot I was in. All I heard was chatter on how the current was supposed to star ripping and that’s when the Stripers go off I hopped out the car to get a spot. The chatter was that the Stripers were going off and the fish has been big they said.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0181.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0182.jpg
When I rolled up the locals looked at me like I was a total newbie in which I was for ocean Stripers because my 7ft Walmart Uglystick bass rods still had the plastic over the cork. One of the locals was poking fun at me and saying what is this a bass tournament? I would love to see u land one with that little setup. Thinking I just picked up a cheap conventional reel to go with my Ugly stick. I just shrugged it off not a minute after he said that bam… HOOOKUP>>>>>>!!!! A couple minutes later the hooked pulled. I looked over my shoulder and these guys had a funny smirk on their face like that’s what I thought. A couple cast later BAM HOOKUP>>>>>>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tell my self don’t farm this one bro I put the wood to the fish one of the locals were kind enough to gaff my fish and this guy was 36inches. The first keeper of the day out of 30+ guys on the shore.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0184.jpg
Guess what? The funny smirks on these guys’ faces got wiped off real fast when I landed the Toad. Little did they know S.W.A.T was in town and this was just the beginning of the slay fest about 20min later I slam another one I did a few cranks and handed the rod to Eric(girlfriends cousin) since he was not able to hook up one on his own. It was priceless seeing a non fisherman land a huge fish he had a smile from ear to ear and he handled the fish like a champ. I think he found a new hobby. This was his PB fish other than a batray.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0186.jpg
By 6:30 there must have been over 70 shore anglers shoulder to shoulder and 100 boat fisherman drifting the area. The way you fish the stripers is you cast up current with 5 oz weights and 1-2 oz bucktails and drift your bait down current. The current is ripping so hard you just barely bounce the bottom with 7 oz of weight. Talking about tangle galore the guys here has not adopted the no angle to tangle technique yet when they hook up the fish swim down stream and these guys try to reel their fish upstream past 20 other anglers lines. This actually kept the fishing exciting and kept you on your toes. Well I kept my line straight in front of me and did not pop any fish off and continue to put the hurt to the fish and we ended the day with 9fish from 10 to 20 plus lbs EPIC! Hands down this was my best day of striper fishing EVER.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/e167ff9c.png
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160103-1.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/97dd100f.png
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160104-1.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/P5160106.jpg
Trunk fish
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0188.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Delaware%20fishing/IMAG0189.jpg
Dont worry guys its a rental.
Go Get Em Guys
Till next time Go Big Or Go Home
ToadsToadsOnly