tomar19
01-20-2014, 12:33 AM
1/18 3:30 - sunset
I hit the beach Saturday afternoon in the Newport area for my first surf session. I probably got in a little under 2 hours before the sunset. The weather was ridiculous for January. Temps in the upper 70s, no wind, and I was able to wet wade comfortably. After getting a feel for the new tackle, I was on my first BSP to shake the skunk on my first outing. That BSP was followed shortly by another. I left my camera in my other gear bag, and these were no pigs, so no phone pics this time. They were both taken on "crack" with a Carolina rig. Unfortunately, my forceps must have fallen out of my vest after releasing my second fish, so I decided to switch tactics to increase the odds of lip hooking, as I planed to C&R. I switched to a SXR Rap for nothing, followed by a BH for zilch. Still with 2 fish the first time out I was satisfied and looking forward to the morning.
1/19 7:00-10:30am
Sunday morning I decided to tryout my new waders and shoes. I was met with clear skies, no wind, an incoming tide, and building surf. I went back to the technique that produced on Saturday and it immediately produced. The BSP bite was on, and they weren't playing around. Tap, tap, and set for the first 10 fish starting with this little guy.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh247/tbone02001/2014-01-19_07-06-22_118_zps61cc890b.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/tbone02001/media/2014-01-19_07-06-22_118_zps61cc890b.jpg.html)
As the surf continued to build I was having a hard time feeling the taps for the quick hookups with the Carolina rig. Missing my forceps, I started throwing a Krocodile Spoon which picked up this beefy guy on the third cast.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh247/tbone02001/2014-01-19_07-41-01_345_zps6ca5ed82.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/tbone02001/media/2014-01-19_07-41-01_345_zps6ca5ed82.jpg.html)
Hooked up a few more and moved spots up and down the beach trying to apply the tips I've been reading up on here, and in Bill Varney's surf fishing book. At the end of the morning I landed 15 BSP ranging from 8-12".
This was too much fun for my first outing, and I'm glad I made the effort to give it a go. My gear worked great, and I'm going to try to get to the coast at least once a month. Thanks for posting all of the informative and encouraging reports here on fnn. I would have never found my way to the surf without them. I'm looking forward to more trips and more species in future outings.
I hit the beach Saturday afternoon in the Newport area for my first surf session. I probably got in a little under 2 hours before the sunset. The weather was ridiculous for January. Temps in the upper 70s, no wind, and I was able to wet wade comfortably. After getting a feel for the new tackle, I was on my first BSP to shake the skunk on my first outing. That BSP was followed shortly by another. I left my camera in my other gear bag, and these were no pigs, so no phone pics this time. They were both taken on "crack" with a Carolina rig. Unfortunately, my forceps must have fallen out of my vest after releasing my second fish, so I decided to switch tactics to increase the odds of lip hooking, as I planed to C&R. I switched to a SXR Rap for nothing, followed by a BH for zilch. Still with 2 fish the first time out I was satisfied and looking forward to the morning.
1/19 7:00-10:30am
Sunday morning I decided to tryout my new waders and shoes. I was met with clear skies, no wind, an incoming tide, and building surf. I went back to the technique that produced on Saturday and it immediately produced. The BSP bite was on, and they weren't playing around. Tap, tap, and set for the first 10 fish starting with this little guy.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh247/tbone02001/2014-01-19_07-06-22_118_zps61cc890b.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/tbone02001/media/2014-01-19_07-06-22_118_zps61cc890b.jpg.html)
As the surf continued to build I was having a hard time feeling the taps for the quick hookups with the Carolina rig. Missing my forceps, I started throwing a Krocodile Spoon which picked up this beefy guy on the third cast.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh247/tbone02001/2014-01-19_07-41-01_345_zps6ca5ed82.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/tbone02001/media/2014-01-19_07-41-01_345_zps6ca5ed82.jpg.html)
Hooked up a few more and moved spots up and down the beach trying to apply the tips I've been reading up on here, and in Bill Varney's surf fishing book. At the end of the morning I landed 15 BSP ranging from 8-12".
This was too much fun for my first outing, and I'm glad I made the effort to give it a go. My gear worked great, and I'm going to try to get to the coast at least once a month. Thanks for posting all of the informative and encouraging reports here on fnn. I would have never found my way to the surf without them. I'm looking forward to more trips and more species in future outings.