{"id":2710,"date":"2014-09-07T21:01:36","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T04:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/?p=2710"},"modified":"2014-09-08T07:30:27","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T14:30:27","slug":"curing-the-end-of-summer-bluefish-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/?p=2710","title":{"rendered":"CURING THE END-OF-SUMMER BLUEFISH BLUES"},"content":{"rendered":"

If at first you really suck, cast, cast again\u2026.and again\u2026.and again\u2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014:\u00a0<\/strong>What can I say? I sucked. Been doing this surfcasting thing for about 45 years, so you\u2019d think I\u2019d have it nailed by now. Not!\u00a0We<\/strong><\/em> really sucked. I say we<\/strong><\/em> because BBF (Big Brother Frank) <\/a>and I watched big bruiser bluefish caught all around us on Montauk\u2019s north side during our post Labor Day season opener<\/a>. But we got none. A few days later, things brightened considerably. But for the time being…..did I mention that we definitely sucked?<\/p>\n

\"FISH<\/a>

FISH EYE POV: As the fish see my\u00a0beach rig.<\/p><\/div>\n

Granted, the high hook of the morning, Pete from NYC, was younger\u00a0and\u00a0stronger. Working\u00a0in his wet suit perched on\u00a0a rock , he had a fifty yard advantage on us from the start. But oh how far he could throw it. He whipped a 10-inch, 5-ounce pencil popper at the end of his waxy InvisiBraid line seemingly half way across Block Island Sound, his 11-foot surf rod whooshing through the morning stillness. I was merely wading in my shark shoes and bathing suit among the slimy rocks, trying in vain to reach the other side of the rip where bluefish were exploding on Pete\u2019s lure with virtually every cast.\u00a0 While Pete was casting and catching, BBF and I were working out the kinks in our gear.<\/p>\n

\"THE<\/a>

THE FISH WALKER: Pete nailed\u00a0a fish on virtually every cast.<\/p><\/div>\n

Frank\u2019s brand new reel broke down, my line kept knotting, and I snapped off the one big white popping lures that seemed to be the ticket to mimicking Pete’s success. I know it is a poor workman who blames his tools. I take full responsibility for not being up to the task on this, my shakedown foray of the 2014 fall surfcasting season. How many times do you want me to say it:\u00a0 I sucked! Okay?\u00a0 But a turning point was just a few days ahead.<\/p>\n

Two mornings later, Pete the fish killer (to be fair, all his blues were caught and released to fight another day) was working the rip in his customary spot, again making sport with hapless gorilla bluefish. This day, I decided to \u201cmug\u201d Pete, sidling up to him, a few dozen yards to\u00a0 port, engaging in friendly fishing banter. Long\u00a0arcing\u00a0casts were getting the job done as usual on the dropping tide. Pete must have caught 75 fish!\u00a0 I was no match, but my luck and proficiency had turned: I raised four fish, hooked two, but landed none.<\/p>\n

\"CURE<\/a>

CURE FOR THE BLUEFISH BLUES:\u00a0Bliss at\u00a0False Bar.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/b> The next\u00a0day,\u00a0 there were three guys plus me casting in the same location.\u00a0 I raised and hooked the only fish I saw all morning. But I got bit off at\u00a0my lure\u2019s tailhook. Served me right. I had rummaged around my truck for the heaviest popping lure I could find. The oldie but goodie I tied on was a tad rusty, and I paid the price.<\/p>\n

BIG AND NASTY: IT TAKES ONE TO CATCH ONE<\/b><\/p>\n

Bluefish in the 5 to 10 pound range are big and nasty.\u00a0 And it takes a big and nasty plug to get their attention. The wooden popping plug I rooted out of the depths of my tacklebox was hand painted a sickening Dayglo yellow. I probably picked it up for 50-cents at a garage sale many years back. It was the biggest I had, about 4 ounces, and I matched it with my largest rod–a 10-footer–and a fresh out of the box VS200 reel loaded with 50-pound Powerpro braid. Up until this moment, I had been fishing, Now, with a strong shiny steel treble refitted to my lure, I was finally ready for some catching. Okay you green-eyed devils, bring it.<\/p>\n

\"BILL<\/a>

BILLY”S BLUE: Nailed on his “last” cast.<\/p><\/div>\n

My buddy Billy Black<\/a> was on the scene for the weekend and we began our hunt at 0-dark-545am. The sandy ocean beaches of Napeague, Hither Hills and Montauk village were all socked in with fog. The water on the north side of Montauk lighthouse–the scene of the crime, if you will–was still too high as the sun began to rise. We tested it. A good workout with a gentle WSW breeze to our back. We broke for breakfast in town and when the tide was one hour into its descent, we make our way onto False Bar<\/a> and began to cast in earnest. My big and nasty wooden popper ain\u2019t pretty but it casts true and far. It wasn\u2019t long before it produced an explosive strike, ten cranks after my cast hit the water. A big and nasty bluefish, virtually launched itself onto the lure. And this time, it didn\u2019t get away. Later, I switched to a spanking new white little neck popper which also nailed a bluefish.<\/p>\n

\"DUELING<\/a>

DUELING CHOPPERS:\u00a0A pair of green-eyed devils.<\/p><\/div>\n

This one hit much closer, half way into my retrieve.\u00a0 I walked the two fish to the truck and returned to cheer on Billy.\u00a0 We\u2019d been at it more than an hour and he was ready to quit. When Billy called \u201clast cast\u201d I protested that there can\u2019t be just one last cast, but there must be three–all of them perfect. On cast number two, Billy scored.\u00a0 This chopper was a veritable clone of the previous fish–a hefty, fighting and jumping 8-pound bluefish.\u00a0It was high noon and we headed home. After a sucky season start, redemption had come at last. And dinner, pesce ‘all\u00a0acqua pazza<\/a>, shortly followed. Back for more next week.<\/p>\n

\"BLUEFISH<\/a>

BLUEFISH AQUA PAZZA: Dinner for four.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If at first you really suck, cast, cast again\u2026.and again\u2026.and again\u2026. SEPTEMBER 7, 2014:\u00a0What can I say? I sucked. Been doing this surfcasting thing for about 45 years, so you\u2019d think I\u2019d have it nailed by now. Not!\u00a0We really sucked. I say we because BBF (Big Brother Frank) and I watched big bruiser bluefish caught […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2710"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2742,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2710\/revisions\/2742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fishtales.abatemarco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}