Report Date: MECCA 8/25-8/26
Fishing Report:
My old buddy August finally came through with a quality fish and several other good fish. The wind made her switch to easterly, which made for sloppy conditions. With the change, I was jacked up pretty much the whole day, as easterly slop is always a good bet. I met up with fellow subscriber Mat Martin at 11pm to fish until 5:30am. Matt had booked the August full (for no results), and I let him know right off the bat that August had sucked thus far, except for one decent night. However we were both hopeful, as the new conditions screamed large. We made our way to the south side and found fish rather quickly. The first being a nice blue, on an eel. Matt continued to throw eels while I scouted with a yellow SS darter. After banging my second or third decent striper (18lbs) I switched Matt over to the same plug. At about 1am I put a 11/2 oz lime green bucktail with red trailer buck. On the first cast I had a screamer. The drag was sizzling for a good 30 seconds as I felt the line twist around a rock. OH MY GOD NO!!! YES, a moo moo broke my line, leaving me with another life long memory. My mouth spat out so many uncontrolled obscenities, that it would have even made my Dad proud. That was the best fish I had dropped in a few years. Anyway I banged a couple more decent bass as the tide lowered itself enough for me to decide to get deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep on the south side. I knew getting deeeep to a big water spot had big fish potential with all the bait that has been around, combined with my buddy- white water. After making the walk, I put on a yellow SS darter for myself, and a white SS darter for Matt. I put Matt on what I thought was a decent rock, but more importantly in a position to cast to the better water column. As Mat got smashed by waves I recall him asking, “ you call this a good rock?” I screamed into the dark, over the white water and said, “ You should be on the rock I am standing on”. Who cares about good rocks when you’re hauling in stripers, which I began to bang immediately? For some reason Matt just was not connecting. My screaming continued, as I advised to maintain contact, and to be sure that contact was made as soon as the plug hit he water. After a couple more stripers I told Mat I had to take a wiz, and asked if he would be all right for a few minutes alone. As the big sloppy water threatened his life in the darkness Matt shouted over the roar “ I guess so”. As I was getting dressed after relieving myself, I see Mat screaming, as he walked towards me in the surf. My first thoughts were that he was impaled with a hook, but then I heard “ I got a fish”. “OK, he needs a little help to get a schoolie off” I thought. I hurried to get my gear back on, and entered night the surf. Ahhhhh, so that what’s he was screaming about. We brought her onto the beach, and she weighed out at 30lbs on the nose. I banged another decent fish on a SS darter (16lbs), and another on a buck, and that was all she wrote.

Many of you own what I consider to be the best surf-fishing reel on the market, bar none. I am speaking of the Van Staal of course. Like every piece of surf fishing equipment the VS is not perfect. One of the bad things that can, and does happen, is braid wrapping around the drag nut. There is an easy fix for this that Donny Musso taught me. Just file down the outer edges of the nut. Do this and you will eliminate this problem completely. See pick.

   2009 Winner Rob Koch. 63lbs!