greybeard

Dom, have you ever try to fillet one and bake, or fry it. I tried and still got a mouth full of bones. I don't like pickled, or smoked fish. I fillet a load of fish every year, but can't do a herring, or shad. I'd try eating almost anything, I even eat spearing, sandeels, and tried , but spit out, spider crab. So I'd be open to trying herring another way.

Shawn, Good luck

Shawn, I was thinking of you when I wrote this.... I remembered that we discussed Magnolia Pier, but I don't fish Magnolia, so I'm not sure if the herring are there. I assume that they would be. I have the permit to park at the inlet, and it's easy for me so I kinda hang out there for the Herring. I'm hoping that the Mackerel show up this year. Have you ever fished Canarsie pier, off the Belt in Bklyn. ? I used to travel around NYC a lot and one day I stopped there and they were bailing Herring..It was a very long time ago, but I wonder how they do there now. It's too far for me to go there for herring, but might be good for some others, if it's productive.

I went to the south shore to try for herring from shore. No cars in the lot,which is not a good sign, but when I got to the inlet there was a seal, so that is a good sign. First cast a double, then proceeded for a good while catching herring on almost every cast. More seals showed up during the time that I was catching fish and I saw some bait, bay anchovies, close to shore. As the tide picked up the fishing slowed to a stop. I looked around and the seals were gone too. Very damp and rainy, at times, but I had the place to myself, so I was happy with the misery. So if you like to eat herring,( I don't) they are in. I was hoping for mackerel too, but I didn't get any, so not sure if they came in too.

Some of the people in this country have lost their minds. I just read an article where it states that a lawsuit is tomorrow to free some chimps from a research place. I get that, they love chimps.. BUT, the aim is to establish "legal personhood". Two other suits like this were filed this week in NY. If they win they get certain fundamental rights. I wonder, if they win, will they be protected by the Bill of Rights. If not that'll probably be the next lawsuit.

Took the kayak to the North Shore to look for stripers. I trolled for about 2 miles each way, taking a few casts along the way.. NO stripers. I did see some fish slap the surface and put a herring rig down and caught Herring. I put the fish finder on and saw a number of herring, but not tons.. I got about a dozen then left.. I release them. I'm done with the bass for the year. There are probably bass in Little Neck Bay, but I won't put up with the traffic anymore to fish there.

Good luck tomorrow. Birds worked at West End 2 again today, but only a few.. they weren't moving much, probably just found baitfish.. A nice boat(over 20 feet) was up on the sand.. I don't know what happened, but I hope the owner had insurance. The boat was from Florida and a bag of ballyhoo(bait) was on the shore near the boat, which I assume came from that boat

I may give it one more shot, for an hour, or so. this week, while it's warm. I tried for herring at the inlet for 15 minutes on Sunday for 0... Only one other guy there, so I assume that they are not in. Last year when the herring first came, there were no bass on them until one day, after I left, BIG bass came in. I've been spending a lot of days at the beach, and saw gulls ( no gannets)working off West End 2 yesterday.. They were diving.. There were maybe 20 birds. I combined western LI goose hunting in October with kayak bass fishing on the south shore , so I got to striper fish and hunt on those days, but I really didn't spend any time hunting either.(.just a little squirrel hunting).... too many fish to leave it. Off topic.. what did your friends catch.. Northerns ??

Bruno.. Thanx for the info.. I didn't use a teaser, but should have.. The teasers did produce. My best sand eel imitation is a soft plastic from Cabelas..It's not described as a sandeel, but looks just like the one. I found it strange that the bass didn't take the shad.. I had a foot problem so had to cut the season a little short, but I had a good bass season anyway... I never got back to the North Shore to see what was there

jjb4900.. Sorry...I must have been typing my response when you posted yours, so I did not see it until after I submitted mine.

I agree call the taxidermist, but this is what I "used" to do. Inspect the bird that you want done, try to pick a bird that does not have a broken bill, broken feet, or lost too many feathers. Put cotton in mouth and in anus, to stop body discharge.. blood, feces. Look for blood on feathers and clean with cold water, working with the direction of the feather.(it can be hard to get off if blood is left on too long) look for holes with blood, and GENTLY put a little cotton in it, if necessary.. PROTECT those feathers from breaking .. Dead birds don't grow new feathers.. sorry , I had to add that because I used to say that alot. Bring panty hose (If they still sell that stuff)... Slide bird head first into panty hose making sure that you do not bend, or break feathers....You can actually do that in the field to keep feathers from breaking. Watch the neck when you slide it in. With pheasants keep the tails straight.. If no panty hose...Use brown wrapping paper, or cut brown paper food shopping bag. Wrap bird , feathers down in that. (do not use newspaper especially if there is white on the bird because the ink may run from the paper to the bird. You can put the bird in a plastic bag to freeze it after you wrap it in panty hose, or paper... After bird is wrapped for taxidermist FREEZE it. This is what I used to do, but it's been a long time and may have left something out, or maybe other guys can add to it..I'm writing it from memory, which isn't as good as I'd like these days.. Hope it helps

Water Rat,.. Nope it was fishing, but I thought I'd post it here because we've all gotten our feet(and hands) very cold and wet hunting too. I, myself , actually never got that unbearably cold deer hunting. I guess I should have explained that. During duck hunts I've had feet that felt burning cold from walking in frigid water and kept hunting... I used to get wet cold feet running thru marshes coon hunting and I always ignored it. Hunting over water with decoys my hands would hurt from the cold some days from setting up the dekes,especially on those freezing winter days that we waterfowl hunt in.I have even fallen a few times and got water down my waders during some waterfowling, which easily could have turned out the same as my fishing issue. I know that newer hunters are on this site and just thought that it was something that they should keep in mind.

I got it surf fishing.. I put hip boots on because I'm an idiot and left my waders in the car. Water got into the boot when I would get hit by the waves I guess. My foot got so bad at some point I could hardly walk.. Long story.. but I should have known better. It was a day or two after I fished through the snow. I have froze my feet duck hunting pretty bad at times and it turned out ok so I thought that this would be ok too... but I was wrong....

I got too cold and wet last week, but stayed out anyway....My foot turned numb and looked swollen... It felt and looked pretty bad, but It mostly healed, but the toes stayed numb.. My wife was on my case so I went to foot Dr. this morning and he told me that I have frost bite.. Not bad case, but I have to monitor it..I'm glad I listened to her.. Glad it wasn't a bad case Just thought I'd mention it so that new hunters/fishermen pay attention to the cold, and know when to call it a day

The guy can probably hit a deer at 200 yards, but can't hit the toilet at 2 feet.

Big Indian..I was at the Massapequa Park Store on Sunrise Hwy. , I did not check Westbury, or any other stores. I'm hoping that there's fishing stuff left after the 50% sale starts... A lot of stuff was already sold. I guess word spread about the 25%... (I hit the winter fishing flea markets here, so I get some good buys, but this could also be a good score.) I also need some hunting supplies.... I can never have too many duck calls.. I need gun cleaning supplies too. So I hope that I time it right.. He didn't give me the date of the hunting sale. I hope the sale IS store wide like he said and it's not only Long Island.. I sure woulda liked to have hit a 75% like you did Shawn. I'm gonna be out a lot this week , but maybe I can check another store to see what they got and what % they are giving..

I went to local Sports Authority and found 25% off all fishing. I was advised that Sports Authority is phasing out Hunting/Fishing Depts. Some stores have 50% off fishing now, and the one I was at will also probably have 50% maybe in a couple of weeks. The hunting stuff is not on sale yet, but will be shortly, probably not guns though. I know that the sales are happening down here, not sure about upstate, but he did say store wide, so if anyone is interested it may be worth a check.. Sales are NOT advertised.

It got cold, then warmed up a lot.. 60's today and tomorrow. I'm behind in my scouting for waterfowl, but have noticed some migraters. As I recall, I saw my first brant this year on Oct. 5th. I've been seeing quite a few now, and today, I saw a sh#$@# load of them in the bay. More than I have seen in the past few weeks. Too bad that they taste awful. Canadas are flying over my house more, I heard some last night. Sea ducks are in the ocean and I hear the guys shooting while I surf fish,. There are lots of them now.( I found a dead scoter drake today on the beach). Rudy ducks and blacks were in the bass fishin' pond a couple of weeks ago. I saw a pair of woodies too. I will check the pond out later in the week to see if more arrived. I am not seeing any divers in some of the spots that should have them, but I haven't scouted enough to say if they are around in other spots. Maybe they'll show up more now... I had a little problem so I haven't been in my kayak which is where I would give me a better idea of what's around. Our season opens the end of November, so I haven't seen any of the duck hunter to ask what they are seeing. I never see canvasbacks, or redheads in the areas where I hunt, but do see loads of scaup. I just haven't seen the scaup yet, but that might be because I'm not lookin' hard enough. I did look in the great south bay today,because of your question, but didn't see any.

hung4wheeler.. Thank you.

I'm in need of some steel shot, which I used to order on line from out of State. I thought that I could still buy ammo from a mail order out of state company, but someone just told me that with the new law (SAFE ACT) that I can't do that anymore. I live in Nassau County. Did I miss something ? Can I still purchase the ammo from companies like Cabelas ?

Bruno....Now that is impressive !! Congrats, I'm happy for you..I love reading those success stories. I was east of 6 also, like I reported above, we had fish, but it was no where near like what you had.. I did not see any micro bass (rats) caught. I saw tons of birds working along the beaches , east of me , probably Cedar, but the fish didn't move to me. The fish I got today(2) were around 10 to 12 pounds and I did not see any too much bigger. My buddy got a few keepers, biggest was a 36 inch fish, but he got that one before I got there. ( I don't set an alarm).. Yesterday, in my spot, even with the snow, it was better then today We had sand eels being chased and breaking the surface. Were your bass on Sand Eels ? Were there any Shad ? How were the crowds ? There were not too many guys where I was today. Now the big question, if I may ask, what were you using ? tins ? soft plastic ? I'll be back tomorrow, I understand that the wind should change and come somewhat southerly. Congrats again !!

Many fishermen say that stripers leave after it snows in the fall. The word is that it cools off the water too much. I don't necessarily agree. Yesterday we were gettin' some nice bass during the snow from the surf and today we were still catching keeper bass. So they were still around after the snow fall from yesterday I did not see as many fish come off the beach today, but they were there and hitting the same lures. Today I took 2 nice ones within 10 feet of the shore, casting parallel to the shore. Shad were around, but not as many.. Sand eels were plentiful. So for now, they are still around. . I won't post anymore about this , unless someone asks. I doubt that I will have anything to add.

You ice fishermen are a lot tougher then me.. I fished at the beach in the snow today and my foot got wet, then it got so cold that it swelled up and I could barely walk.. I cannot even imagine ice fishing....My hat is off to you...

lurking... I've heard some reports, but I have no first hand info, so I hate to pass on what I heard...As I'm sure you know some guys catch 5 fish and call it a blitz,, and you can almost never believe the sizes they describe....The website.. thefishingline has some reports about Montauk etc. I haven't been up to the north shore in a while, I keep planning to go, but I'm just gettin' lazy.. If I go I'll pass on the info.. Early, some of those strippers are my age !!! How's that for a thought ? Shawn.. You can keep 5 shad.. I BELIEVE that these are Hickory shad..I used to catch a lot in Jones inlet and some years on the North Shore. They are a lot of fun on a fly rod, or light tackle. They jump a lot. They are not a powerful fish, but pretty scrappy . We used to call them poor man's tarpon because of the way they jump, but I think poor man's tarpon actually refers to a Florida fish (I think Lady Fish). Small tins work well. I've caught a lot on 005 and 007, and deadly dick's. The flys I used were just deer hair and if I remember right and I think I used Clouser minnows( I'm pretty sure of that) Most guys that I know who keep them either live line them, or chunk them for bass and blues.. They can be great bait at times. I know that some people eat them, I tried it once.. very bony and I didn't like it.. One of the surf rats today told me that he met someone who pickled them like herring.. I don't like pickled stuff, so I wouldn't try it.. There were some pretty nice size shad today, but I BELIEVE that the ones in the rivers are American Shad and get bigger . I'm not sure because I never fished for them.. The Delaware River get's those

I went to check the surf today.. Field 6 was dead, so was west end 2, so I went "Beach Hopping" to see if I could locate fish...I headed east and saw a guy with a nice bass loading it into his car. He said the bite was pretty much over. It was a morning bite(I got there after 8am). I went down anyway and saw guys walkin' off with bass. I also saw rods bending with bass, but mostly shad.One guy told me that between him and his son they had around 15 stripers all weighing in the teens(I can't verify that) I put on soft plastic and was getting bumps, which I assumed were shad. So I switched to an a17 with a green tube. Sand eels were in the wash so I figured it's be a sand eel day. I immediately started catching shad, so I was happy, then I hooked into and landed a bass of 22 lbs. Bass fishing was slow so I concentrated on the shad, they were all over. I figured out the presentation that they wanted and was into non stop shad action for hours.... I switched to a "deadly dick" for a while to get even more.. The guy next to me couldn't believe how many shad I caught(and released), but I was trying to get them and most guys only wanted bass so we fished a little different. I easily caught 50 shad. If anyone else targeted shad, they would have caught a SH#$@ load too.....Then the bass came in better and I got a few more stripers(not strippers), as did the guys next to me. My observations and non expert OPINION : It was predominantly a morning bite. I would not classify even that time period a blitz, but there was a good amount of fish around. If anyone goes after 8 am, it's no where near as good. My opinion is diamond jigs, with green, or red tubes is the lure to try. I got there at the end of outgoing tide, and got my bass on incoming, but the better bite was outgoing this morning. I saw one guy using a popper, but got 0.. I would have thought that a popper would have been good because of the shad. I would think that it could be worth a try if the tins aren't working.( I didn't watch everyone, so it is possible that some guys did get fish on poppers)... lurking,.....I remembered that you asked about the bait guys..So I asked a few..The bait guys that I spoke to had 0.. I don't know why they weren't getting bass since there were tons of shad, so chunks shoulda worked. As I was leaving after 2 pm I noticed that a few guys were heading out with bait setups. I'm not into bait fishing in the surf, but if I was I'd catch a shad and chunk it. There were very few birds hitting the bait close in. In fact, mostly no birds where I fished. So looking for birds may not tell the whole story. These fish are moving so who knows where they'll be tomorrow, but figured I'd let the surf guys know that the fish are still around... Still no bluefish though and non of us can figure why...If anyone finds them, I'd appreciate a pm, I love those yellow eyed devils... "IF" the shad stick around and you like catching them, I'd use a tin and even tie on a a teaser. Today, the shad wanted fast retrieve and stop, or retrieve and stop then kinda jig it.. They'd hit it almost any retrieve, but if you really wanna whack them try the varying retrieves.. They were far out as well as pretty close in...I hope that they stick around, The weather is supposed to change tonight, so as you know the fishing can change too. That's all I got.. I hope this helps someone... Good luck !