Sunday Surf

[Hookmanski]

Hit a Monmouth county beach at 5:30am this morning. Started at a deeper hole next to a jetty, got hooked up with something on my 5th cast but ended up losing it. Hit all the deeper holes in the area that I wanted to, and nothing was happening. No bird action, no bait. Beautiful morning though.

https://i.postimg.cc/BvM0DQzg/IMG-8705.jpg

Decided that instead of waiting for the tide to flood at that beach, I'd move on to an inlet nearby. Thought there would be more of a chance for some action there.

Pulled up and only a few other anglers were there, all practicing social distancing. Started throwing lures around but didn't find much. After about an hour, me and another guy who were there were putting on a Shad clinic.

https://i.postimg.cc/44KYJrKM/IMG-8713.jpg

They were great action and I finally caught a fish on my new shadow surf rod, which I love and highly recommend. I ended up with 20-25 of these, some quite small and others in the 15 inch and up range. Pretty awesome bite.

After that bite died down I started bouncing the bottom to see what I could find, which is where I got a decent little snapper blue (and another bycatch critter).

https://i.postimg.cc/Qtvx9dBz/IMG-8724.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/K8QG7NkB/IMG-8722.jpg

The guy next to me also caught a rat bass. It was the only one I saw caught all day. packed it up at 11:15 and headed home to run some errands and celebrate some mothers. Happy Mother's day to all the angler moms out thre!

Great morning on the water! Tight lines and stay safe!

[RAMMFISH66]

Nice catch!!! Better then staying home...

[Skolmann]

What were you catching the shad on ?

[Hookmanski]

Nice catch!!! Better then staying home...

Thanks, it certainly is!

What were you catching the shad on ?

All shad came on a gold stingnose minnow, one of my favorites.

[Skolmann]

All shad came on a gold stingnose minnow, one of my favorites.


Thanks 👍

[BigRock44]

nice report and photos!

[Brewlugger]

Nice report. What size Shadow did you get?

[Jigman13]

I got a 10'6 shadow this spring rated 1 to 4 oz. I can absolutely bomb 2 oz plugs with it. SPs with heavier hooks also go a country mile. Definitely a good value. Paired it with the spinfisher vi 4500 bailess. Nice light yet strong set up for stripers.

[Hookmanski]

Nice report. What size Shadow did you get?

I got a 10'6 shadow this spring rated 1 to 4 oz. I can absolutely bomb 2 oz plugs with it. SPs with heavier hooks also go a country mile. Definitely a good value. Paired it with the spinfisher vi 4500 bailess. Nice light yet strong set up for stripers.

I got the 9' MH rated for 1/2oz-2oz. My other surf rod is a 10' for 2-4 so they pair each other nicely. I too can bomb lures with this Shadow, maybe even further than my other rod. I had to be careful at the inlet to not cast clear to the other side :D I've been loving the shadow surf and recommend it to anyone. I have a shield 5000 on it which I also really enjoy.

[Jigman13]

I got a 10'6 shadow this spring rated 1 to 4 oz. I can absolutely bomb 2 oz plugs with it. SPs with heavier hooks also go a country mile. Definitely a good value. Paired it with the spinfisher vi 4500 bailess. Nice light yet strong set up for stripers.

Full disclosure on the reel. I smoked the pinion bearing in 3 to 4 trips on stripers to 36". Spoke with the folks at Penn and they sent me a brand new reel bc their warranty and repair division has been closed due to covid-19. They were stunned at the damage and said it's not something they've seen on the newer models.