Summary of 2009 surf fishing season:

54 stripers (18 keepers 28-40", 30 shorts, 6 rats)

9 bluefish (2 choppers)

2 nice weakfish, 2 short fluke

Sunset 12-30-2009

12-30-09 Fire Island Inlet side

Sunset 12-29-2009 Very cold (22F) with 30-35kts NW wind

Sunset 12-28-2009 Still waiting for clean water to try some herring fishing

Sunset 12-27-2009 Very dirty water after storm and snow meltdown

Report # 49,  December 15, Demo 9:00am -11:00am, Low Tide 12:38pm

SW 12 kts wind, 1-3' surf, overcast

Catch: none, 6 guys fishing, did see one rat caught on teaser.

10:30am still dangerous crossing to Demo Island.

12-14-09, 4-5pm, dirty water at inlet and at ocean side.

Report # 48,  December 13, Demo 1:00pm -2:15pm, Low Tide 11:04am

SE 25 kts wind, 3'-5' surf, steady rain.

Catch: none, not a touch, however good medicine for cabin fever.

Demo Island, on the way back to main land crossed 3'-4' deep water.

Water temp 48.2F (air 49F)

Ocean side 3'-5' surf, nice clean white water.

Report # 47,  December 12, 4:15pm -5:00pm, Sore Thumb, High Tide 3:48pm

W 10 kts wind, dirty water at temp 42F in inlet, 38F bay side, air 36F.

Short fishing effort due to cold and very dirty water on incoming current.

Vacant Demo point / island. After dark used soft artificial eel without touch.

Sunset 12-12-2009 at Sore Thumb

Lure on ice! Found patch of ice in back bay (water temp 38F or less)

Shore Thumb desert.

Sunset 12-11-2009, RM4, WNW 30kts wind, dirty water, too cold to fish.

Report # 46,  December 6, Demo 2:00pm -4:00pm, Low Tide 4:46pm

Sore Thumb 4:30pm-5:30pm, NNW 15 kts wind, flat surf.

Catch: none, did see two very small stripers beached at "Demo Island".

The tip of Demo is separated from main land, the island is about 150'x200'.

Sunset 12-6-2009 at Sore Thumb (no life)

Demo Island - 3 hours after high tide - 2' deep water to cross over ~40' width.

Report # 45,  December 5, RM 4x4 access 2:00pm, Low Tide 3:54pm

NE 25kts wind, 1-2' surf,  murky water , heavy rain.

Brief look at surf condition, .... went back home to read the book "The hunt for Big Stripers".

Report # 44,  December 4, Robert Moses #3,  4:30pm -5:30pm, Low Tide 3:05pm

W 8 kts wind, 2-3' surf, light brown water. Quick stop after work.

Wrong time to fish that beach, no access to deep water. Next time will try at high tide.

Sunset 12-4-2009 RM3

Report # 43,  December 3, Demo 3:45pm -5:30pm, Low Tide 2:16pm

W 15-25kts wind, 3-5' surf, water temp 54.5F measured on incoming current.

Catch: one short fish ~25"

Two more guys at the point. Did not see any other fish. Dangerous surf.  

Left early, water at high tide up to dunes.

Used heavy metal to get long distance - casting directly into the wind.

Big surf, up to 8' at ocean side.

Report # 42,  December 2, Robert Moses #4,  4:30pm -6:15pm, High Tide 7:00pm

S 12kts wind, 2-3' surf, water temp 52.4F-measured, overcast with rain at the end of trip.

Perfect condition (before incoming storm) to fish my favorite beach.

Full moon, but dark night, access to deep clean water -  thanks to high tide, nice warm south wind.

Catch: just one short striper ~26", enjoyed every minute of that trip. 13 days left to end of season.

Lucky bucktail, I had a lot of fish on first cast with that lure.

Report # 41,  December 1, Demo 4:30pm -7:00pm, High Tide 6:11pm

W 17kts wind, 2-4' surf, moon light, water temp 51.6F measured in inlet.

Alone at Demo after 5:30pm!!! Catch: none but had a good time.

Sunset 12-1-2009

Had only one tap on bucktail. After dark fished big lures for zero big fish.

Report # 40,  November 28, 2:30pm -3:30pm, Sore Thumb, High Tide 3:40pm

WNW 25-30 kts wind, light brown water at temp 54F,

Went fishing and scouting beaches. Catch: fresh air, zero fish.

Some brave surfcasters fishing at Demo in 30 kts wind.

Did not see any action there.

Picture taken form Sore Thumb with Canon G9 and binoculars 10X42.

sunset 11-28-2009 4:27pm at Robert Mosses 4x4 access 

Report # 39,  November 27, 6:30am -8:30am, Demo, Low Tide 9:18am

NNW 20kts wind, flat surf, too crowded even in rain.

Catch: 2 short stripers, saw 3 keepers and a lot of shorts beached.

Diving Gannets in Inlet at casting range, but for short time only.

Helped to rescue this Northern Gannet from tangle in fishing line.

This bird with one beak stroke drew blood from nose of fellow

surfcaster, gannet was targeting his eyes!

Demo 11-27-09 afternoon session, did see some small bass released.

Found this bird (Black Scoter) barely alive at the surf edge, moved to grass at dunes.

Sunset 11-27-2009

Report # 38,  November 26, 9:30am -11:30am, Demo, Low Tide 8:23am

NE 5kts wind, flat surf, water temp 54.2F measured on incoming current.

Catch: 2 stripers, ~33" and short one. Did see two more keepers beached 40.5"(24lbs) and ~30".

~33" on white bucktail with 5" porkrind red / white

~26"

Report # 37,  November 25, 8:30am -9:30am, Demo, Low Tide 7:18am

ENE 10kts wind, flat surf, water temp 54.5F (at NDBC44025)

Catch: 5 short stripers, saw a lot of action, mostly short fish with some keepers.

counted 24 surf sticks at 9 am.

water temp measured in inlet on outgoing current

This is a year of big sand eels run.

Link to info on sand eel: http://www.gma.org/fogm/Ammodytes_americanus.htm

Is essential to understand habits of sand eels and apply that to lure selection and presentation.

Best time for me to fish in inlets is about 2 hrs after low tide, end of outgoing current, with daylight.

Best lure: bucktail with long porkrind retrieved slowly close to bottom. 

sand eels

Report # 36,  November 24, 4:30pm -6:15pm, Demo, Low Tide 6:52pm

NNE 16kts wind, flat surf, water temp 54.7F (at NDBC44025) measured at shore 53.5F.

Quick stop after work. Catch: 3 stripers; 30" and 2 shorts

30" after short fight this fish run to the shore, I was thinking is over.

Short fish hit lure dragged on bottom

Sunset 11-24-2009

Report # 35,  November 23, 6:30am -8:15am, Demo, Low Tide 5:08am

NE 20kts wind, flat surf, water temp 54.9F, quick stop before work.

Catch: 10 stripers on bucktail; 36", 30", 2 x 28", 4 shorts, 2 rats.

36" released

about 12 surfcasters most of time.

30" all fish released

Report # 34,  November 22, 4:30pm -6:10pm, Demo, Low Tide 5:10pm

ENE 17kts wind, 0' surf,  went for easy fishing with my son John.

He caught 27" fat striper. I had one rat.

Sunset 11-22-2009 at Demo 4:30pm

Happy John with striper (his first on lure striper in season '09)

27"  released quickly without touching

Report # 33,  November 21, 4:00pm -6:30pm, Demo, Low Tide 4:26pm

NNW 10kts wind, 0-2' surf,  arrived to early to over crowded Demo point,

did see some stripers caught, but all shorts. Some eel grass in water.

Catch: 2 stripers, 26" and rat.

Sunset 11-21-2009

Report # 32,  November 20, 4:15pm -6:30pm, Demo, Low Tide 3:46pm

WNW 17kts wind, 0-1' surf,  quick stop after work.

Catch: 3 stripers, 40", 27" and rat.

Sunset 11-20-2009 at Demo 4:20pm.

27" on sand eel imitation

4:30pm sundown

40", 22 Lbs, nice fight, almost straighten hook on my bucktail.

40", so far the biggest fish of 2009.

Report # 31,  November 20, 5:00am -7:30am, Demo, High Tide 9:04am

SW 16kts wind, 3-5' surf, water temp 55.2F, heavy rain with lighting at first hour of trip.

Catch: 2 stripers, one 37" and rat. 

Report # 30,  November 18, 3:30pm -5:30pm, Demo, Low Tide 2:25pm

ENE 17kts wind, 0-1' surf, water temp 55.2F,

Catch: 4 stripers, one 35" and 3 shorts. 

fish #1, all shorts released without touching.

fish #2, 35.0" good fighter, bite my hand 3 times!, bad boy with attitude released

Lure of choice, drifted by current, perfect imitation of sand eel.

fish #3

fish #4

Sunset 11-18-2009 at Demo

Report # 29,  November 17, 5:00pm -6:30pm, Demo, High Tide 7:21pm

ENE 14kts wind, 0-2' surf, water temp 55.6F,

Catch: 37" striper (17lbs) and one short.  Quick stop after work.

Did see a lot of short fish, but only two keepers. Fish are feeding on sand eels. 

Demo crowd (about 15 guys, most of them fishing with tin+green tube)

Sunset 11-17-2009

~ 26" fat boy, released without touching

37", 17lbs, full of sand eels.

11-14-09 Gilgo, Left over of storm Ida. 4-5' surf, light brown water, no fish.

11-14-09 Demo entrance.

Report # 28,  November 11, 6-7am at RM3, 8-9 am at Sore Thumb, 2-4pm at Demo

High Tide 2:14pm, NE - ENE 20kts wind, 2-3' surf, birds working in inlet.

All day fishing for one keeper striper at Demo.

My "bluefish killer" lure producing only stripers, can't find any bluefish lately.

28.0" on edge - released

Sunset 11-8-09, Fished RM4 with my son John, zero fish, nice sunset.

11-8-09

Sunset 11-3-09 at RM3, zero fish, no birds, no baitfish.

Report # 27,  November 3, 9:30am -12:00pm, Demo, Low Tide 1:44pm

WSW 10kts wind, 1-2' surf, strong outgoing current with full moon tonight.

Fished with my son John, easy trip, good weather = bad fishing.

Catch: one short striper on "bluefish killer" plug.

Sunset 11-1-09  Zero fish at Gilgo and Demo.

Report # 26,  October 31, 8:00pm -10:00pm, Demo, High Tide 6:08pm

S 25kts wind, 4-6' surf, strong wind with rough surf.

Catch: one 30" striper. Very tough fishing conditions, limited selection of lures to use.

Report # 25,  October 30, 7:00pm -9:00pm, Demo, High Tide 5:24pm

SE 9kts wind, 0-1' surf, water temp 58.8F,

Catch: one 36" striper. Nice night to be out.

Report # 24,  October 27, 6:00pm -7:00pm, RM4, Low Tide 9:44pm

NE 14kts wind, 1-2' surf with white water at temp 59.9F,

Quick stop after work. Catch: one short striper.

Report # 23,  October 25, 5:00pm -7:00pm, Demo, Low Tide 7:52pm

WNW 12kts wind, 2-3' surf, water temp 60.1F,

Catch: nice sunset, 10 guys, zero fish or bend rods.

Report # 22,  October 22, 8:00pm -11:00pm, Demo, High Tide 11:08pm

WSW 17kts wind, 3-5' surf, water temp 60.6F,

Catch: one 31" striper and lost 4 fish, two of them with plugs.

My 40 lbs leader line was not strong enough to fight big fish in fast water current (changed already to 60lbs)

Guy next to me had about 20 stripers 15-30 lbs, amazing fishing night.

Sunset 10-22-09 Ocean side West of  RM2

31" Democrat Point

Sunset 10-20-09, No fish, no birds, no baitfish.

Report # 21,  October 19, 6:00pm -7:00pm, RM4, High Tide 8:42pm

WNW 10kts wind, 0-2' surf, water temp 60F,

A lot of beach erosion after storm, flat shallow beach, light brown water.

Needs day or two to clear up. Catch: one small rat striper.

Sunset 10-19-09

10-18-09 Fire Island Inlet, did see a seal swimming into the inlet.

Report # 20,  October 12, 3:30pm -6:00pm, Demo, High Tide 2:30pm

No wind, flat surf, water temp 63F,

Fished lures in Fire Island inlet, last of incoming current.

Catch: one 36" (~20lbs) striper and three small bluefish.

10-12-09, fishing fresh water lake with John. Brown trout about 12-13".

Sunset 10-10-09 Dirty, brown water, no fish.

Sunrise 10-10-09 No life to be found.

Report # 19,  October 8, 6:00pm -7:00pm, RM4, Low Tide 5:16pm

NW 10kts wind, 0-1' surf,  Water temp 64F.

Quick stop after work, caught  one sea robin and fresh air.

Report # 18,  October 5, 4:30pm -6:30pm, High Tide 8:35pm

W 17-20kts wind, 0-2' surf,  Reconnaissance trip to Gilgo and Demo.

Caught  one 33" bluefish at Demo, nice fight.

Report # 17,  October 3, 6:00pm -8:00pm, RM4, High Tide 7:21pm

SSE 12kts wind, 3-4' surf,  Perfect condition produced 3 short fish.

Report # 16,  October 3, 11:30am -1:30pm, RM4, Low Tide 1:39pm

SE 8kts wind, 3-4' surf,  white water

Scouting beach for structures at low tide. Found good spots to fish at night.

No working birds or baitfish in water. Got bonus, one short striper.

Report # 15,  October 2, 6:00pm -7:30pm, RM4, High Tide 6:44pm

SE 25kts wind, 4-5' surf, a lot of white water at temp 65F,

Fished lures at ocean side, very nice surf, had 3 strikes, landed two fish 29" and 28".

All fish located in shallow water, close to shore.

Report # 14,  September 19, 6:30pm -7:30pm, RM4, High Tide 8:20pm

No wind, flat surf, water temp 67F,

Scouting beach with my son John, no signs of life in water.

Catch: zero fish, 5 starfish, sunset. 

Report # 13,  September 2, 8:30pm -9:30pm, Sore Thumb, High Tide 6:39pm

9 kts E wind, water temp 70F,

Went fishing with my son John

Catch: one weakfish 21", plus had a two bite-offs by bluefish.

Report # 12,  September 1, 7:30pm -8:30pm, Sore Thumb, High Tide 5:57pm

7 kts E wind, water temp 68F,

Fished inlet: long casts, sink lure to bottom and slow retrieve.

Catch: one weakfish 23"

Report # 11,  August 15, 8:30pm -9:30pm,   Robert Moses #2, Low Tide 10:16pm

2-3' surf, 12 kts S wind, water temp 75F, some eel grass.

Fished lures on open beach.

Catch: one striper on first cast (26" released), had another strike.

Report # 10,  August 14, 3:00pm -6:00pm,  Nissequogue River, High Tide 6:00pm

Fished from Kayak for 5 small bluefish, one short fluke, and many sea robins.

Report # 9,  August 13, 5:00pm -8:00pm,  Demo, outgoing tide

Take kids fishing with clams and bunker.

Catch: one short  Fluke (20") and two sea robins.

Freshwater lake fishing 7/4/09

Sunset  on Demo 7/3/09

Report # 8,  July 2, 8:00pm -1:00am,   Robert Moses #2, Low Tide 11:13pm

Fished clams and bunker for one short  striper (26")

Report # 7,  June 28, 8:50pm -10:00pm,   Robert Moses #2, Low Tide 7:12pm

2-3' surf, 5-10 kts SW wind, some weeds in water.

Fished lures on open beach, slow retrieve, short casts.

Catch: one keeper striper (28" released), lost another fish in wash. All 3 hits after dark.

Report # 6,  May 10, 8:00pm -9:20pm,   Sore Thumb, High Tide about 9pm

Fished lures after sunset , incoming current, strong West wind.

Catch: one cocktail and one chopper size bluefish.

Report # 5,  May 9,

Went  fishing with my son John on small, fresh water lake in CT.

Used miniature spinners and had a lot of action.

~30" Pike

Report # 4,  April 26, 7:40pm -8:40pm,   Sore Thumb, High Tide 9pm

Fished lures after sunset without any luck, strong incoming current, light SW cold wind.

Report # 3,  April 11, 7:00pm -7:40pm,   Robert Moses #2

Scouting beach around sunset, 4 days before opening season for striper bass.

Report # 2,  April 05, 6:00pm -7:30pm,   Democrat Point  

Conditions: SSW 11 kts wind, 2' surf, water temp 44F, high tide about 5:00pm

Scouting trip, Demo 4WD is fully open for fishing business, we just sharing beach with protected birds.  

Report # 1,  March 26, 4:30am -4:30pm,  charter trip from Montauk Point  

Conditions: Light wind, 4-5' in swells

Bait: fresh clams

Catch: 35 codfish (22"-36") for 5 fisherman.

I was high hook with 9 keepers and about 12 shorts, 3 double headers.