June 15th, “the itty bitty worm story”

June 15th, “the itty bitty worm story”

     Bill Crooks from Englewood, FLA comes every year to spend the summer in the area and pass the time away fishing. Bill, originally from the Newburyport area, as well as the rest of the family love flounder, so Bill will park himself along the oceanfront and patiently fish for those little guys. He doesn’t want to waste the worms (flounder will nibble away at a bigger worm) so he cuts them up into pieces and uses “itty, bitty” pieces on a flounder hook. Bill only caught one flounder today, but this big boy (31-4 lbs) took that itty bitty worm on the itty bitty flounder hook and woofed it down. It was caught just after high tide, what we like to call “the turn of the tide”.  And that is no fish story………………………………

Stickman
stickman@surflandbt.com

Stickman is the resident web design guy at Surfland. We pay him in eels.

16 Comments
  • talljeff
    Posted at 20:32h, 15 June

    fished joppa last night 8pm-230am..fish up to 44 inches.. 28lbs.. couple 42’s. great night. toby and chris out there tonite. waiting on report. will be there thurs all day on joppa. happy bait guys!!

  • JOEY JOE JOE
    Posted at 11:21h, 16 June

    how many dead fish can you post!

    • admin
      Posted at 11:30h, 16 June

      Feel free to send you C&R pics, I’ll post those too.

  • Hungry Fisherman
    Posted at 12:19h, 16 June

    I come on here to see these “dead fish”. So keep it up! Catch and release is great, but it dosent make my mouth water like a nice fillet-o-striper!

  • Jesse
    Posted at 12:26h, 16 June

    Within the regs and perfectly legal….not sure why JOE JOE JOE has an issue. There’s always one! I C&R a lot of fish but don’t criticize those that take one for the table now and then. Sad you have to make a comment like that.

  • Jesse
    Posted at 13:06h, 16 June

    I agree completely with Hungry Fisherman; in fact, I never go to see the gang at Surfland for anything other than gear and bait…..but JOE JOE JOE just gave me another reason. Will be hanging my catch from a hook REAL SOON!

  • Mikeys Dad
    Posted at 19:26h, 16 June

    Man, what a great day to be a fisherperson!! Was lucky enough to be one of only a few boats in a nice blitz at the top of the tide. All keepers, up to 20#’s, all on live macks. Tried some lures, but they only wanted live bait from me. All in all, 15 keepers in an hour.

  • Green Ghost
    Posted at 07:31h, 17 June

    I cannot believe the number of large spawing fish being removed from the water. take a 28 inch fish, put back the others. why do you think we have this fishing now? because the 36 inch limit for multiple years protected the spawners. It takes 6 years to grow one 28 inch fish. Same reason there are no small fish, 75 % of the population died from Disease in the chesapeake! the future is grim.

  • bob
    Posted at 19:01h, 17 June

    AGREED…..cmon Surfland you know the state of this fishery…….keep the yahoo’s coming and post em all…:-(

  • Hungry Fisherman
    Posted at 08:15h, 18 June

    Green Ghost or Green Peace? Either way there is no way 75% of the population died from disease in the chesapeake. Back it up with a source. I have already caught a dozen stripers <16" and several dozen in the 16-26 range. Between this year and last I would say this is the healthiest I have seen the stock since the 80's. Now I'm off to go get me a big boy to throw on the grill later.

  • Green Ghost
    Posted at 08:39h, 19 June

    Green Peace? not exactly, Just want to preserve the spawners for the future. Do not be surprised when the feds universally increase the size limit.

    http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/07-2083.1?journalCode=ecap

    You should be catching 50 twinkies per day like in the early 2000’s after the recovery. IT’s estiamted that > 50 % are now diseased with a 75% juvenile mortality peaking in 2009. Still takes 6-7 years to get a 28-inch fish. A little research would lead you to some other conclusions. By the way, released a keeper myself yesterday.

  • pkw1689
    Posted at 14:06h, 21 June

    Keeping a fish to eat is perfectly legal, but leaving a fish to bake on the sand for a few hours while you continue fishing and then parading it through a tackle shop doesn’t make too much sense to me – and, yes, I know there is mortality associated with catch-and-release fishing; 50 twinkies a day is not too sensible either in my opinion — and, while I’m at it, I would be very psyched to learn that bait fishermen are being encouraged to use circle hooks! Every style of fishing can be made easier or harsher on the fish depending on how conservation-minded the fisherman is.

  • pkw1689
    Posted at 14:07h, 21 June

    PS: Surfland: Thank you for so many years of excellent service and advice and thank you for this site!

  • Mikeys Dad
    Posted at 20:40h, 21 June

    Circle hooks are great for those that stick their rods in a sand spike! Hold the rod, and yank it back with a good hook set. They’re all in the corner of the mouth.
    Thanks, Kay, Martha, Liz, Billy, etc. You’re the best!

  • LeenoteeL
    Posted at 14:44h, 22 June

    I can remember fishing for shad at the Lawrence Dam 20-25 yrs ago, and catching many 12-14 in. stripers.

    Then about 12-15 yrs. ago those bruisers were running thru the Haverhill/N Andover stretch. I mean nice healthy wide shouldered fish. All this while there was a 36 in limit.

    At the time, if you took a look at the picture board, it would take until September to get what you now get by June for the number of photos in the shop.

    Maybe it could be thought to only post pictuers of fish 25 lbs or better on the web, and in the shop to bring bach some “bragging rights” for at least a respectable fish instead of some sort of stroke to someones ego for a “KEEPAH”. Of course a young kid catching a good fish puts a smile on any sportsmen face, and occasionally that would be nice to see as an exception.

    I know it would not stop all those who think because it is a legal fish that they have to keep it, but it may encourage other to put back a 30 in fish for the future of the stock.

  • Mikeys Dad
    Posted at 18:27h, 22 June

    I got a bunch today again, and tried my best to catch and release all of them, but, had to keep 2 as they inhaled 2 circle hooks into the gills! Was even holding the rod?? At least they are nice grill size fish (30″).

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