Use a permanent magic marker to color the points and the tops of your hooks and it will keep them from rusting out!

We do this all the time with Shark hooks and the hooks on Tuna lures. We sharpen these hooks with a file or stone every time we use them and if left “un-treated”, they will be rusted to death the next time you use them. So sharpen them up and coat them good with a sharpie and they’ll be good as new then next time you need them!

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It’s a well known FACT that Tuna can be a very “line shy” fish and we’ve personally experienced this many times… first hand.

One particular time was the first time my wife ever came to the Canyon with us. We were anchored up for the night and we were reading the bait and the Tuna on the machine but couldn’t get a bite. We started to slowly scale down our Flourocarbon Leaders from 80lb down to 60lb… down to 50lb… down to 40lb…. down to 30lb…. FISH ON. Ended up with 11 Yellowfin’s up to around 75 pounds that night… all on 30 lb Flouro leaders. Had to back the drags off a bit and fight them gently but that’s what did the trick!

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Fluke fishing is very “current” sensitive, meaning you need to be drifting or moving to present a bait properly. Fluke are predators and use current to ambush their food.

So when conditions don’t offer a nice drift, like when you have the wind against the tide or around slack tide… try bumping the boat in and out of gear, slowly powering the boat in the direction the current SHOULD be going…. essentially making your own drift!

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With the ridiculous new Fluke regulations, we’re almost forced to change the way we fish for “keeper” Fluke. So you need to target the bigger ones now… fish BIG!

Bigger baits should mean bigger hooks and in some cases, TWO HOOK RIGS! A whole squid, live snappers and even large strip baits can sometimes require a tandem rig. Try an adjustable, two hook rig like the Spro rigs for example. These are great because no matter what size bait you’re using, you can adjust the hooks to fit it!

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With Clam Chumming for Stripers in full swing now, the Gamakatsu Octopus hooks are THE most popular style hook used by our customers for this style of fishing. These hooks happen to have an off-set eye and work best when they are SNELLED on a leader, as opposed to simply tying them on.

Straight eye hooks, like the Gamakatsu Octopus SE 4X hooks, for example, can be snelled OR tied on… there is no off-set to worry about!

Take a look at the picture below and you can see the difference in the eye’s of the hooks.

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Fishing for Striped Bass in the dark can be one of the best times to catch them, especially during the heat of the summer.

One of the age old secrets is BLACK LURES at night! Black Bombers, black Bucktails with black porkrind trailers, black wobble-heads / tubes, black Darters and metal lips and needlefish… I could go on and on… can be absolutely deadly!

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Back your drag off a little! With the “Zero Stretch” lines, you can very easily break a rod or reel and with no give at all, this line can open up big holes in the mouth’s of the fish… making it easier for the hook to fall out!

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Can’t find the leak in your waders, hip boots or knee boots? Try filling them with water and watch where the water leaks OUT! Mark it so you know where it is and patch it up! We recommend the Aquaseal product for anything that needs to be waterproof. It works extremely well and it’s very easy to use!

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Bucktails Jigs are one of the greatest, all time, lures for catching Striped Bass. They are available in a WIDE variety of colors and sizes. BUT, if I had to pick one to fish the rest of my life with… give me WHITE!

In addition, we would highly recommend using some kind of trailer on a bucktail. Something like a twister tail, or my personal favorite, pork rind.

Many people have a tendancy to over-fish a bucktail by hoping and jigging it along. Nine times out of ten, a nice slow and steady retrieve is all that is necessary.

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Is your line mysteriously breaking or getting frayed? We see this quite often in the shop, someone will stop in, have us put new line on their reel and claim that the old line keeps breaking. The next day, they’re back… with more broken line problems. the FIRST THING to check are your guides… especially the tip guide. Even a hairline crack or cut in the guide can cause your line to fray and weaken, and in many cases you can’t even see the crack… but it’s there.

Use a Q-Tip and run it along the inside of the guides, the cotton is soft enough to get caught on even the smallest of cracks. Once you find it, replace the guide or the tip…. then replace your weakened line…. again… and you’ll be good to go!

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Surf fishing with fresh bunker seems to be one of the more popular ways to fish for Striped Bass on Long Island beaches, these days. However, what many people don’t realize is that the HEAD of the bunker is historically one of THE BEST, big fish, baits of ALL TIME! Too many people cut the bunker into chunks and throw the heads away… Don’t do it! Some of our more “savy” surf fisherman buy fresh bunker from us and use ONLY the heads.

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When using mono… change it often. The line is the ONLY link between YOU and the FISH, so why take chances using old line? Obviously the more you use it, the more often you should change it. Plus, on spinning rods in particular, fresh line won’t be as “springy” as older line, making it much more cooperative and easier to fish with!

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Braided lines are definately becoming more and more popular every season, but few people tend to use enough mono leader material. We always recommend using some kind of leader to provide just a little stretch. This will help on hook-sets and won’t let the hook open too big of a hole in the fish’s mouth! It also makes it easy to tie rigs and lures without having to worry about using any special knots!

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SHARPEN THOSE HOOKS… Every hook, everytime out. For example, the mouth of a Striped Bass has some very hard parts made for crushing clams, lobsters and crabs. It takes a pretty sharp hook to stick in to that!

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