Happy New Year!!

Here is hoping everyone had a great 2011 and an even better 2012. Now it is time to relax with my family on the beach and start the year out right with some surf fishing. Look for a few more salty posts as I left Foggy Mountain for the week and a new set of goals for 2012.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. 

- Benjamin Franklin

Country Roads, Take Me Home..

Last Fish of the Trip.

As you are reading this, if all goes well, I should be on my way back to West Virginia and my Foggy Mountain. It's always hard to leave at the end of vacation, but it makes it a little easier to know that I have a place down here anytime I want. It has been a great two weeks and has helped develop my new hobby and love for Surf Fishing! The last few days of surf fishing went well....

The last few mornings have began to blur together,  but each morning has been a great experience. With the help of JM of Something's Fishy, I have managed to find a love for a new form of fishing, Surf Fishing. It was an interesting adventure in the salt water! The last four days I've only managed to catch two more sand sharks, but I did load up on quite a few more whiting, with a few that rivaled my personal best (sadly, I didn't get to measure them). The most interesting morning was the morning that I couldn't catch anything but Channel Catfish, when the first one hit I wasn't even close to knowing what was on the end of my line. The bite didn't feel like anything I had reeled in before, but as soon I saw those whiskers I knew what I had caught. With my last bit of shrimp and last cast today, I ended up landing my largest catfish of the trip. I couldn't help but laugh as I returned my that catfish into the ocean, because all I could think was I could be home catching catfish but I had to come all the way to a sandy shore in Florida to do it. I wouldn't have it any other way though!

My last morning fishing and releasing the last fish I caught that day.

Although, I am sad to leave behind the salty shore, John Denver said it best when he said, "Country roads, take me home.. To the place I belong.. West Virginia, Mountain Mama.. Take me home, country roads.."

Guest Post: SoCal Salty on ICAST

Hi guys. My name is Joe, and I write a blog called SoCal Salty about my fishing adventures in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California. Justin asked me to fill in a bit over here on FMM while he was on vacation. It's funny because he's been messaging me about how much he's enjoying fishing in the salt, so I hope he comes back here and continues to give you Trail Cam Tuesdays and the rest of his great stuff ;-)

I posted on my blog recently about my first trip to ICAST, the huge fishing tackle show in Las Vegas. It's where all the manufacturers trot out their new gear for the retail tackle shops to see and stock in their stores in the coming year. I was lucky enough to be granted media access, so I thought I'd share with you some of the interesting finds.

VMC Spinshot Hooks

VMC Spinshot Hooks

These hooks are designed for drop shot rigs. The hooks are suspended in the middle of a swivel with eyes above and below the hook. The idea is that you tie the top end to your main line, and then tie some leader to the eye below the hook to your weight. The typical line twist issues prevalent in a drop shot scenario go away. These hooks won best of show in the Terminal Tackle category and I can't wait to try them out.

They only make these up to 1/0, so I asked VMC when they were going to start making them bigger to suit the fishing we do out here. 1/0 is just barely big enough and I'm going to try them for sand bass fishing, but you should definitely give them a look for fishing those bass holding deeper in your home lake. (vmchooks.com)

Logic Lures Wiggly Jiggly Heads

The Logic Lures Lineup

I thought these jig heads looked really promising. Essentially, the idea is that instead of a static head fused onto a hook scenario, these are built so that there is a joint between the lead head and the business end of the lure. One benefit of using them that I observed was that when attaching plastics they swam the body too, and not just the tail.

The problem for me is that they only make them up to a 1/4 oz. Someone buy these and let us all know if they help you get more hook ups. (logiclures.com)

Bait Saver Hooks

Bait Saver Hooks

Finally, one I can use today. These are normal hooks that have a thin gauge wire on either side of the hook and and a little brass collar on the shank. You attach your bait then cinch down the collar. The wire clamps down on the bait so that your bait is more secure on the hook. I love the funky baits that freshwater guys tell me they use...wonder bread, chicken livers etc. These hooks should be great to help you keep those baits on a hook longer. I plan to use them for flylining anchovies which are fond of flying off my hook midcast. Check out this video to see what I'm talking about: http://www.baitsaverhooks.com/how-to-use/
I hope you found this information useful. Tight lines!

On the Water: July 22 - 25, 2011

This is a whole new version of an "On the Water" report, normally it is  a post about me running up and down the river banks. That's not what's happening this time, this time I am thigh deep in salt water. I have been a little busy fishing the last few day as well as laying on the beach and just relaxing, since I am on vacation, haha. But I will get everyone caught up with a quick overview of each day I went fishing as well as a few pictures.

July 22, 2011

This day went great and horrible all at the same time, it was the first time I set foot in the water attempting to be a surf fisher. It went well I hooked up with two whiting, but the managed to get off roughly, five to ten feet from me. This was due in part to the fact that I was using store bought rigs, and not the homemade ones JM had instructed me to use when he was giving me advice early last week. This instilled the confidence I need to know I could catch fish, and the need to start tying my own rigs. Since I started using my own rigs, I haven't lost a fish.

July 23, 2011

My First Surf Fish

Armed with my own rigs I gave it another try the next evening after a day on the beach. I wasn't expecting much as the other fisherman around where not catching much, but I was hopeful.  Apparently all I needed was a little hope and dumb luck, I managed to land my first fish only a few casts in that evening. It wasn't a beast, it wasn't even the hardest fighting fish, but it was my first. It was a seven to eight inch Whiting (See picture left). I was ecstatic, yes even for a little fish like that, but what I was about to catch next would put a smile on my face you couldn't wipe off. As the second wave of people came to the beach they slowly started pushing me away from where I was fishing. I decided walk down the beach to avoid the swimmers and surfs and it paid off. I cast in and was starting to wonder how a larger fish would feel if it hit, luckily I didn't have to wait long, I felt something tug on the line, it wasn't much of a fight, but it was a 15 inch Sand Shark (my largest thus far). It was only a baby, but for a redneck from West Virginia it was amazing to catch even a baby shark.

July 24, 2011

First Catch of the Day

Sunrise

After catching my first fish and shark while surf fishing, I was hooked (no pun intended). Cassie and I decided to get up and early and head to the beach for some early morning fishing. It paid for itself, just with the sunrise and calm of getting to sit on the beach with no one around you. I did manage to catch three Whiting and another Sand Shark, nothing very sizable, but it was fun to be catching fish in the ocean with some amount of regularity.

July 25, 2011

Another morning, another beautiful sunrise and another round of three whiting and a sand shark.

First Cast and First Catch all in one.

Another sand shark

My Largest Whiting to date, 13".

Why is Foggy Salty?

Cheeseburger in Paradise...

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm on vacation. I first thought I would take a two week hiatus from Foggy Mountain, the physical location and the blog, but I was only able to leave one behind. I've been slacking a little as of late, so I figured this would be a great time to get caught up, but over the next week and a half everything (excluding TCT) will have a salty twist to it.

With the help of JM of Something's Fishy & Surf Fishing for Beginners and Joe of SoCal Salty, everyone will get a few guest posts, a few laughs at me attempting to surf fish, and of course a lot of pictures.

My family

Foggy goes Salty...

Foggy Mountain is going Salty for a few weeks...

Stay tuned for more details...