Al Ristori - The Complete Book of Surf Fishing

Copyright 2008 by Al Ristori

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The hardcover edition was cataloged by the Library of Congress as follows:
Ristori, Al.

The complete book of surf fishing / Al Ristori.
p.cm.

ISBN-13:978-1-60239-247-2 (pbk.:alk.paper)

ISBN-10:1-60239-247-1 (pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Surf fishing. 2. Surfcasting.

I.Title.

SH457.2.R57 2008

799.16dc22

2007042892

Cover design by Adam Bozarth

Photos by Al Ristori

Additional photography copyright Alberto Knie and copyright Joe Blaze, except where otherwise credited.

Paperback Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-537-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-038-8

Printed in China

To Joe Blaze, without whose help in photography, downloading and conversion of my old slides to a digital format this book never would have been completed.

Contents

Introduction

THE LURE OF THE SURF

Anglers who fish from the shore are a different breed. As difficult as it often is to catch fish from a boat, being restricted to a relatively small area and having to cast just to reach fishable water is a big disadvantage. It always amazes me when Im successful, especially on those red-letter days when fish are stacked up in front of me and the fishing is actually better than could ordinarily be expected from a boat.

Indeed, the completion of this book was delayed by a call that bluefish had been blitzing the beach. Id been boat fishing earlier in the day with Capt. Terry Sullivan, casting small plugs for mostly small striped bass in New Jerseys Navesink River (the original source of West Coast stripers) and cursing the big bluefish that were eating those plugs while interfering with our striper quest. Yet, bluefish in the surf are something else altogetherand I raced to the beach in hopes they might still be there.

A few birds were working offshore of Manasquan, along the northern New Jersey Shore, and I raced to the surf in front of them even though they were out of range. Since Id forgotten to grab my pliers or a dehooker, I decided for safetys sake to fish only with the single hook lures Id thrown into the chest pocket of my waders. The first cast with a 2-ounce diamond jig resulted in a hook-up with an 8-pound blue, and so did every other cast until the single hook broke as I was removing it from a bigger blue for another release. The two Tsunami shads I next utilized were sacrifices to the toothy critters, but they produced a few more blues and even a 23-inch striper that hit alongside a jetty. That left me only with a large Yo-Zuri Surface Cruiser thats a favorite lure though I didnt want to deal with the big treble hooks without pliers. Yet, every cast that late afternoon raised a bluefish from 7 to 13 pounds, and I was lucky enough to be able to remove them safely before one engulfed it and I had to conclude the evening by walking off the beach with that 12-pounder for the next nights dinner. Thirteen large bluefish in less than an hour, and without having to move more than a few yards, is good fishing anywhere, and quite possible if youre in the surf at the right time.

Joe Brooks, as fishing editor for Outdoor Life introduced a generation of anglers to the joys of surfcasting. (courtesy IGFA)

Surf fishing is a solitary pursuit. The angler, a seemingly endless shoreline, and the cycles of nature must come together for success. (Alberto Knie photo)

A fisherman who expects that to happen on a regular basis is bound to be a disappointed angler. Those of us dedicated to the sport put in countless hours trying to be at the right place at the right time, but only put it all together occasionally. Yet, theres a very special feeling of accomplishment when we do so. Even though I spend much of my time running a charter boat, I fish the surf as often as possible and have to agree with those who work the beach exclusively that one fish from the surf is worth ten from a boat!

My fascination with the surf started over a half-century ago when Mr. Kern, a kindly neighbor in Merrick, Long Island, took me to Jones Beach one Saturday morning to fish bloodworms in the surf. Though I didnt actually catch anything, a striped bass that was probably short of even the 16-inch minimum in effect at that time flipped off the hook in the wash before I could get to it. The bass got unhooked, but I was hooked on the surf.

Mr. Kern had real conventional (revolving spool) surfcasting tackle and could cast pretty well. It was another story when Billy McGuiness and I tried surfcasting on our own. We had started fishing by bicycling to Cammans Pond with bamboo poles to catch stunted sunfish. Our nonfishing fathers eventually bought us rods and reels, but they were short, stout boat outfits unsuited for casting even by an expert. Wed join my mother on her trips to Jones Beach for sunbathing and walk to the surffishing area where we waded out as far as possible in bathing suits before casting a sinker and baited hook, probably no more than 20 feet. Every cast with the revolving spool reels produced a backlash that we picked out while walking back to the beach.

Fortunately, there were a lot of blowfish and some northern kingfish in the surf those days, and we actually managed to catch an occasional fish, a thrill at any size for grammar school kids. Anything larger than a pound was unheard of for us though wed heard that experienced fishermen caught much larger fish such as striped bass at night. I did beach a sea monster, a 10-pound skate, while fishing one morning with Mr. Kern. That was by far my largest fish, and I remember proudly showing pictures of the ugly skate to my friends during eighth grade graduation from St. Barnabus in Bellmore.

Eventually, another neighbor built me a real 9-foot bamboo surf rod with just two guides and a Penn reel held on with clamps. My casts went a bit farther, but the backlashes became even larger.

It wasnt until spinning tackle became more common that my surfcasting significantly improved. What a difference there is now when a youngster can get started casting with an inexpensive spinning outfit and achieve success right away with relatively foolproof gear!