SWIMMING THE FAR ROCKS
By Paul Melnyk
If you're tired of fighting with the crowds on the beaches elbowing yourself a spot to fish among dozens of other surfcasters, than wading to the rocks may be the what you are looking for. In the last several years I have begun to rely on this often overlooked surfcasting technique. The basic idea is to reach the outer rips and holes that are often to far to cast to.
Although this is an effective method, it is important to understand that there are risks involved with placing yourself in the tide stream. Along with the inevitable harvest, there are the hazards involved in climbing some distant perch in the middle of a dynamic sea. I do however, feel that the hazards involved are outweighed by the chance to bag some of the largest stripers and bluefish in the surf.
Lets start with equipment. The most important piece of gear in the rock hound's inventory is a wetsuit. This piece of apparatus offer's several important assets for getting out to the rocks. The benefit of added buoyancy to a person who is equipped in this manner is substantial. Floating while dressed in neoprene is almost effortless. A completely immobilized person would float automatically, so if you trip and fall you will not have to worry about sinking. Another asset of a good quality wetsuit (5mm or more in thickness) is that it is extremely warm. In addition neoprene has the ability to absorb the shocks and bumps that are most common in the surf. I would advise you to acquire a two piece affair, with a jacket and farmer John pants. Use only the bottom half when it is very warm, such as in August. This will keep you from becoming overheated. A one piece suit of 3mm or less is good only in the summer months and will not be warm enough for the fall. Flotation is also minimal with this lighter gear. Don't buy an outfit that is too tight! This will restricted your range of motion.
Exposure to those Fall winds and seas can be bone chilling. It is possible to fish in a five or six millimeter wetsuit, well into November, when water temperatures drop into the 50's. Under these conditions you should also include a fleece lining, neoprene boots, gloves and hood. Gloves will also help you keep your fingers when bluefish are biting. I use synthetic-leather palmed divers gloves. These gloves will also protect your casting finger from being cut.
Next on the list of equipment should be a good pair of wading cleats. These allow the caster to cling to the rocks coated with seaweed and barnacles. They also allow you to withstand the force of any rogue swell that would otherwise topple you from that precarious roost. A good quality product such as "Korkers" is what I would recommend. These cleated soles are good for reaching locations in water up to 5 feet deep. Make sure that you affix your Korkers securely to your feet. It is nearly impossible to fish in one cleat, although I have done it on occasion. To avoid the expense of replacement I have learned how to fasten them on. I have found the laces supplied with Korkers to be rather lacking. I replace these with durable, mountaineering cord, which is available at most good sporting supply houses. This is a multi colored, nylon braided cord, of about 1/4 inch in diameter. Several good square knots do a good job of tying the cleats. I have also seen guys use electricians zip ties to make a semi permanent fastener for their creepers, in place of the laces. I have found that fastening my Korkers to a pair of sneakers with stainless steel screws works well. bind them through the heel and toe. Golf shoes may also be used as wading cleats. These must be the old fashion type with metal studs in the sole. Try them on with your neoprene socks for a proper fit.
A utility belt with the following accessories is important to the rock hound. You will need a good pair of pliers that has a cutting edge. I use Van Staal pliers, which I have found to be indestructible. Attach this to a retrieving lanyard. Dive shops are a good source for these. A hook extractor or is another necessity. Often a fish will swallow the hooks, especially when fishing live baits. A good stainless steel diver's knife is recommended just in case you need to cut something in a hurry. I keep this strapped to my calf. If you plan to take fish home, bring along a stringer. A piece of that Mountain rope with a belt loop will do. I do not recommend you keep fish with you while out on a rock. This has been known to attract sharks. I would suggest that you learn about conservation and the value of catch and release. If you wish to keep a fish, bring it into the beach and secure it above the tide line. Other articles I have placed on my belt are extra pork rinds and curly tail baits, hooks and leaders. I place these in water tight cases. Some gadget to hold your rod is a good addition. I use a piece of two and one half inch PVC pipe, cut into a quarter inch ring. This is suspended from my belt with on a three inch loop of nylon strap. This serves as a place to stow my rod when I need two hands. The butt goes through the PVC ring and them between my knees. Look Ma-no hands!.... Bring a flask of drinking water on long trips. A portable canteen will help keep you hydrated. Leave some stuff on the beach. Try to remember that you are in an inhospitable environment where things tend to go wrong. You don't have to bring everything out into the water with you. Less is more. It is not uncommon to hook up a lunker in the outer rips. It sucks when you get tangled in your gear.
I would recommend a medium-fast action spinning rod of ten or eleven
feet. I prefer graphite rods for their lightness and stiffness. Lamiglass,
Star Rods, Kennedy Fisher and G. Loomis, are a few of the better known brands.
You can find these ready made at any good tackle distributor. A one piece
rod is best in the surf. I have seen people cast off the tip of a rod in
the middle of a blitz. You may also find yourself using the butt of your
rod as a walking stick on the way in and out. You might want to reinforce
the butt of your rod if you plan to use it as a cane. Complete your rod
with a good quality, rubber e
nd cap.
A dependable waterproof spinning reel such as the Van Staal VS-250, will land a big linesider with little trouble. Other brands such as Penn, or Shimano are good but must be made water resistant. Open the reel and pack it with a teflon based lubricant. Be sure to maintain your reels regularly. Corrosion is a constant problem in the salt water environment and very few reels are manufactured with wetsuiters in mind. When choosing line, look for a brand with good abrasion characteristics. Out on the reef, these fish will often run back into the rocks and wedge themselves in tightly. A good twenty pound test monofilament line is sufficient to fight these fish. This is strong enough for the battle, but light enough to break if you hang the bottom. I have begun using the new super braided lines. This stuff is slick and will outcast mono by 20 yards! A good strong leader is a must for landing big fish on a rocky coast. This should be at least 20 inches long to give you something to grab onto when landing the fish. Some sharpies go all out and by fluorocarbon leader stock. I have found 80 pound Andee makes good leader material and Andee won't bust your budget. A #5 barrel swivel on one end and a Coastlock clip on the other, will finish it off.
Where should you stow your plugs? I use a small four inch by fourteen inch tackle bag with only six inserts to keep my plugs and jigs handy. Make sure any bag has a secure latch. Velcro is great for fast access, but it won't stay closed in the waves. It is frustrating as all hell to watch your plugs go floating by. For extra security, I wrap my bag with a bungee cord to keep it from opening. I take only those lures or bucktailes that I feel conform to the prevailing bait. It is silly to have every plug known to man out there with you. This just adds more things to get in your way. Watch out for treble hooks! It is just as easy to hook yourself with one of these, when you are thrashing about trying to land that fish. I bend the barbs on trebles to make it easier to release my catch. Better still, replace the trebles with single hooks. You may miss a few strikes, but landing the fish will be more manageable. Forget about using teasers when out on the reef. You will only get hurt with that extra hook flailing about.
Live eels are the way to hook those larger bass with consistency. When using live eels, I place each eel in an individual ziplock sandwich bag. I remove the inserts and stuff these eel-bags in my tackle bag. I find that six or seven baits are usually enough. These will stay alive all night if you poke some pinholes in each bag to let water in. To use a bait, take out a bag, hook the eel right through the plastic and then pull him through, ripping it. Please don't foul our waters! Take your trash back with you! It is possible to catch more than one fish per eel. The Largest bass I ever caught was on a dead eel that had already taken several fish. Always bring a bucktail or tin along, just in case bluefish are around. These choppers can devour 7 eels in about 5 minutes when they are hungry so switch to a jig when they are around.
What about getting to those rocks in deeper water? Lately I have taken
to wearing flippers and swimming out to some of the better perches. These
are a hundred or more yards from the beach. Some of these platforms sit
in the middle of very strong currents, so use caution. Flippers make these
otherwise suicidal spots do able. Only good quality diving fins are what
I recommend. You can usually drive 3 or 4 stainless steel screws in the
toe area, which helps to dig into the rocks. This may weaken the
fin so take care not to place these cleats into a critical location.
Flippers use muscles not often exercised. Make
sure you are in good physical shape before trying this. Practice with your
fins first if you are planning to swim a lot. You must learn to keep your
balance to stay on a rock.
The best perches do not often show above the water. To find them you must either told where they are, see someone else on, or have discovered their location through careful scouting. Remember that these spots are often coveted by others. Try to remain calm when you get to that secret locale and someone else is already there! You will find plenty of good rocks out there if you look for them. Take long walks on the beach with your wife. A romantic stroll on the beach will make you her hero! Keep track of where the good rocks are so you can find them again. Don't let her see you taking notes.
I spend a few days every summer free-diving in snorkel gear while scouting for structure and schools of bait. From the beach, the best rocks will often show as an eddy or swirl within the rip on a calm day. I use an old mariner's trick of taking a dead reckoning barring to relocate these hidden rocks at some future date.
Nighttime is the time for trophy stripers. The successful wetsuiters are sneaky night stalkers who risk their lives to land that trophy striper. This is a tricky method and for starters, I would not try it by myself. Pick a calm night with little or no wave action. Any night trip should include a high quality waterproof flashlight. Pen lights and Maglites may be okay for the beach, but to get on the outer rocks you need to see where you are headed. I use a four C cell dive-light that I keep on a rope loop around my neck. A waterproof head lamp will also work well. Be sure and move it to your neck when not in use. A breaker will remove it from your head. Make sure you keep yourself warm. Use a fleece lining on cold nights. Don't fish when you are over-tired. Take a nap before you do an all-nighter.
Well there you have it, people. Everything you need to fish the rocks except for the strength and the nerves. I have been very lucky using these techniques and I hope you also have success. Please remember that the extreme forms of angling contain a degree of danger. If you keep this in mind, you should be as lucky as I have been.