79 degrees…

is the forecast for today. Temperatures are rising, but the water is still more than a few degrees short of the spring run (51 degrees at Sandy Hook, NJ—in the 40s still everywhere else it seems). The season is set to open in a week, and the above photo was a gift (along with this awesome Corbina Patrol long-sleeve shirt) from our West Coast buddy Al Quattrocchi and it’s of a Camp Hero (Montauk) blitz. Man does that get the blood moving. I’m asking Al to do a West Coast scene report in the meantime as he’s a big time fly fisherman out there and recently sent me a great shot of a friend of his with a Westside striper caught from the surf on the fly. Looking good—check out Al’s own blog here.

Time to sharpen the hooks, respool the reels, re-up on new plugs, and start scouting the waters. Get on out there!

here’s a fish

This happened a couple weeks ago in Alabama. Yeah, it looked Photoshopped to me too, but by all accounts it’s real. Freshwater caught on a live shad on an Ugly Stik. An Ugly Stik! Did you hear that, Dave Cole? There’s still hope for you. Seventy pound bass, a new Alabama world record….

Speaking of which, I need to clarify Preacher’s WR fish from my previous post. Here’s the email I got from Ted clearing things up (basically I messed it up by thinking it was his sturgeon. Oops, sorry Ted!):

Love to see the sturgeon pics again, but the record isnt for that fish. I did not properly submit the sturgeon record as I didnt have a scale big enough. That record is for a chum salmon all tackle length record. I have been organizing my trips by targeting record fish these days. Chum salmon was my way to break into the salmon area that I live in. But hopefully by next month I should have a much cooler one.

I got a certified catch certificate for the sturgeon, but the record for the chum salmon.

Fun though.
ted

So it’s for Ted’s chum salmon, which is here:

Congrats, Ted! Sorry for the mix-up. The last I heard from Ted, he was sleeping in his car getting ready to hunt another WR. Good luck out there, man.

P.S. i don’t know how those spam images ended up on our Twitter account. I have to figure out how to delete that bullshit. Sorry for that crap.

king preacher

This one has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks, but I finally got around to posting Ted’s official World Record for that huge (~400#) sturgeon he caught in the Fraser River last year. Holy shit, go back and check out the original post. Caught on fresh salmon heads! Reposting a pic or two of the monster for posterity. Congrats Ted!!!

Peter Laurelli’s Full-Length 2012 video

Holy f-in epic. I just spent the last 25 minutes watching the full-length version of Peter Laurelli’s Northeast 2012 video—even though the video itself clocks in at a modest 20 minutes, I had to battle for bandwidth with my roommates who are themselves dueling for Netflix streaming supremacy. So I must do another viewing in the AM before work. This is easily Peter’s best video yet, the footage of the peanut bunker getting chased from the water is unreal. I think of how few people get to see something like this in person (I myself never have, yet), and getting a chance to capture it on film is something pretty special. I can easily see myself watching this everyday until the season starts again. I won’t spend too many words here singing its praises, just watch for yourself, like Peter himself suggests, in full screen with headphones ON.

For track listing and more info on his project, check Peter’s Vimeo page.

—mkl

F&S’s top 25 Striper Plugs of All Time

This is a great, little cold weather read. Field and Stream‘s guest columnist Jimmy Fee (editor of On the Water magazine) rated his top 25 striper plugs of all time. Lots of classics and tried-and-true plugs to feast your eyes upon. I know lots of us go the bait & wait route, but I personally prefer to use plugs and it’s a big challenge for me to learn when and how to use what and where. It’s all part of the learning process of getting to know your spot and reading the water, factoring in variables like moon and wind direction and other intangibles. Some of my personal favorites out of Fee’s list: the Andrus Jetty Caster, the Bomber Long-A, the Yo-Zuri Mag Darter (Thomas got me on that one), and the sinking Super Strike Little Neck Poppper. What are yours?

—mkl

look at this fucking thing

Look at this thing I found near the carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I was doing a cancer charity GoRuck Challenge and we were finishing up by the river when I found this mystery fish. I sent pics around with some friends and they guessed it was either a king mackerel or a bonito. It has tuna-like fins toward the tail, but I couldn’t really see the color of the fish as it was pretty deteriorated and frozen solid. It could be either, but guessing from the size (more than 26″), I’d guess the king mackerel might be right. Any ideas? I’ve never seen one of those come out of the river, though usually when it’s this cold, I don’t see many people fishing either. Every year, I see something new out of there.

On that cancer charity note, I want to send out condolences to Geralyn Shukwit. Her father passed away a couple days ago from battling cancer, but he went out peacefully. Everyone here knows G, as I usually call her, and everything she does to help promote the derby and all the fantastic images she brings every year of all of us fishing in Brooklyn. She’s a big part of what we do, and she’s always out on the piers or up for a fishing adventure. Send some thoughts her way if you can.

On a different note, someone pointed me to this story in England about a guy who got caught cheating in a bass fishing tournament. It turns out he broke into a local aquarium and stole the fish a couple days before the tournament. Someone suspected the fish looked familiar due to its markings, and went back to the same aquarium but couldn’t find the fish. The thief planned to return the fish, but apparently got scared and sold it instead. This shit is hilarious.

fly fishing nyc 2012

Happy New Year fisher-folk! Hoping this year brings many smiles and good times fishing around our area. For the past couple years around this time, I’m usually hunting around StripersOnline, searching for the new fly fishing video by Peter Laurelli. I’ve posted his videos in the past, and they’re so well done that I, like many other fishing people holed up in our homes and apartments from the winter winds and freezing rain, just sit around and watch and marvel at a guy filming himself at fishing spots around the area. Imagine how hard it must be for a six guys standing around waiting for Ben to catch a fish on camera, and then picture the amount of work Peter has to put in solo. This year’s video is actually a trailer for a longer film Peter has submitted to the International Fly Fishing Tour, and the short version is all he can show right now. But even at less than three minutes, his editing and cinematography work always stand out to me, and he usually ends up putting together a pretty good soundtrack. I really need to talk to this guy and find out how he makes all the time to do this, because to balance so much work with fishing and his family life must take a very serious work ethic. Really inspirational stuff, especially on these cold January nights. Can’t wait for the full version. Thanks, Peter!

—mkl

Hook, Line & Dinner Premier tomorrow at Red Hook Bait & Tackle

Although Ben Sargent is the biggest self-promoter I know, he was unable to even get me a preview video of his new season of Hook, Line & Dinner. His newest episode premier tomorrow (Dec. 20) at 8pm on the Cooking Channel, but you can come through to a viewing party at Red Hook Bait & Tackle (320 Van Brunt Street). The B&T, like a lot of businesses in Red Hook, got hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, so if you have the means and ways, come through to give them some cheer. Here’s Ben’s rundown of the first episode, which I’m particularly excited about since I know a certain story regarding that octopus he’s holding up there.

Episode # 1 – Follow Ben across thousands of miles to beautiful Oahu Hawaii where he hunts for octopus, surfs, farms seaweed, and pounds poi in a loincloth! The episode culminates in an exciting cooking challenge with a local award winning chef in this amazing island paradise.

Gathering starts at 7pm. See you there.

—mkl

lost fishermen eat one of their own

It’s a true story, I swear (see Outside Magazine’s blog), although in this picture it looks like he’s got toast and coffee. If we ever get lost, who goes? How long until we turn on each other? Ben could probably feed us for a week. [On another note, did anyone see Ben on Iron Chef America? That Bobby Flay really hates him for some reason.]

“We suspect, the two survivors could have killed and eaten their friend just because of hunger,’ an anonymous source told Life News tabloid website.

‘But both deny they have anything to do with his death. Looking at the body parts found at the spot, we clearly saw cuts.

‘It means the body was hacked to pieces.

‘Now the body parts – some human flesh and part of the skull – are taken to the morgue.’

An unnamed investigator was quoted saying: ‘What we found were chopped human bones, fragments of a skull and a bloodstained chunk of ice.’

He told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper: ‘It’s clear that this person did not die of his own accord.’”"

Check the story at The Siberian Times.

Also, thanks a lot, Lifeproof! The jury is still out on this iPhone case, though I can attest to its waterproof capabilities (it worked in Montauk, at least!). But this case also boasts about its shock capacity. I don’t even recall dropping this phone from anywhere more than waist level. I opened the case because the plastic screen cover-interface sometimes screws with my touchscreen, and I’m unable to do things like end a phone call (very annoyingly often) or switch to the keypad during a call. When I popped off the back I saw what I thought was sand from the aforementioned Montauk trip, but when I turned the phone over I saw this.

Can’t say I recommend this case, especially for the price tag (around $70). Fucking bullshit.

—mkl

derby 2012 over!

BKUAA Closing Night from Jane Borock on Vimeo.

Another derby down, many thanks to everyone who came out to eat all the food I assume was delicious. Many prizes went out to the good people of the derby and it was a great time to be had by everyone until I, being the drunk asshole I am, forgot where I put the box of derby shirts (shirts are for sale, by the way, email me at bkuaa.info(at)gmail.com). It’s becoming customary for every closing party, when the times and smiles get bigger and better, the drunker the idiot I become. So far, I’ve sent out two apology emails to Roberta’s (who were a fantastic host in every way, many, many thanks to them), and am considering sending them a handwritten note. It may be necessary, though the details of what I did exactly are pretty hazy to me. Consider this factoid to explain my state of mind last night: (1) as the party was winding down, I put the box of shirts and my rucksack in my car; (2) about five minutes later I completely forgot I did this and went about frantically searching for aforementioned box of shirts and ruck; (3) the bartender kept telling me I put everything in my car, but I couldn’t recall ever doing it; and (4) I still have zero recollection of putting the stuff in my car. It may just as well have appeared there by magic. That was just one of the drunken, idiotic things I did last night.

Ok, enough about my transgressions. I want to thank all of our sponsors for helping us put the derby on, because, even though I think it sounds a little cliché it’s still true, we really couldn’t have pulled this off without them. We struggled mightily, stressed daily, went way over budget, but people came out and had a great time and that’s what matters most to us. So, for helping us do this, I want to thank:
Dream Tackle—it really is our home base and we owe so much to Robert and Barbara there. They did a great job through the whole derby keeping people informed and always come through donating amazing prizes and gear.

Roberta’s—They did a fantastic job making us look good. Great people and food, though unfortunately I was too busy to eat any. Many thanks to Brendan, Greg, Cherie, and the rest of the crew there.

Brooklyn Kitchen—Thanks to Harry Rosenblum.

Shelsky’s Smoked Fish

Fish Tales—Donated some amazing food (I heard) along with helping us out with our budget. Many thanks there.

Depanneur—Thanks to Nicolina and Garrison. I didn’t win it but I spend enough money there anyhow. Robert will enjoy this one.

Jason Puris at The Fin—is your heat back on yet? Thanks for the lures you donated, Jason. Hopefully we’ll see some fish on those before the season is over.

Sea to Table—More food! Thanks guys!

Red Hook Lobster Pound—Unfortunately didn’t get to take full advantage of this one due to Hurricane Sandy, but they’ve been big supporters. Many gracious thanks.

Acme Smoked Fish—Rich Schiff always comes through and has been with us from the beginning. Thanks, Rich!

Geralyn Shukwit—donated two amazing photos that the winners loved. Everyone knows G, or has at least seen her on the piers. She’s been with us since the beginning and has done so much to help our cause and make us look better than we actually are. G couldn’t make it to the party because of a family issue, but she was with us in spirit. Thanks G!

Matt @ Werd Ink—Matt busted his ass getting us our shirts even though we were horribly disorganized in getting them to him, asking ridiculous turnaround and having little cash to front. Matt came through in the clutch.

Annica @ Dirty Bandits—Annica made this fantastic logo that has been such a hit. She’s a longtime collaborator with Ben and has done all our graphics since the derby started. We owe her a lot for her work.

***
2012 Derby Winners

I know we had a couple sheets of scribbled paper last night with all the prizes and winners on it, but me being the drunk asshole lost it at some point during the night, along with my mind. So I will do my best to recall the highlights.

Striped Bass Winners
Jan Gorz, 43″
John Ruffino, 38″
Mike Arvan, 36.5″

Blue Fish Winner
John Ruffino, 32″

Junior Fisherman Winner
Ben Lew, 16″ striper

Fly Winner
Shane Smith

Most Stressed
Robert Piskorski

Biggest Scaredy Cat
Jon Capobianco

Biggest Trash Talker
John Ruffino

Biggest Slacker
Elliott

Most Eligible Fisherman
Shane Smith (of course, as I was reading this one off I saw across the room that he’d brought a date to the party. Oops.)

Most Dedicated
Jay

Unluckiest Fishermen
Bryce and Alan Godwin

Newcomers of the Year Award
Sumin Choi and Kathleen (wrote her last name down but lost the piece of paper and forgot. Sorry!)

Double Header Award
Jason Stancati

Biggest Smile Award
James Hogan

Sidebet of the Week: Eel
James Hogan

Sidebet of the Week: Black Bass
Alex Marquez

Sidebet of the Week: Uglyfish/Hacklehead
Mike Arvan

There were more that I will add as people remind me/I remember them. I want to give a huge thank you out to everyone who signed up for the derby this year. Five weeks is a long derby and it gets tough out there with the weather turning and the fish being picky. You all stuck it out and are the kind of people we want to know. Running the derby is a sometimes frustrating endeavor for me, but getting to meet people throughout the derby and at the opening and closing parties makes it all really rewarding knowing that more people are taking advantage of where we live and exploring the river and their love of fishing. From the sharpies and old timers to the dedicated newcomers, seeing the smiles on people’s faces and their excitement when they tell me how they caught this fish or that fish, one story or another about something they saw or discovered on the East River, that’s really what the derby is about for me. And I, of course, couldn’t have done this myself, but only with a ton of help and hard work from the BKUAA crew: David Cole, Jane Borock, Geralyn Shukwit, and, of course, Ben Sargent for starting all of this. Much gratitude goes out to Robin Shulman for the reading at the opening, Krista B. for being one of our most enthusiastic members who never got to fish, and to Abbey Adkison for working with us and braving through all the footage of us not catching any fish (though we eventually did) and the razor wire at Green Street—hope the story works out.

And always, thanking you.

—mkl