eXtreme Surf, Tackle Box, General Tips

Gear selection is kind of a personal growth thing. Sort of like your first ride, probably a three wheeler or maybe four? A tri-cycle or a small two-wheeled "kiddy bike" with training wheels . . . for most of us. Then one day, off comes the trainers and shebang, your riding with the big boys! Couple of years go by and your knees hit you in the chin when the peddle is at top stroke, so you mow a few extra lawns and get a "full size" bike. Soon you figure out a few tricks learn to ride a wheelie and before ya know it you are in the used car lot listening to some slick-haired, smooth talking checkered suit wearing salesman tell you how the little ol' lady only drove that Red Hot Mustang to church on Sundays. A few more years (and nine months) go by and your little ol' lady is asking for a new Mini Van. Next it's an ATV, then a Caddy . . . And so on . . . Same with your gear . . . Depending on what stage of the game you are at and what your needs are. I started out with a little bait rod and got me a brand new $19.95 K-Mart Special and put a Penn 309 on it. I was mainly pier fishing at the time and looked big enough to catch any thing in the ocean to me. It did help me catch several nice fish (for that caliber gear) even hooked into and brought in a big ol' Sea Turtle with it one night out on Bob Hall Pier. We cut the line of course, "$25,000 fine for that boy!" some old salty that was there said. I was kind of disappointed, because I was fishing for shark and thought I hooked into Shamu! During the entire half hour fight, I kept telling my buddy over and over "Oh man, its a BIG ONE! Get ready, it's BIG!"  . . . What a feeling! Finally something bigger than me on the other end of my line! I only weigh about 145 soakin' wet, and I think that turtle had me beat. You can imagine the look on my face when it got up close enough to see what it was . . . I like to have died. That sucker was huge! Bigger than a trash can lid and very heavy. Looking back, it was kind of funny, I was in shock I think. I was tired, mad, happy, puzzled, concerned, and finally scared all at the same time. I didn't think to get a photo, too bad too, because I never saw or heard of that again during the two years I fished that pier. Well, it wasn't too many nights later and I hooked my first shark over four foot long. "Heck, I was fishin' with the big boys then." I thought. Sure enough, I hooked into a pretty good size little Black-Tip one night and all of a sudden . . . WHAM! Something really big hit it! Being the greenhorn that I was, I reacted by a quick hook setting motion and SNAP! There went my K-Mart Special AND my fish! (what do they say in the cartoons? *%#&*^!!!! - or something like that?) Yep, just like that. My rod snapped right above my left hand, leaving me with the reel and a very short fishing pole. After the initial roar of laughter subsided, I decided to reel in the remaining line and . . . hey! I still had a little wiggling going on down there. So I perked up a bit and brought in a nice little three footer that had a set of teeth marks across his back from about a 7-9 footer . . .? There I stood again in shock. I caught a nice little fish, so I was happy about that, but I just crashed my rod and lost the biggest fish know to man . . . In front of my buds and several seasoned vets out on the pier. So I was, part mad, part puzzled, part humiliated and finally ready for a custom rod. The guys on the pier were great about it though, they explained to me what had happened and told me about the different rods and reels they used and "Big Game" gear in general. I threatened to be back with some better dental equipment to remove the jaws from that (ever growing) 10 footer . . . We all laughed and fished together again many nights . . . The very next day, I went and told my story to Rocky and the crew at Roy's Bait & Tackle and they all got a good laugh. Then we discussed the options for the next level of gear I need if I wanted to get that sucker that broke my pole. My fishing buddy and me both ordered a "Roy Special" custom Harrington 553 with all the trick extras needed for the surf. The Surf? Yeah, I realized it was time to "graduate" from the pier. Not that there aren't big fish caught off that pier, because there darn sure are. It was just time to move on to the next level. I found another 553 in a pawn shop with a Daiwa 900h on it and a Penn 6/0 with a Newell wide  spool conversion kit by it's self sitting right next to it. - Needless to say, I had to cut a few extra lawns, so to speak. That level of equipment don't come cheap, even used. That was many Tiger Moons ago, and I'm still using that same pair today. The next level, I suppose, would be a 12/0 and a Kayak or JetSki or the Offshore game. But I'm perfectly content to take my 6/0 and toss it into the second or third gut and let it sit . . . for now anyway.   Till next time . . . Wet a hook for me . . . SeaWeed