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Show #1
Airs May
7 & Sept. 24:
Diamond Jigging NY Bight Stripers &
Blues
: This
2005 season premiere lives up to
the expectations of a season premier all the way. We took this trip on the
Flamingo III out of Brooklyn last December for some unforgettable diamond
jigging action. So much in fact, we have a 44 minute show we will be
releasing to the public with ALL the catches and captain interviews on the
subject of jigging that we could not fit into the 30 minute on air version.
We were on fire as the boat limited out on a few drifts in a chilly and
cloudy December day when most folks were at work or felt the day was not
nice enough to fish on. In this show we drill stripers to 25 pounds and
blues in to the mid teen's on jigs and cover the topic of jigging which is
much more than slinging metal 007's into the water these days. We cover all
the definitions of jigging and show in great detail all the options you have
when "jigging" and speak with Capt. Bob several times on the art of jigging
the NY Bight area of NY & NJ, the difference in spring vs. fall jigging,
finding schools of fish to jig without bird life, the evolution of the
jigging reel used over decades including our new choice the
Okuma line of
reels along with our Boating Tip of the Week. There is so much in this show your head will spin! I would suggest
pre-ordering your extended home release of this show ahead of time...it is
going to be a fast seller for sure! This is sure to be a viewing
favorite for years to come!
We'll have clips and videos available
soon.
Show #2
Airs May
14 & July 2:
Wild Brown Trout of Delaware Water Gap
: My
guest was Steve Sloan
(deceased), a long
time friend, flyfisher and world record holder. We were
editing this show when Steve passed away and I ran with it as a tribute to
my special friend. Steve was a trustee for the IGFA and a very
accomplished flycaster. We traveled to the Delaware Water Gap, not too far from the Pocono
region and up towards Henryville, PA. We fished nymphs for wild brown trout
and a few rainbows in a beautiful
setting for some fantastic action. In this episode we gave detailed instructions on how to
cast a fly rod including roll casting, what to bring on a road trip,
proper casting techniques, fly choices and lots of action
along with our Boating Tip of the Week
.
This will be one for the ages as his legacy in the fly fishing game and his
fisheries management contributions are measured for decades to come. I will
surely miss him and our time together on and off the water.
Show #3
Airs May
21 / July 23:
Long Island Sound
Spring Blackfish on Clams
: My
guest was Capt. James
Schneider
of the James
Joseph party and charter boats of Huntington, Long Island. On this show
we delve into the differences between spring and fall blackfishing on Long
Island Sound...which are astounding! We cover the differences in bait
between seasons, the hook setting techniques, how to fish different bottoms,
how to anchor and why, how tog react on wrecks located on mud or silt vs.
hard bottom reefs, tackle choices, the stand off leader rig
along with our Boating Tip of the Week
and much more
from one of the best blackfisherman around...Capt. Jimmy Schneider. Love him
or hate him...he can fish and he holds back no secrets in this episode. Jim
gives us some good history on the Sound and how some of the many wrecks got
there and and from as far back as Colonial times! We go over our
tackle choices and touch base on why light tackle when togging is NOT
sportsman like. We'll have clips and videos available
soon.
Show #4
Airs May
28 / July 30:
Rigging & Tying:
This week we shot
the show because were blown out off the water, but also because I get a
tremendous amount of E mail and letters for shows like this where we teach
valuable tools to the fishing game. In this episode we start with the Clinch
Knot, move to the Palomar knot, show you how to Snell a hook, and then go to
Dropper Loops, teaser rigs, ocean fluke with teaser rigs then finish the
show with Carolina Rigs for saltwater with plastic baits and then show how
to rig and work some of the new plastic baits on the market. This is an
evergreen show that will last for years and will always have a place on your
video library shelf at home along with
our Boating Tip of the Week. It always pays to go back and practice your
knot tying and that is exactly what we did. We'll have clips and videos
available soon.
Show #5
Airs June 4 &
Oct. 8:
Surf Fishing; A Day In The Life:
This week we hit
the beach at Robert Moses State Park on Long Island and while you may think
our shows are hammer fish all the time...in surf fishing it is not like that
a majority of the time that's for sure...no matter who and what hot shot you
may be. In this episode we show you how to keep organized in your car, hit
the beach with friends last fall and actually take you to numerous beaches
along the South Shore of Long Island looking to catch some fish
along with our Boating Tip of the Week...and burn a
tank of gas doing so...just like you folks. The fish were blitzing for two
to three days in NW winds and if you were there as I was last November and
in it...you know what I'm talking about. Twenty to 30 pound bass and giant
bluefish on every cast for days. We show up with the cameras and we're back
to a typical day in the life of a surfcaster with light NW winds at 5 knots
and a slow pick. But so is life in the day of the surfcaster an that is
exactly what we show you. We'll have clips and videos
available soon.
Show #6
Airs June 11 &
Oct. 1:
LI Sound Fall Tog
:
This week we hit
Long Island Sound to do some fall blackfishing on the
Celtic Quest
out of Port Jefferson. We put together a trip from our message boards at
www.thefishingline.org where we
opened it up to only 15 anglers to join us with Capt. Desi O'Sullivan of the
Celtic Quest
on this trip. We cover the area we're fishing as always, give you the map
and a way to get a booklet with all the reefs of Long Island from the NYS
Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). We also do an in-depth interview,
two of them as a matter of fact, with Capt. Desi on the idiosyncrasies
of togging and the differences in bite between south shore and north shore
blackfish, east vs. west and how to set the hook on big tog and how to use
and hook a variety of crab baits along with our
Boating Tip of the Week. A very interesting retrospective indeed. We'll
have clips and videos available soon.
Show #7
Airs June 18 /
August 6:
The Fishing Line Bloopers Part 1:
This episode lives up to the hype, Bloopers baby and
plenty of them. Television may look simple and many say, “Gee Rich you get
to fish all day and then go home and be on TV!” They couldn’t be more wrong
and further from the truth. In this first part of our Blooper series, we
work with some of the pros of television, Bill Evans of Channel
7/WABC in NY who has been a guest on our show before and a pro on
television doing the weather for decades now!
Joey Kola the famous
comedian also shares some of his insights and bloopers and his comic relief
sends Rich Johnson over the edge into laughter many times. Pat Xiques, a
seasoned touring pro on the BASS circuit gets a case of the giggles that
will leave you hysterical! Of course we give you our
Boating Tip of the Week.
Show #8
Airs June 25 /
August 13:
The Fishing Line Bloopers Part
2:
This episode includes a few of the
local guides, captains and characters that have appeared on The Fishing
Line, but it is really about RJ and his penchant, particularly at the end of
the day, to get tongue tied and just plain silly sometimes! In this show
Rich guides you through the reality of the TV world in trying to do simple
45 second tips of the week and how hard they can be at times...including
Boating Tip of the Week
for this show itself along with past help in tips with
Joey Kola the famous
comedian and others. Also in here are bloopers with RJ
with LIPA spokesman
Michael Coleman Lowndes, John DeCuffa of
Jack’s Bait and
Tackle and other captains
from around the area.
Show #9
Airs July 9 &
Sept. 17:
Western Long Island Sound Cow Bass
:
This episode lives up to the hype, the name
and more! So much so the home release version available
through ordering is over 50 minutes long packed with additional catches,
tips, tricks, tide information and much more. We sailed with John DeCuffa of
Jack’s Bait and
Tackle in City Island aboard the Skipjack IV
charter boat in search of cow bass. Another great charter
boat for this is the Swedish Princess (718-428-8470) in Manhasset
Bay with Capt. Steve Fallon We actually had this trip planned
months in advance based on tides and moon phases and coincidently and
ironically aligned itself the day after the 62 pounder was caught at
Execution Light in western Long Island Sound the day before! We were on fire
as we limited the boat on fish 25 to 37 pounds in the middle of a bright and
very warm mid June day! We cover the areas we fished, baits, tackle, why use
mono instead of braid, hook selections, how to play and land large fish on
lighter than expected tackle and understanding how to fish these reef
“islands” that dot the western Sound along with
our Boating Tip of the Week.
We cover our tackle choices in detail with some surprising changes. There is
so much in this show we had to take out to fit the 30 minute on air version
you won’t believe your eyes with extended catches, a dozen other catches
that could not fit into the show, tips on fishing dead bunker and more. We
suggest pre-ordering your extended home release of this show ahead of
time...it is going to be a fast seller for sure!
Show #10
Airs July 16 &
Sept. 10:
Moriches Winter Flounder in
Summer
:
This episode will actually open your eyes to some fantastic, possibly
the best winter flounder fishing in the NY Metro tri-state region and maybe
even the northeast! All done in the heat of summer in June! That’s right
winter flounder in the heat of summer, thus the show title. I fished with
Gary Grunseich of Silly
Lily Fishing Station in East Moriches Long Island. We fished the
incoming tide to wail away on the winter flatties with over 40 fish in a
three hour period with 95% all keeper flounder to 3 pounds! We were on fire as we limited
out in a few hours with fish from the first anchor drop till the end of the
tide and the end of our chum I have not had winter flounder fishing like
this since I was a kid! We fished just 10 to 15 minutes from
the dock at Silly Lily.
We cover the areas we fished, baits, tackle, the Snafu Rig, hook selections,
how to play and land large flounder and why use heavier tackle for these
flounder than we do in other areas of the NY Metro tri-state region. Our
Boating Tip of the Week is of course included. We suggest pre-ordering your
extended home release of this show ahead of time...it is going to be a fast
seller for sure! We'll have clips and videos available soon.
Show #11
Airs August 20 &
Oct. 15:
Worming the Sandy Hook Rips
:
I've been
getting quite a few E mails asking for more coverage in NJ so we took this
trip with
Capt. Al Ristori, saltwater columnist for the
Star Ledger
Newspaper in New Jersey and his long time friend Gene Braman.
This episode may actually surprise you...to
the fact there are quality bass to be caught in the heat of summer...and I
mean heat. We filmed this early August
trip in the
throws of a huge heat wave. The day we filmed
had a heat index over 100 with
over 20 days
of 90 degrees or better this summer.
Sailing from the Highlands Marina in NJ, we headed to the Sandy Hook rips
of the Gateway Fishing Area. (see
chart/map) and were
in the rips in time for the slack high water and
change to outgoing. We caught several keeper fluke during daylight, but once it got dark the bass bit on every drift! A hammer job on the bass
with many NY size keepers, several NJ keepers and quite a few "slot" fish
for NJ as well. We were on fire and would have limited out easily no matter
what state we were in.
We cover the areas fished with a marked
chart/map of where we were, as
well as tides, presentation of
baits in the rip, baits, tackle,
rigs, hook selections, how to play and land bass at
night in the rips and why we selected the tackle
we used. Make sure you look at the links in the
left border to get a close up inspection of the
tackle and equipment used along with
pics of our captains and guests for this 2005 season. Our
Boating Tip of the Week is of course included. We suggest pre-ordering your
extended home release of this show (an hour of fish
catching excitement) ahead of time...it is going to be a fast seller
for sure!
Show #12
Airs August
27 & Oct. 22:
Greenport Party Boat Porgies
:
This episode was filmed August 1 and whole it was
hot, yet cloudy and barely a breeze, I was very comfortable because we
caught so many giant porgies (see picture) I didn't know what was going on
around me. The porgy action on the north fork of Long Island was super and
we caught fish all day on the
Peconic Star II
with Capt. Dave Brennan and his
captain/mate Kelly Bennett. We fished
the Gut off Orient Point in heavy currents and hard tides and somewhat deep
water at times. The fish were huge and there were folks all over the boat
from kids to grandparents limited out on giant scup. We sailed from
the Railroad Dock in Greenport, Long Island and were in
the Gut for the last of the incoming and the high slack knowing the tide,
once she turned and stated to ebb would force us out of the Gut into other
areas...but Capt. Dave knew the fish were here! We caught fish we never even
thought about measuring they were so huge and consistently as well.
We cover the areas we fished, baits and how to present
the clams, tackle,
rigs, hook selections and why
the hooks we used and how the porgy bite develops over the season and how
and what to expect as the season progresses! Make sure you look at the links in the
left border to get a close up inspection of the
tackle and equipment used along with
pics of our captains and guests for this 2005 season. Our
Boating Tip of the Week is of course included nd is an
overlooked tidbit about porgy fishing and how porgies look and take a bait.
We suggest pre-ordering your
extended home release of this show (almost an hour of
giant porgy catching excitement) ahead of time...it is going to be a
fast seller for sure!
Show #13
Airs September 3 & Oct.
29:
Inshore Tuna Fishing
:
This episode was filmed July 29, actually a few
days after the great tuna bite was about over, but we managed to get a few
fish and show the folks at home what you need to get in the bite when it
comes around again in October, November. I fished aboard the beautiful 61
foot Weasel, a privately owned vessel by
South Shore Marlin and Tuna
Club member Bob Antolini along with his best friend and
SSMTC Board of Director
Colie Coleman and Capt. Jim O'Brien. We cover areas fished,
trolling baits and how to present
them, tackle,
rigs, small bait presentations,
spinning tackle lures for casting to breaking tuna and mahi and what to expect as the season progresses! Make sure you look at the links in the
border to get a close up inspection of the
tackle and equipment used along with
pics of our captains and guests for this 2005 season. Our
Boating Tip of the Week series is of course included on how to
properly dress a tuna.
We suggest pre-ordering your
extended home release of this show ahead of time...it is going to be a
fast seller for sure! Click the projector to watch the
full 30 minute show.
