They are back.
First, some shop news.
We have added some new stuff to the site. First, from Nomad Design, we have added the Gypsea jig. These are a back slide jig designed to be worked at slower to medium speeds. It will dart around and change angle aggressively when twitched and jigged. Around here, these are going to be killer for black sea bass. Big fluke are going to love them too. Just drop them to the bottom and “jiggle” them , and then hold on.
We have been continuing loading MaiTai rigs to the site. The latest in that list are the Bluefish Chum Hooks, Snelled Snapper Bluefish hooks, White Perch Hi/Lo Rigs, and White Perch Bottom Rigs with Floats. While the last two say they are for white perch, these will also work very well with northern kingfish, blowfish, spot and croaker when they show up this summer.
In the shop, we got something for the clammers. Another shipment of Killer Clam Rakes has arrived. These sell fast, so if you want one, don’t wait too long.
In other shop news, we have something new coming down the pike, and got a prototype today. Initially, I thought it was going to be a secret, but since Ray got so excited he posted it on our Instagram, we are also going to share it here. Our next model of the Grumpys Sandstorm surf rod is in the works, and the prototype we received today was really good. We had one minor change and it will be going into production. The rod will be 7’10” and rated for ½ oz to 2 oz lures. This is going to be a great rod for early season bass, or late season bass. Its going to be an exceptional fluke rod for the summer surf. And when the big bluefish show up, it’s going to be an absolute blast landing one of those. Keep an eye on our Instagram or Facebook to find out when the production model drops.
Outside of the shop news, don’t forget the Berkeley Striper Club Fisherman’s Flea market will be occurring Saturday in the park across the street from the shop. Save a little bit of money, because once you are done shopping there, you can come into the shop and save 10% on your in-store purchase (some exceptions apply).
As far as the fishing goes, the surf has clamed down enough that the fishermen have started fishing the beach again. And the striped bass were waiting for them. Salted clams were the bait of choice from the reports we heard. Fresh clams are going to be scarce this weekend as the clam boat was tied to the dock for the past 5 days because of the weather. Once they are available again, we’ll get more fresh shucked clams in. For now, we have plenty of salted clams. We will also have fresh bunker for the weekend.
We have heard some reports from the local docks that the big blues have shown up. The water is cold, so they only seem to be taking bait right now, with bunker chunks being the preferred bait. A day or three of warm weather should change this over to a lure bite.
Here are some notable catches from the previous report.
Morning Grumpys regular Mike sent us this picture with the note “They’re still here and they’re biting!” All on clams again. We said we won’t mention the one he lost, but here we are mentioning it…
Long time regular Justin P. with a beautiful 32” 12.70lb Bass on….. you guess it Salted Clams.
Here is (almost) the whole Grumpys crew trying to patiently await the arrival of the 7’10” Sandstorm. (from left to right: Ray, Jenni, John, Frank, Scott, Bob)
