By Zeno Hromin

This article originally appeared in the Fisherman magazine

Part of it has been adopted into the book

White water “Epiphany”

It is often said that things happen when you least expect them to. If I try to do one thing after each outing is to take something always with me at the nights end .A nugget that someone was willing to share, an observation of conditions or what somebody was doing that was productive. Lets face it, its never me and you that are banging fish, its always the guy “next” to us and the only way to be that guy next time is to figure out what are we doing wrong (or what he is doing right). But to have an “epiphany” of sorts and to know, in that instant what does it mean is very rare. At least for me it is .Hey, it might happen to you on a daily basis but for me this was unusually rewarding experience. It was the week that hurricane Ivan rolled through our area depositing more than six inches of rain on the east end of Long Island, in the span of a few hours. The area around Montauk Point featured dirty, brown water and high surf once the storm moved on eastward. Since the action was non-existent, I decided to take a nap in the front seat of my car in the Camp Hero lot only to be awakened within minutes by a friend of mine, Bob Jones. His suggestion to walk into Caswell’s sounded ludicrous considering the conditions.  However, when I am presented with a chance to fish side by side with one of the most respected local anglers, I take it with both hands every time.  Even if that means an extended walk on bowling ball size rocks and fishing in filthy water. Why? Because there are no better teachers than the sharpies on our beaches. Once we arrived at Caswell’s, we found a coffee like stain that extended as far as we could cast. After an hour or so with no signs of fish, we decided to head back to Camp Hero. While walking back Bob mentioned casually that he thought my casts were all over the place and that it did not appear that I paid any attention to where I was casting or how I was retrieving my bucktail.  “You have to work the white water on every cast,” was Bob’s advice,  “paying special attention to the foam the waves create as they tumble towards the shore”.  “Well, it’s hard to get excited about casting into water that looks like chocolate milk,” I replied sheepishly.

The next day the water cleared up and massive schools of fish were found gorging on white bait from Browns to Kings. Every wave was loaded with hundreds of stripers just crashing through rain bait with their mouths open. However catching one proved to be very difficult, as the fish did not want anything to do with bucktails, popping plugs or even teasers. After fishing for more than 7 hours with only 3 fish for my efforts I was walking away disappointed when I ran into legendary Don Musso, the inventor and manufacturer of Super Strike lures. He told me he managed 17 fish in today’s melee. “How did you accomplish that?” I recall asking incredulously, as I knew no one who took more than a handful of fish. Don’s reply was:  “The key is to cast a small 5 inch swimmer into the foam as the wave is cresting and to work it through the white water. You really must pay attention to what you are doing as your casts will be short, less than 20 yards, and you have a limited time to work your lure through the foam before it either disappears or your swimmer gets washed away by a following wave”. I made a mental note of our conversation and continued on my merry way not knowing that this advice was going to be very valuable just a day latter.

Here we go again ….

The next day featured similar conditions with fish blitzing in the same locations but after casting fruitlessly at the boiling fish at my feet all morning I decided to walk away from the melee and venture into Caswells. This was more out of frustration and a desire to get away from the crowded conditions rather than anything else. Figuring I had a better chance in the area where fish are more likely relating to structure instead of going bonkers over one inch rain bait. I waded onto a rock and found solitude if not much else. After about on hour of working a Yo-Zuri Surface cruiser, I only managed to raise a single fish and my hopes for some steady action were getting extinguished fast. Then the most peculiar thing happened…

“Epiphany”

Discouraged, I started looking around the rock I was standing on for some visible signs of bait and for a moment I though I spotted a fin rising thru the foam 10 yards away. The fish was gone as fast as it appeared and I was left wondering if it’s just swimming around my rock laughing at my incompetence. Heck, it probably was laughing so hard it went belly up, I thought. The next wave rolled towards the shore and as it crested and rolled into itself the most peculiar thing happened. Dorsal fins appeared in the white water, not 20 yards away from me. First one, then two, three and more. Just cruising along. I quickly made a cast in that area with a small bucktail but drew a blank, as did the repetitive casts. Then I remember Musso’s advice: “white water, back of the wave, small metal lip”. Within seconds I attached a 5-inch Troublemaker Surfster metal lip and I was eagerly waiting for the wave to crest. I noticed that the bass only showed when there was white, foamy water within spitting distance of where I was standing. I made an awkward, sideway cast as you can imagine considering I was using an 11-foot rod and my metal lip landed in the foam 15 yards away. Only one crank of the reel it took for a little Surfster to disappear from the surface. After a short fight a husky striper was brought in for a quick release. On the next seventeen casts I landed seventeen bass, stopping every few casts to bend back small trebles that the bass mangled up. I was so focused on the action in front of me, I never noticed Bob Jones wading out and mounting a rock nearby. He was wearing an oversized grin on his face as he said; “I see you are paying attention to your casts today.” And boy was he right.

Why white water

Trying to decide how to work a specific set of waves in front of you is a lot easier if you understand how gamefish relate to structure and use it to ambush baitfish. Let’s be honest, the wave by itself does not do a darn thing other than follow the contour of the bottom, rising over the shallow sandbar and dying down over the deeper holes. However, the force of million of gallons of water being pushed over the bars and around rocks or other structure, impedes the lateral movement of the bait. This is exactly the reason why a foamy ‘carpet’ that forms on the backside of a wave is the by far the best place where you can float a swimmer through.

Timing is everything…

Fishing the “foam” requires patience, strong casting skills and understanding that “everyday can’t be Christmas.” This means that not every wave that comes our way produces the desired foamy water. The baitfish is at their weakest and most vulnerable state when caught in the wave’s crest, a strong tumbling mass of water that rushes toward the shore. The gamefish, although excellent swimmers, are also impeded by the low visibility and strong water movement that a cresting wave produces. Once the wave folds however a whole new set of circumstances develops. Baitfish are momentarily stunned by the whole experience and float aimlessly in the foam while the gamefish and striped bass, in particular, find this environment to their liking. They can often be observed with their dorsal fins sticking out in the air, cruising on the surface looking for their next meal. That’s why a metal lip cast into the foam and retrieved slowly gets absolutely mauled if the fish are in the area. In regards to casting, one must exert casting discipline and the patience of a saint. Your plug must be airborne before the milky foam develops and once it lands you have less than a minute until foam dissipates. Because gamefish use the white, foamy water as a “cover” they are often gone once it disappears so it’s imperative that your plug lands and is being retrieved within the time frame relating to the wave action in front of you. If the wave crests too far offshore it usually means that by the time it reaches you it will present itself as a gentle swell. If it breaks too close to you or behind you, as is sometimes the case when wading onto the rocks on the east end, the foam develops in water that is too shallow for bass to enter during daylight hours. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen plenty of blitzes develop in inches of water in the fall.  However blitz fishing, although exciting, has much more to do with being in the right place at the right time than with a surfcaster’s skill when it comes to catching a fish. Considering that casting accuracy is far more important than distance when fishing the foam, I prefer to use small metal lips from 4 ½ to 6 inches in length. When buying a metal lip its important to go for quality over quantity. If theses plugs are not weighted properly they wont cast or swim right. Instead of a nice wiggle or wobble you will look at you plug that rolls in the foam. I tried most of the stuff in the market but have stayed committed to Beachmaster metal lips if for nothing else then their reputation for building a perfect performing plug every time. When distance is not an issue is I also like Surfster style metal lips. Unlike most metal lips swimmers, which feature a rounded or flat nose and wobble side to side upon retrieve, Surfster style lures are cut on an angle from the lip and up toward the midsection and the lure shape and the cupped lip are forcing the Surfster head down into foam while the tail is slapping back and forth similar to the action of a pencil proper but not as pronounced. The Surfsters body is tapered toward the tail more so than traditional metal lip swimmer giving its unique tail wiggles. Therefore adding a treble hook on the tail is not advisable, as this will weigh the tail down and change the plug action. A better idea is to leave it hook-less or to add a hook-less bucktail teaser for a little pizzazz. Although Surfsters are fun to fish they don’t perform that well if the water is rough. Better choice for this kind of water is Danny style metal lip which feature a z-style lip which digs into the waves better and can be adjusted easier to swim on or bellow the surface. Getting back to white water, I don’t want to give you the impression that this technique of casting into the foam works only in Montauk.  Nothing can be farther from the truth. Similar success can be had along the south shore beaches; the difference is that on the sandy oceanfront beaches this is mostly dusk to dawn affair. Because of the rock structure, strong currents and ever-present marine life, Montauk can always be counted on to yield a few fish, regardless the time of day.  This is unlike south shore beaches where gamefish usually only come inshore under low light conditions. Bass and blues will enter the trough that usually exists between the shore and the sand bar looking for food tossed around in the white water. Find a cut in the bar or a deep hole and work it from differed angles paying particular attention to the foamy carpet that develops in front of you. There are many ways to fish  “white water”, from bucktails to bottle plugs but I implore you to try metal lips as well. I can assure you that you will be startled by the quality of fish ready to pounce on your swimmer in some very skinny water.