There is a serious trend in evidence among all fishing interests toward viewing equipment as the key to great fishing. People believe that with the right equipment they will enjoy more success, as measured in both quantity and size of striped bass. I have been made acutely aware of this trend through my online associations with hundreds of surfcasters on a messsage board I have administered for four years. In effect, average fishermen are way more concerned with equipment issues, as they apply to their striper fishing, than with the natural history of their adversary, the understanding of the linesides environment, and the behavioral idiosyncrasises of the species. Indeed, thinking is so skewed that most surfcasters would place equipment way above conditions in any ranking of surfcasting issues by importance when, in my opinion, it is the understanding of conditions that holds the true secrets of the striper old-timers. And while it would thrill me to put a a stop to these trends, I am also acutely aware they are not likely to change.

Frank Daignault – Fly fishing the striper surf 2004