Every year near the end of May or early June we have a big family BBQ at my house celebrating several birthdays that occur around this time of year. My long-standing promise is to supply a fresh Striped Bass for the grill for each of these gatherings.
Yesterday morning with only about 90 minutes left to my favorite flood tide I made it a point to be at the Gut right at Sunrise to complete my mission. The action was very consistent with a Bass caught on my bucktail virtually every drift. Only problem was this morning almost all the fish were “cookie cutter” sized, between 23-25” long. About an hour in I finally got a better fish on the line and when it hit the deck and measured 28.5” I took no chances and immediately put him in the box. Good thing I did since out of the dozen Bass I caught only 2 were just within the slot size.
As the tide began to wane, I decided to try my newly modified Flutter Spon to see if I could avenge the 4 fish loss I experienced back in early May. First drop down, and before I even had a chance to put the reel in gear, I was fast to the rocky bottom and within a second the spoon was gone! All I can say is I am sure glad it was a knockoff and not one of those fancy $20+ Tony Maja specials!! Undeterred I tied a second spoon on and the next drift I finally landed my first Bass on one these new-fangled contraptions. Although it was as short, I still felt a sense of accomplishment.
So, I'm happy to report that my 21-year streak of providing Bass for the family BBQ lives on. Man, that is even more pressure than having to produce fish on a regular basis for my paying customers…or maybe not!
Yesterday morning with only about 90 minutes left to my favorite flood tide I made it a point to be at the Gut right at Sunrise to complete my mission. The action was very consistent with a Bass caught on my bucktail virtually every drift. Only problem was this morning almost all the fish were “cookie cutter” sized, between 23-25” long. About an hour in I finally got a better fish on the line and when it hit the deck and measured 28.5” I took no chances and immediately put him in the box. Good thing I did since out of the dozen Bass I caught only 2 were just within the slot size.
As the tide began to wane, I decided to try my newly modified Flutter Spon to see if I could avenge the 4 fish loss I experienced back in early May. First drop down, and before I even had a chance to put the reel in gear, I was fast to the rocky bottom and within a second the spoon was gone! All I can say is I am sure glad it was a knockoff and not one of those fancy $20+ Tony Maja specials!! Undeterred I tied a second spoon on and the next drift I finally landed my first Bass on one these new-fangled contraptions. Although it was as short, I still felt a sense of accomplishment.
So, I'm happy to report that my 21-year streak of providing Bass for the family BBQ lives on. Man, that is even more pressure than having to produce fish on a regular basis for my paying customers…or maybe not!
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