Halle-F#$king-luhah!! Finally on the board...

[Roccus7]

Playing with C&R Cod gets old while waiting for my Striped Nemesis to start biting. Prior to this AM I've been out bass fishing 10 times starting on May 15 with nothing to show. On the 17th I got excited by seeing a follow, but after that until yesterday, I didn't see anything at all, driving me close to taking up golf.

This AM was picture perfect, no wind, glassine water and a nice sun. I slowly made my way up to the spot using my GPS-saved low water track and I dropped the hook on an early flood in 2' of water. There was so little flow that for the entire time my anchor chain, not the anchor, was holding the boat.

Started casting and about 7 minutes in I saw a follow, but there was no contact. A few casts later, I got distracted by a bunch of terns over bait in less than 1 ft of water. I strained trying to see if there were fish there, but nothing showed and at that depth, even if they were standing still you'd see their backs out of the water. As my popper got close to the boat I saw a swirl away from the plug and a cloud of mud as a fish turned away, CRAP!!! A few casts later, just as my Radio complained that it hadn't received an updated GPS fix, I always turn off the sounder and GPS when I'm fishing in the river, I had a fish start to follow my plug.

OK, battle stations first stop it-Nothing. Start it again, fish still there but nothing!! UGGGGHHH!!! In desperation I went full Joe Cocker on it and big swirl, but no hit, but - WTF, I'm on!! He must have sucked in the plug, nothing that resembled a hit there!!!

A few minutes later I slipped the net under a 29" Tuesday night Stripah dinner that weighed 10 lbs on the Boga. Fished for a while longer, with only 2 other followers, but no hits or any significant swirls, even when channeling Mr. Cocker...

Bottom line, the detestable stench of Skunk has been removed, thank you Baby Poseidon!!!

 

[longcast]

Playing with C&R Cod gets old while waiting for my Striped Nemesis to start biting. Prior to this AM I've been out bass fishing 10 times starting on May 15 with nothing to show. On the 17th I got excited by seeing a follow, but after that until yesterday, I didn't see anything at all, driving me close to taking up golf.

This AM was picture perfect, no wind, glassine water and a nice sun. I slowly made my way up to the spot using my GPS-saved low water track and I dropped the hook on an early flood in 2' of water. There was so little flow that for the entire time my anchor chain, not the anchor, was holding the boat.

Started casting and about 7 minutes in I saw a follow, but there was no contact. A few casts later, I got distracted by a bunch of terns over bait in less than 1 ft of water. I strained trying to see if there were fish there, but nothing showed and at that depth, even if they were standing still you'd see their backs out of the water. As my popper got close to the boat I saw a swirl away from the plug and a cloud of mud as a fish turned away, CRAP!!! A few casts later, just as my Radio complained that it hadn't received an updated GPS fix, I always turn off the sounder and GPS when I'm fishing in the river, I had a fish start to follow my plug.

OK, battle stations first stop it-Nothing. Start it again, fish still there but nothing!! UGGGGHHH!!! In desperation I went full Joe Cocker on it and big swirl, but no hit, but - WTF, I'm on!! He must have sucked in the plug, nothing that resembled a hit there!!!

A few minutes later I slipped the net under a 29" Tuesday night Stripah dinner that weighed 10 lbs on the Boga. Fished for a while longer, with only 2 other followers, but no hits or any significant swirls, even when channeling Mr. Cocker...

Bottom line, the detestable stench of Skunk has been removed, thank you Baby Poseidon!!!
View attachment 116154

Nice healthy fish. Enjoy.

 

[captmike28]

When it comes to coaxing Mr. Stripes to a plug, no one is more determined than you! Happy to see your season has finally started. That will be one very tasty meal!!!

 

[Chevy1]

You’ve done enough fishing, glad to see you catching

 

[Chinacat]

Way to go Dom!

 

[Roccus7]

On a streak, but my mind ain't right!!

Flush with pride over yesterday's triumph, I spent time last night figuring out my move for today. Hmmm, if I leave my dock at 05:00 I can get out to the spot and fish it throughout the ebb and the start of the flood!!

Yeah on paper that works, but it assumed that there would be some fish there for the ebb. Bottom line it was the correct tactical decision as the only short-lived action was at the very start of the flood, something I couldn't have done without getting out there before low tide.

And "action" needs context in that it meant I saw scattered bass chasing some alewives, nothing in water deep enough for me to be in for a brief moment at the start of the flood. HOWEVER, the AM was a success as my one cast that saw any piscatorial interest ended with a 29", 11 lb striper coming from nowhere to swirl around my popper twice before crashing it. Was nice to actually get a solid hit, followed by a good, sustained battle with 2 long runs, some things that yesterday's fish was missing. Since I have bass in the fridge, today's lady got a full-pardon...

OK, now I sleep in the morning...

 

[longcast]

On a streak, but my mind ain't right!!

Flush with pride over yesterday's triumph, I spent time last night figuring out my move for today. Hmmm, if I leave my dock at 05:00 I can get out to the spot and fish it throughout the ebb and the start of the flood!!

Yeah on paper that works, but it assumed that there would be some fish there for the ebb. Bottom line it was the correct tactical decision as the only short-lived action was at the very start of the flood, something I couldn't have done without getting out there before low tide.

And "action" needs context in that it meant I saw scattered bass chasing some alewives, nothing in water deep enough for me to be in for a brief moment at the start of the flood. HOWEVER, the AM was a success as my one cast that saw any piscatorial interest ended with a 29", 11 lb striper coming from nowhere to swirl around my popper twice before crashing it. Was nice to actually get a solid hit, followed by a good, sustained battle with 2 long runs, some things that yesterday's fish was missing. Since I have bass in the fridge, today's lady got a full-pardon...

OK, now I sleep in the morning...

That is one really husky 29" fish. I took a local tournament 2 years ago with a fat 31" and it came in at a bit over 11lbs.

 

[Roccus7]

We don’t seem to get many swimming heads up here, probably because they’ve feasting on alewives as the travel up the coast.

Which reminds me, SQUATOLA this morning. Why?? Absolutely no signs of alewives, unlike past 2 mornings where I saw pods of alewives, feeding ospreys, and bass chasing breakfast. NONE of that today..,

 

[Roccus7]

Roccus Fishing Rule #1: The day that I say I know everything there is to know about fishing, is the day that I've officially stopped fishing, because it's an absurd concept.

Today was another "Learning Day" about a lure I've been using for 60 years, the Creek Chub Striper Strike. The first easy concept of fishing that lure was when a Striped Bass swirls around the lure, but doesn't make contact, you STOP the retrieve and hold on because there will be a hit well over 75% of the time. With bluefish you just keep popping without a stop. On LI it was tough to learn the differences between bass and blues, but up here, I've yet to see a blue, so the reflex is good enough without any analysis.

However for my entire life, if a bass was following my popper, I just keep popping. Well that's been happening a lot lately, and I may go full Joe Cocker on the plug, I never stop it's forward motion. HOWEVER the learning process began when I was using an X-Rap surface the other day and I realized I don't have a very extensive data base for that lure since I rarely use it. The fish were following that with no hits and I was at wits' end. My brother loves that lure and said, "If you have a follower, jerk it hard while NOT REELING!!"

OK, filed that one hint and pulled it out this morning. Over the last 3 days I've had more followers than Jennifer Lopez has on Twitter while fishing the CC my normal way. To say I haven't been screaming on the top of my lungs at the fish following, but not hitting my plug, would be gross understatement. This morning the follows were few and after the second follow, with no action, I said to myself, "WTF, try Bro's X-Rap suggestion, it can't cause you to catch less fish than you're catching.

Soon after the thought i watched a V-wake race to my CC, and start following. One quick yank and a stop produced the strike of a nice 28", 10 lb slot fish that went back to make more babies next spring I hope.