VIEW THIS FIRST

OOOOOoooh MAN!!!  

We hit the bay bright and early today.  4-8 lb stripers were had on white salty super flukes and it was just fish after fish with a few keepers taken with the light gear.    So much fun, it made your arms hurt.  The Flechero rod and Daiwa Tierra have found their niche!!  Then, later on, trolling over by Pine Hill, I had a storm swimbait running on the short line and the rod almost got yanked into the ocean.  Thank God I had a grip on it and my drag was loose!!  

We had to pull all the lines as she started to run we started the boat and headed after her.  I only had about 120 yards of 6lb diameter,12 lb test spiderwire fusion on.  This is a 6'6" Med action quantum rod and a calcutta 251.  CERTAINLY not the gear for fish this big.  She came extremely close to spooling me twice and if Cap'n Bob wasn't as quick at the helm as he was, we would have never caught the fish.

This was like tuna fishing, miniaturized.  With tuna, 1 guy runs the boat and 1 guy brings the fish to the bow rod holder.  Then you just keep the boat in line with the angler and his fish and follow orders.  WHAT A BLAST!!!  What a TEAM!!  It was like a friggin' fire drill,lol.

This fish is absolutely one of the top ten catches in my life based on the pure fun of it.  We laughed all morning

Great morning again here in RI

LOL

Awesome day Russ that one hell of a striper. Me and my friend went out for some the other day in the bay but we got skunked

They all moved out by now I think...

Light gear FTW

Pretty looking bass sounds like alot of fun. Sure beats wire line or 80lb braid as far as fun factor goes.  

Was the fish tagged when caught or did you tag it? What does the tag signify?

The tag was already there.  They are used to track the migration and growth rates of the fish.  When you turn in the tag info they send back a history of the fish and a patch I think.  I tagged quite a few fish but never caught a tagged one.

I used to be a member of the littoral society a few years back but have since let my membership expire as I'm not on the salt water like I used to be.  I spent like $80 and got my membership and like 150 tags.  They make it very easy to get the info back to them w/ a form on their site.

Very cool thanks. I knew that they tagged some fish like billfish and tuna but I was unaware they had programs anglers could sign up for to tag striped bass.

Gutlawdamighty!!!  What a Dandy! 8-)  Y'all done good young man. .

Dan

Man, those stripers sure are fun to catch, especially ones that size on light gear. I find myself watching the spool more than paying attention to what the fish is doing. It sucks getting spooled by a striper but it does happen from time to time!

Great job Russ! Thats a good 'un!

Very cool thanks. I knew that they tagged some fish like billfish and tuna but I was unaware they had programs anglers could sign up for to tag striped bass.

Sure, other species too.  Matter of fact, I'll bet $$ that this fish is from your state.  Most of our stripers come from the Chesapeake.,  The revival of the Chesapeake brought striper fishing back for Narragansett Bay.

Just goes to show you what a quality job they did and what an impact it can have hundreds of miles away.

When I was a kid, it was all Bluefish in the bay and if you caught a schoolie striper it was something else.  My elders spoke of days when you could walk across the bay on the backs of cow stripers.

Slowly but surely, each year is better and better with larger keeper fish being found further North each year.

These are a few (small) keepers caught throwing a fluke with the freshwater rods, what a blast.  Nonstop action.  The fish were piled up and feeding off the eddies of a current formed from the outgoing tide.  Check out the video below.

FISHY PLACES-short video

Yeah the fishing has really improved the past few years.  Last year was excellent we caught 10 over 40" in one afternoon and fish up to 35lbs throughout the spring season. We're at least 100 miles from the ocean if not more. This year one guy posted a story about how he ran into a few solid acres of big fish spawning in about 3-4 feet of water way up at the top of the bay near the Susquehanna. It's a far cry from the day when you could pitchfork them out of the Potomac but there were many years when that kind of scene was just a memory. I didn't realize that the Chesapeake fish would impact R. I. so much though thats good to hear.

We had a slot this spring that was 1 fish at 28-37" and one over 42" I think ( I didn't actually get to go out this year because of school). The fisherman overall weren't too crazy about it but it should really help the spawners.  Past years it was 28 and then 33.

I am a little worried about the fluke and the weaks as they have sort of dissapeared. They aren't doing too well in other places either as I understand it.

That new slot is great news for us up here

I wonder if the weakfish and flats getting wiped our by the stripers.  

June is prime time in your territory for those big ones Russ - catch a couple for me!

Awesome! Looks like you gave up LMB fishing!

June is prime time in your territory for those big ones Russ - catch a couple for me!

June moon frenzy  One of the few weeks a year we pay any credit to the moon phases

This ones for you GW  

Great stuff!    Just be sure to rinse the rods... I didn't build it for the salt!!  (next time I'll know better than to trust you!!)  

Hey, On your next trip, how about a picture of a good striper with the handle section of the custom in the shot...  I want to collect a few like that for the wall of the shop that I'm going to build. (actual catches, no substituting!)

keith

Mother Goose!

Russ...

Man, am I impressed! Great fish, video & pics!

Keith, no worries, we rinse everything extra well.  I will get some pics for you in that format, that rod will be my primary Bluefish rod once they come in (any day now, stragglers are showing up and this yrs batch are huge)  That rod will be PERFECT (in other words, slightly less than what you should be using,lol)

CAN'T WAIT!

(Keith-I have some freshwater shots like that if interested I'll send you a few, no BIG fish yet though)

man i wish i was catchin stripers right about now i just got back surfcasting from rockypoint and i got skunked :'(, i have been fishing there every day for about 4 hours throwin topwater plugs swimbaits, jerkbaits, and i even tried clam bellies and clam worms the only thing i havent tried was eels. idk im about to give up saltwater till next year because the luck isnt in my favor.

That is a great looking fish and to catch it on what you did was awsome.  Congrats Russ.

Dave, hang tight, the blues will be here soon and they can be had from shore all day, and you're in a prime spot.  Also try the point off Potowammut.  I see them there most often within casting range.  Another prime spot is Barrington Beach.  They use the cove to corral baitfish and the melee can last hours with bl;ues pushing the bait right up on to the beach with each wave,...literally.

The stripers are only in specific spots, using the structure in a specific way and there are even fewer spots that hold the cows.  All require a boat for the most part.

The blues though,.....they're close, I can smell 'em, CAN'T WAIT!

Keith, no worries, we rinse everything extra well. I will get some pics for you in that format, that rod will be my primary Bluefish rod once they come in (any day now, stragglers are showing up and this yrs batch are huge) That rod will be PERFECT (in other words, slightly less than what you should be using,lol)

CAN'T WAIT!

(Keith-I have some freshwater shots like that if interested I'll send you a few, no BIG fish yet though)

I'm not picky, fresh and salt... the variety would be great!

Thanks!

Those fish are bigger than you Runt.   ;D

Great fish Russ. Can't even imagine playing a fish like that on 12lb test. lol. Congrats man!

Beauties my friend!  

Nice going

That looks like tremendous fun!  I've not fished for saltwater stripers.  Nice pics and video as usual.