...........Hi all you fellow surfcasters and striper lovers. As you well know, THEY are not here yet. Some very odd reports of bundled up , tiny , schoolies in some river mouths, but that odd presence from stripers, is historical. You will see in the below photo, that a chilly March day can produce some great cod fishing. Don't let issues , like limits, etc, deter your chilly day in march. If you catch your limit of nice cod....you will have some good fillets for the freezer. My reason for getting on this in the fishing update part of Angling Lore, is because early March can produce some nice catches....not that far from shore!..Support local charters in the Scituate area, and reserve a Hot Spot on a boat. You need a referral??......Here is Striper Mike's suggestion for a charter...Half Fast Charters, Scituate
, Mass........#(617) 291-0291.... Rick Rozen is the Capt and is a passionate and highly skilled fisherman. When you put that package in the waters that he knows like the back of his hand,...you can imagine your likelihood for success!!!!. Set up a charter...make a memory.
......but I have to admit that I can only stay focused on that cold water fishing scenario for short periods of time. My mind continues to wander back to the my true passion...surfcasting. The one vein of angling that can offer days of total serenity and the next day can be , God Awful Fury...I remember all of the in-betweens too. I will admit that my memory bank does seem to prioritize one type of surfcasting above all the others.........The extreme..the most furious..the most harsh...the most rugged. Whatever the category that comes from combining all those features, are the memories that remain most vivid and heart racing to me . To this very day. In fact to this very moment.........and so.......
UNFISHABLE
Alas, I'm here. Sure seemed like a longer ride than normal to get up here, but the clock verified a typical 3 hours. The season had been slower than last year, but with me , that only drives me harder to be there when the slow spell subsides. The less I catch, the more I try to catch them!..Most of us anglers are probably the same. None the less, I had 5 days of just fishing ahead of me and I was very ,very psyched. As I got out of the Jeep and let my loyal buddy Tugboat, out, I could here deafening crashes from breakers on the beach. I like it a little rough for good striper conditions....but a lot rough can be UNFISHABLE. The two of us (bulldog and moi), raced up to the beach wall...picture a 50 year old guy racing a huge bulldog...maybe, racing is not the term! But wait a second..Stripermike can run when he wants to!
.........signing up for the Humarock 4.6mile run!
My ears told the truth. The 8 footers and higher, seemed to assure more time on the couch than I had hoped for. Did I mention the 35 mph northeast winds and the pelting rain??? The morning tide was a washout. I tried desperately to hold out a line, but the conditions were demonic. The couch became the holding pad for Tugboat and I as I hoped the tides would temper as my vacation progressed. The icing on the cake, was that the weather forecasters said we were locked on this pattern for awhile. I was beginning to consider alternative approaches. Somewhere out of the winds....out of the waves...out of the rain...this would take ALOT of recall to remember a site with all those favorable variables. Sighing, was a natural reaction , when I realized, there were none!
A dear friend from work arrived with her beautiful baby , and her presence seemed to side track me from the thought of maybe being shut out during the next few days. As the day progressed, Allison and Fallon, the above mentioned, went in for a nap and I continued to feel like a pent up lion..........until I saw Ed Norton's black truck pull to a skidding halt in front of the house. It is important that you get to know Ed a little bit before I continue. He is a thick armed , mick from this area. Ed is a member of , along with some other very hearty guys, a make believe club that I have...THE IRON MAN FISHING CLUB. He is rugged, tough, determined, highly skilled angler, and a true sportsman......he is just like me....so I knew something was on his agenda for the day, regardless of the conditions, so I rushed to the door to hear the scoop!
"Some guys at the tackle shop said that there is a big school of nice bluefish, crashing bait by the Plymouth Power Plant, but the conditions are so bad, no one can get to them"........Remember, Ed is like me! His rods were in the roof rack and mine were half way out the door as he thundered our traditional yell" LETS GO". Here is the scene. The power plant has a warm water discharge that houses bait on a regular basis, and of course the accompanying predators. On one side of the sleuth way is a small elbow of land and on the other side is a long rock jetty, that was formed with huge boulders....they had to be that size or the force of the water would toss them around. The huge waves that pounded my beach area at the house , were pounding the land and rock jetty with even more force , as they met with the rushing discharge water. The rain...,the spray...,the noise,and the volume of the waves was hellacious! And to boot, the tide was coming in.
We pulled up on the side with the jetty and a number of fisherman were standing there.....not fishing! Their respect for the conditions was justified, but the crashing bluefish were within range........if you could get to the end of the jetty to cast to them. A slip...or a fall, from that jetty into the maelstrom of water, would have only one ending....if they eventually could find your body. No one dared risk it.....until we arrived. We could see how bad it was, but gathered our stuff in a very consolidated fashion....a fashion that would allow us to get out to where no one else could, or would. There was no long discussion and we parted the onlookers as we briskly walked to the beginning of the long CRAWL out to the end of the jetty, where 15 lb bluefish foamed an already foamy surface. The fishing wanna be's mumbled some things as we got further away. I am sure it was a long the lines of "Those fools will get killed out there...that water is "UNFISHABLE".
Hands and knees was the only way. If you stood up, the waves would sweep you away. As we crawled, the hefty breakers were deflected by the big rocks but still covered us with every curl. The adrenaline gnawed at my stomach, it was a familiar feeling. Finally we were within casting range and had to lower ourselves down and in between the huge boulders. If we hadn't......we would not have been able to cast from a standing position. The downside was that being in these crevasses caused us to be completely covered with breaker after breaker and that influx of water had my waders lifting off the bottom on many occasions. That is an eerie feeling! But we were there.... and we whistled out our first casts with an assurance of a hookup. The strong winds held back our casting distance, but we plopped our plugs in the zone.....Success was instaneously obvious as a 12lb bluefish slashed at the Gibbs and the drag could be heard ,even over the deafening roar of the moment. A quick glance to Ed to assure his safety, showed me his rod bent out to the sea and we both laughed. For the next 2 hours we struggled for firm ground and recklessly released fish as waves from the incoming tide literally crashed over us! No one else ever came out. No one else caught the 20 bluefish we did! This was the essence of extreme surfcasting and the reason why I love it and its memories.........Become a member of the IRON MAN FISHING CLUB.....wrestle your environment....Striper Mike
"Hey Striper Mike"
I remember that last spring I had a very hard time catching the striped bass. I would get bites, but the fish was never there when I tried to set the hook. Was it crabs or real tiny ones?
Dave McKay
Thanks for the email Dave...
I have found that those bites are probably schoolie stripers. They may have some size, so don't fall asleep. What happens is that, assuming you are using bait, they suck the bait in and expel it out before you react. Be sure to hold the rod....use hooks as small as #4...and set the hook with your wrist on any feeling at all. Also, if the seas are calm, use a slip sinker rig and allow some slack. From that point on, WATCH THE SLACK LINE...if it begins to tighten at all....reel down and set the hook.
Striper Mike
Striper Mike:
The site looks great! We used to vacation in Duxbury, Ma, so I am somewhat familiar with your area. I fly fish for stripers in NJ from Cape May Point to Sandy Hook. Last year I caught about 80 stripers on the long rod with the biggest being 34" and about 20lb.....It was quite a thrill on my eight wgt. Ill visit your site in the future. By the way, do you know how I can get tags for the stripers I release? I would love to know more about their migratory habits.....................Casey Joe
Hey Casey....
Pursuing the linesider with the fly rod continues to gain popularity and I am seeing more of it up in my part of the ocean also. Here is my advice on the "where do I get the tags" question. Capt Al Anderson of the Prowler..email AHAtuna@aol.com...is the foremost advocate for striper catch and release that I know of. I guarantee he will not only tell you where to get the tags but refer you to some of his published writings on the subject. If you are going to do it , Casey, ...do it right.
good luck....Striper Mike
This is for an 8-12 lb striper or it's fillets.......approx 28-32 inch fish..
Striper "Chinese Style"
Sauté small bunch of scallions, a few cloves of garlic, and a quarter size piece of ginger, minced. Add a scant 2 teaspoons of soy sauce. Place onto a piece of aluminum foil and set into a clamshell type fish basket. Grill fillets about five minutes on one side and flip over. Pour contents of sauté pan on top of fillets. cover grill for another five minutes to finish. Mmm, yum sum!
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STRIPED BASS: LENGTH - AGE- WEIGHTS
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
23
|
4
|
7.5
|
6.3
|
5.0
|
34
|
9
|
19.0
|
16.5
|
14.0
|
45
|
15
|
41.0
|
36.0
|
30.5
|
|
24
|
5
|
8.3
|
7.0
|
6.0
|
35
|
10
|
20.5
|
18.0
|
15.5
|
46
|
16
|
44.0
|
38.7
|
32.5
|
|
25
|
5
|
8.8
|
7.8
|
6.3
|
36
|
10
|
22.0
|
19.5
|
16.8
|
47
|
16
|
47.5
|
42.0
|
35.0 |
|
26
|
6
|
10.0
|
8.5
|
7.0
|
37
|
11
|
23.5
|
20.7
|
17.5
|
48
|
17
|
51.0
|
44.0
|
37.0
|
|
27
|
6
|
11.0
|
9.8
|
8.0
|
38
|
12
|
25.5
|
22.0
|
19.0
|
49
|
17
|
54.0
|
47.0
|
39.0
|
|
28
|
6
|
12.0
|
10.3
|
8.8
|
39
|
12
|
27.2
|
24.5
|
20.7
|
50
|
18
|
58.0
|
50.0
|
42.0
|
|
29
|
7
|
12.9
|
11.0
|
9.7
|
40
|
13
|
29.5
|
26.0
|
22.0
|
51
|
18
|
62.0
|
55.0
|
45.0
|
|
30
|
7
|
14.0
|
12.3
|
10.3
|
41
|
13
|
31.0
|
27.3
|
23.0
|
52
|
19
|
65.0
|
58.0
|
47.0
|
|
31
|
8
|
15.0
|
13.0
|
11.0
|
42
|
14
|
33.5
|
29.7
|
25.0
|
53
|
19
|
68.0
|
60.0
|
49.0
|
|
32
|
8
|
16.7
|
14.5
|
12.0
|
43
|
14
|
36.3
|
32.0
|
27.0
|
54
|
20
|
73.0
|
64.0
|
52.0
|
|
33
|
9
|
17.8
|
15.8
|
13.0
|
44
|
15
|
39.0
|
34.0
|
29.0
|
55
|
20
|
80.0
|
70.0
|
56.0
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PLEASE NOTE THE AGE OF THE BIG ONES, THEY ARE THE PROVEN BREEDERS, LET THEM GO.
NOTHING...and I mean NOTHING......is as exciting as watching a young man
land his first striper from the beach. It is a rites of passage that all beach kids yearn for..especially boys. Peter and andrew are my friends..i am glad i was part of this time for them....BEHOLD....PETER KENDALL..and his wonderful brother....Andrew.
ATTENTIVE!
.......that there was a fellow that was surf casting with his buddies and had moved down the beach to get some personal space. At that point he found a 50 lb bass in a tidal pool, on its side, dying.!! He brought it back to the other guys and showed them as he if had caught it. He soon fessed up to the truth and when they gutted the big ,dying striper, they found a ROCK, bigger than a SOFTBALL. The huge striper had "SUCKED" it in when feeding of the bottom.....and eventually it killed her! The point is, many big fish can SUCK a bait in from quite a distance..and expel it with the same velocity... Be attentive in this sport, big ones are rare....Good Luck
Spring Stripers will readily hit artificial lures. Most surf casters and striper fans know that. You will see and probably use most of your "tin" lures at that point....Kastmaster...and the typical array of minnow like metal lures. And use them with success I may add....But want a little different approach?..Try a Rapala! Of course all of us have and will always use the famed rapala swimmers, but have you tried the suspended version???? My opinion is that they are now as ready too thrash the top for the old floater...so give them the bait more in their strike zone for this time of year.....Please Practice Catch and Release.
.Striper Mike
Got a fishing tale?
copywrite-Stripermike
...returning from a successful tide, I contemplate the time spent.......and I realize that so much happens..........IF YOU ARE THERE TO SEE IT..
Striper Mike.6/22/97