DECEMBER

I felt it was time to re-run this epic september fishing tale.....It was right about now that all this happened.  Is your spool filled with new line??.Are your knots and terminal gear in great shape??  Because maybe this yr...it will be your TIME!!!!

FLASHHHHHH: word is out that a guy surfcasting on the cape.....residing in barnstable....hooked and landed a blue fin .125 poundsss...good god in heaven can you imagine what he went through??....if you read this site ....mr tuna catcher.....please write me and tell us all about this great catch!!!!!.this is sept 2004......HOLD ON TO THOSE RODS!!!!

     I absolutely love September.  The weather is super ...the tourists thin way out..the fishing,  with pre migration, is as good as it gets.  I hope September was good to you.  If you have not heard by now.......it was incredible for me.  Not simply the array of 38-40 inch stripers that I landed, but also..... The Humarock Surf Tuna, that was the thrill of my surf casting lifetime.  Not long before this odd angling saga, I was out at H buoy and the schools of blue fin tuna were everywhere.  Beautiful ocean missiles sailing right out of the water and feeding on peanut bunker.....and only 7 miles from the land!  Tuna can swim 50 mph...combine that with a stiff north east wind for two days and the fact that the shoreline is also full of peanut bunker, while cloaking all of this with the darkness of 430 am on Sept 26th.....and you can see how my good fortune had some theory behind it.  Stop and think about yourself or your buddies, etc., that live in the South shore area ...so close to the tuna...have their spool offs always been 50 lbers??..........Makes you wonder doesn't it.  And soon after my catch some guy brought one to the sand from Scusset beach.....or so I heard.
      Speaking of the "so I heard " bit.  I learned a lesson about people......jealousy ..and why such character defects are so disdained by the human race.  The editor of the news paper that wrote this story called me after it was printed.  He said that some one had called and said that  perhaps I did not catch the fish.  He told me that he wanted  to hear my voice and its honesty so that he could be assured that the voice he heard call the paper was just, as he put it" a typical case of sour grapes that we see all the time from happy stories".  I was told that it is human nature for some people to be angry ..and jealous...and have incorrect perceptions of occurrences in others lives.  The joy of these moments is the fact that we humans can communicate....and that if there were confusion about this wonderful moment in local angling, the rumor mongers could have asked the person involved........ME.  But unfortunately that rarely occurs and a percentage of sour grape people warp and twist the truth to dampen the joy of those involved and those that are happy for the people involved.  This canker sore of the human race has been so predictable and disruptive to society, that one of the 10 commandment's pleads with mankind ..."THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR".....please note that is included with ...killing...stealing...adultery... etc....it has represented a similar level of social and moral deviance....or in modern terms..a loser!
      Now with all that aside....and my assurance that.....I did not wade out into the 3 foot surf at 430 am and find a blue fin tuna just floating around out there.......or did I find one on the beach that just happened to have the cut under  its pectoral fin where I bled it out....and off course after weathering the surf all night...the meat was fine!. I have been affiliated with Humarock beach for over 20 years.....I cant recall any tuna being.....washed up....perfectly intact, still bleeding.  By the way it was easy for me to bring the found??? tuna home....it just happened to be near my house!!!  Well, with no further need for tongue in cheek comments....I present to all of you that are happy for me and the sport of surfcasting, the thrills that I went through.........and so...

CULMINATION

     It is amazing how fast you notice a state cop cars lights flashing when they are right in back of you.  Obviously he had noticed something I was doing that he was disgruntled over.  As I pulled over I realized I didn't have to wait much longer as to find out what it was!  While leaning through the passenger window, I asked him what was wrong.  You were going 75 mph in a 50 mile zone....and your seat belt isn't on!..License and registration please.  I honestly didn't know I was going that fast officer. I am all juiced up and almost home.  JUICED UP!!!!.have you been drinking????  No sir I mean I am all excited and heading home to tell my home town why.  Officer?...yes?....do you like to fish?...I love it, but I need to fill this ticket out.  Before you do, look at these pictures and you will see why I am so excited.  He pulled his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and curiously glanced at the pictures of this magnificent fish I had just caught and the exhausted angler displaying it.....WOW, that's a tuna....Yes sir..i caught it from the surf....Your Kidden ME....I love to surf cast and I have never heard of that.  Well, sir I have heard of rumors every year or so.,but here is the real thing.  Hold on. I wanna call my buddy and tell him about this.  He rambled toward the cruiser......lights still flashing away.  Dam.....this will be a couple hundred dollars and an insurance rate increase...I hate it when I do silly things like that.  Upon return he handed me a warning...for going 65 in a 55 zone...and crossed out the seat belt.  I had to write something up. I am sure you are all excited...you cant have a ticket after luck like that...drive safety!!!!!!.  He walked away and I was happily stunned.  I did drive slower. His approach worked.
    Surfcasting is not that difficult most of the time.  Getting there to do it can be the hard part.  This was one of those days when 4 hrs sleep and the alarm at 230 am were causing me to pull the covers back over my head.  Its the fall run Mike. you have to get up...you live for this stuff.  By 245 I was on the beach. Living so close is a blessing.
     It smelled raucous.  There was an east wind...and sizable surf.  To add to it all the new moon, made life on the beach at 245 am.... ebony.  The crabs were the only bites and one lousy taster choice half warm coffee didn't make it......my eyes were drooping. It wasn't even 400 yet and I was weakening. I must be getting old.  I rebaited with a hefty piece of Belsans special mackerel...hurled it out past the three sets of breakers and it found the calmer water beyond the foam.  I put the rod in the holder...set up the chair right next to it...plopped down, with my hood up and finger on the wide-open drag and line ....I settled in.  That's called taking a nap!!. 
     I normally am not long winded about the actual fight with a fish...those are the private memories for me to keep.  But in this case...you are going to get the blow by blow description.
     The strike was explosive.........and so was my reaction to it.  I was out of the chair..rod in hand..lowered the tip and buried the hook...within 2 seconds.  In a natural motion that I am so familiar with in the dark, I cranked the drag clockwise to a familiar position. I would guess around 10-15 lbs of drag.  The fish never even flinched.  Never even turned...Never even faltered... It just went out at breath taking speed.  If it had been light I think that watching the line disperse so quickly would have caused me to over react.  It was better that this chaos be given to me in the dark...And so...what I dreamed of seemed to be occurring.  A fifty pound striper at long last.  I prayed it would not spool me.  I held the van staal up to the flicker of brightness from a distant street light check how much line was left.  I swear I was starting to see the white Dacron backing at the end of the spool. And on a van staal reel, that is 350 yds of 20 LB test.  I was tempted to play with the drag.....or palm the spool a tad in order to weather this first run....but I had discipline.  I held my 11footer high and arched and made this huge striper battle the rod and reel as it fled.
     It slowed down....I still had line....I had survived it to this point.  When I leaned alittle into the rod, the huge fish turned and sauntered down from me for about 50 yds as I followed along from the terra firma.  It must have headed in a bit too, because I gathered up some line that it gave back, while never letting any pressure off it.  The whole time I repeated the mantra in my head..Pay attention..stay calm.....pay attention...stay calm...
     Just when I felt like the fight would be a give and take, it roared toward England again....with the same vigor that I felt would spool me off the first.  So this is what its like I thought..My god this is some enormous quarry.  My confidence wavered as the spool of line melted away again.  But as before. I survived it!  It spun to the right  and simply tugged and darted about like an enormous schoolie.  I have no idea the time span that this went on for...gain a small amount of line .....she would peel it off and more, every time.  I didn't need a watch to tell me my right arm was nearly asleep from no blood flow as I refused to take the arch of the rod.  She would have to get off on her own...IM not going to give it to her. 
     After a number of nearly being spooled by this fish and the fact that it seemed to dart more than a striper.....it didn't have that traditional throbbing that a big cow will give you during the standoff.  It seemed to frisky !  Could it be a huge bluefish or a shark that just isn't going through my 50 LB leader????..I stopped that kind of thinking. Pay Attention and stay calm...I went back to that mantra. 
     Even though I could only put 10-15 LB of drag on the fish...nonetheless my back and stomach and arm were really feeling the effect of all this.  I vacillated between numb and agony.  The sweat poured down my face and into my eyes...and the burning came next.  The waders were way to much to wear at this point and I could feel the sweat pooling up inside them, not to mention that they made me about 110 degrees.  If I gave in I knew this fish would get off. Its to big and to old...it knows more than me or any of the anglers it has faced to date.  If I made a mistake..she was gone.  Let me tell you, after an hour or more, confidence wanes and pain can make a loser out of anyone.  God I wanted to win.  I kept it arched.  I kept it tight..  I made the fish fight...If I was gonna hurt..it was going to also.  So it went on.
       Up until the fish came into the white water, about 3 waves worth, it was shear power.  Frightening power.  The power I had heard about from guys that landed 50 lbers from the beach.  This was it...this was the striper of my life.  We all know that when a striper gets into the surf ...it becomes recharged from the oxygen in the foamy water and that is where we all lose the big cows.  Now there was a hint of light and I would need it to get this monster to give up now that it was in its real realm of fighting environment.....the surf!  The stars must have been aligned.  The fish struggled, not from the fight...but from the surf.  It began  to weave and roll...but without the force and determination of a skinny water cow.  It was a mass of bobbing weight.  When it hit the bottom I expected to get rubbed off...but it seemed to bounce on the bottom of the wave and give me varied moments of extreme weight and then a return to buoyancy.  I refused to think about it..............Pay attention and stay calm......I kept repeating it.
      When I could tell that the fish was close it had seemed to...........are you ready for this??????.............DIE.?!?  When it was in approx. 18 inches of remaining surf I saw its pectoral fin stick in the air as it lay on its side..............A TUNA!!!!!  I threw my van staal in to the sand and ran into the water. Literally diving on the fish.  I grabbed it by the gill plate and dragged it to where it was mine....where there was no water.......to land!  I looked at was before me and panted like the days of running in marathons.  I had caught a tuna from the surf.!!!!!  When I attempted to clear my throat, it was all my body needed to set me into a bout of dry heaves from the over dose of adrenaline.  It was a tuna.!!!!......it was a CULMINATION of surf casting hope and fury.........it was a tuna.!!!!
     I sat there for maybe 10 minutes....it was not fully light yet and I needed a picture etc.  Having gotten tuna from boats before, I realized that I had to bleed it out ......so with no true light from the sun, I saw the ocean tint alter as this great fishes nectar of life oozed into the Atlantic......the cut below the pectoral is ceremonial..........and final.

Pec-cut on a 200lb BLUEFIN.

     The war had taken me about 300 yds from where I started and now I dragged this miracle catch up to safe beach height and covered it with sea weed.  I would run home ...get my wife and my buddy Chris for pictures and help...So as the sun rose....I ran!
      I tossed my rods and gear into the sand dune grass...my waders were stripped off at the door...bathing suit on and camera grabbed....woke up Susan and called Chris.  I grabbed the dog to come to the beach.  His franticness added to it all and he was promptly returned.  I would tell him a bout it all later. 
    Upon returning to the fish, The normal array of beach walkers were striding and some of my friends strided toward myself and the fish.  Realizing that a permit might be an issue being a blue fin tuna and all. I hemmed and hawed about the fish and this and that, while anxiously awaiting Chris and Susan.  The gulls had picked its eye already and the meat is far to precious to let it get tainted or warm. None of the on lookers were surfcasters..in fact I believe none of them are even fisherman.  A long winded expose on my exploits two hours ago would be something none of them could relate to.. .....So with everyone wondering why I was doing what and where., I dragged it off toward the house....God this heavy!!.  Still no help and when I saw another local acquaintance strolling down the beach I took this opportunity to have a photo.  Got a second????....Sure what's up?....Can you take a picture of this fish I got?..of course....HOLY COW!! ....was all he said....the shutter clicked.....and the drag home continued.

     I called Pete Belsan .. a renowned tackle shop owner and friend, to tell him of my feat and my anxiousness about the possibility of a permit being an issue.  It was the right move.  Pete connected me right to the top of the legal chain. Brad McHale , He allowed a variance for that fish due to its very unusual nature.  He was moved by the fact that my first action upon quartering the tuna , was to donate a quarter of it to a Group Home....give away another quarter to neighbors and friends, while putting an ear to ear smile on Susan's face as I put the steaks, from the remainder, in our freezer...and that night, on the grill!

     All my years of new knots...new line...new hooks...the best rods and reels...fresh bait...top grade terminal equipment etc...all was worth it....I think releasing so many big bass in my life also built up, as an old hippy would say...good Karma...Only in terms of allowing me the chance to fight this remarkable fish.  Being the winner of the fight was the CULMINATION of a surfcasting life.  I have fought tuna off of boats and in my opinion, they are the ultimate rod and reel fish......and with deep water to sound in  and open ocean to work with, they can turn any angler into a quitter..they fight that hard!!....But this time he was in my environment. the surf....He could not sound here .There was no deep water!..he could not stay righted in the water due to the pull of the surf....He struggled to maintain  his normal purposeful swimming....He was in my world....and he lost!.
...............FISHING IS THE SPORT OF HOPE.........Pursue hope.....Striper Mike
........See below......Tommys hope was almost on the beach!!!!

Just gotta say "you the Man", I just read you story on the  bluefin and I wanted to tell you how glad I was to see you in the paper. I have been doing a lot of surf fishing though, off of Duxbury beach (I bought a Beach sticker) and plymouth beach, usually 4-5 nights a week. I caught a lot of schoolies, anywhwere form 18" to 30", with one  lunker at 35" and lots of misses.  The night that I remember the most was when my brother in law (eddie) and I  went down to Bert's beach in plymouth at around 10:00 p.m. While we unloaded  the gear and jumped into our waders I told him that the guys at N. River bait  had told me that we probably wouldn't catch any stripers tonight, because the  tuna were close to shore. we both laughed and said how awesome it would be to  reel in a tuna (this would be the ultimate thrill to any fisherman), then we  walked down and baited up.  As usual, I was the first out and what a cast, I could not even see the splash in the surf, no sooner did I put my rod in the sand spike and turn to  talk to my eddie, the spool ran, faster than I had ever heard it run before.  I grabbed my rod and cranked it back, man it felt like I had a freight train  on the end of a rope, tightened my drag to full and it still kept pulling line, I yelled to eddie "I can't reel it in" he was laughing, telling me to  shut up and reel it in, but I couldn't this thing had my drag screaming. I think in my case it was "purely inexperience", I didn't know what to do, my  first thought was to walk up the beach and then once I had enough room run down to the water while reeling in the slack. I tried this, but as soon as I  started running down the beach, it would take the slack before I could reel  it in, plus with the power of this fish it was just too hard to hang on to the rod. I finally did the "pull back reel fast routine" which worked for about 10-15 minutes into the fight, finally I got this fish about 15-20 feet  from me, I could just see the outline of the fish in the dark surf (eddie had  gone to get his spotlight so we could actually see what it was) then with one  last hard slam the fish took off with my hardware still in his mouth. I felt  like filling my waders up with water and going under! I'll tell you mike, we can't say for sure if it was a tuna or not, but the outline that I remember was not of a shark or striper, we've caught those  many times before and they don't fight like that.  The funny thing about the whole fish story is I was telling all my buddies  on mon. about the fishing the night before, they looked at me like I was crazy, I thought it was crazy. Then about 3-4 days later my dad says to me " is striper mike the guy you used to fish with down in Humarock", I said yeah, and he showed me the picture, I was thrilled, not only was I happy for you, but you made more sense of my fish story.

Never , in my wildest dreams did I ever for see the events of the last few weeks.....I am very lucky to be  affiliated with such a professional corporation and such superior products.

http://www.vanstaal.com/

.............GOD BLESS AMERICA

Bob Pizzi here from MSBA.Talked to you last year on the web. I saw your picture and a nice article in the Patriot Ledger about your TUNA .Nice! 99.99% of us crazy sport fisherman would not have landed that blue fin. Congratulations! Were you chunkin' at the time? Or did you catch Mr. Blue fin on a plug? Anyway. I'm sure you have heard a lot of questions about that fish since Wednesday. The main reason I'm contacting you is to let you know that I am now the co-chair of a new and exciting division of Mass Striped Bass Asscn.  ...The Striper swipers Juniors Club. Ages 7 to 17. I am in charge of events as well as guest speakers and demonstrations for these members. You may want to have some fun and teach the kids your stuff...They would love it. You are quickly becoming a legend and your enthusiasm in infectious! Please contact me Bob Pizzi at Chef1696@hotmail.com. When you have time maybe we should talk and meet. Oh...By the way the fishing has been awesome this year don't you think? Blues Stripers Fluke,Albies and Bonito and TUNA!!! Great signs for the future with the amount of bait in the water. I only hope overregulation, Commercial fishing and miss management don't screw it up...and maybe the agencies that be need to keep up their good work as well.

good luck .stay in touch...........Striper Mike

  Peach and Onion relish for grilled Tuna

Prepare grill so it is nice and hot before cooking tuna....note:  3 minutes per side for every 1" thick Tuna

...make relish in advance and bring to room temperature before serving

...Tuna steaks...1 1/2tbl red wine vinegar...1 1/2rbl lime juice...1 clove garlic, minced...1tbl fresh mint, chopped fine...2 ripe peaches, chopped...1/2 red pepper, chopped...1/4 cup chopped onion...salt and pepper to taste...chill for at least 1 hour...serve over grilled tuna

Look  a tad lighter than the above beach photo??  It is...two quarters were already taken from the tuna.

                        

PLEASE NOTE THE AGE OF THE BIG ONES, THEY ARE THE PROVEN BREEDERS, LET THEM GO.

Phil Lazzari wrote me and told of a night in the rip off the ct coast...While drifting eels he said himself and two others  caught and released 15 fish in the slot of 28-39 inches.....wow!!

A number of canal cowboys wrote of the normal array of big catches  (along with wads of seaweed) , from the trench....Its a very odd place to fish and the anglers are unique chaps.

Tim Scanlon boated 5 keepers of the spit at third cliff........he kept the 28" for dinner.....Good Man Tim

Be sure and write to me to tell me of your ALMOST good catches.....Big Striped bass get off even when the best surfcasters are attached to them.  Its part of why we like this method of fishing........write and tell me how they got off etc..........you will recall those moments as well as your ....Good Catches.

I remember every second of that day and the eventual bluefish...38"..that was mine...............

....That "The Call To The Surf.".(1920) by Van Campen Heilner . Was the first book that was specifically written about surf fishing??? NOTE the certain respect that surfcasters had and still have for their quarry....it must be part of a surfcasters soul.....Here is description of what it means to be a surf fisherman from Mr. Heilner.

"Surf fishing is to saltwater angling what trout fishing is to fresh water.  It is a one-man game from start to finish.  You are the one and only factor.  Here you are...and there she is.  If she runs out all the line, you cant pick up the oars or start the engine and follow her.  No cushions or comfortable seat or chair support your fundament, no thwarts against you to brace your feet, no companion to assist you or guide you.  You must find your quarry yourself; you must rig and bait your hook yourself; you must become proficient in the art of casting so you may reach her; and you must bring her through a line of foaming breakers and singing tides until at long last, whipped to a stand still, she lies gasping on the wet sands at your feet.......Then you must let her go because she deserves it"........Amen

.

The metal lip swimmer is the plug  to discuss this edition.  It is an old plug that has the familiar metal bill on it and shaped like a bottle plug...broom handle with a lip!!.......These are very universal lures in terms of when you can use them.....They are effective day or night....I like them at night in moving water.  Retrieve them ......veryyyyy slowly so that the wake they make is visible. If done correctly the surface wake should be sizable. This plug is usually used to target stripers specifically........Any surfcaster with cows in mind has a few of these in his possession.  They are available in 1..2..or 3 oz models with assorted colors etc.  If you don't have any or have never tried them....Give them a hurl and watch the injured fishy swim along the top.........Good Luck ...and please practice catch and release .....Striper Mike

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...Accomplish; to attain, effect, realize.

Indeed accomplishment reflects cultivation, refined skill and proficient talent...All of which you possess.  All of which have been strategically managed and liberated in dramatic grandeur:  peer recognition, industry success and personal fulfillment.

Given to me by Susan after seeing the Van Staal "Poster Boy".....Me!