hengstthomas
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Sorry for the delay but I have been overwhelmed lately ..
IRI my Personal Best Night and Worst Night 11-26/27/28-2008
Grandkids were sick so my wife and I headed to Dover and I was greeted with a downed Computer and was put to work .. An hour later I was off for Little Creek to finish anothe Computer I started a few days ago .. All the parts were supposed to be there but she was sold Notebook Ram and 3 more trips to Best Buys later and 3 hours I was done and headed back to Lewes when I get a call from Chump saying him and FingerandClaws were on their way here ..
I met up with them at IRI at about midnight and as I walked up I noticed the winds were screaming out of the West and it was very hard to fish .. Yul nailed a few before I got there but the bite was over when I arrived so we headed to the rail where I got the Skunk off with about 1 dozen Schoolies to 25" .. Yul picked up a few more and Chump landed his first .. Chump released the 26" Striper and in an instant afterwards slipped on a rock and got soaked .. It was very cold with the winds so no pics were taken as I didnt want to take off my gloves .
Chump and F&C left for OC for some Tog and I stayed and picked up a few more and as the sun rose I watched the longliners for about 1 to 2 hours and only saw 1 fish landed so I never got the rod back out .. I called it quits at about 9am . All fish were fat and over 20 inches with a few over 24" ..
I was squeezed for my spot by googans who I know for a fact got info from this site :angry2:
11-26/27-2008
I met up with BTK (Brent and Stripersniper (Todd) out back at about 10pm .. They had landed a few but the bite was turning off .. I landed 3 small schoolies and Todd decided to go out front to the rail and give it a shot .. Brent and I stayed for a bit but nothing happening so we went to join Todd who we saw pulling out as we pulled in .. We thought the worst but gave it a shot anyways .. WE both picked up fish .. and some fat ones too
Brent was ready to leave and ecided to toss a 6" PM and hooked into a nice fish that popped off a few into the fight .. He snagged the lure soon later and decided to call it a night and I told him I'd take over and went to the 6" PM .. 15 minutes after he left I get a 29 to 31 inch fish that as I leadered the fish in my line parted like a hot knife had touched it .. I wasnt mad about losing the fish but instead because it took on of my last 6" Pm's .
Those Googans were tossing righ over my line again and I believe thier trebbles had nicked my braid and caused me to lose the first Keeper ..
The Googans left and I picked up some nice FAT fish averaging 24 to 26 inches and H-E-A-L-T-H-Y ..
At this point there was 1 other car in the lot and I thought he was longlining on the point because I kept hearing fish crash the surface .. After about 10 minutes I had to investigate and found NO ONE at that spot and as I neared I saw what looked like Porpoises feeding 15 feet of the piont and baitfish averaging 10+ inches were FLYING out of that water .. I RAN back to my rod and pitched a cast 3 feet past the rip on the corner and in 2 seconds BOOM fish ON ! .. A keeper at 30" .. Next 7 casts produced 7 more keepers to 35" and the 9th cast (ALL in a row) I hooked up and the fish got tangled around a rock .. I could feel the fish on the other end but could not free it .. It broke my braid a few seconds later ... I rush to re-rig and with myhands freezing it took around 10 minutes and by the time I got back it was ALL quiet .. I never located those fish again .. I went back to nailing schoolies on .. 2.5" Fin"S" , 3" Swimbaits , 4" Swimbaits , 5" Swimbaits , Mirrow Lures , Bombers and a tandem 1/4 ounce leadheads with a 2" and 4" White Twisters .. I left them biting at 6am as the locals started to show .. I didnt want them to see what I was doing
I sat in the Truck and had some coffee and warmed my bones and at light I waited for the longliners to hopefully find that school of Keepers but it never happened .. I waited 2 hours and called it quits at 8am
I didnt want t waste time as I now they can turn off like a swtch so no pics were taken and I released all 8 Keepers (including the 2 break offs)
11-27/28-2008
Got to IRI about 9:30pm .. I was late bt I made it and met up with Morty who said no Stripers .. Only a few Shad .. I tried some Swimbaits without success so I tied on a 1/4 ounce leadhead with a 2.5" Fin"S" and started to land Shad .. Not much happening so I ask Morty if he wanted to head out back and meet up with Josh (fishforever) .. He agreed and we found Josh hard at it but had only landed 3 small schoolies .. Josh hooked up to another but lost it and shortly afterwards called it a night .. Morty also had a date with "Destiny" and called it a nightat around midnight just as Drew Showed up .. I got about a dozen Stripers and Drew picked a few up here and tehre until he found a nice combo .. He was high hook and was at times nailing 2 to 4 in succession ..
Thought I had a keeper too turned out to be a foul hooked fish
Right Hook showed up and watched for a bit and headed to the rail ..
Judah showed a short while later but the bite has slowed considerably so I headed to the rail as it was almost Slack tide .. WRONG the tide had already turned but I walked up to the rail and saw fish popping everywhere .. I tell Steve there here but by the time we get the rods to the water the winds had picked up from dead calm to 15+ out of the South .. WE watched the fish just stop popping and no one hooked up .. The wind shut down the bite although we tried and tried ..
Steve left and debated coming back for some longline action and Drew also left .. Judah had returned out back so I joined him .. We tried everything but landed nothing .. It was quiet ... TOO quiet . I had 2 good thumps but nothing came tight so we both called it quits around 6am ..
On my way out of IRI I saw a truck with an empty trailer and a cop behind him with lights flashing .. As I neared I noticed an Inboard boat approximately 20 footer on its side with the bottom facing me .. Doesnt take a genious to figure out what happened .. Speeding and NO tie down strap .. Poor guy had his head down the whole time .. I felt for him but honestly thats what you get for speeding towing a boat with no dam strap .. IDIOT !
You guys can share this info with good people but how the heck do you know that the guy you trust with this info doesnt have 3 buddies with no respect for anyone or any size fish .. This is my gripe and the next time I feel this happens I will be "Adjusting" my reporting habits to protect myself .. Perhaps a late monthly report every month instead of daily updated reports .. That be fun to get tips that worked a month ago and have long since stop working ..
Use your BEST judgement guys .. I dont take that crap lightly !!!
IRI 11-29-08
I got an E-mail earlier in the month from Grady Mike asking advice on night fishing at IRI .. I spoke with him yesterday afternoon and we planned on meeting up around 9pm .
Around 5pm last night I took 2 Goose Breast and combined them with some veggies and added it all to a Crock Pot .. I have not been sleeping well but managed to watch a bit of TV and fell asleep . I was awaken at 9:30pm by the wifey and daughter but I was OUT OF IT .. They said I was late and were rushing me to get up and get with it .. I struggled to get my bearings and noticed the smell of FOOD and it smelled GREAT I asked what they brought for dinner that smelled so good and the both laughed and said that I was cooking .. Did I say I was OUT OF IT LMAO !!
Anyhow I asked the wife to make some coffee while I git dressed and then made a thermos of coffee and headed out the door .. I got to IRI at about 10:30pm and caught up with Mike .. He was fishing with Right Hook , Wannafishallday and his brother .. Stcroixaddict was also there .. I asked Mike if he caught anything yet and he said he hadnt so I ask him if he want to follow me .. We hit the Rail and it wasnt long at all before we both had a fish .. Mike ended up with 2 fat Stripers 1 at about 22" and one 26" ..
I picked up about 6 Schoolies and we both missed a few but Mike called it a night and I kept at it .. The tide slowed so I chucked a 6" Swimbait for awhile and got no response .. I had fish smacking the surface but not many and far in between ..
Stcroixaddict came around and introduced himself but left shortly afterwards .. He said he be back but I think Mr Sandman got the best of him ??
Steve also came around and shot teh chit with us but he also left without even fishing ..
Wannafishallday came around and tried some longlining but I told him he wasnt getting out far enough .. I believe his Brother got a few Stripers not sure how wannafishallday made out ..
So Drew and Judah show up and I have landed about 25 to 30 Stripers by then but Drew get right out there and gets about half a dozen or so ..
Judah get a few also but after his second Striper I tell him he's gotta climb back up here for a pic .. I'm not sure what happened but I dont recall seeing him land anymore although he did hook up quite a few more times
I ran into Sharkhunter also throughout the early hours and he said he'd be back on DF ..
Drew and Judah headed out back and nailed a few back there but returned out front about an hour later or so and I had caught 2 more and just lost a real nice fish .. It hit a Windcheater ... I watched a nice size fish crash 3 times outside my range and then it came close enough I was right on it .. It crashed the Windcheater and made a nasty subsuface run just a spitting water from it tail .. The fight lasted all of 10 seconds before the plug popped out .. I was missing quite a few .. I guess they were sluggish but they were inhaling the swimbait again ...
Drew , Judah and I picked up a few more schoolies and then left around 4am .. Judah kidded around and said "The big ones will bite now that we are leaving" ..
He was right LMAO !!
I picked up a 27.75" fifteen minutes after they left and then landed a 29" .. I lost 2 more with one breaking me off on the rocks and the other just came unglued .. I get another at 31" and then a few more from 20 to 25 inches .. I had 1 more nice fish on but lost it also after a few seconds . These were all on a 4" PM in Mullet ..
Then just like that they were done .. I picked up one more fish right before daybreak .. Seems like the big boats heading out turned them off .. Water was dirty from the first boat and never really recovered .
I had a guy take pics of the 2 keepers but I didnt check and he said he got them .. The flash worked so I just figured .. The lense didnt open for any of his pics .. I didnt mention that it sticks .... OH Well . I did take this one before he came over to assist . This was the first of that fish feeding frenzy at 27.75"
Too bad it only lasted about 7 casts
I know I forgot A LOT and some things may be out of order but I am ready for some ZZZZ's
I left IRI at 7am after watching the longliners do absolutely nothing all down the rail .. The Coast Guard started up the boats one they SMOKED LIKE A FIRE .. It was terrible and almost made me sick . The fumes from that boat filled the parking lot and even into the inlet and last atleast 20 minutes .. I left and it was "Still Smokin"
A very BUSY night and I had a ball
IRI 11-30-08
I was supposed to meet up with stripersniper (Todd) so as I drove by I saw more cars out front than I cared for so I headed out back and found it empty ... I figured Todd would find me and I was right .. He shows up 5 minutes after I get there
I had a small schoolie hit a 4"PM right at my feet but other than that nothing was happeneing .. We even had a large fish crash out in the darker area to the right and seconds later bunker were running for their lives .. Todd and I both switched to plugs but got no response ..
Drew , Judah and SuperGoogan (Chris) also showed up and not one fish was caught .. Todd's brother was out front on the rail and said no fish out there either ??
I kidded and said I know I could land one in 10 casts or less and when we were told the group out front was leaving .. Drew , Judah and myself went out front ..
I was wrong about the 10 casts .. It only took ONE cast
Anyhow I made another cast and got a wind knot but on the 3rd cast I hookup again and it spits the hook .. I had promised Chris and Todd that I would "get them" if any fisg were biting and so instead of gettibg uinto a hot bite and not wanting to leave I walked all the way around back and got the boys
So now we pick at fish .. Not many and very little surface action going on ..
Drew picked up a few small schoolies as I did but that was about it .
Todd , Judah , Drew and Chris all left and I stayed to meet up with Morty ..
I picked up a fish about every 20 minutes or so with a few in succession but nothing like it has been and NONE on plugs .. Hot bait was a 5" Swimbait but I had none and no one but Drew had any and he lost them all .. They bit the 6" pretty good but only mouthed the bait most times but I did land about 30 fish total and had 4 times that many bites ..
At times the rain and wind ALMOST made me go home too but I new Morty would be there soon so I stuck it out .. Heck it was nice to be able to cast just by lobbing my bait That wind would carry to the lure to its mark with little effort on my part
So Morty and Chris (RocksandReds) show up and the winds had just picked up even more but the 3 of us tried and tried .. Chris got slammed but the fish failed to find the hook and Morty too said he was getting bites ... I explained they were short hitting or mouthing the bait ..
I landed a nice 27" and another short while they were there .. The time was right for them to find a spot in the surf so they headed off and since I was soaked I stayed and figured I'd concentrate on just Big Fish ..
I rarely do this as I enjoy catching numbers of fish more than just targetting large fish .
I picked up 1 more at 27" and 6 more shorts with 2 at 26" ..
The longliners showed up but had no action while i agot the last 4 fish and it was light out (sun up) .. Normally they turn off the swimbait but today they didnt ..
I first first felt my Arse get cold and from sitting on the rocks and grabbing fish the rain soaked through my pants .. Awhile later I felt an elbow go cold and then a wrist followed by the other elbow ... my waiste was next qand by the time I got to my truck I felt water in my rubber boots .. I gave in at 7am .
I took some pics but most didnt come out because of the shutter sticking or water on the lens ..
I did salvage these shots of a sick fish .. Time for a new Camera (waterproof)
With X-mas at hand I asked for a fly-tying kit so the Camera will wait till spring .. Hope this one makes it that long
Great to see everyone again and its always GREAT to meet new faces from this site ..
Great to meet you Chris !
IRI 12-03-08 (Still Here)
I hit IRI at about midnight and run into stcroixaddict and someone I didnt know that turned out to be grumpop from SOL .. I finally got to meet him and shake his hand What a GREAT guy !
So they tell me that they both were smelling of Skunk .
Grumpop and I shoot the chit while stcroixaddict tries to land his first Striper on a fly rod .. They both were using a fly rod .
The fish were popping and we watched him get 2 nice bites that didnt come tight .. I could not believe they would not take the flies but I soon found out why
I threw 4,5 and 6 inch Swimbaits , Bombers , Windcheaters and even "Old Faithful" with only 2 bites on the Windcheater .. Amazing how they can hit so hard and not get one of the 6 or 9 hooks in them ..
I finally get a fish on and it shoots skyward and shakes the Windcheater .. a few casts later a land a small 16" schoolie . I tell stcroixaddict he better go get his plugging rod and he agrees but he doesnt come back .. Oh well he will wish he did when he reads this report
I land 2 more schoolies on the Windcheater and the decide to use a tandem rig with two 2.5" Fin"S" .. I get 2 more schoolies with one at 24" then I get over run by these ..
After about a dozen I notice a nice rip had formed so I switch to a 4" Bunker Tsunami and ITS ON
The were eating it up again too
They averaged this size
Got about 20 Stripers like that with one at 26.5" and a few at 12" .. I noticed A LOT of fish on the corner light and some bruisers were present so I head around back .. Tried a variety of lures with only 2 Stripers .. It was dead .. no rips and all the fish were right on the corner
I decided to go back to the rail .. And GLAD I did ..
I pick off a few more nice fat fish then get 2 like this that looked like twins .. Both 30" .. I released both and when I went to take the other pic my batteries died ..
I kept picking off fish and missed quite a few too as it seemed they were just mouthing the lure again .
I picked up about 6 more AFTER the sun came up with one nice fish at 32" That I decided to keep for my neighbor
The CG boat smoked me out again :angry2:
Place was pretty dead all night too ..
We have some new lights .. Not on the water but they are very bright and will take your night vision ..
Choked on the smoke from the boat so I gave in at 7am .. 4 guys on the rail and all were catching shorts longlining ..
Got out and did some Freshwater too
12-2-08 Broadkill
Fished a few hours for Crappie ..
Had a nice 20+" Pickerel shake loose at my feet then landed 3 small LMB
Tide was dead slack and very high and the bite reflected it .. Bites were far and few .. Next was a Gill ..
And finally after 2 hours a Crappie ..
As the sun started to set and the tide was halfway out the bite turned on but 95% were 4 to 6 inch Crappie . Oldmanofthesea was there and using Grass Shrimp and catching some nice Gills and some small Crappie also .. We both got atleast 2 decent Crappie at 10"+ .
The sun was dropping and the bite turned to a stunted gill fest and then was gone all together .
Fished noon to 5pm .. 2.5" Fin"S" 3 to 4 feet below a casting bobber .
IRI my Personal Best Night and Worst Night 11-26/27/28-2008
Grandkids were sick so my wife and I headed to Dover and I was greeted with a downed Computer and was put to work .. An hour later I was off for Little Creek to finish anothe Computer I started a few days ago .. All the parts were supposed to be there but she was sold Notebook Ram and 3 more trips to Best Buys later and 3 hours I was done and headed back to Lewes when I get a call from Chump saying him and FingerandClaws were on their way here ..
I met up with them at IRI at about midnight and as I walked up I noticed the winds were screaming out of the West and it was very hard to fish .. Yul nailed a few before I got there but the bite was over when I arrived so we headed to the rail where I got the Skunk off with about 1 dozen Schoolies to 25" .. Yul picked up a few more and Chump landed his first .. Chump released the 26" Striper and in an instant afterwards slipped on a rock and got soaked .. It was very cold with the winds so no pics were taken as I didnt want to take off my gloves .
Chump and F&C left for OC for some Tog and I stayed and picked up a few more and as the sun rose I watched the longliners for about 1 to 2 hours and only saw 1 fish landed so I never got the rod back out .. I called it quits at about 9am . All fish were fat and over 20 inches with a few over 24" ..
I was squeezed for my spot by googans who I know for a fact got info from this site :angry2:
11-26/27-2008
I met up with BTK (Brent and Stripersniper (Todd) out back at about 10pm .. They had landed a few but the bite was turning off .. I landed 3 small schoolies and Todd decided to go out front to the rail and give it a shot .. Brent and I stayed for a bit but nothing happening so we went to join Todd who we saw pulling out as we pulled in .. We thought the worst but gave it a shot anyways .. WE both picked up fish .. and some fat ones too
Brent was ready to leave and ecided to toss a 6" PM and hooked into a nice fish that popped off a few into the fight .. He snagged the lure soon later and decided to call it a night and I told him I'd take over and went to the 6" PM .. 15 minutes after he left I get a 29 to 31 inch fish that as I leadered the fish in my line parted like a hot knife had touched it .. I wasnt mad about losing the fish but instead because it took on of my last 6" Pm's .
Those Googans were tossing righ over my line again and I believe thier trebbles had nicked my braid and caused me to lose the first Keeper ..
The Googans left and I picked up some nice FAT fish averaging 24 to 26 inches and H-E-A-L-T-H-Y
..At this point there was 1 other car in the lot and I thought he was longlining on the point because I kept hearing fish crash the surface .. After about 10 minutes I had to investigate and found NO ONE at that spot and as I neared I saw what looked like Porpoises feeding 15 feet of the piont and baitfish averaging 10+ inches were FLYING out of that water .. I RAN back to my rod and pitched a cast 3 feet past the rip on the corner and in 2 seconds BOOM fish ON ! .. A keeper at 30" .. Next 7 casts produced 7 more keepers to 35" and the 9th cast (ALL in a row) I hooked up and the fish got tangled around a rock .. I could feel the fish on the other end but could not free it .. It broke my braid a few seconds later ... I rush to re-rig and with myhands freezing it took around 10 minutes and by the time I got back it was ALL quiet .. I never located those fish again .. I went back to nailing schoolies on .. 2.5" Fin"S" , 3" Swimbaits , 4" Swimbaits , 5" Swimbaits , Mirrow Lures , Bombers and a tandem 1/4 ounce leadheads with a 2" and 4" White Twisters .. I left them biting at 6am as the locals started to show .. I didnt want them to see what I was doing
I sat in the Truck and had some coffee and warmed my bones and at light I waited for the longliners to hopefully find that school of Keepers but it never happened .. I waited 2 hours and called it quits at 8am
I didnt want t waste time as I now they can turn off like a swtch so no pics were taken and I released all 8 Keepers (including the 2 break offs
)11-27/28-2008
Got to IRI about 9:30pm .. I was late bt I made it and met up with Morty who said no Stripers .. Only a few Shad .. I tried some Swimbaits without success so I tied on a 1/4 ounce leadhead with a 2.5" Fin"S" and started to land Shad .. Not much happening so I ask Morty if he wanted to head out back and meet up with Josh (fishforever) .. He agreed and we found Josh hard at it but had only landed 3 small schoolies .. Josh hooked up to another but lost it and shortly afterwards called it a night .. Morty also had a date with "Destiny"
and called it a nightat around midnight just as Drew Showed up .. I got about a dozen Stripers and Drew picked a few up here and tehre until he found a nice combo .. He was high hook and was at times nailing 2 to 4 in succession ..
Thought I had a keeper too
turned out to be a foul hooked fish
Right Hook showed up and watched for a bit and headed to the rail ..
Judah showed a short while later but the bite has slowed considerably so I headed to the rail as it was almost Slack tide .. WRONG the tide had already turned but I walked up to the rail and saw fish popping everywhere .. I tell Steve there here but by the time we get the rods to the water the winds had picked up from dead calm to 15+ out of the South .. WE watched the fish just stop popping and no one hooked up .. The wind shut down the bite although we tried and tried ..
Steve left and debated coming back for some longline action and Drew also left .. Judah had returned out back so I joined him .. We tried everything but landed nothing .. It was quiet ... TOO quiet
. I had 2 good thumps but nothing came tight so we both called it quits around 6am ..On my way out of IRI I saw a truck with an empty trailer and a cop behind him with lights flashing .. As I neared I noticed an Inboard boat approximately 20 footer on its side with the bottom facing me .. Doesnt take a genious to figure out what happened .. Speeding and NO tie down strap .. Poor guy had his head down the whole time .. I felt for him but honestly thats what you get for speeding towing a boat with no dam strap .. IDIOT !
You guys can share this info with good people but how the heck do you know that the guy you trust with this info doesnt have 3 buddies with no respect for anyone or any size fish .. This is my gripe and the next time I feel this happens I will be "Adjusting" my reporting habits to protect myself .. Perhaps a late monthly report every month instead of daily updated reports .. That be fun to get tips that worked a month ago and have long since stop working ..
Use your BEST judgement guys .. I dont take that crap lightly !!!
IRI 11-29-08
I got an E-mail earlier in the month from Grady Mike asking advice on night fishing at IRI .. I spoke with him yesterday afternoon and we planned on meeting up around 9pm .
Around 5pm last night I took 2 Goose Breast and combined them with some veggies and added it all to a Crock Pot .. I have not been sleeping well but managed to watch a bit of TV and fell asleep . I was awaken at 9:30pm by the wifey and daughter but I was OUT OF IT
.. They said I was late and were rushing me to get up and get with it .. I struggled to get my bearings and noticed the smell of FOOD and it smelled GREAT I asked what they brought for dinner that smelled so good and the both laughed and said that I was cooking .. Did I say I was OUT OF IT LMAO !!Anyhow I asked the wife to make some coffee while I git dressed and then made a thermos of coffee and headed out the door .. I got to IRI at about 10:30pm and caught up with Mike .. He was fishing with Right Hook , Wannafishallday and his brother .. Stcroixaddict was also there .. I asked Mike if he caught anything yet and he said he hadnt so I ask him if he want to follow me
.. We hit the Rail and it wasnt long at all before we both had a fish .. Mike ended up with 2 fat Stripers 1 at about 22" and one 26" ..
I picked up about 6 Schoolies and we both missed a few but Mike called it a night and I kept at it .. The tide slowed so I chucked a 6" Swimbait for awhile and got no response .. I had fish smacking the surface but not many and far in between ..
Stcroixaddict came around and introduced himself but left shortly afterwards .. He said he be back but I think Mr Sandman got the best of him ??
Steve also came around and shot teh chit with us but he also left without even fishing ..
Wannafishallday came around and tried some longlining but I told him he wasnt getting out far enough .. I believe his Brother got a few Stripers not sure how wannafishallday made out ..
So Drew and Judah show up and I have landed about 25 to 30 Stripers by then but Drew get right out there and gets about half a dozen or so ..
Judah get a few also but after his second Striper I tell him he's gotta climb back up here for a pic .. I'm not sure what happened but I dont recall seeing him land anymore although he did hook up quite a few more times
I ran into Sharkhunter also throughout the early hours and he said he'd be back on DF ..
Drew and Judah headed out back and nailed a few back there but returned out front about an hour later or so and I had caught 2 more and just lost a real nice fish .. It hit a Windcheater ... I watched a nice size fish crash 3 times outside my range and then it came close enough I was right on it .. It crashed the Windcheater and made a nasty subsuface run just a spitting water from it tail .. The fight lasted all of 10 seconds before the plug popped out
.. I was missing quite a few .. I guess they were sluggish but they were inhaling the swimbait again ...Drew , Judah and I picked up a few more schoolies and then left around 4am .. Judah kidded around and said "The big ones will bite now that we are leaving" ..
He was right LMAO !! I picked up a 27.75" fifteen minutes after they left and then landed a 29" .. I lost 2 more with one breaking me off on the rocks and the other just came unglued .. I get another at 31" and then a few more from 20 to 25 inches .. I had 1 more nice fish on but lost it also after a few seconds . These were all on a 4" PM in Mullet ..
Then just like that they were done .. I picked up one more fish right before daybreak .. Seems like the big boats heading out turned them off .. Water was dirty from the first boat and never really recovered .
I had a guy take pics of the 2 keepers but I didnt check and he said he got them .. The flash worked so I just figured
.. The lense didnt open for any of his pics .. I didnt mention that it sticks .... OH Well . I did take this one before he came over to assist . This was the first of that fish feeding frenzy at 27.75"
Too bad it only lasted about 7 casts
I know I forgot A LOT and some things may be out of order but I am ready for some ZZZZ's
I left IRI at 7am after watching the longliners do absolutely nothing all down the rail .. The Coast Guard started up the boats one they SMOKED LIKE A FIRE .. It was terrible and almost made me sick . The fumes from that boat filled the parking lot and even into the inlet and last atleast 20 minutes .. I left and it was "Still Smokin"
A very BUSY night and I had a ball
IRI 11-30-08
I was supposed to meet up with stripersniper (Todd) so as I drove by I saw more cars out front than I cared for so I headed out back and found it empty ... I figured Todd would find me and I was right .. He shows up 5 minutes after I get there
I had a small schoolie hit a 4"PM right at my feet but other than that nothing was happeneing .. We even had a large fish crash out in the darker area to the right and seconds later bunker were running for their lives .. Todd and I both switched to plugs but got no response ..
Drew , Judah and SuperGoogan (Chris) also showed up and not one fish was caught .. Todd's brother was out front on the rail and said no fish out there either ??
I kidded and said I know I could land one in 10 casts or less and when we were told the group out front was leaving .. Drew , Judah and myself went out front ..
I was wrong about the 10 casts .. It only took ONE cast
Anyhow I made another cast and got a wind knot but on the 3rd cast I hookup again and it spits the hook .. I had promised Chris and Todd that I would "get them" if any fisg were biting and so instead of gettibg uinto a hot bite and not wanting to leave I walked all the way around back and got the boys
So now we pick at fish .. Not many and very little surface action going on ..
Drew picked up a few small schoolies as I did but that was about it .
Todd , Judah , Drew and Chris all left and I stayed to meet up with Morty ..
I picked up a fish about every 20 minutes or so with a few in succession but nothing like it has been and NONE on plugs .. Hot bait was a 5" Swimbait but I had none and no one but Drew had any and he lost them all .. They bit the 6" pretty good but only mouthed the bait most times but I did land about 30 fish total and had 4 times that many bites ..
At times the rain and wind ALMOST made me go home too but I new Morty would be there soon so I stuck it out .. Heck it was nice to be able to cast just by lobbing my bait
That wind would carry to the lure to its mark with little effort on my part So Morty and Chris (RocksandReds) show up and the winds had just picked up even more but the 3 of us tried and tried .. Chris got slammed but the fish failed to find the hook and Morty too said he was getting bites ... I explained they were short hitting or mouthing the bait ..
I landed a nice 27" and another short while they were there .. The time was right for them to find a spot in the surf so they headed off and since I was soaked I stayed and figured I'd concentrate on just Big Fish ..
I rarely do this as I enjoy catching numbers of fish more than just targetting large fish .
I picked up 1 more at 27" and 6 more shorts with 2 at 26" ..
The longliners showed up but had no action while i agot the last 4 fish and it was light out (sun up) .. Normally they turn off the swimbait but today they didnt ..
I first first felt my Arse get cold and from sitting on the rocks and grabbing fish the rain soaked through my pants .. Awhile later I felt an elbow go cold and then a wrist followed by the other elbow ... my waiste was next qand by the time I got to my truck I felt water in my rubber boots .. I gave in at 7am .
I took some pics but most didnt come out because of the shutter sticking or water on the lens ..
I did salvage these shots of a sick fish .. Time for a new Camera (waterproof
)
With X-mas at hand I asked for a fly-tying kit so the Camera will wait till spring .. Hope this one makes it that long
Great to see everyone again and its always GREAT to meet new faces from this site ..
Great to meet you Chris !
IRI 12-03-08 (Still Here
)I hit IRI at about midnight and run into stcroixaddict and someone I didnt know that turned out to be grumpop from SOL .. I finally got to meet him and shake his hand
What a GREAT guy !So they tell me that they both were smelling of Skunk .
Grumpop and I shoot the chit while stcroixaddict tries to land his first Striper on a fly rod .. They both were using a fly rod .
The fish were popping and we watched him get 2 nice bites that didnt come tight .. I could not believe they would not take the flies but I soon found out why
I threw 4,5 and 6 inch Swimbaits , Bombers , Windcheaters and even "Old Faithful" with only 2 bites on the Windcheater .. Amazing how they can hit so hard and not get one of the 6 or 9 hooks in them ..
I finally get a fish on and it shoots skyward and shakes the Windcheater .. a few casts later a land a small 16" schoolie . I tell stcroixaddict he better go get his plugging rod and he agrees but he doesnt come back .. Oh well he will wish he did when he reads this report
I land 2 more schoolies on the Windcheater and the decide to use a tandem rig with two 2.5" Fin"S" .. I get 2 more schoolies with one at 24" then I get over run by these ..
After about a dozen I notice a nice rip had formed so I switch to a 4" Bunker Tsunami and ITS ON
The were eating it up again too
They averaged this size
Got about 20 Stripers like that with one at 26.5" and a few at 12" .. I noticed A LOT of fish on the corner light and some bruisers were present so I head around back .. Tried a variety of lures with only 2 Stripers .. It was dead .. no rips and all the fish were right on the corner
I decided to go back to the rail .. And GLAD I did ..
I pick off a few more nice fat fish then get 2 like this that looked like twins .. Both 30" .. I released both and when I went to take the other pic my batteries died ..
I kept picking off fish and missed quite a few too as it seemed they were just mouthing the lure again .
I picked up about 6 more AFTER the sun came up with one nice fish at 32" That I decided to keep for my neighbor
The CG boat smoked me out again :angry2:
Place was pretty dead all night too ..
We have some new lights .. Not on the water but they are very bright and will take your night vision ..
Choked on the smoke from the boat so I gave in at 7am .. 4 guys on the rail and all were catching shorts longlining ..
Got out and did some Freshwater too
12-2-08 Broadkill
Fished a few hours for Crappie ..
Had a nice 20+" Pickerel shake loose at my feet then landed 3 small LMB
Tide was dead slack and very high and the bite reflected it .. Bites were far and few .. Next was a Gill ..
And finally after 2 hours a Crappie ..
As the sun started to set and the tide was halfway out the bite turned on but 95% were 4 to 6 inch Crappie . Oldmanofthesea was there and using Grass Shrimp and catching some nice Gills and some small Crappie also .. We both got atleast 2 decent Crappie at 10"+ .
The sun was dropping and the bite turned to a stunted gill fest and then was gone all together .
Fished noon to 5pm .. 2.5" Fin"S" 3 to 4 feet below a casting bobber .
