First keeper

[plugcrazy]

Remember your first keeper, when and how? I was in Avon, around 1:00 am been trying for hours, getting ready to pack it in, when I got slammed. Reeled in a 29 inch bass on a wooden swimmer. I was so excited I almost had a heart attack.

[DarkSkies]

One of my fishing mentors told me to learn one spot, and learn it well. So I did that, and got skunked, time after time. :skunk:I learned how to catch bluefish, caught a lot of them, and some small bass. I went 2 years without catching a keeper bass. I did learn the area I started in pretty well, SH. I also learned a lot about technique, because I cast plugs and offerings over and over. The guy giving me tips wanted me to improve my technique, so the repetition and learning that one area probably helped.

I finally got a keeper bass in the middle of a spring blitz in moco. It wasn't a huge blitz, not a lot of guys there, but bass and blues were mixed in, and I got one bass around 30". The first thing I did when I went home was call my mentor, and tell him the news. He was happy for me.

I was happy to have his advice, but realized I needed to broaden my horizons. I felt that I got that bass by moving around and checking different spots, so I started to do that more, and learned the importance of scouting a spot at low tide before you fish it.

I also learned to fish in the dark, becuase I would have a better chance. Once I went over ot the dark side, I rarely fished in the day any more. Darkness made sense, because fish were more likely to feed, and feed closer.

[Monty]

A full moon trip to Island Beach in November 13 or 14 years ago, first time for me fishing the ocean.
On Friday Gorilla Blues stormed through and my father and brother in law and his father who I went on the trip with, each caught one big blue 15 -17 lbs. I could not get one.
Saturday morning, 29 degrees out, beach lined with 4 wheelers, no one catching a thing. I am trying to keep warm, I grab my rod, cast out and land a 26 inch striper, release it. Warm up for 20 minutes, get up, cast the bomber out again and land a 29 inch bass. Did not see another bass caught, it was freezing out, I had no idea what I was doing and was off the charts lucky. Not being able to hook into one of those gorillas still haunts me as I casted like a crazed maniac trying to hook into one of them.
This trip turned me away from trout fishing and I would fish only in the salt from then on. What a great time those trips would be over the next few years.

[fishincrazy]

I had caught keeper bass in the Chesapeak B4 but never in the suds.A buddy of mine invited me to go fishin with him in Pt. Pleasant from the wall I was hooked caught only shorts but fell hard for the jetty.Kept goin back usually by my self.Learned about the North side and started fishin there.I was out with my new Korkers fishin from the Jacks with a 9" Fin's'Fish on a 1 1/2 oz apex swimmin head when bam!!!!!It was when we had the slot what 4 years ago?? Got him in perfect!!! Proceeded to catch 12 more that night,standin alone on a giant Jack:fishing:

FC:drool:

[stripercrazy]

I was fishing the east jetty at Shinnecock in the fall. I had been there many times, and we were only getting bluefish, some over 13lbs. I wanted a bass real bad, so I kept going back, I fished every night that week. I figured if the bluefish were feeding on bait there, there had to be at least a few fish. I got my first keeper bass at 4am, near the bottom of the outgoing, white storm shad, bass was 29". Boy was I happy! :fishing:

[wish4fish]

I had caught keeper bass in the Chesapeak B4 but never in the suds.A buddy of mine invited me to go fishin with him in Pt. Pleasant from the wall I was hooked caught only shorts but fell hard for the jetty.Kept goin back usually by my self.Learned about the North side and started fishin there.I was out with my new Korkers fishin from the Jacks with a 9" Fin's'Fish on a 1 1/2 oz apex swimmin head when bam!!!!!It was when we had the slot what 4 years ago?? Got him in perfect!!! Proceeded to catch 12 more that night,standin alone on a giant Jack:fishing:

FC:drool:

u fished the Manasquan side, where those concrete logs are? man thats sick, i was there last spring when the bass and blues came in, slippery ****, plus i had korkers on. :scared: fish were nailing bait along the edges. it was too crowded on the sand so i crawled out to the concrete logs, you call them jacks, lol? hey, but when the fish are there you can't stay away.
my first keeper was in the back rb on clams in the spring. we were fishing all night for rats. there was a lot, but non keepers that night. so I got one, 28.0000001" :D i kept and ate that sucker, tasted great. :wheeeee:

[captnemo]

I was about 17 and fishing with my uncle. We were drifting in the river at night past the bridge, using live eels. I felt pretty stupid trying to hook the eel. My uncle was a great fisherman, and patiently showed, then explained, how to do it until I got the hang of it. On the 5th pass under the bridge, my pole bent over double. I thought I was snagged on the bottom until I could feel the fish moving. I know boat fish don't count, but some of you guys should reserve comments on that until you fought a fish in fast current. When we got her in, she was 40". My uncle said she was around 25 pounds.

I was so happy, and thought about keeping her. My uncle was big on catch and release, and over the course of many trips had explained how the biggger ones were usually female, and all the eggs they had. Since this was the beginning of the spring, I thought about if she had spawned yet. Her belly was huge. I made the decision to release her to make more fish. I was hoping the fish gods would smile down on me, and they did. Since that day I have caught hundreds of keepers. I keep one when I feel like it, throw the others back. You never forget your first keeper.