Great Bass Story

[finchaser]

If you've never caught a Striper before or are perhaps on the fence and waiting for it to get better, it's does not get much better than it is now.
Grab a friend or your kids and get out there!! The fish are all over the place from the rivers and bays to the ocean. Jump on with one of our sponsor boats and create some memories.

Here is an article I dusted off on Spring Striper fishing. Enjoy

I was fishing with Bill Devito on the Destiny II out of Lenoardo on 4/29/06. We started out around 11 and set up on the edge of the Swash channel clamming. No Chum, just fresh clams. Well, sorta fresh. One of the reasons Bill had even considering going in a NE blow was because he had some clams on the boat from earlier in the week and it would have been a shame to let them go to waste.

We fished on the edge of the Swash for an hour or so and only had one Rat to show for it so Bill decided to make a move into shallower water up on the Shoal. Wasn't log before we had a few fish on board. A few in the teens and one that went about 20 pounds. I had a real nice fish on but my knot gave out. I retied everything and caught a few more Rats.

Must have been around 3:30 or 4 or so when I reeled up my line to check the bait. The Rats must have picked the ribbons off the clam bait since all that I had left was the tongue. It was getting late and Bill and I talked about leaving so I didn't even bother to put a new clam on. I just threw it back over and put the pole in the rod holder in free spool with the clicker on. This was my first trip of the year and it was good to be back out on the water after a long winter. I just sat back, enjoyed the sun and nice cold beer and took it all in.

I was screwing around doing something and noticed my pole tip bouncing. You know… the telltale twitch-twitch you get before the clicker starts screaming. I picked up the pole, put it in the 3:00 position and let her take a little more line. Once she started running I set the hook and could feel it was a decent fish. This is the first one of the day that stayed down rather then come to the surface. She was peeling line off the little AVET SX pretty good and I said half joking to Bill "Maybe we should come off the anchor and run this fish down". We both kind of shrugged it off and I continued to gain some line here and there between some long clicker screaming runs. Bill mentions the boat record is 28 pounds and we start to get excited. Must have been 10 minutes or so when she finally came boat side.

I couldn't believe my eyes!! I knew she was big but I had no idea how big. Bill gets the big net and I steer her into it head first. She's bigger then the net so Bill lifts the net up and she folds up into the net. He tries to lift her over the side with the end of the net handle and she's too heavy. I bend over and grab the frame of the net and horse her up over the gunnel and laid her down on the deck. WOW!! This is the biggest Striper I’ve seen…….
Bill gets the Boga grip and the fish buries the scale..... As he goes into the cabin to look for a heavier scale I'm looking down at her think "Do I keep this fish"?? We put her on a heavier spring scale and she weights 40. We put her on the Berkley electronic scale and she's 39. After that I turn to say to Bill "Maybe we should keep her". With out hesitation Bill says "Nah we should really let her go" I thought about it and said " Yep Bill you're right". So now we set her back in the water to try and revive her.

It's not looking real good. She's tired and not really breathing. I have her by the gill plate and can't really get her in the current the way I’d like so we decide to put her in the net. She still does not seem to be recovering so Bill calls Frank Tenore who’s fishing a short distance from us. Frank suggests sticking the salt water wash down hose down her mouth. I try and tilt the net to get her head up so we can hit her with the hose. She flops out of the net and makes one strong swoosh of her broom size tail and swims off.

Man.... I'm so glad we released that fish. We were really bummed when it didn't look like she'd make it. Once the Adrenaline wore off I’m sure the ride back to the dock would have been pretty somber seeing a beautiful fish like that lying dead on the deck.

Once back at the Marinas Bill and I started commiserating…. I probably could have won the annual dock pool with that fish or maybe even had a place in the Fisherman Magazine Dream Boat standings for a month. But you know what? Returning that fish to the sea and seeing her swim off was a more of a rush then catching her.

Man I can’t wait to get back out there. I’ll bet she has a few older sisters

[VSdreams]

Wow what an inspiring story. Thanks for sharing!

[surfwalker]

Yes, it was a great story, thanks fin. A great day on the water, a nice surprise at the end of the line, and the main message of a good release. Personal satisfaction/memories - that last a lifetime.

[DarkSkies]

Once back at the Marinas Bill and I started commiserating…. I probably could have won the annual dock pool with that fish or maybe even had a place in the Fisherman Magazine Dream Boat standings for a month. But you know what? Returning that fish to the sea and seeing her swim off was a more of a rush then catching her.


When people first start fishing, it's natural to want some recognition that your efforts paid off. People seek admiration and praise from fellow fishermen, and a trophy catch is one way to do that.

After awhile, everyone comes to their own concept of what fishing means to them. I think we all have differences when we look at it that way. A key part of evolution of the fisherman, once they become skilled, is to think about the future, whether they will be able to continue the fishing that they love, and how their behavior and attitude may affect the fishing down the road.

No one can or should force a fisherman to think a certain way about their fishing. As mentioned, it means many things to many people.

However, coming to respect the resource of creatures that give us so much enjoyment, is pretty enlightening. At least it was for me...I think this story does a great job in illustrating that. Thanks for posting it, Fin. :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

[basshunter]

Awesome!

[hookset]

Very interesting story, thanks.

[captnemo]

We put all our bigger fish back today. The majority of these fish haven't spawned yet. Let's give them a chance to do so. Good thread.

[cowherder]

Fantastic take on the big girls. I hope to catch a fish that big one day. When I do I hope I have the convictions to release her. Thanks for posting it!

[bababooey]

:clapping::clapping:

[rockhopper]

I was going through the threads and just saw this., it is a fantastic story. Thanks for sharing.

[DarkSkies]

Fin, I hope ya don't mind if I add this kid's story to your thread.:HappyWave:

I think it's a great thing, what "D" did, and maybe it will inspire others......





This is a story I've been meaning to tell for a while.

Around the week of 5-22-11, I had been fishing some rock piles and the surf areas near them at night. A few fish to 23#, and some smaller ones, a slow pick at night. You had to work for every fish.

One night I found myself at a beach after all the action was over, all the sharpies had left because.....
1. They know there are no bass to be had after the bunker leave for the night. :)
2. They know it's not productive to surf fish for bass at night when bunker are around..."no fish at night in NJ during bunker blitzes...:laugh: "


I ended up on a jetty with this kid, "D" who apparently didn't get the above memo either. I politely asked if I could fish to the left of him, didn't want to crowd him. He said "Sure, no prob, dude!"

We were fishin Dannys, a good profile for surf that is not too calm, not too turbulent, when bunker are around. On his 5th cast he hooked into a nice fish. I stopped what I was doing and asked him if he needed help...."Yeah that would be great, thanks!"

I climbed down the rocks so I was level with the water. We maneuvered for a place where I could grab the leader and bring the fish in safely. I grabbed it up, and gave it to him. He walked it off the beach, beautiful fish about 20-22. He was keeping it, and I took a pic. I'll post that pic in another thread. He was also very proud that this fish he caught that night, he got it on an old Danny that he just re-painted. You could still smell the paint, it was so fresh.

Meanwhile, he was telling me about a fish he caught a week before that, The fish taped out at 48". He caught it on a Danny at night, measured it, took a pic, and released it.

He said it was his biggest fish ever, his personal best, and he let it go with only a cell phone pic as proof.


This amazed me. I asked him.....

"You mean to tell me you got this big fish, probably weighing between 40-45lbs, your biggest fish ever, and didn't bring it to a tackle shop to weigh it in? Didn't bring it to a place where you could get immortalized in a video weigh in? Didn't take tons of pics so you could parade it around at various internet sites to get some bragging rights? :huh:"

"Why not?"


He:
"Well she was my biggest fish ever. I thought she might be full of eggs, so I released her to make more babies."







I commended him on that, and said I don't often run across kids his age (he's 25, to me that's a youngster) who have that focus on conservation.
Imagine that....he (nor I) have nothing against eating tasty stripers, as they taste delicious. Yet, he did catch the biggest fish of his career, and without a 2nd thought released her. :bigeyes:


I asked him to send me the cell phone pic, and he did. I'm telling his story here in hopes of inspiring a few more folks like him that though there is nothing wrong with eating fish, releasing a big one now and then, can help the resource.



Here's a pic of his fish, taped out at 48".
(Remember this kid is big, he's 6'3" and 230#)

13706






Congrats on the C&R of that big girl, D, :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
It was great meeting ya, (and your Dad, a week later, at night). Good times fishin with Dad, nothing better. :fishing:


I'm praying to King Neptune to send ya a 50 soon.... ;) :cool:
Best wishes for the rest of the season. :HappyWave:

[clamchucker]

Darkskies, what a wonderful story and ending, well-written.

[BassBuddah]

:clapping::clapping:Very nice!

[cowherder]

He said it was his biggest fish ever, his personal best, and he let it go with only a cell phone pic as proof.


This amazed me. I asked him.....

"You mean to tell me you got this big fish, probably weighing between 40-45lbs, your biggest fish ever, and didn't bring it to a tackle shop to weigh it in? Didn't bring it to a place where you could get immortalized in a video weigh in? Didn't take tons of pics so you could parade it around at various internet sites to get some bragging rights? :huh:"

"Why not?"


He:
"Well she was my biggest fish ever. I thought she might be full of eggs, so I released her to make more babies."









Great stories and lessons to be learned in this thread, thanks for sharing.