Meant to do this

[Stripercoast1]

A long time ago!
Life has a funny way of throwing crap in the fan though.
Some of you here already know me, perhaps have fished with me, or attended an event I organized at another web site I used to frequent.
I am a custom rod builder, plug builder, Surf guide in Rhode Island, and President of Stripercoast Surfcasters. I will be doing lots of referrals and donating a plug here and there to help out this site, as I promised to Darkskies a long time ago.
I promise to be a positive contributor to the community, as well as help in any way I can on the political end of the spectrum.
I am neck deep with Rhode Island issues, and like to believe I have had a hand in some positive outcomes for the surf casters here.
All I do is surf cast for Stripers now, having given up boats 6 years ago. In fact the last one I still own sits winterized in my yard from the '03 season.
Tight lines guy's, and anyone with quetions about Rhodie, or wants to pay a visit here, drop me a line.

[baitstealer]

Welcome to site!

[rockhopper]

Welcome Stripercoast1,

Got any pics to post of those plugs?

Good to have you here.

[wish4fish]

hey stripercoastdude whassup i always wanted to fish rhodie is there more rocks than montauk there?

[dogfish]

Welcome aboard Stripercoast1

[hookset]

Welcome to the site.

[bababooey]

I am a custom rod builder, plug builder, Surf guide in Rhode Island, and President of Stripercoast Surfcasters. I will be doing lots of referrals and donating a plug here and there to help out this site, as I promised to Darkskies a long time ago.

Pretty impressive resume, welcome aboard!

[storminsteve]

Howdy Stripercoast1, welcome!

[Monty]

Hi there!! Welcome .

[plugcrazy]

Welcome! It's great your involved in the political aspects of fishing as well. We have several threads here on it. One of the best is the Brookhaven thread.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ght=brookhaven

We also have posts on the public trust doctrine, which I am sure you have used in part of your successful issues.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...trust+doctrine

[Stripercoast1]

Thanks for the warm welcome guy's.
Wish4fish, put Montauk on steroids and you have the Rhode Island coast. Most of our beaches are full of rocks. I have fished The M and can tell you that it does not even compare. The only place that resembles the terrain here, would be the point. I have fished with some Montauk regulars, and every one of them is surprised by the reefs, rocks, and cliffs. I go through 4 sets of korker spike replacements a year on average.
Plug, I started Stripercoast as a politically active club in order to organize surfmen from the entire coast to get involved in issues that affect us all. I have members that participated in the Brookhaven issue, and I attempt to align with one of the guy's that was spearheading the group. I won't get into how that turned out. I did however spur members to write to all the local legislators in order to get the out of towners opinions known. $ talks.
Here's a few pics of some of my stuff and places I fish.
1st one shows a spring schoolie, on one of my pencils, and one of my custom rods. The rod was built for a client, that couldn't come up with the payment. It has become my favorite rod, perfectly matched to the Zee for plugs in the 2 to 4 ounce range.

[surferman]

What a great rod and plugs. Nice work. I sure since you know DS that he is involved in the Brookhaven thread. The more people involved the less access we will lose. Welcome!

[DarkSkies]

Surferman, I try to cross-post a lot of the stuff I feel strongly about on other sites to raise awareness for issues that ultimately we will all have to work together to solve. It won't be one popular group or club that does it. We will all have to do our best to compromise and work together if we want to see a sustained striped bass fishery for our future.

http://www.stripercoastsurfcasters.us/forum/index.php happens to be a club that I gravitated to originally because I wanted to fish different places. Eventually as I got to meet the membership I saw they were about more than fishing.

"They're a fishing club with an eye on the issues", and I hope to work with them and some other groups to preserve striped bass as a resource for the next 50 years and beyond.


Back to Stripercoast1, aka Gunny. He doesn't need much of an intro, but I'd like to do one anyway.

He's got a rich and varied history with many organizations. Retired military, called "Gunny" because that was his rank. He ran a tight ship, and served our country well. Thanks for your service, Gunny.

In between, Gunny/Stripercoast1 was involved in lots of different things, rod building, plug making, etc. He is a certified Rhody guide and knows that body of water better than most.

He's well-known at Stripers247, another great site run by a guy I consider a friend, StriperJim. StriperJim is another of the icons in the surf community and internet information pipeline for all types of fishing.

StriperJim is a guy who tirelessly posts up the legislative releases and tries to keep fishermen informed of what's happening in the legislative area. So the way I understand it, Striperjim, and a close circle of friends including Gunny, worked together building Stripers247 to what it is today.

Gunny decided to go in a different direction for the hardcore surfcaster, so StriperCoast was formed, along with a choice group of hardcore surfcasters who with their legislative connections wanted to make a difference other than just fishing.

Gunny grew up with a commercial fishing background in his family. As he got older he saw some of the abuse and decided to take a stand against them, to the point where he and his wife were threatened because of his activism.

I don't know about you guys, but any man that has his family threatened for standing up for what he believes in, and still will not beck down, is either a certified lunatic or a man who passionately believes in what he's standing up for. (I honestly think Gunny's a little but of both, he's a nice guy, but I don't think he fits any mold of any characters you've met before.}

He's a character unto himself, and bows to no man. I feel priveleged that I got to know him, and through continued conversations, saw that here was a guy who had in-depth knowledge of the law, legislative processes, and wasn't afraid to speak up for us fishermen.



So with that long-winded intro, welcome to the site, Gunny!

Beautiful pics ya put up there, those rocks look like heaven! Sorry I missed some of the shootouts up there, some personal stuff going on down here. Glad to have ya aboard, and look forward to some of those great stories ya got stored away.


Here's a link to a thread that gives a little info on StriperCoastSurfcasters and what they're about:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=3535

[nitestrikes]

Some sweeet plugs you got there SC1, welcome to Stripersnanglers.

[clamchucker]

Welcome aboard Stripercoast. Any associate of Dark's is good to have aboard. I wish you best of luck with the club, and look forward to your posts.

[surfwalker]

Stripercoast1, welcome to a fine informative and hassle free site. Your experience and work in the legal sector for Bass and Surfcasters is very much appreciated. I look forward to your contributions on this site.