MY goal this fishing season it to land more LARGE, I'm willing to give up numbers of smaller fish to do so. For some reason I can't seem to break the 20lb mark, I have caught plenty of 17, 18 , and 19 and change type fish but I have not landed a 20lber yet. I know some guys catch 20lb plus fish pretty regulary so I'm kind of wondering what I'm either doing wrong or maybe I have just been a bit unlucky on bigger fish. In order to accomplish this task this off season I have loaded up with a good amount of big custom wood plugs like needles, pencil poppers, dannys, and wiggly's which I think should help. All my gear is lubed up and ready to go with new line and all of that good stuff. I have taken time off in late may and early june to hopefully be out on the water when the big girls come through. I am going to fish as much as I can this season at night especially during the mid summer months. I plan on doing quite a bit of live lining from the boat with herring, macks, and then eels later on in the season. I am going to try to maximize my time on the water by fishing the best tides at the specific spots I will be at. I will use my previous logs and some educated decisions to base these decisions on. So...my question is what else should I be considering in order to land my first true COW? I'm sure there are many others things I could try and hoping some of you sharpies will help me land her. I figured this would be a good thread for everyone to learn from with all of the recent bickering about sharing spots, info, and herring runs. Thanks in advance Shawn.

Dude

the fish know if you are qualified or quantified.

they just do :(


:laughs:

Baby steps Shawn B......baby steps! Catch what you can, while you can and make each trip out a learning experience. There is not one trip out where I do not learn something valuable Shawn B. Don't press....(like I did).....enjoy yourself first and foremost. The larger fish will come with experience. Trust me if someone is for the most part, "new" to striper fishing and they land large....:confused: ....it is pure luck! Just my .02 cents. Happy fishing.:btu:

Here is a quick story Shawn B. I was relatively new to striper fishing at the time and very hungry for my first keeper. I had been working hard, fishing alot, listening to everyone, and reading everything I could find that might take me to that next level......a keeper! Well, the keeper came.....31 inches about 10 pounds. I was thrilled.....then you want bigger.....a little more time, a little more experience and then "WHAM"! I am out there and I hook up with two nice fish on successive casts, a 14 pounder and a 19 pounder and change and I am thinking..."man, can it get much better than this?". Then of course you are thinking "boy, when am I gonna get over that 20 pound mark?". Well I eventually did and then some......out one night, fishing live eels and "BANG" a nice 30 pounder plus takes my eel for a ride and after a nice fight, she was mine! Went right by the 20 pound mark and went 31 pounds 1 ounce! Still my biggest to date! Come close to that but have not yet exceeded it. I want my first forty real bad Shawn B. but you know what? It will come, sooner or later I know that I will dance with my first forty.....and all the hard work and the wait will have been worth it! Yours will come, and probably sooner than you think. Just enjoy!:happy:

What Bigfish said.

Learn not to make mistakes on the 20's - the big girls are gonna come your way sooner or later.

Be patient, young Skywalker.

my fiancee started fishing with me after my father died in 2002. she fished hard all season long with not one fish to show for it. one morning in september she picked up her first striped bass-44" 33#
you gotta put your time in

Two pieces of advice.

Fish at night and fish with live eels.

The size of my fish increaded a great deal when I started fishing with eels.

This old cliche' may sound dumb, but it works for me.

Big bait= big fish.

Beachwalker- I guess the fish do know

Big Fish- Thanks, some good advice in there, most of all just to be patient and bigger fish will come. I am really not that new to striper fishing so I am kind of looking for some ways to change my techniques a bit to target some bigger fish. Things like throwing bigger plugs at night, bigger chunks of bait and using live bait as much as possible.

Blackeye- Wow, I'm jealous of your fiancee, she must have been psyched!

Rijimmy- Now that was great advice and what I'm looking for. Some of my biggest fish last year were taken using eels doing all nighters in the boat. It's something I am really going to try to do more now that I'm a little bit more comfortable being out on the water all night.

Thanks guys, keep em coming.

Sounds like you got all the right ideas Shawn, keep at it and fish every night. It takes time on the water

my 50 came at 8:30 in the moring,lot's sun and on a 4" sandeel....big bait at nite:confused: :hihi: most of my fishing is now done when I can get out[ day light] 21/2 oz jigs...can you say large........go when u can, cause you never know....54lber, 11:00 am, single chunk of mac,,people all around swimming.

Eat Lucky Charms, keep walking until you find the fish, and don't fish angry. If that doesn't work, sacrificing a chicken has pulled me out of a few big-fish slumps.
Just be patient and it will come.
eels.

EELS

NIGHT TIME

THEY WILL COME..

Originally posted by redlite
Eat Lucky Charms, keep walking until you find the fish, and don't fish angry. If that doesn't work, sacrificing a chicken has pulled me out of a few big-fish slumps.
Just be patient and it will come.
eels.


:confused: How'd ya hook the chicken?:laughs: :laughs: