What is your largest striper .when caught and what were you using.
I still have not hit the magic #50 but
my largest is 48lb back in Oct. 97 in canal with chunk pogie.

I'm sure some of you guys have hit 50 so lets here it.

44#s in chatham on a grey spofford needlefish 1990 at 3am on a dropping tide .

37 pounds Sept 2000 - eel - somewhere between Bahstin & Scituate :laughs:

Now ask me the biggest fish I've lost :( :mad: :eek:

48.3, live bunker, October '96, Shrewsbury River NJ.

My biggest was 55 lbs middle of November back in 1988 on a live poggie slowly dragged behind the old Basstracker up in Hingham harbor. I slipped her right back in and keep on fishing. Not so ironic that it was caught about 50 yards from the same spot I took this 52 lber the previous year.http://www.rgsiroisco.com/bob8.jpg

There were 3 years back then when Hingham harbor was so full of poggies that sometimes it was a bad call to even consider setting your gill net. I learned that the hard way a few times and cursed for the longest time while I picked dozens and dozens of dead poggies out of the net while guys were killing them nearbye.

Biggest caught and lost was pushing 60 IMHO and was either at the beginning or tail end of those same years and during a blitz on Peggotty Beach in Scituate. That was the longest blitz on large 30-40 lbers I'd ever been lucky enough to be in on and all were taken on an atom popper. Not coincidental that the fare for that blitz was big fat poggies and luckily for me the action was so intense a popper was all you needed.

Bring back the big bunker......please.

Biggest was 46# on an eel.

Biggest I ever had on was 62#. When you lose a monster, and a day or two later another guy 20 miles west catches a 62# with the exact type and weight of lure you were using lodged back in its throat, you have a pretty good idea of what you lost :(

Ouch! Mike! :eek5:

Hair under 29lbs on a live hick in plymouth harbor, '99

28lbs on a live pogy in plymouth harbor, '92

gs...i hear ya on the big pogies...i've lost some much better fish and they all took down big pogies in plymouth...

35 lb'r - back beach cape cod live eel last fall - what a night - remember like it was yesterday...

Ice

33lbs 4oz on a very lively eel. Friday the 13th this past July. Somewhere near the spot John caught his 37lber last year.

But honestly, I'm not driven by the thought of a 50lber. Don't get me wrong, it would be cool, and I would love the opportunity to talk smack, but I just want to develop the skill and knowledge to consistently find and catch fish and the 50 will either come or not.

Its kinda like, getting to the superbowl and not winning. It was still a good season. Doesn't mean you aren't a good team. Just because the Rams beat you like 40-8, doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud.

Same goes for the 50lber. If you catch your share of fish, and you never break that plane, doesn't mean you aren't a good fisherman. I fished a bass (the freshwater type) tournament one time and my rider was a 14 year old son of one of our club members. It was like family guest tournament day or something. He was the only kid there and of course he ends up in my boat (well, my uncle's boat) This was my lake and I won the tournament on this lake 4 out of the 5 years I was in the club. I limited out fairly early and was looking for lunker to complete the day. This kid fell asleep in the back of the boat with his plastic worm dragging behind the boat. All of a sudden I hear splashing behind the boat and he has a 3lb+ largemouth on, which ended up being lunker for the day (worth around $100, which is alot of beer for a college student). Now B.A.S.S. rules prohibit trolling, but I didn't have the heart to say anything 'cause I wasn't sure if it was trolling (I'm still not sure it was even considered fishing) or not.

The point is that any idiot can catch "A Fish" on any given day (I prove that all the time), and if that fish happens to be 50lbs., that doesn't make he or she Roland Martin, especially if its a she. Vice versa for someone who catches a bunch of 30-40lbers throughout life, but never a 50.

yeah, I've flipped my rocker... I think writing code all week along with talking to almost nobody and it being winter and all has given me a case of diahrrea of the fingers. My apalogize ef I misspeled diahrrea.

Eels- 33 lbs in the canal with a 31 lb'er the night before. two biggest 1999.

Polaris- 23 lbs 2000.

Eel skin- 29 lbs 2001.

Bucktails- 25 lbs, lots.

Most earned fish were caught fishing the bend in the South SIde jetti up on Plum Island in 1998 with mackeral and herring chunks. There were a few days in early June where a big storm was pushing big waves right at the corner where we were fishing. The tides were perfect dropping at sunrise and sunset, but the storm made it so dark it didn't really matter!. Catching fish in the mid twenties with all the conditions was crazy. I knew it because my brother and I were the only ones out there. That jetti is the worst I have ever fished.

Second most memorable would be when I was doing well fishing eels in the ditch with a guy named Mario from Worcester, Paul from Foxborough and an old guy named Ronnie. For me 1998-1999 have been my best yet, some night we would catch 5 fish or so over 40", all fat fish. It was like clockwork, 1 hr window. Not that this is going to drop anyones jaw or anything, but I didn't fish the ditch for the first time until 1997 (didn't have my liscense until 1994). Just good stuff from my books!

Dave

37 liveling a snagged pogie at East Beach.

I want a heart attack fishing with #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& or cowhunter !

29lbs 10oz Blue Mackeral Rapala Magnum trolled behind the boat, 2001.

:p

3 fish between 44& 46 Lbs don,t remember the exact weight, they just went with the rest of them;;;;
Yea Gs all caught on pogies ssssssoooo they don,t count
All caught in Narragansett bay
Sheila,s {wife] is a even 40 that took top honors in the woman,s division in the old Newport Striper tourament
Biggest mess of large I,ve been into ,, was the slug of huge that hung around Fishers Island, mine was 42+,but there were plenty of 50.s + 60,s , I just didn,t hookup
I agree with Schoolie Monster , I,ve caught hundreds of fish between 20 & 45lbs but never a fifty ,lost only 2 fish in my life that I know that without a doubt were well over 50 saw the head of one ,bigger than a basketball;;
another reason, I always liked schoolie fishing a nd went after the large only after the schoolie population became just about dead/// Even now I fish mostly schoolies and fish for large with eels only after the schoolies have moved off the shore/// as long as your having fun,thats really all that matters////////////:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:

Biggest ever was June of 1973 in Padanaram Harbor on a live pogie:eek: it may not count for some but it counts to me:laughs: Best on a plug was 42# west end Cuttyhunk 1969 Atom popper. The summer of 69 AAAAAHHHHH to be that young agian:p

My biggest striper was 34 inches caught off Race Point 3 years ago. We were wireline jigging.

Then again you should have seen the dolphin fish I missed this past September in Florida. It dragged me clear into the water!!!

http://www.basspond.com/photos/2002/m_dolphin.jpg

Oh so only plugs, no live bait. Well the 60 lost on an atoms is still the biggest lost and the 43 on my office wall that came during that same blitz and same plug would probably be my biggest. I've caught numerous similar sized fish on my plastic, I think 42 is the biggest so far.

Hey can someone tell me how to get an old (my 52 lb pic in this thread) polaroid picture cleaned up to get a better scanned picture, without ruining it. It's old and been around a while, so I don't want to spray it and ruin it. Can I spray it with something and then maybe try to get a better digital of it? Any photo buffs out there?

The Ditch.I have had a few in the mid 30 lb. range caught on eels fishing the Mudflats. Man remember those nights Mike! I have had some much bigger fish on that had me shaking! That was back close to 20 years ago. Have had hundreds of 20 to 30's mostly on eels or chunks but a few plugging and jigging. Biggest at the Ditch I saw was a 50 lber but saw some nice ones taken on the Vineyard by the Lepers in June long ago that went as big.

GS - dust it off carefully, run it through a high-res scanner, 1200dpi or better. You'll have a huge picture. Then modify the image size down to a respectable size. If you have Photoshop, you can then do some color adjustments and some duplicate mask work and get an enhanced image...

This year I want to get some quality outings in from shore. I REALLY want to break 40 this year, that's the goal. Don't care if I keep it ad I'll probably let it go - I guess it will depend on how I feel at the time. IF/WHEN I get something over 50? That will be a tough decision to make ;) - I sincerely hope to face that dilema...

Flatts - you got Swimmies on there? Just kiddin'

16 People so far - average weight: 38 Pounds - 6 Ounces

GB - ALL fish count - even your 48, just a little heat 'cause there ain't much left for Menhaden :( but nobody holds it against you (just as long as everyone realizes a 40 from the shore is most likely harder to get than a 50 from a boat :bshake: )

Flatt's - just get some time in - they do get bigger. I was wondering if I'd ever break 30 pounds...

I guess I can add mine and bring the average weight down
:( :smash:


Actually reading the title of the thread I thought mike was looking for the largest lure or bait tossed
:rolleyes:


Mike, you already saw my biggest :) Last year at the canal, 31.5 lbs. on a 5 oz jig white. :)

Yeah, Tony, I remember those Mudflats days. I lost a corker there one night too, around 1987-88. Never even slowed it down before she hung me around a lobster pot. The other memorable fish I never saw was whatever that freight train was I hooked up with at Montauk in Sept 2000---the one that ran off 150 yards of 50# braid without ever slowing down---but I'm pretty sure that one was a shark or a tuna, not a bass.

OK lures only---let's see:

40# on the nose, white 3 oz smiling bill jig w/red rind, Wasque Point 1993. Tony----you shoulda been there ;) The only Lepers that ever joined me out there in the wee hours were Brad and Roland. Brad almost got spooled one night out there too before he busted the fish off. Roland got a nice 25#

Plenty of 35-40 on jigs from that spot.

29# in the Canal on one of Brad's first Hawg polarises---the one he made special for me, loaded up then shot with styrofoam so it would still float--July 1992 at Aptuxet, fishing with Tommy McCauley and Lefty Marchand. May they rest in peace. Can't remember too many +/- 30# or better fish I took on plugs. Everything over 35# I ever caught came on either eels or jigs.

When I was just a schoolie, fishin with my uncle Al back in the late 60's,I landed a 42 pounder. I can still here him sayin "it won't pull you overboard. Just don't let go of the rod." He was the greatest fishin farmer that ever lived. I realy miss him. Oh ya we were troling live herring.

As for Baitcaster

1969 - 60 lbs, Coast Guard Beach- Live Eel
1975 - 51 lbs, Boston Harbor - Pogie Chunk
1978 - 50 1/2 lbs - MV, the GUT - Blue/White Atoms swimmer
1982 - 54 lbs, MV, the Gut - Live Eel
1985 - 50 Lbs MV, the Gut - Live Eel

Baitcaster wanted me too add, that for him, back then was a matter of dollars and cents. He wasn't looking for big fish too put on the wall, but make money for food on the table. Today He is fishing for the fun off it. Doesn't matter how big or how small just so its pulling the other way. Doesn't matter what species either, Striper, Blue's, Albies, Bones, Cod. You name it, its all about getting out there and wetting a line.

As for myself-
1997- 26 lbs from shore, Pogie Chunk. This year was my biggest so far at 36 1/2 lbs - Live mac. Which was an awesome thrill. But I also agree with SM & BC, we are just out there enjoying the outdoors and having fun. If you get lucky enough too hook into the big one then life is good!!! But I believe that having fun catching alot of fish vs trying to only target the big fish isn't what its about for us. I just like the schycosis (sp?) of it all!!!!!!

Those are some very impressive fish BC, or should we start calling you BF (Big Fish) :).

...SLIP, I'll help ya drop the average :( ...The Ditch gave me a 29#er on a 4oz. Smilin' Bill. At least you broke inot the 30#s. It seems I'm stuck in the 20's...the only 30 I've broken is in age...:happy:

...IT KEEPS ME HUNGRY THOUGH :p :p VERY :D

fisherwoman,what about me?,I said and feel the same way///////:smash: :smash: :smash:

:D Not a striper story but bluefish. The last day of the Vineayrd derby, 1985, I caught a 17.60 lb. chopper on a Spofford's Ballistic Missile orange in color, three hours before the derby ended. The one thing I remember the most though was how the longer I held the fish the more heavy I estimated its weight to be. By the time I walked through the weigh-in shack door I was sure it was going to top out at 20 lbs. at least. I wasn't upset at what it did weigh for sure. It just causes me to chuckle to myself whenever I think about it. :D

:confused: The other thing about weiging in that fish was the weigh-master kept putting it on the scale and then taking it off, and everytime that happened the fish weighed 5 or 6 hundeths of a pound less. It finally dawned on me he was feeling the belly to see if it had any foreign objects in it. I finally got the nerve to speak up and said cut the fish open if you want, but stop putting the fish on the scale and taking it off because it weighs less everytime you do it. He eventually handed it to me and said nice fish. When I was handed my weigh slip I looked at it and then looked at the leader board and realized I knocked off the number one person in my category, a Mr. Granger. So if you can read this Mr. Granger I'm sorry I bumped you out of first place with a fish weighing in at only 17.60, because at one point I could have sworn it weighed 20 lbs. :D

It is better to have fished and lost than never to have fished at all. "me"

John,

I know they get bigger but I won't have much time this year with a little one coming in July (you know how it is). I'll probably be working in Taunton (10 minutes from the Middleboro herring run :D) so I might be able to sneak to the Canal after work but that's about it.

Any way. It doesn't matter to me what size it is. I know this might sound crazy but I'd be just as happy catching a 10 inch brookie as I would a monster striper. Like fisherwoman says, "so long as it's pulling the other way."

Then again, there was that smoking dolphin fishing down in Florida...


My wife, Cheryl, hooked up right after me and she got pulled in too.


http://www.basspond.com/photos/2002/c_dolphin.jpg

Not really sure what it weighed.. my guess was probably 30-34 lbs. caught it early july 2000, near gooseberry on chunk mackeral. let it go cause i already had one on the beach a bit smaller. as for the largest on a plug... i'd have to say i haven't caught a keeper on a plug yet, lots of little ones though. Biggest fish for me is a 55 lb. albacore tuna caught on a smiling bill with squid strip. Standing up and on 17 lb ande line tied directly to the jig..what a fight. I have caught a bunch of 30+ pound mahi mahi's too, kinda like turbocharged bluefish that like to fly.

Clammer :) Sorry wasn't trying to leave you out buddy. I think alot of people are starting to feel the same way, we all know that the Stripers are coming back, but they are still in alot of trouble. I for one would rather let them go to be caught another day, than bring one home.

Don't get me wrong, I too kept a couple bass last year. I kept that 36 1/2 lber and she will be placed on my wall, because for me it was I thrill I have never experienced, and I can look at that fish and remember that day forever, as I may never catch one that big again, or for many years for that matter.

It is unlikely that we will ever see those hey day fish again. If you think about it, there are many more recreational fishermen that in days past, and as for commercial fishermen, there gear and equipment has changed 10 fold, to be more productive. Don't get me wrong not knocking commercial guys, I respect the fact that they are trying to make a living. Just wish we could really work together to preserve this great species of fish and many other ones that are in trouble. Sorry ranting!!!!!

In the past there were fewer recs because they were all selling their catch. Unfortunately it's not just the stripers we have to worry about. The cod, flounder, and tog as well.

Don,t laugh, but my favorite fish to go after if not Stripers, Is the salt water White perch, and they are not around not near the numbers that they used to be, I have had a lot of fun with these fish and I guess I started making descent money back in the 60,s early 70.s catching these and schoolies mixed. the last time I tried for them my son and I had 49 schoolies and onky 6 xl perch
the only fish I have mounted is a White Perch, that should give you AN idea of how much I enjoyed this fishery


PS , Fisherwoman if I go to the Mass show this year, I.m leaving my money at home and just going to see people from the site... Havn.t seen you and BC since the first week of June. TOo long for good people:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:

Hey Clammer, will be good to see you and alot of the rest of the crew also. Ran into Slipknot at the Worcester show on Friday. He's been shopping!!!!!! Go Loomis!!!!

Yes, nice to see you FW and BC. As you were telling the story of the bluefins I felt as if I was on the baot with you guys. Get'em next year girl.

Yes, I did pick up a new stick. A G-Loomis LR844S which is rated for 10-20 lb line and 3/8 to 2 1/4 oz lures which is awesome. I tried it out yesterday and threw a 3/4 oz mambo about 100' at least using 14 lb fireline. This stick has alot of backbone. I'll use it for scoolie fishing and fishing rubba at the ditch and stuff. :happy: