I will argue the points of your post here.My definition of a great fisherman is NOT that he or she has one 60lber or one 50lber.My biggest is 52.5lbs a mere rat!!

Why am I the best? because of my "Consistancy" that is, my ability to bring in fish from the shore of over 30lbs more than anyone else I know of!! My big fish nights speak for themselves.The key here for me is that at the end of the year may have 2000fish for the season and I may only have a measly 600fish but, how many of my fish were over 25lbs! Thats the question.

lets face it,Its not how nice you are or how you treat people,the bottom line is the size of fish and numbers of fish that a fisherman is judged by.No one says.."He never catches anything over 29inches but, he is a whale of a good fisherman"..That just dont happen!

Now,when they say.."Everytime I turn around,That guy has another 30lber" thats what gets people excited.

People love to hate people with success always have always will,just like the rich keep the poor down!! As soon a fisherman gets a reputation for hawking big bass he suddenly becomes the bad guy,or the guy who must "be doing something illegal" Its all jealousy!


Why am I so narrow minded as to what I use to fish with?? Well, I ask you this,what do any of you have that could possibly out fish my beloved eels!! or, give me the success I have had?? Nothing!!!! Look at my log books and tell me you have something that works better.Until someone does better than I have done they cant really make an argument against anything I say,Why?? Because (as john will certainly attest too) I always back my talk up with results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could catch a 30lb fish in a puddle in the wal-mart parking lot!! Thats how much confidence I have!!

It is one thing to be "lucky" and land a 50 or 60lber and a far different thing to be consitant with large bass.I know a Kid who only fished one fall in his whole life! and at the age of 16 he makes two casts on block island and lands a 62lb bass,now thats luck.The guy who can make that happen consistanly is a great fisherman.

I say Im the best soley on my numbers of bass over 30lbs verses other people's numbers.If it is big fish alone we measure someones ability at then,I have no equell for the past 10 years!! Thats a fact!! Im the only person in Rhode Island this year with a fish over 40lbs from the shore,the only one! and I have two!! In 1998 when I caught my 52.5lb fish I was the only guy in rhode island and massachucettes to have a fish that size from the beach!! I was only beat near the end of the season by one fellow who landed a horse in the canal,I think that fish went 55lbs or something.

I say im the best because,I know where to hunt for the large girls,I know what winds and tide to fish,I know what varibles give me the best oppertunity to land a cow and, I know the suffering it takes to find and land a large bass,falling down on rocks,fishing in near hurricanes,losing sleep,,etc.........I worked hard to get to that point.I know the striped bass better than any other living thing!! even my wife!! I know its habits,what it likes,where it likes to be,what it likes to eat,andwhen it likes to eat!! Name a shore fisherman, who has been publicized in the fisherman magazine who has had better success than I have???? There is no one!! Even charrapo on the "rockless cape" couldent shine my shoes!!

I once made 3000.00 bucks one season!! Dont sound like much but all those fish came FROM SHORE!!! Made 2000.00 the next!! Sometimes my sellable catch was better than what the boats were bringing in!! I have the fish slips and paystubs to prove it!! I sold more illegal bass than most people will catch in a lifetime!! (I dont do this anymore) I used to have my pickup truck stuffed to the gils with bass!! I fished the cape at chatham before the storm of 91 cut it wide open!! I had a night there with 17 fish 30lbs and better!! I have done it all.I know the cape as well as anyone and most likely fished there before anyone here did,save maybe a couple of guys.

If you go solely on size and consistancy of size of fish caught over the last 12 years or so,no one has had more success than I,FACT!!!!

I have tried to share info here on what to do to become succesfull,bottom line is a rut is a hard thing to get out of.

Fisherwomen, I could very easily start a shore guide service and have them banging my door down to go and paying good money to do it!! The reason I dont is that I love to fish to much and I dont want to give up my spots but, Im sure I could be rolling in the green with what I know!! Im not ready to sell out my honey holes for any amount of money,I would rather take people for free.I have no problem with what you do,im just not ready for it,I would also lose alot of friends in the process.My goal is to remain at the top of my game till someone knocks me off,I want to outfish eveyone I can!when they do they will have my congrats,but until then..Im The Best!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great post #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&. Thats is one of the points i was trying to get across. Some people may be lucky, but the ones who consistently catch big fish are the true men of the surf. Also, you caught a 52 pound fishin 1998. There were probably very few of these fish caught during that uear. I you go back to fisherwoman's post she claims of her husband and grandfather catching 50-60 lbs fish. c This was in the heyday of striper fishing when this feat, though great, was not very unusaul. Nowadays , howewver, it is not very common to catch fish of that size. Most likely, if we could transport you bvack 30-40 yrs, you'd catch fish of that size and bigger, we would all be catching more bigger fish. Hopefully those days will return. Hell, lets get that limit back up to 36 inches and leave it there.

I do agree with some of what you are saying Bill, but while you may judge a fisherman(woman) by what they catch, you also insinuate that the people here should be judged only by their qualities of being purely a fisherman. I know several people that come to these boards and in Fisherwoman and Baitcaster with whom I fish often, I can say that they are excellent anglers. The best? Probably not in terms of the most aggressive, big fish, world record chaser that you strive to be. Probably not the schoolie kings either. But in their passion and enthusiasm for fishing for stripers and their knowledge of this area and willingness to mix it up with some stripers, yeh, they're pretty top notch. Maybe you'll get your wish and get a chance to fish with some of these people and that will change your mind. Expand your mind and meet other interesting people that share this enthusiasm that you have. Juls is probably more enthusiastic about striper fishing than you. Respect people for who they are, not hown many keepers they have landed this month. And if they deserve a verbal kick in the teeth, give it. But don't judge others as inferior people if they haven't had the sucess that you've had.... Again, this is not the Bill Nolan board, Relax Francis....

I have to go home now, my pregnant, hormonal wife is getting hungry and that causes her to get pissed, and the baby to kick her in the tummy and...

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, it was not my intention to say that you are not an excellent angler or fisherman. All I am trying to say is that there are many aglers out there that fish just as hard as you do and take just as many fish as you do, and maybe not as big as you, but how would any of us really no, alot of people fish just for the sure pleasure of the sport, big fish or small fish, it just doesn't matter, but they are not out there trying to make a name for themselves. If that is your intention and what you want to do well then good for you.
My passion for fishing also has great concern for the conservation of these fish, many years ago as you stated, alot of fish were taken commercially, some legal, alot illegally, all for money and I'm not just referring to you. At one point this species was almost depleted, does that make you proud, I should hope not!!!! This fishery is still in a sad state of affairs and has a long way to go to make a comeback. That is why Baitcaster and I started the guide service, it was never about the money, we are the cheapest guides you will find. It is about teaching people that it takes 6-8 years for a striper to become 30" long and that it probably hasn't even had a chance to spawn yet, so do you really want to just take that fish home with you because it is a legal fish. It is about teaching people how to handle these fish and not abuse them. Its about protecting this resource so we can all catch these beautiful fish 10 years from now. Its about teaching & educating people on the joy of this sport and how much fun it can be for the whole family. Its better than having those kids go out and party and do drugs isn't it. I have alot of respect for you and your opinions, but you sure don't seem to really respect anyone else on this board, and I don't understand why, if you are so proud of yourself for how good a fisherman you really are, you would think you would want to teach that information as much as you could to other individual that are out there trying to make a go of it. After all isn't that what Tim Coleman has done for you.

Eel fishing is not a real sience, its not very hard to sling an eel out there and reel it in really slow and hope that a bass takes it. You know that as much as I do. Its about reading the water, the structure, the wind, the tide, and its definately about confidence. When is the last time you have gotten into a pod of those big cows out there and tried to get one to take an artificial lure, much more challenging in my opinion, but that is just my opinion!!!! I am not knocking the way you fish it obviously is working very well for you and thats great, you should just think before you knock everybody elses type of fishing.

fisherwoman

I wasn't going to chime in, but I just can't resist. #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, I don't think your ability or your knack for putting the big ones on the beach was ever in question. In all the posts I've read, I don't think anyone ever questioned you are probably the best at what you do. What was in question was why you come down so hard on people that don't share your opinions. I'd be a fool to say that the odds for catching big stripers are't the highest at night and with a live eel on the end of your line. Does that mean that if we all aren't fishing after dark with live eels that we are less qualified, less committed to the sport, less of a fisherman, I seriously doubt it. It's all a matter of personal preference, which in my case has more to do with my business and family obligations.

I fish early morning until early afternoon every Saturday, because that's the only time I can get out. Early in the morning I will be working close to the reefs and ledges throwing my jerkbaits, but will have a live eel dragging behind the boat in the low light of the morning. My biggest this year (35#'s) came on a live eel, but all the other large ones this year came on my plastics. Even though I've dragged live eels most of the year, once the sun starts poking up, the plastics are much more productive. That includes several around 30#'s and numerous fish in the 20's and more fish in the mid teens than I can count. If history repeats, I also expect to have a couple in the 40's before I'm done for the season. I've developed a rigging method and weighting method that allows me to fish these baits in a horizontal presentation (which I feel is key to success with plastics) from the surface, down to 20 feet if need be. I routinely catch 30-50 fish each trip, with usually a few larger fish, but most in the 20-27 inch range. Now I'm am quite happy with those results and I watch others fishing the same areas around me and I'm outfishing the guys trolling tubes, fishing chunks and others throwing plastics or artifials by an huge margin. Even my fishing partner, who's been coming with me most weekends now for two years, is still outfished by about 3 to 1. I was very good at what you do before I had my boat, and to use your own preference for tooting your own horn, I don't think there is anyone that can touch me when it comes to success with plastics.

Yet you have a problem with this and that is what I don't understand. It really puzzles me and I don't understand why you can't accept what I do, what the fisherwomen does or anyone else on this board for that matter. It's not a matter of who is THE BEST or who is the most consistant catching THE LARGE, it's a matter of respect, of accepting others for who they are and what they do. I would love nothing better than to catch large stripers at night, slinging eels like I used to, rod tip high just waiting to bow to the first large of the night, adrenaline pumping when you feel the weight on the set, nothing is better than battling the big ones in the erie darkness of the night, I just don't have that option at this point in my life. But you don't accept that others might not be as lucky to have the ability to do what you do, or that others just might have different priorities and than is the problem.

I'd love to join you some night, it would be a rush to get back to it, only problem is I don't own a surf rod any more, lol. Then again, I can sling an eel a long with with my 7 foot Lami, tight lines #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&. I respect what you do, I have no doubt you are the master of your domain, just be nice to get a little respect in return.