Just curious to hear what might be your finest moment or accomplishment in fishing? Be it a memorable catch, a memorable outing or trip? Freshwater, saltwater, surfcasting, boatfishing, flyfishing, plugs, live bait....whatever........lets hear that one moment when you had a line in the water that stands out to you?:fishin:

will come this summer when I go with my oldest son to take my grandson kibbie fishing (for his first time) he will be almost 3 years old.
I changed my sig pic to another fun day at the "beach" with my boys.

when me and my buddies first got into fishing a couple years back. we decided to go to Charleston one afternoon on an overcast day. got to the spot and within 10 mins all 5 of us were hooked up. it lasted for a good 35mins and i cant even tell you how many fish we pulled in. it was only like the third time i had been out and thats how it all began..

what about you bigfish?

I have been fishing for most of my life.....however not nearly as involved in fishing as I have been the past 10 years since I started fishing for stripers! In my youth I fished mostly freshwater for bass, pickeral, hornpout, perch and sunfish with the occasional flounder/tommycod trips soaking sea worms in a local river near my home. However it was a day 10 years ago that changed my life. I was in the middle of a divorce and as many can attest, I had very little money to do too much with my 2 young sons so most weekends we fished local freshwater ponds with shiners, caught alot of great fish with the little guys and their Snoopy Zebco rods after which we would go to McDonalds and I would buy them each a Happy Meal......those were tough days for me as after laying out for 2 dozen shiners and a couple Happy Meals my budget for the week was pretty much blown......but it was worth it. Anyway, we fished alot me and my boys who, at the time, were about 5 and 6 years old. One day we were at Nantasket Beach and in the water swimming among us were a bunch of schoolie stripers chasing "their" happy meal. The boys were fascinated as was I and they said to me..."Dad, can we try fishing for stripers?". Now I had never fished for stripers and had no saltwater gear or the knowledge of where to begin. The best place I could start was by grabbing some of my Dad's old saltwater rods off the basement wall that had hung there for years unused along with the reels (old Squidders) and the rods were so old they were still spooled with nylon but we headed off to the local bait shop that next weekend to get what I thought we would need to fish when we bumped into a friend of mine named Warren who, after hearing my story and taking a look at the sorry gear in my truck invited us to join him at Hull Gut! He headed home to pick up some more rods and we headed to the Gut to soak some bait......the boys were thrilled and so was I that I had someone helping us along. So after baiting the hooks and getting them in the water it was not long before my oldest exclaimed that he had something on (I thought he had to be snagged on the bottom) so sure enough, as he struggled to reel in the line as I helped him handle the rod in came my sons first striped bass.....just about 18 inches and quite a beautiful fish I thought. Boy! Was I proud! We snapped a quick picture with me and the boys with Larry holding up his first striper and released the fish safe and sound! A short time later my youngest, Nathan, caught his own striper about the same size and again, we quickly snapped a picture of the three of us with Nate holding up his catch proudly! After a few hours, those would be the only 2 fish we caught that day so we packed it in and I thanked my friend Warren for a great and memorable afternoon that I knew I would cherish for a long time! The 2 pictures I have from that day are among my most prized possessions and I get a great feeling looking at the faces of my boys with their fish and looking at how proud I was of them. The kicker is that my boys caught their first stripers long before I ever caught my first. I was hooked myself that day, so impressed by those beautiful fish that I just had to try it myself, and then began an obsession which has just burned deeper into my soul these past 10 years. Striper fishing has given me so many rewards over the last 10 years in the way of great memories with family and friends, and meeting so many great people because of it! So for me.....it is the memory of that day with my boys that leaps to mind first when it comes to great moments on the water!:kewl:

Nice story, Larry. My best fishing moment was about 6 years ago at Montauk. Mid October, at Brown's (just west of Turtle Cove). Full blown fall blitz with stripers on anchovies. I'm out on a rock with a fly rod, hammering fish. Literally fish on every cast. No really big fish, just up to around 15 lbs. or so. The best part was, I was the only one out of 50-60 guys hooking up consistently :jump:. I was king for a day :humpty:. For some reason, the fish only wanted flies that day :rolleyes:. It got to the point that I had to break off any fish that ran to either side of me, in order not to cross lines with the guys trying to mug me.

My greatest moment fishing happened on June 3rd 1997. Fishing Nonquit in Tiverton and hooked up on a fish about 30#. Had a heart attack while landing the fish. I handed my rod to Bob Vanase, who was with me, took 2 nitros and took the rod back and landed the Bass. Went to the ER about 2 hours later and they admitted me with a diagnosos of an MI with a full occlusion of the Right Coronary Artery.

Absolutely the best rush of my fishing career.

My greatest moment fishing happened on June 3rd 1997. Fishing Nonquit in Tiverton and hooked up on a fish about 30#. Had a heart attack while landing the fish. I handed my rod to Bob Vanase, who was with me, took 2 nitros and took the rod back and landed the Bass. Went to the ER about 2 hours later and they admitted me with a diagnosos of an MI with a full occlusion of the Right Coronary Artery.

Absolutely the best rush of my fishing career.

Holy Sh!te Paul..:shocked:

A 14" striped bass on a boone needlefish, during a daytime blitz in a cove 1/2 way down between Hadley's and Pine Island, around 1966, age 11. I'd dreamed about and tried pitifully on my own to catch that first fish for 3-4 years prior. I'll never catch anything of which I will be prouder.

Nice story, Larry. My best fishing moment was about 6 years ago at Montauk. Mid October, at Brown's (just west of Turtle Cove). Full blown fall blitz with stripers on anchovies. I'm out on a rock with a fly rod, hammering fish. Literally fish on every cast. No really big fish, just up to around 15 lbs. or so. The best part was, I was the only one out of 50-60 guys hooking up consistently :jump:. I was king for a day :humpty:. For some reason, the fish only wanted flies that day :rolleyes:. It got to the point that I had to break off any fish that ran to either side of me, in order not to cross lines with the guys trying to mug me.

You were king because you were probably the only one using something that resembled an anchovy. Let me guess, you had to avoid crossing lines with the guy in the white boots and jeans using a 7ft spinner casting a monster polaris popper.

I've been there during blitzes and the only thing they would touch was a 1/2 oz bucktail with no pork rind.

Watching my son Mike land a 35# bass from shore at age 9 .. and years later my other son Dylan at age 12 catching and releasing the biggest bass I've ever seen personaly to date .. Must have been 50 ,, will never know ..

The first day I caught fish on my own lures.

Last year in late September went surfcasting and I had a 12 fish in a morning with about 6 keepers all on the same bucktail. I even lost a few. It was the strangest thing as I felt I knew where they were in the rocks and it was just a matter of casting to them. Never had that before as it is usually appears to be more of a case of happy accident when I hook up. For a brief moment I thought I had figured it out and was over the moon for the rest of the day. Reality set in the next morning when I was dunked from my rock.

My first 20#er from the shore. I sat on the same rock at Orient point for two weeks fishing all day. ( I was 8 years old (weighing a meager 50#myself), summer of 1965) My mother thought I was a bizarre kid who was a fishaholic but my dad fully understood, and said, he'll be fine there, just leave him be and they would come to the beach for a few hours each day and leave left me there but would check on me looking over the bluff every couple hours. At 8 my conventional casting skills were not that refined, I could do it but my distance was not that great (look at those arms!)... but dad could send it out there a mile, he got me situated, and said, don't reel this in unless there is something on the other end. I sat on the rock with that rod for hours, they went back. Late in the afternoon one day, I hooked up with a bass. I dragged that fish home up the bluff, into the house, across the living room rug and into the bathroom and put in in the bathtub until my parents came back, they had gone to the farm stand to get dinner. The entire fight is still etched in my brain to this day. I had caught a few other fish, mainly fluke and a couple bluefish but this is what I had been waiting for.
While nearby a few years ago, I went back to that rock and climbed back up on to it and sat down and thought back about what that moment created and the bass that followed. I weigh 195# now, if I could catch a bass proportionally the same today how big it would be?....it turns out to be exactly 78# , gee where have I heard that number before? Maybe I need to gain a few more pounds :)
There have been some great memories I have shared with my kids as well, but this is where it all started.

Nice story Jim :btu:

Wh8ile I have a few "Greatest Moments" I'd say above all are the times with my son, the time with my son and neice (The Worms were moving so fast on the Choggie Parade it was tough to keep up :rotf2: ) and pick any of a half dozen times with the Clammer for pure joy of fishing. There was that crazy night with GB too.

EXCELLENT Larry!!!
:claps: :claps: :claps: :claps:

and thanks for the great story!
:kewl: :kewl: :kewl:

I've been fishing since I was four or five years old. In that time I've had many, many moments etched into my memory. Finest.....wow that's a tough one!
The one that keeps coming to the fore happened about twenty plus years ago. We had gotten reports of fish on herring. It was the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. Hit the north side of Montauk for a 2AM tide. Lots of people. North wind in our face brought the wind chill into the teens. For the first time I was there as opposed to "should have been here yesterday". Many fish, all large! At the time it was the best session I had ever had. The moment, however, that stands out with crystal clarity over the years occurred as the tide slowed and the bite died. A huge orange sun broke the horizon. Wisps of "steam" were rising off the water. The wind sat down. As the reddish glow began to light the faces around me, I saw the exhaustion and the joy that I was feeling was shared by everyone who was there. In the growing light we all saw the heads of seals silhouetted in the rip by the light from the rising sun. It was obvious to everyone there, without the need for words, that we had all shared in one of the finest gifts nature had to offer.

I'd have to say it was that killer blitz at Race Point about 4 years back. 7:00 am, end of June, 70 degrees, flat as glass, and then decent to large bass busting peanuts up on the shoe as far you could see in either direction.
I was pretty psyched when I got that 36# fish in April two years ago on a Mac popper that I scored form Mac on my birthday the September before. That plug had great mojo. Then one day I cast it off to the gods.

one of my Best Days Ever fishing is narrowed down to three.

1) my son's first LM, 10 mins after i showed him how and where.
of course, NOW he thinks it's always that easy!!!

2) my youngest nephew's ALMOST keeper ~27 1/2"~, just look at that smile and entusiasm. he smothered me THAT day, and i was never happier to be bested by ANYONE!

3) the day my brother and i went LM and SM and Rockbass fishin' in this abandoned Coalpit in his skiff. we caught all three species, fish after fish after fish and FOR ONCE, we didn't care who caught what. and we talked about nuthin' but fishing and didn't have a care in the world for however long we were there???? we really worked the water, the shore, the deep holes; but somehow, i think that the experience worked in us a change that has carried us thru til today.

EXCELLENT Thread, Larry!!! and thanks for the memories.
:kewl: :kewl: :kewl:

taking my sons to the old jamestown ferry dock for snapper and mackeral. over 40 years and still remember it like it was yesterday. the looks on their faces is something i'll never forget.

This is a tough one.... so many to choose from... If I have to pick one, and one only.. it was the night when I took my son fishing after returning home from his first tour in Afganastan... he called me up state side after being away for two years (He's a seal) I hadnt heard from him in all that time, and the fact that after he kissed and daughters hello and good bye called the "old man", he made the trip from Jersey to plum island, the thunder rolled lightning flashed the sky, but we fished on, catching fish until our weary arms could take no more... here is a picture that is forever my favorite...it was one of several doubles we took that speacial night, both fish were freleased to gfght another day...

Right now, I would say it was catching my first keeper last year, on my own plug made with help from Biteme, and Mr. Striper. I'm sure in 4-5 years though it's gonna be when my son Cameron catches his first fish ever, I think that'll be a day I am never going to forget.


Great Stories Guys:btu::btu::btu::btu:

In September several years back Eric LaFleur and I caught and released 28 False Albacore while wading the north edge of the north Island flats at Monomoy. We were flyfishing and all those fish took the fly in 3 feet of water or less. There were hundreds of them constantly crashing bait all around us as the tide rose. He got 15 and I landed 13 never mind all we dropped or broke off. Damm near ran out of flies with my PB being 12-1/2 pounds. 8 wt's with monocore intermediate lines.

I doubt I will ever experience flyfishing like that again.

This is a tough one.... so many to choose from... If I have to pick one, and one only.. it was the night when I took my son fishing after returning home from his first tour in Afganastan... he called me up state side after being away for two years (He's a seal) I hadnt heard from him in all that time, and the fact that after he kissed and daughters hello and good bye called the "old man", he made the trip from Jersey to plum island, the thunder rolled lightning flashed the sky, but we fished on, catching fish until our weary arms could take no more... here is a picture that is forever my favorite...it was one of several doubles we took that speacial night, both fish were freleased to gfght another day...

Put a lump in my throat. Good for you!!!

I slept through the blitz that Mikey is talking about!!! Best day for me was a foggy July day about 8 years ago. Myself and two buddies launched out of Rockport and couldn't see a thing. Made it out to the spot and we immediately started banging cookie cutter 15 pounders. I stopped keeping track at 10. Anyhow, action starts to slow down, and I throw my baitcaster out with a hish tail out about 30 feet and put the rod in the holder to drink a beer and have a smoke. Anyhow, I see a tail come out of the water bigger than I've ever seen. Fought the fish for about 15 minutes (I was way outclassed), and got the fish in the boat...44 1/2" fork measurement. No scale, so can't say how big. Anyhow, we already had six fish, so it had to go back. At the time I remember thinking to myself I'd catch another like that, which I never even came close.

haulin my first 40 to the truck. i had it slung over my shoulder and the tail was slapping my calfs. it felt good. :smokin:

Hey Ricky, If my mind serves me correctly, you slept in the car that day in April too. Time to start drinking less and fishing more. Hold on, did I just say that?

I was 5 years old living in Argentina my family was visiting my grandmother my father decides to go fishing at a local river and takes me leaves me with a handline as he fishes with some locals a ways away i feel a tug and pull on the line and am slowly getting pulled in to the rivers edge i give a yell the old man comes running over grabs the line and fights this thing for a while.Pulls it in and it was a nice fish and can't believe i did not get pulled in dam i remember this like it was yesterday the sun on my face the smell of the river after that i was hooked and have been at it ever since.Thanks for posting this.

My greatest moment fishing happened on June 3rd 1997. Fishing Nonquit in Tiverton and hooked up on a fish about 30#. Had a heart attack while landing the fish. I handed my rod to Bob Vanase, who was with me, took 2 nitros and took the rod back and landed the Bass. Went to the ER about 2 hours later and they admitted me with a diagnosos of an MI with a full occlusion of the Right Coronary Artery.

Absolutely the best rush of my fishing career.
:claps:

I took my oldest son who was around 10 at the time out to N. Monomoy on the water taxi. I had been out there 4-5 times already and was geared up w/ the flyrod. I set my son up w/ a freshwater bass rod with 10lb test or so and a carolina rig with circle hooks and dead sand eels. We fished the drop off on the southeast tip as it was cloudy and got some schoolies. The sun popped out and the tide was dropping so we headed onto the flats between n. and s. Monomoy. A pod of around 7-8 nice fish passed and we both got off a cast, nada. I got off another cast and heard him say he saw fish behind us. I was like ya ya while trying to gat one more shot. Then he goes "I got one!" I turn and see ~25lb. striper shakingit's head like a pit bull with arabbit in it's mouth. The reel starts screaming and rod is cranked over. the only choice we had was to just keep walking towards the fish. At one point he tries to give me the rod but i wasn't taking any responsibility at this point. I look at the reel and saw spool and around 5 turns of mono. We basically walked hundreds of yards to the fish and I just walked behind it slowly and grabbed the tail. W got a great pic of him barely being able to lift the fish and realeasd it I measured it against rod and it was 39-40". A hell of a fish on that tackle.

Growing up, we had a relative that had a barracuda mounted and my Dad always talked about it. He used to watch every fishing show @ barracuda and was crazy about them. His dream was to get one. Despite fishing his entire life, he had never fished with a guide. While I was living in CA, I set up a trip for he and I to go out on the flats for barracuda in Key West. I flew to FL and we drove, down to the keys. stayed overnight and met the guide at 6am. For the next 4-6 hours we slammed massive barracuda on topwater and tubes all in water from 6' to 3 feet deep. It was mid-70s and no breeze. We laughed our asses off. The guide said to my Dad and I that we can take a break or eat whenever we wanted, we fished the entire time, only stopping to drink and move locations. Definitely the best time I ever had fishing.

October 31, 1985

As a student at Cape Cod Tech in the Marine Fisheries program my class had authorization to overnight on Monomoy Island in the tarpaper shack not far from Monomoy Light. Early on the 31st, I woke and headed to the point with a dozen eels. An hour later I had landed a 40lb bass. It was hard work for a 13 year old kid to carry a 40lb bass the mile or so back to the group, but it was worth it, still makes me happy to this day. (1st pic)

Or, October 27th 1993.

Fished with my former skipper, Bob Lassen, on his 31 JC "Shanti". I was his mate for a few years during high school. He invited me out after I got home from the Army. We found the migration of stripers 4 miles east of Great Point, Nantucket. We were surrounded by a bass blitz that stretched as far as I could see in each direction. All good fish, 36" average. We caught fish for what seemed like hours until the southwest winds got so bad we had to run for home. The ride home was awful, but I'll never forget the day. It was the last time I fished with him, he died in 2003. Another happy memory. (2nd pic)

Workin' the deck on "Shanti" off Nantucket Fall of 1987(3rd pic)

I think it was 89 or 90,early November at the Quonnie Breachway.We stopped at Cove Edge and grabbed a dozen eels from Henry Hetu.
Got out of the truck,wind howlin out of the north,temps in the mid 20's.Out at the end of the breachway on the hard side,outgoing tide.Now you have to appreciate these conditions.It was sooo windy that all you had to do was pitch the eel and away it went.As soon as the eel hit the water there was a bass on the end of the line.
12 eels,12 bass!! I kept one 29lbs,my buddy kept one 27lbs.I swear all these fish were the same size!!We were freezing.One hour later we were in the Andrea Hotel toasting the kind of fishing I doubt I will ever see again.

Last day of the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby in 1985 I cuaght a 17.60 # blue somewhere on the north shore of the Vineyard. The best part was walking into the junior yacht club holding that fish in my right hand and putting it up on the bench. ThAT warmed the cockles of my heart then and it does now writing this.

every day is the best day becuase I always catch large

mine came this past septmeber in the ditch. My self and another kid arrived at the spot at the same time coming from opposite directions. We both crawled down the rocks and decided to fish. It was slow at first and then i caught and 18# fish on a pencil. The next cast i caught another fish a little bit bigger. I told the the kid to put on pencil and rip it across the water. he did, and he caught a fish about 20#. for the next hour we caught over a dozen fish from 18# to 35# on top water with out any fish showing at all. guys to left of us and to right were shocked couldn't believe their eyes.

Later on in the day i ran into a buddy who was fishing across from me at the time and he told me how he watched these guys on the other side clobber fish. his jaw dropped when i told him i was one of those guys.:spin:

34lb Amberjack off the Packery Channel jetty in Port A TX.1988.

Unreal for me.The fight was so intense.

my dad taking me fishing for the first time 5-6 years old too long ago to remember. Caught a white perch in an upstate NY pond. Never looked back and still remember the day like it was yesterday some 35years ago.

1990, florida keys, watching a pod of tarpon march towards our boat from 150 yards out. readying a live pinfish on my TLD-15 on a penn slammer loaded with 20 pound test. as the school is less than 20 feet from the boat i toss my bait to the lead, and largest fish. he sucks it down and runs, and runs, and runs until my spool is closed to empty. after setting the hook this silver king leaps, dives, leaps, head shakes and the chase is on. after about 45 minutes the sun is setting and we are basically playing walk the dog with a 100+ pound fish. in and out of the bridge struts of bahia honda bridge, back out into the channnel. now its dark, the fish is tired, i'm shot too. the sheer weight of fish and current is still making it a game. then all of the sudden, line goes limp...nothing...my griend kevin gets out his Ibeam and holy %$%$%$%$, there is a huge fin swimming where my line is leading to...big mo, the legendary 16 foot hammerhead of bahi honda channel is looking to eat my tarpon!!!! :shocked:...i only guess the tarpon is playing dead or is dead! my friend says cut the line, let him go, give the fish a chance. NO WAY. i reel like hell, the SOB is there, so is the fish....end result is the picture now hanging to my left of the tarpon being held up on a lip gaff in the bow of the boat, over 6 feet long, 100+ pounds, me smiling like the happiest guy in the world... and on the other wall a 2 shot frame another guy took of big mo chewing a tarpon in mid air...that was a great moment and telling it just now was a blast!

Watching Leo break 40lbs last year

Great stories guys! Love reading them! The pics are also great!

Mr. Sandman.....love that childhood pic of you! Priceless!:uhuh:

Rockfish - pass along my thanks and regards for your son please :btu:

2 years ago. Taught my son to cast his spinning reel and my daughter was using her push button. Freshwater fishing. They each caught a 2 lb. bass on their first cast. Best double I will ever be a part of.

I could catch a 40# this year and it wouldn't top that day. Now my daughter is into the girl things, while my son can't wait to fish a beach with me.

And Rockfish, thank your son for me for being one of the brave people who allow my children to sleep safe every night.

My (our)first striped bass ever. My brother and bought a couple surf rods from Benny's and went to the Chatham lighthouse beach 3 nights in a row while on summer vacation in Harwich. We fished with sand eels over on the left near the rocks (back when the water was faster over there). The tackle store gave us the classic 2 hours either side of high - so we fished around 7-11, 8-12 and 9-1. Nothing but crabs. On the 4th night we said forget it - we must be doing something wrong - we basically just chalked it up to being freshwater guys and the big surf was our match. It was 9 or so and my girlfriend who was also there with us and sick of spending nights with my sister and family said why don't we go, there is some bait left and you guys love to fish - I'll even go. So the three of us went - took lawn chairs etc and headed down.
That night at around 1AM one rod started bobbing and it was not the waves. After setting the hook my brother yells "Jim, I think we got one and its heading to England" Well a longer than necessary fight took place. We all took turns reeling it in - I ended up going in the water to literally push it on shore (couldn't figure out how to surf that last wave in...).
We all look and its a keeper. We pack up quickly race home and wake up the whole house, the dog my parents sister and 75 year old grandma. It weighed 22 lbs, taken with the scientific step on the bathroom scale with and without it method. We stayed up and cleaned it and I think the grin did not leave my face for days.
Needless to say I was hooked. I now am married to the girl from this story, and I certainly don't have to explain to her why I go out late at night and come home with a grin on my face the receipts from tackle store are a different story...

Number one when I lived on a lake. Giving my stepdaughter a rod and reel and stocked tackle box as a first conmunion gift and seeing her catch a 2lb. large mouth on the first cast from our dock.
Number two taking my grandson (age 7) saltwater fishing for the first time last fall and hitting a bluefish blitz from a breechway. I'll never forget holding his belt so the 13lb. blue wouldn't pull him off the rocks. Must have caught at least 40 fish during that blitz. He's been fresh water fishing since age 3 and now he thinks saltwater fishing is always like this.

A Striper from the Old Days...

This photo is of myself with a 62-pound bass taken in 1971. What you can't see in the photo are the two 45 pounders laying at my feet. We were live-lining menhaden. I’m still around and still chasing that elusive 63 pounder. A boy can dream right?

So…here is my “Fish of a lifetime”…

Al

I could read a whole book of these. I'm not kidding. Great stories, great moments and some super pics.
I've been fishing so long it's impossible for me to pick just one. I can think of 3 in the past 12 months I'll never forget. 1) watching my 16 yr old son fighting large stripers under a pier. The look on his face, the rod bent in two, the drag screaming. So much fun. 2) Hiking into a Vermont stream a mile with little luck...then he hooks into a large trout on ultralight tackle and lands a 20" brown after an amazing fight and many jumps (pretty unusual for a brown). 3) a few weeks ago he and i fishing from a dock on a small island off KeyWest at night. He was hooking monster Tarpon on a rapala floater/diver. Finally landed a smaller one of maybe 30 lbs.
All great memories he and I will never forget. We are never closer than when we are fishing together.

Rockfish - pass along my thanks and regards for your son please :btu:

I will do that.. this evening in fact ,he's home (in NJ) until May...

Great Thread! Everyone's stories are very inspiring. My favorite trip occured last year on the South River with my then 3 year old. he caught his first striper on his rod drifting worms off my skiff. his face lit up and he was so proud of himself. But only a fraction of how proud I was of him. It's a powerful and emotional feeling doing these things with people that you are close too. It's hard for me to explain but reading all these posts is really bringing me back to how important family and friends are. Thanks Larry for starting this thread!:kewl:

decksweeper and I with easily a 600+ lb night
laughing like school children every time we hooked up

the first time I took my oldest son James fishing.....sunnies till his arms fell off


oh ya...and this as well

After coming close to death a couple of years back when I fell in @ Hazard Ave.By A rouge wave Everyday is the best. :bl:

Hey Al....Fabulous picture!:kewl:

GREAT Stories----Brings back so many memories of great times fishing with some I still fish with, others that I don't.
For the past 16 years my life has revolved around liitle but fishing for striped bass. A lot of good times with plenty of laughs, a lot of heartbreaks with disappointment. No moment, even as a young kid fishing compares to the night this past season that I caught my first 50lb.
The image of a board member here laying on his back on a rock staring up at me with his redlite on and his arms and legs wrapped around that beauty will forever, ever be burned into my mind.
As striped bass fishermen, a fifty from shore is the Lombardi Trophy. So many nights away from friends, family, activities and the wife in pursuit of that one fish, all the casts into perfect water in perfect conditions and it finally happened.
I have seen the Red Sox win a world series and caught my fifty.....now I can die in peace.
But then again the night behind the Oceanmist with JohnR is a close 2nd............

Hey Al....Fabulous picture!:kewl:

Thanks Larry,

The fish was caught off Third Beach in Newport in October. In those days we never measured the fish, just the weight. To give you and idea of the length, I was 5'- 8" at the time. Gravity has taken a tole on my height over the years.

Notice the old green Penns in the picture. They were loaded with 20 pound test. I still am useing the Thermos that you see sitting on the boat.

Al

My fondest memory is when I was about 7 or 8, my parents allowed me to walk to the local pond by myself, I caught a small largemouth and the guys that were building something nearby took it off the hook for me, and called it a nice fish. I was beaming, and never stopped fishing after that. I was at that pond every chance I got, catching mostly pickeral, perch and bullheads, but occasionally getting a small bass or trout. Leading out of that pond was a small stream that led to a private hunting and fishing club, and we used to sight fish for trout that made it up the stream out of the fly fishing pond. I couldnt have asked for a better place to grow up. And since it was a girl scout camp, it was private, and I had the place to myself, as long as I didnt bother the girl scouts.

A Striper from the Old Days...

This photo is of myself with a 62-pound bass taken in 1971. What you can't see in the photo are the two 45 pounders laying at my feet. We were live-lining menhaden. I’m still around and still chasing that elusive 63 pounder. A boy can dream right?

So…here is my “Fish of a lifetime”…

Al

Nice fish . . . . the belt looks like it's about to cut you in half though.

Nice fish . . . . the belt looks like it's about to cut you in half though.

Ya Makai, I was bust'n my gut holding that fish up for the picture. I wear suspenders now...it helps. :hihi:

Ya Makai, I was bust'n my gut holding that fish up for the picture. I wear suspenders now...it helps. :hihi:

Thats why I live in sweat pants and shorts.

First about 10 years ago on Weekapaug Beach, my 13 yr old son (at the time) caught his first striper on his brand new spin caster (though cheap it was). He hooked up with a little popper. He couldn't reel it in...brain lock... he walked backwards until the fish came out of the surf, dropped the new rod/reel into the sand and ran down to tackle the fish...poor thing. Then proceeded to try and pull the lip from 27.5 inches to 28"...poor thing. He released it.

The second about 5 years ago in almost the same spot.
My wife to be had never fished (she is from Colombia, S.A.). She was practicing casting in ankle deep water.
A bluefin came out of the water about 200 feet in front of us. Looked like a car fell into the ocean! I was amazed. I turned to see if she saw it... she was gone.
She was at the back of the beach..."there are things that big in the water?" she exclaimed... It took our honeymoon the next year to get her back in the water (same place again). She caught dozens of schoolies and bluefish and has been hooked ever since. Those memories are the best.
That was very cool.

Okay..I caught my 1st striper in Eastham at the herring run when I was about 13 or 14...I went over to the river empyting into the bay and picked up a herring,put it on the hook and cast it out..Had my brand new waders on from Goose Hummock and a brand new rod and reel I got for my birthday..I put the rod in my 12 inch spike and went roaming the beach..All of a sudden I heard a plop..Look over and my rod was gone..^&&t..Parents are gonna kill me..I waded out in the water and I could the line my rod made while going towards the old target ship..:mad:..Well I made the trek back to the cottage and told my parents what happened..They werent to happy..
We went church (sunday) amd came back home..By them the tide was going out..If you know thye area the tide goes out for about a mile..I went back down to the beach and started walkng out..
I l;ooked out and in one of the tidal pools I saw a splash..Yup..I got my 1st striper and also got my rod..
The looks I got walking down the beach at low tide carrying rod and striper were priceless..

Any time that I got to or get to fish with my daughters.

Greatest almost fishing moment was today when I to Maine to see my 9 1/2 month old grandson and took him to the fish tank at Cabelas. He looked at he fish with his eyes wide open and said his first word in front of Papa it was "fish". I looked at him and the lady next to me looked at him and he pointed and said it again. He is well on his way.

All are good stories guys, thanks for sharing.
My most recent "greatest moment" was fishing last year with my girlfriend on her Birthday. I built her her own 7' rod and she put it to good use. She got the only keeper of the day, and she cleaned it herself when we got home. It's a great memory, she still gloats when she sees the pic.

After many frustrating days in the fall chasing Albies it seemed like they had left. No birds ,little bait . Then motoring slowley along the jetties I kept seeing a little funny water. Every cast to that spot ,boom, albie,with a wind that would push me in the right direction.

I could not come up with only one as I love any time out on the water (fresh or salt). But here are just a few that stand out. The best with my son was the first trip he and I made to a small Maine pond when he was 12 to fish for smallmouths. We put the boat in went across the pond and first cast he makes a nice 6# or better smally jumps on his tinytorpedo and the fight is on. After a few minutes he has the fish coming along side and Dad gets it caught in the trolling motor and cuts him off. Greg looks back at me and says thats ok dad I was going to let him go anyway. The fish gods did help me out as we both caught many smallys that day up to and a few over 5# but not the big one. This pond has blessed us with many very large fish and great times together. Another would be the first trip to Cutty back in 2002 with a few new found friends at a site called striped-bass.com. I found the site in Jan. and asked if some of the guys would like to fish at Cuttyhunk with me in June for a weekend and stay at our house. If you can look up threads that far back see what kind of a reaction I got to that offer. Of all the times I have fished on Cutty and Nashawena islands for more than 50 years that weekend would be the best if only to watch the faces of these new comers as they fished the promised land. And yes John R that night with you and me in my boat and Clammer and Goose in his would have to be the most none stop Fish Catching, Laughter filled night of all it was what I think most true fisherman long for. Good fishing good friends good times!!

I wrote this story a couple of years ago. I can't believe my oldest son is going to be a teen-ager in two days. Thanks for this thread. It was nice to re-visit, sometimes life moves too fast.

Wow what a great thread!:kewl:
I grew up in NE PA and lived less than a mile from the Susquehanna River. We fished it often, wading or fishing out of my dad's jon boat. On nice weekend days we would take two trucks so we could enjoy a nice 5 mile float trip. We caught mostly smallmouth, but also perch, rock bass, walleye and when we felt like it we'd tangle with the huge carp. Then one day while trolling a panther martin spinner minnow my dad hooked a musky. Quite the battle ensued on fairly light tackle. He landed that fish,a 35 incher and his first musky ever, despite growing up in a house on the bank of the river. He just never targeted them before, probably because he grew up quite poor and any legal fish he caught went to the kitchen so he focused on the smaller fish with the better odds...
One night the following summer, August 14, 1979 to be exact, dad asks me if I want to go down to the river for a few casts one evening after baseball practice, so I say sure, and we end up fishing a nice hole with a back eddy that leads into a riffly narrows. The fish weren't biting and the sun was fading fast. I sensed the end of the outing was near and was losing a little interest (as a nine year old will do from time to time). I had on a yellow quarter ounce jig and I was fishing with a telescopic fiberglass rod with a zebco pushbutton special with 10 or 12 lb. test. I had the rod butt on top of my head and was reeling so fast the jig was just skipping across the water. About ten feet from shore in about 10 inches of water all hell breaks loose. All I can manage is "dad, I got one and it feels big." I can still see the look on his face when he saw the shape of my rod. The fish gave me four or five head shakes and then just started peeling line. A tough and anxious battle took place and it got hairy when the fish started going downstream. I had to follow and nurse him down through the riffles to the next eddy where, with much encouragement from dad I finally put the fish on the rocks. We celebrated and then measured the fish at 40.75 inches. It was not a stocked tiger, but a true muskellunge. We drove it over to the local supermarket and walked in and draped it over the produce scale at one of the registers and it came in at 15.5 pounds, my biggest fish before I found saltwater and a great time with dad.

I could not come up with only one as I love any time out on the water (fresh or salt). But here are just a few that stand out. The best with my son was the first trip he and I made to a small Maine pond when he was 12 to fish for smallmouths. We put the boat in went across the pond and first cast he makes a nice 6# or better smally jumps on his tinytorpedo and the fight is on. After a few minutes he has the fish coming along side and Dad gets it caught in the trolling motor and cuts him off. Greg looks back at me and says thats ok dad I was going to let him go anyway. The fish gods did help me out as we both caught many smallys that day up to and a few over 5# but not the big one. This pond has blessed us with many very large fish and great times together. Another would be the first trip to Cutty back in 2002 with a few new found friends at a site called striped-bass.com. I found the site in Jan. and asked if some of the guys would like to fish at Cuttyhunk with me in June for a weekend and stay at our house. If you can look up threads that far back see what kind of a reaction I got to that offer. Of all the times I have fished on Cutty and Nashawena islands for more than 50 years that weekend would be the best if only to watch the faces of these new comers as they fished the promised land. And yes John R that night with you and me in my boat and Clammer and Goose in his would have to be the most none stop Fish Catching, Laughter filled night of all it was what I think most true fisherman long for. Good fishing good friends good times!!

Great times, great times :btu:

Wow what a great thread!:kewl:
I grew up in NE PA and lived less than a mile from the Susquehanna River. We fished it often, wading or fishing out of my dad's jon boat. On nice weekend days we would take two trucks so we could enjoy a nice 5 mile float trip. We caught mostly smallmouth, but also perch, rock bass, walleye and when we felt like it we'd tangle with the huge carp. Then one day while trolling a panther martin spinner minnow my dad hooked a musky. Quite the battle ensued on fairly light tackle. He landed that fish,a 35 incher and his first musky ever, despite growing up in a house on the bank of the river. He just never targeted them before, probably because he grew up quite poor and any legal fish he caught went to the kitchen so he focused on the smaller fish with the better odds...
One night the following summer, August 14, 1979 to be exact, dad asks me if I want to go down to the river for a few casts one evening after baseball practice, so I say sure, and we end up fishing a nice hole with a back eddy that leads into a riffly narrows. The fish weren't biting and the sun was fading fast. I sensed the end of the outing was near and was losing a little interest (as a nine year old will do from time to time). I had on a yellow quarter ounce jig and I was fishing with a telescopic fiberglass rod with a zebco pushbutton special with 10 or 12 lb. test. I had the rod butt on top of my head and was reeling so fast the jig was just skipping across the water. About ten feet from shore in about 10 inches of water all hell breaks loose. All I can manage is "dad, I got one and it feels big." I can still see the look on his face when he saw the shape of my rod. The fish gave me four or five head shakes and then just started peeling line. A tough and anxious battle took place and it got hairy when the fish started going downstream. I had to follow and nurse him down through the riffles to the next eddy where, with much encouragement from dad I finally put the fish on the rocks. We celebrated and then measured the fish at 40.75 inches. It was not a stocked tiger, but a true muskellunge. We drove it over to the local supermarket and walked in and draped it over the produce scale at one of the registers and it came in at 15.5 pounds, my biggest fish before I found saltwater and a great time with dad.

Scotty, you madman

I AM DYING TO GO MUSKIE FISHING! CATCHING THE FISH OF 10,000 CASTS IS A DREAM OF MINE AND ONE I HOPE TO MAKE A REALITY SOON!

Great story BME!:cool:

I AM DYING TO GO MUSKIE FISHING! CATCHING THE FISH OF 10,000 CASTS IS A DREAM OF MINE AND ONE I HOPE TO MAKE A REALITY SOON!

Great story BME!:cool:

a minute a cast works out to fishing 24/7. . . . .7 days. . .hope you are a patient man. I fished with the editor of muskie magazine , they are a devoted bunch. He felt that all the pike he caught while waiting out the muskie were like us fighting through dogfish. . .pisses him off.

last year when the pogies were running, a friend and i took my 12ft fiberglass duck hunting boat down to the harbor near my house. we were going into the channel and snagging bait and going back into the marina and casting under a big sailboat that had a huge school of fish under it. cast out, count to five and one would grab it, let it run, count to five again and stick em. there was a big marina party on the dock we were casting toward and everyone was cheering and talkin about how big the fish were. the crowd turned it into a compitition between my buddy and i and after about 2 hours we caught about 15 keepers. let all but two smaller ones go. having the people there made it feel like we were in an arena or something. a pertty cool experience and if the bait comes back like that hopefully ill do it again