Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Mr. Sandman · 03-19-2004, 10:53 AM

Seen a few and look forward to the next one. They are all memorable but the one that is etched in my mind forever occurred midweek in mid Oct 1981 SW point, (while surfcasting by myself), on a cold rainy nasty Norwest blowing 25. I had fished sunset till about 9pm and got 2 nice fish in the mid 30's then went up to the truck quite please with myself, had a bite to eat and fell asleep (I had been fishing for 4 nights already). No one was around; there were no houses in those days out that way...just a small dirt road thru the briars that scratched your truck all the way to the point. It was pitch black. At 2am, I had the #^&#^&#^&#^& scared out of me as some guy pounded on my window, which had my head resting on it. I rolled down the window; the wind and rain came blasting in...An out of breath slickered covered guy said something I will never forget the rest of my life... " If I were you I'd get down there"...I stepped out of the truck and saw the largest pile of bass I had ever seen. Huge fish, with enormous distended stomachs...some looked as wide as they did long. He then said, "I came up to re-load with a new real, I just got spooled, its just you and us, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen...get down there!"...THANKS for waking me man!
Within seconds I had my waders and gear on and was making my way out to the point on the slime covered unstable softballs. The surf was up, the current was moving fast out, and there was a really nice break on the bar, you could see the drop off perfectly by the white water. I got as close as I dare and lobbed an eel off the edge of the bar. The bail had not closed and the eel was inhaled. I switched to a bottle plug after that fish, no need to mess with an eel when it is that hot. The fishing was the best I had ever experienced anyplace from the surf and every single cast you connected, if you dropped it, another picked it up within seconds, the *smallest* fish I had was 32#. There were no small fish at all in there. Most of the fish were about 36-38#. There were 3 of us there, the other 2 guys left around 4am because they had enough and had fish well in the 40's and some 50's stacked like cordwood. You had to see it to believe it. I wish I had my camera. It looked like a haul seine. (This was in the days of no limits and a lot of guys were selling bass to offset their fishing habit and to make a few bucks)
I was a trophy seeker not looking for $, and released all but two fish that were bleeding badly One went 38 and the other 47. But being the gluten that I am I stayed by myself and fished till the bite stopped at daybreak...and it went off like a light switch when the sun came up. I lost count on the numbers...it really does not matter it was non-stop. But I can say honestly that it was every single cast for something like 6 hours...even a bad cast that the wind got would connect within a few cranks of the reel. I even took a 30-minute break and sat on the beach resting (and thanking God Almighty for this experience), got back up and again, fish on within seconds of the plug landing on the water.

I lost a lot of gear that night too, went thru 3 spools of line and at least 4 or 5 plugs. It was the last time I fished 17# test line from BI. I was in my mid 20's and was obsessed with the sport at that time. I kept my mouth shut all day. I went down to the boat where each morning the fisherman would come to load their fish they caught on the boat to be picked up by the market in PJ. You could see who did what then, it was the place to be at 7:00am, fish or no fish; you went down to see what everyone did. I knew that if anyone saw the pile of bass these guys had the word would be out...But as my luck would have it they did not load their fish on the boat, they drove their truck on the boat and their fish were in the covered back of the pickup, which had a cap on it. No one saw these fish. I spoke to the two guys and they said..."We are going back to Ohio today...I bet I know where you will be tonight!"
The next day, I could not sleep...I was so pumped I just could not chill out. I went to twin maples and re-loaded with plugs and line...I even spooled one with 50# and. (this was pre-braid days)
the others were 25#. I was going to mow them this night.

The guy looked at me with my bloodshot eyes, cut hands, and tired and spent posture and said.."So, I see by the line on these reels and what you are buying that you got into them last night eh?"...All I said was "oh yeah".

I had a good meal, did my daily ritual of reloading and cleaning out my truck, stopped by the Manisses and re-filled my thermos with gourmet coffee (I love this stuff when I fish) Arrive at dusk and fished my ass off till dawn and caught....NOTHING. Dead. I could not believe it but there was not a fish to be had.

One other guy showed up around midnight and asked me if I had done anything, my classic response which we all have heard was: you should have been here the night before..."

03-19-2004, 10:53 AM	#25
Mr. Sandman Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 7,649	Seen a few and look forward to the next one. They are all memorable but the one that is etched in my mind forever occurred midweek in mid Oct 1981 SW point, (while surfcasting by myself), on a cold rainy nasty Norwest blowing 25. I had fished sunset till about 9pm and got 2 nice fish in the mid 30's then went up to the truck quite please with myself, had a bite to eat and fell asleep (I had been fishing for 4 nights already). No one was around; there were no houses in those days out that way...just a small dirt road thru the briars that scratched your truck all the way to the point. It was pitch black. At 2am, I had the #^&#^&#^&#^& scared out of me as some guy pounded on my window, which had my head resting on it. I rolled down the window; the wind and rain came blasting in...An out of breath slickered covered guy said something I will never forget the rest of my life... " If I were you I'd get down there"...I stepped out of the truck and saw the largest pile of bass I had ever seen. Huge fish, with enormous distended stomachs...some looked as wide as they did long. He then said, "I came up to re-load with a new real, I just got spooled, its just you and us, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen...get down there!"...THANKS for waking me man! Within seconds I had my waders and gear on and was making my way out to the point on the slime covered unstable softballs. The surf was up, the current was moving fast out, and there was a really nice break on the bar, you could see the drop off perfectly by the white water. I got as close as I dare and lobbed an eel off the edge of the bar. The bail had not closed and the eel was inhaled. I switched to a bottle plug after that fish, no need to mess with an eel when it is that hot. The fishing was the best I had ever experienced anyplace from the surf and every single cast you connected, if you dropped it, another picked it up within seconds, the smallest fish I had was 32#. There were no small fish at all in there. Most of the fish were about 36-38#. There were 3 of us there, the other 2 guys left around 4am because they had enough and had fish well in the 40's and some 50's stacked like cordwood. You had to see it to believe it. I wish I had my camera. It looked like a haul seine. (This was in the days of no limits and a lot of guys were selling bass to offset their fishing habit and to make a few bucks) I was a trophy seeker not looking for $, and released all but two fish that were bleeding badly One went 38 and the other 47. But being the gluten that I am I stayed by myself and fished till the bite stopped at daybreak...and it went off like a light switch when the sun came up. I lost count on the numbers...it really does not matter it was non-stop. But I can say honestly that it was every single cast for something like 6 hours...even a bad cast that the wind got would connect within a few cranks of the reel. I even took a 30-minute break and sat on the beach resting (and thanking God Almighty for this experience), got back up and again, fish on within seconds of the plug landing on the water. I lost a lot of gear that night too, went thru 3 spools of line and at least 4 or 5 plugs. It was the last time I fished 17# test line from BI. I was in my mid 20's and was obsessed with the sport at that time. I kept my mouth shut all day. I went down to the boat where each morning the fisherman would come to load their fish they caught on the boat to be picked up by the market in PJ. You could see who did what then, it was the place to be at 7:00am, fish or no fish; you went down to see what everyone did. I knew that if anyone saw the pile of bass these guys had the word would be out...But as my luck would have it they did not load their fish on the boat, they drove their truck on the boat and their fish were in the covered back of the pickup, which had a cap on it. No one saw these fish. I spoke to the two guys and they said..."We are going back to Ohio today...I bet I know where you will be tonight!" The next day, I could not sleep...I was so pumped I just could not chill out. I went to twin maples and re-loaded with plugs and line...I even spooled one with 50# and. (this was pre-braid days) the others were 25#. I was going to mow them this night. The guy looked at me with my bloodshot eyes, cut hands, and tired and spent posture and said.."So, I see by the line on these reels and what you are buying that you got into them last night eh?"...All I said was "oh yeah". I had a good meal, did my daily ritual of reloading and cleaning out my truck, stopped by the Manisses and re-filled my thermos with gourmet coffee (I love this stuff when I fish) Arrive at dusk and fished my ass off till dawn and caught....NOTHING. Dead. I could not believe it but there was not a fish to be had. One other guy showed up around midnight and asked me if I had done anything, my classic response which we all have heard was: you should have been here the night before..."