For stripers that man would be Sheldon Sladen - A lobsterman from Cohasset that was taken by the sea way before his time. When I was a kid I'd see him out on the boat fishing a few of the rock piles and ledges off Minot and always wondered what he were going for. I thought he was cod fishing or something, I didn't have a clue. I used to try and pick his brain down at the dock when we came in off the boat and he would only give me enough info to keep me going back for more. He was the first guy I ever saw fishing for stripers and he got me headed in the right direction.
He died at sea during a spring in the mid 90's. They think he was looking over the side of the boat for stripers and slipped and fell overboard. It was very tough for me to find him because he was a great guy and in a way reminded me of my own grandfather.
As for my love of fishing in general that man would be my grandfather, Billy Figueiredo. When I was just old enough to walk I would get up in the mornings with him at 4:00-4:30 to head out on his boat for a day of hauling in lobsters. I wanted to be a lobsterman like my grandfather more than anything in the world. He is the man who started my love for fishing at a very early age, he just never fished for stripers
