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I remember my first striper... It was May 1970.. I was 14... it was caught on a 5/8 ounce uppermans white bucktail on 6lb test.. Mitchell 301 reel... shakesphere wonder rod ( a combo that has been long retired and given to my son)an outfit that I used regularly ( until that evening) for large mouthed bass... it was caught in the Merrimack river below the Lawrence falls... in those days, the river was so dirty and poluted you had to clean the toilet paper off of the line after each cast, red, blue and yellow dye streamd from the sluiceways from the mills..large blobs of wool floated downs stream.. but the place was loaded with fish..... when I hooked the fish, it ran down stream, being young and foolish I tried to follow, stumbeling along the way, lest it take all my line,until one of the onlookers ( thank you Joe Silva, god bless you where ever you are) that gathered on the river bank each night, waded out to grab my shirt collar for fear i would go over my head... My dad, burned my clothes because they smelled like Raw sewrage.. my mother gave me a bath in lysol.. things like that you tend not to forget.. my next Christmas found a new pair of waders under the tree...as well as a Diawa rod and reel surf combo ( another gift to my son) an addict was born!
I dont recall my first fish.. my Dad, had often told me it was an eel... no surprise that to this day it is my bait of choice...BTW.. I havent fished for large mouthed bass since.
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