What was Your Best Night This Season? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

riverrat2 · 11-30-2005, 08:28 PM

Lets hear everyones stories about that one night that sticks out in your mind. The best night I had this fall was a night in october. It was real bright this night so I figured it would be slow even though there had been a solid pick of high teen, low 20lb fish earlier in the week. Since it was so bright i started out throwing some lighter colored plugs. Nothing. I had gotten the fish earlier in the week on my trusty all black 7" bomber so I clipped it on. First cast I landed a mid teen size fish. For the rest of the night I got about 3 or 4 more that size and one about 25lbs. It was just one of those of nights that was sooo much fun, not to mention I was the only one there. So lets hear it

tattoobob · 11-30-2005, 08:34 PM

It was a weekend and we fished Plum Island, I invited my friend from the Cape (because there are no fish on the Cape) well we went thru 8 doz. worms and I have to say that it was a striper on every worm.

valentine · 11-30-2005, 08:53 PM

Back in October my youngest son and I set up on a boulder field right off a beach in Connecticut. Was a slow pick at first, but once the sun sank out of sight things took off. We found a sweet spot in the water just beyond where the water was ripping by the rocks pretty fast.You know, it had that great boiling water look to it. Anyway, the stripers weren't huge but they were coming clean out of the water to land on our poppers. Just to hear my son screaming "WOW, did you see that?" was enough to make it the best night of the year for me. Maybe 30 fish to 12 pounds or so in a couple of hours. Yeah, the kid's hooked.
Valentine

BigFish · 11-30-2005, 10:06 PM

I was the night out you know where Max with you, Slingah and Afterhours.....I caught that one nice fish and a few others on the jointed!

We were all catching fish which was the best part!

riverrat2 · 12-01-2005, 06:58 AM

Yah that was your night larry, I was on dink patrol.

Clogston29 · 12-01-2005, 07:56 AM

For me, and I'm sure Luds48 also, it was the Friday before Memorial Day. Tried a new spot on a hunch and it payed off big time. My first cast with a chartruse a-salt just before total darkness I hooked into a monster that I lost at my feet to the sampo duo lock snap straitening in the undertow (after seeing the 36 lb that I landed soon after, I know this one was at least 40). I was crushed. Switched to a black 9" sluggo and caught 5 fish on 5 casts from 25-36 lbs (the 36 lb placed second in a local tourney and netted me $300 in prize money). Fishing slowed down after that but we had a steady pick of 15-28 lbs fish the rest of the night on bassmaster and gags black needles. Just before dawn we switched spots to a more familier one and continued catching 20 lb class fish right up until sunrise. The rest of that weekend was great too but nothing compared to that night.

luds · 12-01-2005, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clogston29

For me, and I'm sure Luds48 also, it was the Friday before Memorial Day. Tried a new spot on a hunch and it payed off big time. My first cast with a chartruse a-salt just before total darkness I hooked into a monster that I lost at my feet to the sampo duo lock snap straitening in the undertow (after seeing the 36 lb that I landed soon after, I know this one was at least 40). I was crushed. Switched to a black 9" sluggo and caught 5 fish on 5 casts from 25-36 lbs (the 36 lb placed second in a local tourney and netted me $300 in prize money). Fishing slowed down after that but we had a steady pick of 15-28 lbs fish the rest of the night on bassmaster and gags black needles. Just before dawn we switched spots to a more familier one and continued catching 20 lb class fish right up until sunrise. The rest of that weekend was great too but nothing compared to that night.

You forgot the L.I.Fish.VT needles. Those were killer!

Offshore · 12-01-2005, 08:53 AM

It was mid September, just off South Beach in Chatham. My friend Red and I got into a school of very large Stripers feeding on a huge school of baby Bunker over a couple acres. These fish were all well over 30" and several went over 30 lbs.

All taken on flies; the action lasted till just after daylight and we each released over 30 fish. The action didn't die down untill after a couple other boats joined us. Unfortunately, the last guy to show up persisted on blasting into the breaking fish and putting everything down.

Red and I are in our 70's and have been Striper fishing since the late 1940's.
When it was over, we both agreed we had never seen so many big hungry fish at one time. Biggest fish were 47" and 48" and we each kept one around 30".

libassboy · 12-01-2005, 11:31 AM

October, was on a school of bass all over 38", got several around the 42" mark. The interesting thing about it was the fish hit as soon as the moon came up, usually a bright moon like that will put the fish down. The bite lasted till the moon set, great nite and all about 2 minutes from my house

Double_D · 12-01-2005, 12:18 PM

August,Ocean Beach, San Francisco...I was getting e-mail,PM's,and phone calls for two days telling me where the bite was, I get there with a friend and not a soul to be found...ok I get it, it's my turn to be the whipping boy(the run stopped earlier in the day), so we said what the heck, it's sundown lets chuck some Bombers, right a sunset it gets hot for three hours it's fish on maybe 8 fish all school size up to 15.lb
for me..you had to be there San Francisco, summer time ,as the sun goes down, just me and my buddy...we don't get the striper runs you guys get.

Christian · 12-01-2005, 12:45 PM

had schoolies all day up at pi. then went over to a black sluggo when it got dark and got one about 36" on the first cast. from then on i got fish on just about everycast. i had 30 that would have been over 30". one fish was over 40". that was october 3rd i think. and my hands still havent fully healed.

baldwin · 12-01-2005, 01:13 PM

Long Island Sound. October. I put on an old Gibbs Darter, the ones that work much better than those new ones. I lost a large fish on the first cast. On the second cast, I had a small fish, lost it and the plug in some rocks. I was bummed about losing the plug. The three of us caught many fish. I got somewhere around 20 bass, largest about 45". One of my fishing buddies also caught a little 25" bass on a white stubby needlefish. It was wearing my Gibbs Darter from its lip. NICE!

5/0 · 12-01-2005, 01:17 PM

This night sticks out in my mind the most cause it wasn't planed & it was time well spent w/ my son Colby.
It was early evening mid July.I just finished cutting the grass & tought it would be a nice night to take my son to the Canal to drift some eels for the last 2 hours of the tide & be home by 2300.

Half hour into the trip we caught our first bass it was 24" or so.an hour later with a couple of hits but no fish,my son say's Dad can we go home if you catch one more fish?I said yes.
By now it's just about slack,I put on a big frisky eel,tossed it out there hoping to nail a nice fish.1st drift nutin,2nd drift nutin,the thrid cast nice slow drift half way into the drift I feel the eel moving violently,I waiting for it to go flying but......Nothing,alls quiet.So I started to reel-em in,then my line suddenly get's tight and zips in the opposit derection.
After small fight I landed her she was just over 47" & a lil over 38#. My Son couldn't belive the size of her!

A nice unplaned 3hr. trip to the Canal w/ my Son and landed a nice fish to boot!

5/0

bart · 12-01-2005, 01:37 PM

that's awesome Bob!

afterhours · 12-02-2005, 05:04 PM

had to think about this for a bit. no real best night, alot of good ones, but my best day was on the hunk with Bigfish - late morning into noon. bright sun and bass 5 - 25lbs BLASTING our surface plugs relentlessly. that was a little piece of heaven right here on earth.

JohnR · 12-02-2005, 05:12 PM

Some decent nights this year, though not as spectacular as in previous years. But I did have some of my best days - catching BFTuna with Clammer, Eric (Teezer), and Roger, Taryder and the SC crew. Awesome to get my son into LARGE Bluefish

In The Surf · 12-02-2005, 07:55 PM

It was actually back to back nights at the same location in mid June. Fish from the high teens to low thirties. First night was eels from sunset till I ran out, it was near non stop action. The amazing part was how I was rewarded for excersizing a little patience. Knowing there were a few good size blues in the mix if I didn't get a hookset on the bump or felt what seemed to be a shake and cigared eel I would let it drop from there and hook up with another quality bass that was waiting just as patiently below. The second night started just before sunset with topwater plugs (mostly a surf howdy) and lasted all night so I didn't see a need to make a change.

Katie · 12-04-2005, 09:47 AM

Hrm...this summer my dad and i went down to the beach, during the summer it must of been right before 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and for a while there was nothing, but when the sun start to set, that when we saw all the birds going crazy and the water going crazy, for about an hour this went on up and down the beach, funny thing is.. i kept casting like dad told me to do, right into the blitz and stuff, i couldn't hook anything... he did it.. he got something everytime.. but it was a really nice night.. and then there was this other time..its about maybe midnight and we're down at the beach, just chunking mackeral and stuff, not getting anything really, few blues here and there.. and then we look to a few yards away theres like this party going on, we ignore it...maybe borrow the aderondack chairs, sit there, it was a really nice night.. then a couple from the party house walk over..clearly drunk, and they're like hey you want something to drink..and i got a laugh outta this, cause this guy was tripping over his own feet, and the people thought i was 21 yrs old, when i'm only 15, i start laughing, say no thanks, a few other things were offered that night...i didn't take any of it.. but it was really funny and unexpected..

I only got out twice this season, but hey, its all good..

quick decision · 12-04-2005, 06:06 PM

Last October off a beach near my house. I was working a nice yellow plug fishaholic gave me earlier in the spring. I mostly boat fish so I had not had a good chance to use it. For a good hour, I was catching shorts every 10 casts or so. I dont do much beach fishing, but I was having a blast trying differnet reterives, pausing, twitching....Baam! Nothing beats top water action. I saw a big swirl to my left and I started to cocentrate my fire to that general area. I saw a spalsh, saw the line tighten up, and then my slammer started making noices I never heard it make before. Two minutes later I had my first keeper from the shore. It was not the most fish or biggest bass I ever caught. But deffently the most rememorable.