Why haven't you landed a #50 yet ??

[Gunpowder]

because everyone in the 60's took five home every night and I had yet to be born!!! still going after them every night though. they seem to really be having a great rebound and if more and more people are becoming educated about catch and release and only keeping a trophy here and there, I think the 50# club will have many more names on it shortly. I have caught a trophy just shy of 50#'s but I know if I were to catch a 50# right now, I would be more than happy to release her. I have one fish on my wall, I don't need two. no need to be greedy. my hope is that someone will have the same type of memorable experience as I had catching my trophy.... but if everyone takes several of these big girls home, that will not be the case. good luck to all this year.

mike

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Gunpowder

because everyone in the 60's took five home every night and I had yet to be born!!! still going after them every night though. they seem to really be having a great rebound and if more and more people are becoming educated about catch and release and only keeping a trophy here and there, I think the 50# club will have many more names on it shortly. I have caught a trophy just shy of 50#'s but I know if I were to catch a 50# right now, I would be more than happy to release her. I have one fish on my wall, I don't need two. no need to be greedy. my hope is that someone will have the same type of memorable experience as I had catching my trophy.... but if everyone takes several of these big girls home, that will not be the case. good luck to all this year.

mike

40 years in the surf. Never caught a 50. Lots of 40s. Never a 50.

My late friend Lanny Gazinni, one of the best commercial rod and reel guys ever. Fish the Back all season for 30 years. Never got a 50.

What the hell is the difference? Getting a 50 is luck more than skill.
No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

[Striper1]

Originally Posted by piemma

40 years in the surf. Never caught a 50. Lots of 40s. Never a 50.

My late friend Lanny Gazinni, one of the best commercial rod and reel guys ever. Fish the Back all season for 30 years. Never got a 50.

What the hell is the difference? Getting a 50 is luck more than skill.
No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

Piemma is right on.. If you do all the right things you still might not get a 50 so there has to be more luck involved than most will admit.

when I go out each time I'm looking for the 50
I'm also just as happy with a day on the water.

BTW I need to fish more nights

[BigFish]

Charlie Cinto never got a 60!




Thats one of Charlie's jokes......he says he got 40's, 50's and a 73 pounder.....but no 60's!

[JohnR]

Luck presents you with a 50 in front of you.

Skill is what changes that fish from being the one that "Got Away" to the one going to the Taxidermist.

Knowledge puts you in the more likely place a 50 will be.

Dogged determination gets you out frequently enough to provide the OPPORTUNITY to have more LUCK.

I believe i Have the skill to land a 50, I believe I have the knowledge to increase my likelihood of a 50 (but not disciplined enough to use knowledge wisely enough), I know I don't get the opportunities enough to be out there for luck to be a factor.

[BigFish]

Factor in how many 50's are caught in our region each season (10-15 that we know of on average) and how many people are fishing? Odds of being that lucky are slim......from shore anyway! Unless you are #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& aka Billy Boat last spring?!?!?! Man was he red hot or what for that 2 week span?

[Rockfish9]

there are many things that factor in the capture of a "50"

Big fish, realy big fish tend to gather in certain locations along the coast, those locations historicly give up the largest fish, fishing those "spots" raises the odds..

You need to have a large enough survivor ratio of a year class to support enough "50's" to give you a shot....

you need to fish for large fish... big fish require alot of calories and are lazy, truth is, most anglers dont use large enough bait to put themselves in posistion to tempt a large fish, most, not all, are more concerned about getting "skunked" than truely hunting down a trophy, yes every once in awlie some boob fishing a tiny slice of herring latches on to and lands a monster.... thats fishing, but using outsized baits increase your odds...

And of coarse there's the age old addage of "putting in your time" again, it's all about the odds.....

you must always be ready, that one time you dont re-tie your leader or sharpen that dull hook could be your one shot in life..

lastly, it does require alot of luck, sometimes, it's just not meant to be, I know alot of damn good fisherman that have never, and will never get a "50", it's not because they did anything wrong, it just wasnt in the stars....

[PaulS]

Firstly, I don't think there are any 50s where I fish the majority of the time. That said, with a limited amount of 50s available, I think you have to be lucky to have a 50 in front of you. The skill necessary to catch that 50 includes the ability to catch that fish, having the proper equipment and having your equipment in well mantained conditon, and throwing the proper bait/plug.

[Joe]

One time, I won a raffle, and the choice was a new rod and reel or a charter on the Early Bird out to the North Rip of Block Island. I took the rod - another guy took the trip and got a 53.....

[chris L]

in 2 years I will be 50 . then 50 years later I will be dead . I caught a boot once and a shopping cart and a tire . I even caught a cod on a PBJ once .

[Gunpowder]

Originally Posted by piemma

40 years in the surf. Never caught a 50. Lots of 40s. Never a 50.

My late friend Lanny Gazinni, one of the best commercial rod and reel guys ever. Fish the Back all season for 30 years. Never got a 50.

What the hell is the difference? Getting a 50 is luck more than skill.
No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

very good point. i absolutely agree that a 50# is a "lucky" catch. yes you have to have done you hw, but no matter what, your still getting very lucky.

[Goose]

Originally Posted by piemma

Getting a 50 is luck more than skill.
No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

I respectfully disagree. Most people are content either just getting a bite or just getting decent/quality fish but a lot of them are not willing nor do they have the determination to target big fish consistently. When they realize they just spent X amount on gas & time the 'excusitis' automatically kicks in and they tell themselves ' I should have went to x place at least I would have got a #20 or #30'. I know for a fact that some guys catch a lot more fish then others#50's included but the fish and the fisherman go under the radar. Bigfish...yeah 15 or 20 are recorded but a lot more are caught and them guys are doing something different. I've always believed some people just learn from their mistakes and move on while others don't, not just with fishing but with everything. People are habitual, they pound the same spots over and over while others think outside the box and eventually find what they're looking for.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Goose

I respectfully disagree. Most people are content either just getting a bite or just getting decent/quality fish but a lot of them are not willing nor do they have the determination to target big fish consistently. When they realize they just spent X amount on gas & time the 'excusitis' automatically kicks in and they tell themselves ' I should have went to x place at least I would have got a #20 or #30'. I know for a fact that some guys catch a lot more fish then others#50's included but the fish and the fisherman go under the radar. Bigfish...yeah 15 or 20 are recorded but a lot more are caught and them guys are doing something different. I've always believed some people just learn from their mistakes and move on while others don't, not just with fishing but with everything. People are habitual, they pound the same spots over and over while others think outside the box and eventually find what they're looking for.

I think some of what you say is true. In all the time I spent in the surf I never caught a 50 and never was in the company (except for Bill last year in the boats) of someone who landed a 50.
Did I fish the right places? You bet. I fished the Back when it was Striper heaven. I fished the Block in the 80s when big fish were there. I fish Napatree in the 70s and 80s when big fish were there. I never saw a 50 taken. Right places. Right tides. Right conditions. No 50.
I had nights on the Back when we had 10 or 12 high 40s between 3 of us. I fished the Block in the 80s when we had a lot of 40s up to 49. No 50s
It all comes down to luck hooking the fish. Now, it takes skill to land the fish and fight the good fight. But no one can tell me that they caught a 50 because they didn't want to hook the 48 swimming next to it. That's my only point. You don't know which fish will take the bait.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by piemma

No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

spence did. he didnt tell you about it?

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Nebe

spence did. he didnt tell you about it?

That was Block Island Jeff, not spence...

I haven't caught one because I don't want to make PIemma or JoeP jealous...

Seriously; I think luck is having that particular fish decide to hit your offering. Skill is finding them, landing them, and having the gear/technique to do so. Luck is just opportunity combined with preparation... but last year several members of the site were consistently into 40+lb fish. was it bad luck that not one fish over 50 out of that school decided not to bite? I would wager there was one out there....

As for me; if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...

[ThrowingTimber]

It's not for lack of trying I'll tell you that, for me personally.

[Flaptail]

Luck, fate and pushing yourself to fish as hard and often as you can all play a part. It's a fornula really.

I detest golf but there is a saying in golf that I totally belive in it goes like this," your only as good as the people you play with" which translates into fishing as seek out the best fishermen, the ones who consistently produce. Choose your method, live bait, plugging, trolling whatever. Seek advice form the ones who highline more often than not and listen to them. If eventually invited to share time on the water with them keep your mouth shut and eyes and ears open. Most importantly don't betray thier trust in you.

Luck. I don't care what they say, no matter how good you are, having the biggest fish in the school take your plug or bait has a bit of luck to it. I had a guy with me by request of his father in 1978 on Nauset Beach. He had never caught a bass befiore in his life. He was a really skilled trout & Salmon angler but as far as saltwater surfcasting and Stripers he had never ever been there done that.

We headed out on to the the and track and just south of Pochet I saw fish in the curl illuminated by the seeting sun behind backs. I stopped the truck, puuled one of my rods out of the front rack and handed it to him while I snapped on a Pink 7 inch Super Windcheater Rebel for him to use as the lure.

On his very first cast he hooked and landed a 53 pound bass. I managed a 38 pound fish. Luck, pure and simple.

My biggest bass weighed in at 49 pounds and 9 oz. I caught the fish the night before at 7 in the evening on a sand eel rig off of a Dennis bay side beach. It was noon the next day when I weighed it at Old Harbor fish in Chatham with several others I was selling. It might have gone fifty but it is what it is when it is weighed.

Some very well known legendary bass anglers never broke fifty though they fished almost daily in season. Fate.

Keep positive thoughts, don't ever go by someone else's report of fishing the day or night before and spend as much time in locations at known times of the year where historically big fish are taken, then grasshoppers, you may find what you seek.

Then again, enjoy every fish you catch, they are all gifts and who knows how long you will have the chance to do so?

[piemma]

Indeed Flap. That's also the point I'm making. I could care less whether I get a 50. I love fishing pure and simple. Bass, be them schoolies or 40s. Blues, whatever. I just thank God that he continues to grant me the ability to fish.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by piemma

40 years in the surf. Never caught a 50. Lots of 40s. Never a 50.

My late friend Lanny Gazinni, one of the best commercial rod and reel guys ever. Fish the Back all season for 30 years. Never got a 50.

What the hell is the difference? Getting a 50 is luck more than skill.
No one can honestly tell me that they went out one night with the expressed purpose of catching a 50 and did so.

There's obviously a lot of different types of skill required (finding, catching, and landing) - however Paul's post evidences the fact that a lot of luck is involved as well. If you all knew how often & how hard Paul fished over those 40 years in all the "big-fish" spots without getting a 50 you'd see how much luck is needed. The 50 just never swam by & took his offering .