What's you most memorable BLITZ?

[Got Stripers]

Some articles in OTW are a good read but that's all, but the collection of blitz stories in this months issue, including one by our own Mike Bombardier; really put a smile on my face. I've been lucky enough to be there for three (all in consecutive years) of my own blitzes and a dozen mini short lived but memorable blitzes. My three most memorable are similar to Ron Powers Pogy Massacre in Boston article in the time line and story. In back to back years massive blues and bass had moved a gigantic school of pogies inside Hingham and had them trapped in the channel just outside the rotary at 3A and just outside the moorings. Every pogy you snagged and dropped was slammed by either a blue in the teens or a bass over 25 lbs. I've relayed this story before but my first pig (52lbs) came on a 6 foot penn rod, 12 lb test and snag hook with the barbs filed down. Long story short, I never got that pogy back the boat to put it on heftier gear and it was an amazing fight to say the least.

The following year it played out like groundhog day, same month, same week, same spot and same results; although this time I upped the weight to 55 lbs. Year 3 I was still working with my dad in his home office in Scituate and my noon tradition was to grab a sub at Maria's sub shop (best around even to today) and head to Pegotty Beach and eat overlooking the beach at the cliff. Let's just say I had one large bite of that sub before I grabbed my 9 foot rod and ran down to the beach. The entire cove was white water and at any one time, there were dozens and dozens of pogies airboard to avoid the slashing teeth of gater blues and the large s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g mouths of 30-40lb and larger bass. Caught until my arms were tired and knowing my dad was probably fuming that I wasn't back. Blues to 18 lbs, dozen bass in the high 30's and one 43lber I gill hooked came home to mount and one bass I wish didn't come unglued at my feet because she would have made the two previous years 50's look small. I'm pretty sure that was a 60+ lb fish, it was so long I could believe it and when she saw me; it was a 180 in the wash in front of me and massive effort with that giant tail and she and the atom popper were gone. This last was by far the best as it was all top water blow ups and one fish of a life time that got away.

Those are the memories that get you back year after year, the hope that just one more time, you can be there when the blitz happens.

[JohnR]

Ooooh been some good blitzes but most memorable for me was probably the blitz of school tuna off Newport with Roger a decade ago

[zimmy]

Last decade or so, met up with an old friend from my Mass days for a middle of the night tide at the canal. It was the first year we used the plastic nb bottle darters. It was the early part of a noreaster and it was pretty nasty. Didn't see another person, or car for that matter. We almost bailed after the first couple hours of the tide were dead, but we knew that would be bad form for the particular spot. About 2 1/2 hours in we both hooked up on the same drift. The next 3 hours of the tide we had fish on practically every drift with the northbars. I don't think there was one fish between us under 38" and most were well into the 40's.

I chased those conditions a few seasons after, thinking I could get to the canal, fish the good part of the tide and get home before bad winds of the impending storm arrived. Canal was dead and things were getting eerie so we ended up bailing around 2 and I started to drive back to CT. That put me in south county area between 3-4 am as early bands of Irene started to hammer the area. There were periods of time where I not only thought I wouldn't get home, but wasn't sure I would be able to get to the next exit. Definition of white knuckle for sure. I was thinking of my wife at home with two kids under five and how pissed she was going to be with me if I ended up abandoning her over something rather foolish. Luckily, there was a break between bands and I made it New Haven within the hour of reprieve. New Haven looked like a war zone with downed trees and power lines to dodge. Learned an important lesson that night about priorities.

[Rockfish9]

September 1986.. I had both my boys with me ....fishing had been excellent that week ...when we arrived the beach front was alive with fish...you could hear them pushing sand eels..splashing and busting all around the boat every cast produced fish in the 35 to 40 lb class ..we landed 2 other fish 56 and 58 lbs that the boys proudly brought to Surf land in the morning..when Kay asked where we got them..my oldest who was 10 replied "by the mouth"..I'll remember that night /morning till my sight grows dim.
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[Got Stripers]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

September 1986.. I had both my boys with me ....fishing had been excellent that week ...when we arrived the beach front was alive with fish...you could hear them pushing sand eels..splashing and busting all around the boat every cast produced fish in the 35 to 40 lb class ..we landed 2 other fish 56 and 58 lbs that the boys proudly brought to Surf land in the morning..when Kay asked where we got them..my oldest who was 10 replied "by the mouth"..I'll remember that night /morning till my sight grows dim.
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That makes it even that much more memorable when you share it with one of your boys. Got my son out a few times in Boston back in the pogie madness, never to the point of a blitz, but good times seeing him hoist a 30 lber for a photo.
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[Jim in CT]

Was in the middle of a massive blitz at Montauk 10 years ago, just amazing. Big fat stripers smashing the surface. The water was so clear, you could see huge schools of sand eels 10 feet down, and all of a sudden the school would scatter, and a huge bass would come through with its mouth wide open.

My hands were shaking so bad, I pulled the line through my lure eye twice, trying to tie a knot. Then a finally put my lure on, and on my first 2 casts, I brought in 3 pound bluefish, while everyone else was catching 25 pound bass. I finally got with the program. It lasted 90 minutes.

[DZ]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

My hands were shaking so bad,

Sure tell sign you're witnessing something special.

Special feeling.

My buddy Zeke lit the wrong end of his cigarette during the Snowstorm Blitz.

[putty]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

Some articles in OTW are a good read but that's all, but the collection of blitz stories in this months issue, including one by our own Mike Bombardier; really put a smile on my face. I've been lucky enough to be there for three (all in consecutive years) of my own blitzes and a dozen mini short lived but memorable blitzes. My three most memorable are similar to Ron Powers Pogy Massacre in Boston article in the time line and story. In back to back years massive blues and bass had moved a gigantic school of pogies inside Hingham and had them trapped in the channel just outside the rotary at 3A and just outside the moorings. Every pogy you snagged and dropped was slammed by either a blue in the teens or a bass over 25 lbs. I've relayed this story before but my first pig (52lbs) came on a 6 foot penn rod, 12 lb test and snag hook with the barbs filed down. Long story short, I never got that pogy back the boat to put it on heftier gear and it was an amazing fight to say the least.

The following year it played out like groundhog day, same month, same week, same spot and same results; although this time I upped the weight to 55 lbs. Year 3 I was still working with my dad in his home office in Scituate and my noon tradition was to grab a sub at Maria's sub shop (best around even to today) and head to Pegotty Beach and eat overlooking the beach at the cliff. Let's just say I had one large bite of that sub before I grabbed my 9 foot rod and ran down to the beach. The entire cove was white water and at any one time, there were dozens and dozens of pogies airboard to avoid the slashing teeth of gater blues and the large s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g mouths of 30-40lb and larger bass. Caught until my arms were tired and knowing my dad was probably fuming that I wasn't back. Blues to 18 lbs, dozen bass in the high 30's and one 43lber I gill hooked came home to mount and one bass I wish didn't come unglued at my feet because she would have made the two previous years 50's look small. I'm pretty sure that was a 60+ lb fish, it was so long I could believe it and when she saw me; it was a 180 in the wash in front of me and massive effort with that giant tail and she and the atom popper were gone. This last was by far the best as it was all top water blow ups and one fish of a life time that got away.

Those are the memories that get you back year after year, the hope that just one more time, you can be there when the blitz happens.

Thanks for sharing- my home waters and I haven't seen a blitz of this caliber of fish in ages. Still get blitzes on pegotty regularly in the fall, but it is usually only schoolie action. And I agree 100% on Maria's subs!

A quick one- Guessing it was probably back in 2008 or so I was out on a buddies boat early September down in Plymouth Bay- anchored up in a light fog chunking the flats for a rogue fish looking for an easy meal & it was very slow going. We decided to take a run out around Long Beach and discovered that there was a gigantic feed going on basically the entire outer channel from the tip of Long Beach over to Bug Light, Browns Bank to Saquish Head and all the way out to the Gurnet. Loads of boats out there lining either side of the channel just hammering fish- we set up right on the point of Long Beach- nice white sandy bottom and the number of bass that were streaming out of the bay right under the boat was just staggering- and all medium to large. We certainly weren't thinking conservation at that point in our fishing exploits and quickly harvested 4 fish in the 36-40" class, lost 2 est. 35# + class fish at the boat and my buddy almost got spooled by a fish simply would not stop (we were using Shimano 3000 class spin gear and ugly sticks back in those days).

[Guppy]

Ya, great article by Mike, ment to mention it here earlier and forgot, thanks Bob, great post,,,

“My brother hates missing blitzes” priceless

[niko]

for me it was the first time I ever caught large fish. we were down race pt, mid 90s, on the beach and there was a biblical bluefish blitz going on. miles and miles of blues up and down the beach there was 3' of peanuts washed up on the beach trying to escape the carnage. the blues took their toll and we had to go up to nelsons and restock. we got back down the beach and as soon as we get out of the truck I can see huge shadows splitting up the peanut schools. I remember being so nervous and the adrenaline was pumping. as soon as my tin hit the water I was on. I had never heard a drag sing like this and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I looked at my buddy and asked "what should I do?" and he said "just hold on". we spent the rest of the day bailing large and it's etched into my memory forever

[spence]

Considering I learned to fish mostly with Nebe, Rirockhound and Piemma this is probably the only thing I can count as a blitz...


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[Fish On]

If you want to read about a blitz with 30, 40 and 50 lb cows slamming everything thrown at them then this isn’t the post for you. I’ve never experienced anything close. In fact, I’ve never experienced a true striper blitz from the shore. However, this blitz, a bluefish blitz, and a special experience for me, is what hooked me to fishing the Vineyard and eventually to buying a boat and fishing 5 or so years of the best salt water fishing of my life (and many other bests) and making dreams come true.

It was my second or third trip to MV in late summer, early fall in the mid 90’s with a girl I had met in 94 at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. She loved the islands, and soon thereafter, so did I. We did a few weekends on MV and the Block when finally one year we ended up on MV when this fishing derby had started. Fishing was always in the back of my mind from the early days of pond fishing but when I heard about MV fishing and this event I couldn’t help but participate. I “rented” a rod believe it or not, from a shop in Vineyard Haven and bought a handful of plugs and tins at Sharky’ on oak bluffs harbor. I had never even heard of Larry’s, #^&#^&#^&#^&’s or Coop’s and was more concerned about which bottle of wine was best and what snack went with it than as I was about line, bait and location. “Wasque Point!”, they said, was the place to fish and off we went, cooler in tow, both of us thinking about a romantic afternoon and a sunset, but one of us thinking in the back of his mind about catching a lunker.

We parked up top and made the walk down to the beach hauling the lot. After the formalities of setting up shop and popping a cork I couldn’t wait to hurl something south. A Hopkins (so I now know what it was) was the heaviest, heartiest lure in the bag that I could get beyond the waves and I began to figure out how to surf cast in rolled up jeans and bare feet hurling it over my shoulder. As far as we could see left and north up east beach and right and west down south beach there was maybe 1 or 2 people fishing. I would cast 5 or 6 times and then take a break and come up for a cracker, some cheese and a sip of wine and, not to her dismay or disappointment but in fact her encouragement and joy in seeing the fun and excitement in my eyes, head back down for a few more casts. Please understand that I am now very happily married with two beautiful children, but if I didn’t stop to mention what an incredible woman she was I would not be doing her or the memory justice. I would not know MV if it was not for her and whoever she is with today is a VERY lucky man. Cast after cast I worked to perfect my technique and extend my distance when suddenly it all changed. I was no longer reeling a lure through open water but fighting a fish!

The blues had come in suddenly and yet unnoticed to me except for the one on my line. I fought the fish to the surf and hauled it up onto the beach. Inadequately prepared without pliers or gloves I fumbled to free the fish and held it up like a big game hunter that had captured his first lion. We both admired the fish for a moment and I then threw it back into the surf and readied myself for another cast. Boom! On again! As I landed this next fish I paused to look up and all I could see was bent rods left and right. It was like people were waiting in the weeds, rods ready, waiting for the blues to roll in to step up and cast. There must have been 20 or 30 on each side of me. Maybe there was more going on than I noticed but all seemed to change in the blink of an eye. I unhooked the fish and went to release it when a woman came up from behind me and took it from my hands. I let her have it, not being able to wait to make my next cast. This went on for the better part of an hour. If the cast was far enough, it brought in a chopper in the 10 to 14 lb range I would say.

All at once it ended. The fish were gone and so were the people fishing for them except for the stragglers, packing their gear and final catch. However, a permanent, indelible impression had been made that lasts to this day and grows stronger each year as I read the stories of others through striped-bass.com (not a facebook guy). We made it back long before the last ferry off Chappy that night and enjoyed the rest of our weekend. We played a round at Farm Neck and another at Mink Meadows and had a dinner at Jimmy Seas and another at Seasons. I returned my rental rod and we checked out of our room and boarded the ferry for Woods Hole. But the next year I was back. And again the next, renting a boat from Island Water Sports for a few days each (now a week long vaca) visit. Until finally I bought a boat in 2002 and jumped in with both feet, meeting incredible people and making amazing memories.

It’s amazing what a blitz can do. An afternoon of luck and good timing redirected a decade of my life that I will never, ever regret and cherish until the day I die. My only wish is have the chance to share that experience with my son and daughter when they are old enough with my wife by my side and run into to a few familiar faces from those days at the same time. Thanks for a great thread!

[wdmso]

No big bass blitz for me or Tuna a bluefish blitz is a blue fish blitz my 2 greatest blitz are Albie related one at the harbor entrance of PJ that lasted 45 minutes and they ate anything thrown their way and stone bridge albie blitz during the Tropical storm Jose was madness and they would not hit a thing but the assault on the peanut bunker could have been in Blue planet .. both time I was solo

[Jenn]

I love this topic! My most memorable blitz (forgive me as years are flying by for me and I forget) but I think it was about 10 years ago. It wasn't stripers...but blues, I had a group of friends with me at race point (when there was still something the seals hadnt taken) that were not really hardcore fisher people, let alone surfcasters when the most amazing bluefish blitz came ashore. I had wanted to share my passion with them the whole trip, especially since they almost cancelled due to a death in their family. Alas...they decided to still come along and bring their father, whom had just lost his wife at that hoping it would help heal his soul after his loss. I worried this might be too early for him but it ended up being just what he needed! Half the crew headed off the beach and I was bummed on our way out that I couldnt get everyone into some fish despite the species when all of a sudden I spotted the blitz headed to shore. We stopped and started nailing them....I quickly became the first land mate retying and re-rigging every piece of gear I had with me...begging the other half of the crew would get my voice message saying to turn around and come back! They finally did turn around because they saw we were not behind them and thought we might have broke down. I couldnt have been more elated to offer up all I had for gear and lures that day! I barely fished and spent the next couple hours watching, retying leaders, lures or anything I could to let them all catch fish and forget their sorrows even if only for a while. I easily lost hundreds of dollars worth of gear that day and merely was a bystander watching them all have the time of their lives. I could barely keep up and to this day my tackle box has yet to replenish to the level it was prior to that day but I dont regret one cent of lost gear or one moment I missed fishing it myself. There has never been a moment in my "fishing life" that I felt more excitement and that fishing filled my soul than it did that day!

[piemma]

1995 July 5th. At the telephone pole on the front. George Calzone, Lanny Grazinni, Tony C ,Jerry Place ,RJ and a few I have forgotten. Tide turns at Midnight and, 2 hours up we start throwing eels. For the next 3 hours nothing but 20#+ fish. Remember this was just after the moratorium.

Ashamed to admit it but we were comms then and killed so many big fish the back of the trucks were scraping on the sand coming off at the ranger station.

[bart]

I have two that stand out and they were from 3 seasons ago. Took a chance on a spot that had always been good to me in Aug, but hadn’t produced in several years. It was late in the summer but there was a light N breeze. New Moon. First night only 4 fish between 16-20#s. Nothing crazy, but encouraging. Next night, same conditions... tide changed and my buddy and I had probably 30 fish between us from 20 to just under 40#s. We were friggin’ ecstatic. The next night I was solo. It was pitch black, foggy, and no surf... perfect for landing big bass. I can honestly say I caught well over 30 fish that night by myself. All the fish were between 18 and again, just shy of 40#s. And they would only hit big dead eels, not live ones. I fished the same conger for 4 nights straight. Kept it on ice and kept finding new places to hook it in the head. I was seriously toying with the fish at one point, just lobbing the eel out and working it like a spook or pencil, just messing around, catching 30# bass. You could hear them walloping the eel on top in the fog. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. 4 hours straight. My hands were so raw from reaching down their throats to unhook them. It was just surreal.

The other was two months later in October just after Joaquin passed. Was lucky to get some timely info and hit it just right. The wind shifted out of the NE to the NW, swell was still big, but thousands of 3-5” peanuts crammed into every nook and cranny along this stretch. I got there the first night and stuck a few teen size fish on pencils and then the bite dies at dark. I was back the next morning posted on the same rock. Caught a teen size fish at false dawn. As the sun came up I saw a massive flock of gulls in tight to the rocks down to my left. Jumped in my car and flew down there. Got on the rocks with two other fishermen and we proceeded to slam countless fish in the 20-30# range, all on top, on the white 3 oz Guppy, all morning long. My buddy Jimmy stuck a 49” fish on buck tail. The fish were so tight to the beach, their backs were porpoising out of the water. I’ll never forget seeing all those big fish stacked up right at my feet. At times I was standing parallel to the beach, casting my pencil onto the gravel and dragging it into the water just to have a 30# fish side swipe it and start heading for the Block. All beautiful fish with shoulders, deep purple hues. Definitely a school of deep water fish that got pushed in by the storm. That was a wild 5 hours of fishing. And like that it was over by noon. If you got there later it was only small fish, the bigger fish moved out with the tide. I’ll never forget standing amongst some of the area’s best surfcasters, sharing a beer, and having a sense of complete and utter peace and satisfaction.
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[DZ]

Originally Posted by piemma

1995 July 5th. At the telephone pole on the front. George Calzone, Lanny Grazinni, Tony C ,Jerry Place ,RJ and a few I have forgotten. Tide turns at Midnight and, 2 hours up we start throwing eels. For the next 3 hours nothing but 20#+ fish. Remember this was just after the moratorium.

Ashamed to admit it but we were comms then and killed so many big fish the back of the trucks were scraping on the sand coming off at the ranger station.

Love all the Italian names - sounds more like a mob hit
Have a great day Paulie!

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by piemma

1995 July 5th. At the telephone pole on the front. George Calzone, Lanny Grazinni, Tony C ,Jerry Place ,RJ and a few I have forgotten. Tide turns at Midnight and, 2 hours up we start throwing eels. For the next 3 hours nothing but 20#+ fish. Remember this was just after the moratorium.

Ashamed to admit it but we were comms then and killed so many big fish the back of the trucks were scraping on the sand coming off at the ranger station.

Nothing to be ashamed about given the year and assuming they got sold IMA,,, hell of a night

[piemma]

Thanks Ray and DZ.

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I have 3.
First was about 22-24 years ago at the canal. East end on the jetty in late September. Non stop action for hours and hours on big schoolies up to about 32”. Some fella gave me a storm shad because that’s what they were hitting I think they just came out that year. I had to leave and buy more after a couple dozen fish. Came back and cranked on them for another hour until dark. Went to eat at seafood sams then went back out and the fish didn’t skip a beat. Coolest part aside from the about 200 fish me and my buddy caught were the northern lights putting on a show for about an hour or so.

2nd. Another morning at the canal about 15 years ago, morning Meyhem with my dad. 4 hours of stupid fishing biggest fish were around 40, smallest maybe 36”. Probably the greater day because I shared it with my dad too bad the canal has become what it is.

Last was 8 years ago on block in November. The island was a blitz all week. Caught fish at every location no matter the time of day or night. Mostly 30-36” fish until the last night when me and crew cranked on 20-30 lbers for a couple hours. Didn’t matter what we were throwing they were biting, new moon perfect conditions for the spot. It’s been 8 years since we had a good run of fish out there. But unlike the canal I will be there every fall until I can’t make it there any longer.
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[MAKAI]

One that I really enjoyed was on the beach. After blowing SW 20-30 plus for a few days, Skinny Bill and I did the long march at dusk to the light house.
You could smell the melon in the air. Big thumping surf, with spray blasting you in the face a constant roar in your ears, not a soul to be seen. Started fishing super strike needles but they just skipped over the surf. Went to big yellow Mambos, standing in the wash you’d be lucky to cast 20 feet. That’s all it took, the lip would dig in just enough to get them under a bit and they’d be inhaled. We had relentless fish till dawn 15 to 35 pounds. Got the living snot kicked out of us. But what fun, fat healthy fish gorging on sand eels in big white water right at your feet. Mambos being broken in two. Odd thing, as soon as it started to get past first light it shut off. Conditions were the same the next night, we did it again !
The wind layed down about 3am and it was all over.

My hands looked as if they went in a blender, my body felt like when I played rugby. I was so satiated I didn’t care if I caught a fish the rest of the season. But, to be standing in all that amped up wildness of Mother Nature, the smells, sounds and taste, with insane fishing is always in the front of the list.
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[bassballer]

Approx 6-7 years ago I actually got a PM from NEBE saying mullet were getting crushed at first beach in Newport. (always thankful for that PM Eben). Left work immediately and grabbed my gear. At the time I lived right down the street. I got the beach to see my buddy Rudy already there with a 30# on his belt. It was on. We crushed 15-30 # bass and huge blues till our arms fell off, on big pencils. Mullet and bunker everywhere. We fished from 9 am until 9 at night with about 4 good friends. Buddy of mine was taking photos and had a couple put in the OTW the next month of us doing some damage. Great day.

[RickBomba]

I have only ever slept through blitzes, I guess...please see centerfold of this month's most popular fishing magazine.

Love,
Sleeping Rick

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by bassballer

Approx 6-7 years ago I actually got a PM from NEBE saying mullet were getting crushed at first beach in Newport. (always thankful for that PM Eben). Left work immediately and grabbed my gear. At the time I lived right down the street. I got the beach to see my buddy Rudy already there with a 30# on his belt. It was on. We crushed 15-30 # bass and huge blues till our arms fell off, on big pencils. Mullet and bunker everywhere. We fished from 9 am until 9 at night with about 4 good friends. Buddy of mine was taking photos and had a couple put in the OTW the next month of us doing some damage. Great day.

Maybe JohnR will chime in with his memerable experience that came from an alert from the Nebe Hotline....
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[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Maybe JohnR will chime in with his memerable experience that came from an alert from the Nebe Hotline....
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You mean Deep Hole and Ocean Mist ; ) ?

It was memorable, but not for the (small) Blitz

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I have had 2 awesome days/nights of fishing when I stumbled on the mullet run. I remember walking out maybe 30 yards at low tide in soco to get into the fish, and I was hammering them. Had to go to shore to release a blue that got mangled, turned on the light and saw the bait and everything else in 6” of water.
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[piemma]

Another Mullet story. The mullet usually (at least years ago) would come out of Quonny and end up on the Fire Beach reef. One night, RI Rock and I got into fish in the 15 to 20# range for hours on end. Small chicken scratch bombers were the ticket along with teasers. We caught fish until our arms were too tired to fish.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by piemma

Another Mullet story. The mullet usually (at least years ago) would come out of Quonny and end up on the Fire Beach reef. One night, RI Rock and I got into fish in the 15 to 20# range for hours on end. Small chicken scratch bombers were the ticket along with teasers. We caught fish until our arms were too tired to fish.

And the dawn patrol never saw a thing.....
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[Nebe]

Originally Posted by JohnR

You mean Deep Hole and Ocean Mist ; ) ?

It was memorable, but not for the (small) Blitz

The titties John! THE TITTIES!!!!
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[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Nebe

The titties John! THE TITTIES!!!!
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The Blitz was the only thing small that night