Stipers & The Grateful Dead in Narragansett Bay

[john]

Today I took my wife and kids out on our new boat. It was sunny and close to 80 degrees. We loaded the lunch and the coolers, and even took the dog. We ate lunch off the N. point of Prudence Island, then we got to work....We trolled 6 inch "draw breaker" plugs at 3mph north of Prudence Island, near the Ohio Ledge. Bagged zippo, nada, sciadol. We then moved South under the Mt. Hope Bridge, trolled the same plugs, and nailed a 40+ inch fish. Unfortunately, this beauty was not officially landed, as it fell off the plug just when my wife tried to net it She thinks I am mad, but I am not. Probably because we got back into action 2 minutes after, trolling the same plugs. I then caught a fat 28 incher. While removing the treble-hook from its mouth, it shook violently and sent a hook into my finger. It continued flipping around with the hook deep into my finger. I yelled so loud, my kids and wife were scared motionless, and my dog ran into the cuddy cabin. (We are still waiting for her to come out)

After that debacle, I bandaged my finger with a napkin and some duct tape, pulled in the lines, and headed home. A smooth 20 minutes later, we were back in the slip without banging off 1 neighbor! We capped it off by grilling some Weakfish we caught on Mother's Day.

As I sit here with my cold Sam Adams and reflect upon the day, I can only think what a long strange trip it its 'been ....