Angler of the year, ASA

[inTHERAPY]

A big congrats out to Skip Stritzinger, On-line, for defending the ASA Angler of the year title. He and his team, Chuck and son Derek, captured Division One title as well. Excellent fishermen with tremendous knowledge and skill ( and luck as well ). Great job! Art

ps. no longer posting hear say, only the facts

[S-Journey]

I have a few choice words to say, but I will hold off....

[TunaCell]

S-Journey, that makes two of us

[JohnR]

I've heard this theme before

[inTHERAPY]

I'm obviously missing something! What gives. Three open ended "digs"?

[bassmaster]

whats asa thing
on the cape we care of nothing over the bridge

[Slipknot]

Congrats to Skip

I don't know anything about digs

[JohnR]

Originally posted by inTHERAPY
I'm obviously missing something! What gives. Three open ended "digs"?

It's not my place to view what I did not witness firsthand but it appears that his last vessel achieved near superhuman feats running from Block to Mass Bay in conditions that would make a Seacraft, a Contender, and even a Sutphen yelp, let alone a Bayliner Trophy with nary a drop of moisture.

I was not there so I cannot say for certain there was anything fishy but if some of what rumored was true it would be a near impossible feat. Having NOT been there I will only say that this is rumor backed up with hearsay and confirmed with speculation.

Seriously though - I'm not trying to propogate rumor as fact.

[Rip Runner]

It's kind of a Math thing. Once you leave the dock in an ASA tourney, you are not allowed to touch land, or another vessel until you hit the weigh in. Is it possible for a 21 foot Bayliner to travel from Block Island waters through the canal, then up to Boston without re-fueling while traveling in a solid 5-7+ foot chop, where a boat like that would only be able to produce a forward motion of about 9 knots (remember, traveling in big seas uses more fuel). I assume, but I am not sure, that a boat like that would hold about 70-75 gallons of fuel. This is also not accounting for the fuel used to get to his fishing spot etc..

If you have said "yes that's possible" to all of the above, try doing this without getting any salt on your boat and coming in bone dry.

Skip is an excellent fisherman and has proven time and time again that he can catch big fish, I just don't know how he made that trip possible.

[JohnR]

It was a 20' with a 135 HP Optimax.

Like you said - his rep has him as a helluvan angler but the story just doesn't wash...

Rip - you are the 4th or 5th person that has mentioned something like that I have heard or seen

[Mr. Sandman]

I really don't want to get in the middle of this but while surfing the fishasa website it shows this guy fishing from a contender..http://www.fishasa.com/2004_Division1Standings.htm

[Team Rock On]

I believe the tournament in question was in 2003. We fished north of the canal and conditions were 2-3 tops. He had to navigate Buzzards Bay with a 25-30 SW wind, which would produce seas close to 6'. Skip had a 20 Trophy CC. His new boat is a 23' Contender. No one knows for sure what goes on in these ASA tournaments, that's why they only get a handful of boats. Simple solution: Lie detector tests for any prize winner in excess of say $5000. The investment required to fish these tournaments requires more than an angler's word. Here's the "ASA report". Take it with a grain of salt because much of what is written in these reports is inaccurate......

Captain Robert "Skip" Stritzinger along with partner Chuck Masso fishing their home waters around Block Island, Rhode Island, caught a 44.35 pound striped bass early Saturday on the south side of Block Island using tube and worms and live eels.. Stritzinger caught the fish early in the day and made the 100 mile run to the scales in Boston Harbor to take the lead and win the Old Salt Bait & Tackle's Striper Shootout. It was a long, rough ride in Skip's 20 foot, Mercury powered Trophy, the On-Line. "My new 135HP Opti-Max made the trip possible. I only burned 45 gallons of fuel all day," said the excited captain. "I was worried since we only have a 55 gallon fuel tank and I didn't know if we could make the trip even though we carried a spare 6 gallon tank with us. Thankfully we didn't need it!"

Boomer Ewing fishing with his father, Ben and friends, Mike Laudholme and Steve Jacobs, caught a 40.01lb striper to finish in second place. The Silver Bullet, part of Team Pacific, fished in fifty feet of water in the Vineyard Sound chunking with cut pogies. They caught two fish over 35 pounds before their big fish ate a big piece of menhaden. They had a little excitement on their way to the Hingham dock. As they entered Buzzard’s Bay they came across a small boat taking on water with two adults and two young boys aboard. The boat was sinking rapidly. Their VHF wouldn’t work because their batteries were shorted out and they couldn’t call the Coast Guard. Ben took the children on board and towed the water filled vessel to shore. Way too go, Guys!

Charter members, Bob Ohlson and Dan Levy finished in third on the Hickory with a 31.14lb bass that they caught near Barnstable in Cape Cod Bay. Ohlson said that they caught several nice stripers trolling bunker spoons in 70 feet of water.

Fifth place went to Old Salt Tackle owner, Michael Johnson fishing with his dad, Carl and brother Matt along with Scott McCloud on the Avery J. They fished in the Middle Grounds near Martha’s Vineyard chunking pogies. They were only able to catch a couple small fish other than their 29.63 pounder. Mike said that they were fishing next to Jennifer Clarke and watched as the past ASA Top Angler gave everyone a clinic on how to catch lots of 20 pound stripers. “She’s amazing!” said Johnson. “It’s very unusual when Jennifer can’t find a big enough fish to make the leader board.”

John and Michael Bunar fishing on the Iron Skippy finished in 6th place with their 28.48lb. striped bass, one of the few fish weighed in on Sunday. Michael’s fish was also big enough to edge out Alex Martins on the Fish-I-Tis for the Top Junior Angler award as well as a $250 gift certificate from Penn Tackle. 7th place went to the Team Fountain entry, 5 for Fighting, captained by Dave Mullahy from Norwell, MA. The Top Lady Angler award went to last years Top Lady Angler, Susan Guisti fishing on another Team Fountain Boat, the Rock On, captained by Charter Member Kevin Savage.

Fishing was slowed by the unusually changing weather on Friday. Friday afternoon saw a cold front pass through with lots of rain and fog, followed by a warm front during the night. With beautiful weather forecasted for Sunday, fishing should have picked up. It was not to be as things got much tougher on Sunday with only a few fish coming to the Old Salt scales.

Many thanks go to Mike Johnson and his crew at the Old Salt Bait and Tackle as well as to the Hingham Harbormaster, John Southered, for all his help. Great job guys!

[quick decision]

I know those waters all the way to hingham. Not possible. Not on that hunk of sh*&.

[mooncusser]

I heard they filetted the winning fish at the '04 Hingham tourney before any of the other boats could view it. Sounds fishy to me. The whole ASA tourney reeks of being "fixed".

[Bronko]

Lets put it this way, my buddies were getting smacked around pretty good in a 31' Duffy along the Mass. south shore. I can only imagine what Buzzards Bay was like. I just don't see it, IMO, no way.

[S-Journey]

Originally posted by mooncusser
I heard they filetted the winning fish at the '04 Hingham tourney before any of the other boats could view it. Sounds fishy to me. The whole ASA tourney reeks of being "fixed".

And he only filleted one side of the 43# fish, and then he tossed it This is fact, not speculation. What a waste

Did anyone see the pictures of that fish in the ASA mag? Looked like that fish was in a holding pen for a week or so. Missing scales and major red rub all over it.

[TheSpecialist]

My .02 cents, if a certain other captain (not mentioning any names ) had fished all three tourneys, this guy would not have been on top. this other guy would have blown the pants off of him, no doubt in my mind.

By the way look at the Div 1 Lady, and Junior, not something funny going on there? Same boat, same last name, and same size fish???

[mikecc]

Reasons stated in this thread and others is why the sponsors are pulling out of the ASA.The ASA is looking despertly for 2 new shops to sponsor the events for next year. One in Hyanis and one in Falmouth. IMO it's all over until a new person steps up and runs it with all the rules the same from tourniment to tourniment reguardless of who is winning.

[Team Rock On]

"By the way look at the Div 1 Lady, and Junior, not something funny going on there? Same boat, same last name, and same size fish???"

Those are my teamates. The way the ASA works is that the biggest fish of the tournament for each boat counts for points. To win points the person (junior, female) only has to be on the boat and does not actually have to catch the fish. Fortunately, on my boat, the juniors and females have caught the majority of our weigh in fish.

[inTHERAPY]

I did not intend to stir up controversy with this thread. I will try to explain where I am coming from. I knew of Skip through RISAA and had seen the result of his fishing experience in the posting/weighing of numerous tournament winning fish. I'm not just talking about stripers solely but of all species of fish. I, like many of you, I'm sure, can put up good numbers, pounds, variety, size, on some days, but I have not yet reached a point in my fishing passion where I can be consistent. I have been sick-in-the-head about fishing now for about 5 years. I find it very difficult to learn new techniques to advance myself to the next level. Reading fishing mags just does not cut it. You do not find many or any good fisherman willing to share info, at least I don't. I decided to learn from someone I thought to be one of the best, willing to pay for the experience. I had two gentlemen in mind, one was too busy the other willing to take me out...Skip.
He taught me how to make little adjustments in my approach to finding better quality fish and controlling my bait to improve presentation. These changes have improved the quality of my fishing experiences in multiples. I have since fished with him a few times and become friends. I do not know the "supposed" liar or cheater. I know the dedicated fisherman, about 800 hours this season, that has put me on so many fish my arms hurt.
I will probably tournament fish next year and experience some of the ASAs problems just like many of you have. I have no delusions about winning ( I would have to be crazy to think a weekend warrior can consistantly beat professionals )but do look forward to learning a great deal more about striper fishing and becoming a better fisherman.

[TheSpecialist]

TRO thanks for explaining it to me, I would have thought you had to catch the fish. Not just be on the boat that the fish was caught on..

[JohnR]

Originally posted by Team Rock On
Fortunately, on my boat, the juniors and females have caught the majority of our weigh in fish.

That's funny - I've seen you fish a little and you didn't seem so incompetent so that the kids and laides outfish ya

btw - that was a joke. The joke will be returned on me when my son and wife soon start to outfish me