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Out with 'hardcore' (striper)

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Striper 
#1 ·
Had a FANTASTIC morning out on Mike Mayo's Triton before the two-handed clinic! Left the house at o'dark thirty and met Mike near Barn Island ramp. It was so cold my boots were frozen to the stripping basket and a fly was embedded in the ice like an ant in amber. I doubled up on the fleece as Mike got the magic carpet ride started, boy those big four strokes are quiet and sweet ride on that big beamy hull.


Those of you who know Mike know he's hardcore (as Capt.Ray puts it) and a heck of an angler. His recent 54 pounder was testament to the hours he's put into his sport. It was great to get out there on a day when the birds were all over the place and fish were busting for acres.



Even though he's landed whale-sized bass, he still enjoyed every fish and noted how fat and healthy the sub-legal bass were that we found on top eating pea bunker. After some bluefish bite-offs, we got smart and put on the wire. Just in time as the surface action got pretty crazy from there!

Thanks to Mike's ability to sniff out where the fish are going to pop up next, we pretty much were in the right place at the right time all morning. I wanted to test the boat abilities of the Atlantis rods and got my chance for sure.



We had a little fun out there too - Mike put a teaser lure on with no hook and we grabbed the movie op... (warning large download)

Having fun with blues


Thanks striper - I had an awesome morning out there!
 
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#2 ·
Juro,
You are far too kind with your literary description of our morning on the water and of my "fishing abilities".:confused: It was truly a pleasure to finally get together with you after several years of trying to plan something. You are a joy to fish with and I really enjoyed the time on the water with you. I was very impressed with the Spey Rods you are touting, and they are definitely something I am going to have to investigate further. Man can you throw some line with those bazookas deguised as flyrods. :eyecrazy: I was a bit disappointed that we did not find more bass during the morning long blitzes but the large bluefish were a good fill in for the MIA bass. The pictures you took really came out beautiful, I especially like the one of the back of the boat on plane.......sweeeeeeet! Hopefully next time we will be able to do a more "Hardcore" like fishing session where we spend 12+ hours chasing fish. I managed to get back out after I dropped you off and headed west in the ever freshening SSW winds. Went as far as the Thames River with nary a sighting of fish. Found plenty of peanuts but no predators. I came back east and hit Watch Hill again, found small schools lazily feeding in the washing along the beach but was not able to effectively fish them as I did not want to encroach on the surf casters. I putted over to the rocks at the point and found marauding bands of schoolies herding peanuts up into the rocks. Managed a few on the fly but the wind made it almost impossible to fish close to the rocks safely. I resorted to the conventional tackle for safety sake and landed about a dozen fat fall schoolies on Wild Eye rubber shad jigs. The wind was not waning at all and I was pretty cold and tired so I called it a day and headed back to the ramp. Took me an hour to get the boat on the trailer, due to a serious lack of water at the ramp. Had to wait quite awhile for the boats in front of me and then it took me an unusually long time to get my boat on the trailer. First time I have ever had to winch it all the way onto the trailer, I usually just drive it on. After an excruciatingly long bout of cranking it was finally on the trailer and I pulled out. After driving out I looked at the boat and it was not centered on the trailer, I thought about backing down and trying to get it straight but decided I liked the idea of getting home before midnight so I left as is and lashed it down crooked. Great day on the water with great company, bad ending but that's fishing in the fall. Had a blast Juro and I hope we can do it again sometime in the near future. I have some very large bass with your initials on them and they tell me that they want very much to try and break your Spey Rods:devil: :hehe: .

Tightlines,
Mike Mayo
 
#5 ·
Ahh...the wonders of broadband!

I showed the movie to my soon-to-be-12 year old son, who needs some fishing action to become a true believer. By the time it was over, he was ready to grab rods and head for Sandy Hook!

Beautiful job on the pictures, particularly the "over the transom" shot ( a magazine cover if ever I saw one) and the "old salt" himself at the wheel. Excellent writing, as always, Juro-san. Forget computers...write, make photos, and fish, fish, fish!

Best regards,

-Doc
 
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