What a day. Bright sun, flooding tide, and big fish.
I took my co-worker on his first striper trip ever after a quick casting lesson yesterday at lunch. Usually doing the schoolie thing to break in a newbie, I opted for the Rip Ryder to get the whole experience in one shot.
Met up with Domenic and Seth at the refuge and hopped over to the beach. We split up and staked out some good water, and the shadows started to appear.
Domenic had a hot hand, hooking up early and often. He was having a blast sight fishing on a broad flat with Seth as we worked along the flat.
After having fun hooking some finicky stripers in the bright sun and shallow flats, we left the flat before it was too late. Amit needed to get to a barbeque and although there was no striper fillet this time, it was time to walk back with him to the shuttle point. On the way back I spotted three bass and luckily still had the line stripped in the basket.
A quick lead cast, pause, strip - the big lead fish inhaled the fly and all hell broke loose. It churned the water, ran deep into the backing, and after an epic fight came by our side. It measured out at 40", as gorgeous as you could ever imagine laying in the tide current in the sunshine as it started to fidget.
The thought of Amit's barbeque appointment flashed in my mind, and I looked at him to see what he was thinking. He said over and over "what a beautiful fish" and with a hard head shake the fish went free again. We watched it as it disappeared again into the deep water, and headed for the shuttle.
It was the kind of day that makes Monomoy what it is. Awesome.
I took my co-worker on his first striper trip ever after a quick casting lesson yesterday at lunch. Usually doing the schoolie thing to break in a newbie, I opted for the Rip Ryder to get the whole experience in one shot.
Met up with Domenic and Seth at the refuge and hopped over to the beach. We split up and staked out some good water, and the shadows started to appear.
Domenic had a hot hand, hooking up early and often. He was having a blast sight fishing on a broad flat with Seth as we worked along the flat.
After having fun hooking some finicky stripers in the bright sun and shallow flats, we left the flat before it was too late. Amit needed to get to a barbeque and although there was no striper fillet this time, it was time to walk back with him to the shuttle point. On the way back I spotted three bass and luckily still had the line stripped in the basket.
A quick lead cast, pause, strip - the big lead fish inhaled the fly and all hell broke loose. It churned the water, ran deep into the backing, and after an epic fight came by our side. It measured out at 40", as gorgeous as you could ever imagine laying in the tide current in the sunshine as it started to fidget.
The thought of Amit's barbeque appointment flashed in my mind, and I looked at him to see what he was thinking. He said over and over "what a beautiful fish" and with a hard head shake the fish went free again. We watched it as it disappeared again into the deep water, and headed for the shuttle.
It was the kind of day that makes Monomoy what it is. Awesome.