Fished Saturday afternoon - Managed one thick skate, had a very large mouth and a rounded snout , I was thinking it might have been up in age by the looks of him. Had a very thick tail to go with a thick body. Also had a couple of knock downs, man I was frustrated beyond belief for a little while. I am still getting the hang of this Diawa conventional reel and the sequence of setting the hook. I lost a hard hit because of it. I heard on Sunday Morning from a guy who was at Oyster Bay Tackle that they measured a 45" Striper on Saturday evening for a guy who was apparently fishing just up from me at 142nd Street. Then I was really pissed. But, Just as I was settling down after hearing that..... My Diawa started screaming !! Man, does that sound awesome! I have to say it adds to the rush of the moment! Took a breath before I grabbed the rod out of the holder, and I got it right that time . Had a nice battle for a few short minutes, and then low and behold,there it was .... My first ever Striper !!!!!!!!
Had to put him back - I think it is good luck for you in the future to throw back your first catch of a particular species. Well, at 27" I couldn't keep him anyway. So, a little while goes by and my spinning rod goes nuts. Had a good battle for a couple of longer minutes , and there was a 32" Bluefish on the hook.
He was a weird looking Blue, had a normal size head and shoulders, but from the pec fins back he looked skinny. An hour goes by, got both rods in , changing bait every 15- 20 minutes, and, WHAM! there goes the Diawa screaming again... had another longer battle this time... and there it was , striper #2 !!!
This one was 29-1/2". This one ended up in the make shift cooler to get it home. Will be cooking it up later this week!
Man , I needed that in a big way after getting skunked most of this year. It was a great day!!!!!