Two More Spectacular Striper Nights

The fishing had been just so spectacular three nights ago that Dalton and I just had to go back on Thursday. We needed to see if it could be as productive as it had been the day before. As it turns out it was. The stripers were just as willing to bust a spook or a popper.

And after catching more than 20 powerful and extremely aggressive schoolies in the 12 to 18 inch range I finally got a smashing hit from a really good fish of 30 inches on a retrieve with the rod tucked under my arm. It promptly broke off. I retied with gurgler and stuck that fishes younger cousin, about 26 inches in length.

By this point in the evening there were a great many peanut bunker around and when a group pushed up onto the bar and a few stripers started chasing them chaos ensued. It sounded as though it had suddenly begun pouring rain in one very small spot.

Unfortunately we had run out of time for that evening, but when the opportunity to return and fish that spot the next day arose I jumped on it. I met Dan there, and as I  begun working the gurgler it became clear that this was not going to be as fast and furious as the previous day. That is the nature of inshore fishing. One day they are there in force, the next day it takes some work to catch fish.

That is not to say the fishing was slow. It was very productive, just not nearly as productive. I caught six or seven stripers, with one being 28 inches. What made the day more interesting was the presence of some large bluefish that would occasionally come in for a moment and just wreak havoc, tearing up bunker and chopping at the surface. I didn't catch any at all, however, until later when a monumental blitz began.

The sunset was spectacular. The fishing was amazing. The display of life shown by these predatory fish was startling. Once again I felt as though I was just so lucky to be where I was, seeing such a surreal scene.