40 Pound Striped Bass on the Fly

 Last year I joined my friends on the Knot On Call for a trip seeking cow striped bass. Many very large striped bass were caught on that trip, including the biggest fish I'd ever caught. However, none of the fish I caught were on the fly. That was really what I wanted to accomplish out there... a really huge striped bass on fly. Not just a nice 35 incher, not even just a 40 incher. I wanted to get a bass over 40 pounds on the fly. I had one big fish on the fly rod that trip. She came unbuttoned shortly after the hookup. That got the gears turning, and through the rest of the year I was tinkering, saving up for appropriate gear, and thinking through my strategies. I was determined to accomplish this goal. 

When Joe told me to keep a specific weekend open in early July, I did. It looked like it would be a interesting one. The remnants of a tropical cyclone ripped through the northeast at a high rate of speed the morning before we'd planned to go, roiling the Atlantic into a what may as well have been a gigantic washing machine. Joe and I are both forecasters- he far better than I -and we both felt convinced the swell would calm down and give us a window to make it to the bass filled waters off Block Island. 

So it was that I left my partner's apartment the night after the storm, but not before having her kiss a couple of my flies (and of course me) for good luck. I met Joe, Boots, Doc, and Justin around midnight at the boat launch. Lightning punctuated our conversation and a couple brief showers complicated the launching process. It was calm and sheltered where we were, but out near Block the seas were still very angry. We anchored behind an island and got some sleep on the boat. We quietly rocked in the fog, trying to catch as much rest as we could before the sun got us up. 

In the morning, we tentatively set out to fish. We worked our way around local spots initially, trolling and blind casting a bit, looking for activity. As conditions slowly improved we headed towards Montauk, then finally towards Block. We saw a mako and a small humpback whale on the way, but no fish picked up the plug or umbrella rig we trolled. 

Once we reached our intended destination, the conditions were beautiful. The sun came out and the seas flattened. Soon, some bass started to show themselves. Live eels took the first fish, followed shortly by GT Eel soft plastics. I got takes fairly soon out of the gate. I missed two that likely were bass and dropped a third due to a dull hook (shame on me), but wasn't really feeling the love just yet. It was agonizing to slug it out with the fly rod while the guys around me were hitting good fish with relative regularity. I stuck to my guns though, I knew that the only way I would get a huge bass on the fly was to stick with the fly.

Doc with a big girl, tagged

Evening came along and I was still fishless. I started to question things, I wondered if I was making errors in presentation or fly selection. At times we were over so many fish it seemed absurd that I couldn't get bit. The bottom was paved with cows. There seemed to be massive schools pushing south, as though the hurricane had moved them inshore and they were heading back out. Fish even started showing on the surface feeding on sand eels. I was still not feeling quite like I was fishing effectively, and I didn't have a clear solution to the problems I felt I was having. Eventually, while retrieving my fly rapidly behind the boat, I asked "F*** it, can I have an egg sinker? The smallest one possible". It was precisely then that my luck changed as a big bass chase the fly up into the prop wash and ate it right there behind the boat. She thrashed violently, head above water and gills flared. She looked gigantic. In that moment the mood on the boat shifted drastically. The guys had all been backing me up on my mission to get this fish, and it was now going to be a team effort to get her in the boat. 

Since she'd eaten the fly so close to the boat, I had a ton of line at my feet. Getting it on the reel was going to be a struggle. Though this fish could certainly run far enough to get all of that line out, I couldn't afford to let her do so. The bottom here was filled with giant boulders, and cow bass know how to wrap line around them and break off. I had to keep that fish off the bottom, which was 35 feet down. When she dove, and she most certainly did, I couldn't let up at all. I had to stop her. I'm proud to say I did. All the while, Joe and Boots were clearing the line for me as the fish forced me to move across the stern. After the fish spent about a minute and a half digging hard, she suddenly decided to come up. For a few very tense moments I though she might be off, but for whatever reason she'd just decided to spend the last bit of the fight up top. That really gave me the upper hand, and after just one short circle I had her up and ready and Joe got the net under her. It was done. Less than four minutes and I'd beat that fish. 12wt fly rod, 40lb trilene leader, 6/0 sand eel Flashtail Clouser... 46 inch 40 pound striped bass. 

Russ Zivkovich Photo

We tagged her. We released her strong. She's hopefully still out there pigging out on sand eels. It will be remarkable to see if anyone reports capturing that fish. Hopefully anyone that does treats her right. 

At that point I was about as happy as I've ever been. I've been seeking a striped bass of that caliber for some time now, and if anything I thought it would likely take me longer to accomplish it. There's no crew I'd rather have done it with either. It may be easier to fly fish on a boat with one or two other fly fishers, but I wasn't coming at this task from a fly angler's mindset. Most fly casters don't get shots at bass of this caliber, at least not often. I found it more pertinent to look at what the guys catching these fish consistently were doing. Few boats and crews out there are as successful. I owe these guys a lot, I couldn't have accomplished this without them. 

For now, that's that. The rest of the trip went well minus a possible world record (not a bass) that I lost. Loads more big fish were caught. But for me the trip had already hit its climax. It's been more than a week and I've still got the jitters. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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