"Personal Best Striper" by Alexi

No long drawn out musings necessary here.  I'll get straight to the point.  I had a plan and it worked.

At the end of my last post I was hinting at the fact that some big fish were still around, that our spring run wasn't over yet, and here I had a chance to target them and I took it.  I think Steve even said the night before, this will be your "personal best trip,"  and it was.

I woke up at 3 AM to be at the launch by first light.

one rod, no gear

When I fish in the ocean I take as little gear as possible (which often means I might forget something).  In this case I forgot to bring any extra leader.
I did bring: water, energy bar, one rod, one big popper, one small stretch lure, several snags, one large storm shad, my boga  grip, binoculars, marine radio, the big game fish clip and the fish-finder..  Everything is attached to the boat when I launch and land.

South Seaside Park: view from the ocean

After two hours of trolling around the stretch lure I started to mark the occasional fish in about 50ft of water.  I switch to the shad to try to get down farther in the water column.  The boats were congregating pretty far off, and as I slowly trolled towards them I noticed some splashes.

I immediately switched from the shad to a snag, and pulled up next to the small pod of bunker.  First cast I snagged one.  Reeled in, re-hooked it, cast it out and started to troll it in and around the pod. Minutes later I was hooked up.

After several sounds and views, and thinking this is definitely my biggest fish, I hoist it into my boat.

8:03 A.M.

For those who ask "where do you put your fish?"

Back area of my kayak usually occupied by my crate and cooler bag

I had one other hook up after that but lost it due to user error.  I had a small tangle deep in my spool, and though I spent some time clearing a bunch of line when I was trolling the stretch lure to make sure I had plenty of clear line to work with, apparently it wasn't enough.   The next fish sounded straight down and took line until my spool hit a knot.  Then it just snapped.

After that the sun was showing it's strength, and though I kept my catch cool by covering it with a wet hoodie, I felt the need to get it in the cooler and on some ice.

42" 36.4 lbs