Striper Revenge 2 By: Steve Evans

"If you want a real wall hanger, everyone is going to have to suffer, but you"

                                                                            -Billy "The Greek" Legakis

      A man alone. I haven't spent much time at home, in days, at least, not outside of my waders, haven't slept, hardly showered, eating only the fish I catch, so that I might know their minds, ok, passed out, a few times, in sub-normal positions, in car, or tent, or elsewhere. I'd just finished having an outrageous argument with my employer, regarding, among other things, scheduling (This happens every November, doesn't it?).....

Sick day.

      Not entirely alone, of course, Alexi was with me to start the week, and we launched into the Atlantic, straight off ship bottom, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Snagged Bunker, easily, but with no bass, or blues beneath. I, as it happened, happened to be beneath, the weather, badly. Not undo in part to some imbibing.

Bunker down...

      We were around the corner from fish all day, but we didn't manage to catch up to any. First we were into bunker pods with no fish on them. I finally dumped my kayak in a wave, which turned out to be just what my hangover needed. Then, to put another nail in it, it was time to go to the international house of pancakes, for coffee, eggs, breakfast meats, pancakes, and plan. Pay the bill, "Are you guys in construction?" "NO!".

      Time to go to seaside and get back into the Atlantic. We did, two more times, but the radio chatter was constant, the bass fishing in front of the bathing beach was "EPIC". Well, the wise old laws of the park say we can't launch there, so we didn't. We did our last launch of the day, in the back, at sunset.

glass water, sunset, and fox.

       I had a good feeling about the back bay, bunker were coming in through the inlet, and conditions seemed right, but at some point we had to stop fishing, I'd pick up where we left off, next trip.

next trip.

      This next one would be a solo trip. I had a bunch of lures and the usual 4 rods I carry along for bay fishing, but I was really out there to fish my heavy "live bait" outfit. I had live eels, and I knew where and when I wanted to be, at slack tide, I was hunting.

      I had a little time to play around, I lost a short, at the boat, I'd hooked it on a rubber shad. Then I switched to eels right after, I had one nice run-off and pulled the hook, so I tried a few more drifts, but when it was time to move to the place I had in mind, I got going, and I didn't stop to fish between.

      I thought it was a schoolie even after the hook was set, it was moving toward me with the current, but when it knew it was hooked there was a real battle, up close. My headlamp light hit the flank of the fish and I knew it was a good one, I wasn't gonna lose it, got in the boat as soon as I could.

in the dark.

      This was my biggest "back bay" fish to date, 40 inches, and pulled the boga to 27 pounds. When we're fishing eels in the back, at night, we're hunting, for big fish, but that doesn't always mean we catch them. This time I was at exactly the right place, at the right time of tide, at the right time of year, in the dark, and with my favorite live bait, and it worked. For me that's a damn good feeling.

Back bay beauty.