In the world of striped bass fly fishing, there are two different breeds of fish. Today I got the breed of fish that had eluded me for a long time. Fly fishing the rocks almost always produces nothing for me except for sore ankles, bloody knees and a tired mind. Today was expected to be no different from any other day I had fly fished the rocks. I expected no fish and was just going for the fun of it, and maybe the slight chance I would hook a nice fish. I made my way down to a nice part of the seemingly endless rock ledge. I looked down into the open ocean water and saw the deep hole where all seasoned striper fly fisherman would say “fish here”. I threw out the heavy fly line and everything looked good. With the waves pushing my line towards me, faster then I wanted it to, I adjusted my retrieval rate till I regained control of the fly.”Finally,” I said to myself. I could now feel my fly dragging through the water. Then, I saw it. My big Pollock fly that I had tied last year was gently gliding through the water. I felt like if a fish were to take, it would be now. And then it happened, a huge striper came out from under the ledge and inhaled my fly. I yelled to Jeremy and the fish just took off towards another underwater ledge. I held onto the rod as hard as I could. I started to think to myself, “this fish is nice, but it isn’t that nice…or is it?” Sure it looked big in the water but maybe I was just excited? All of the sudden the reel screamed, it screamed hard…into the backing hard. My heart was racing as the fish just went deeper and deeper down and out into the holes off the rock ledge where I was positioned. I didn’t know what to do and I asked Jeremy for advice. “Reel!” he yelled. So I started ripping the line back on the reel. The fish got close and Jeremy helped me land the fish in one of the hairiest landing situations ever. Jeremy snapped some pictures and we sent the fish back to the rocks where it came from. Maybe the rocks arn’t so bad after all.
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
Austin that fish is bigger than you are:) you never cease to amaze me. First a beautiful Wild Rainbow Now a Striper the size of your whole torso. Nice job!!!!!!! It must be nice to be out of school.
Sweet dude. That is a nice striper for sure. Isn’t it great hooking into something like that when you expect nothing?
Bravo! that was a beautiful Stiper. Looks like a tough spot to land a fish of that size. I am totally jelous that you guys are hammering fish of that caliber. Well done Harry.
Thanks guys for the compliments. Surely my best striper ever and I think i’ll be hard pressed to get another one that big this year!
Austin
great job Austin. Nice! he certainly was a PIG. Keep up the good work.
fisherboy – you probably didn’t notice but i did. a major shift took place … last year i could follow behind you in the same holes you fished and pick out fish that you missed… this year THE OPPOSITE is happening. as you know, i was first to chuck a fly into the hole you fished … got zippo… then you took the hole like a dog eating scraps:) — and managed that fish —– you also did that on our last salmon outing – i was up on the rock in the run where the river dumped into the lake – i was first to fish it … zippo for me ….. i fished it hard and thoroughly (or so i thought) ….. then i was kind enough to once again give you the scraps 🙂 —- you took my place on that spot and i moved to greener pastures … 5 minutes passed and you had a huge salmon on and landed it! …… so, i will no longer be taking you fly fishing 🙂 — just kidding – great work! very impressive.
Excellent work. One comment; if you keep your rod more towords the horizontal while fighting the fish, you’ll put more pressure on the fish. Check out some tarpon videos and you’ll see what I mean. Rarely will you see their rods above 45 degrees. Great work!!!!!!!!!!!!
sweet fish man. Just job