Stripers VideoHi Speed Only

I have been dreaming of a striper trip for at least five years. That dream started to materialize about two weeks ago. Jeremy had made his annual pilgrimage down to the Rhode Island surf and had a great outing. When he got back and contacted me, he said that the fish were present and also in good numbers. When the offer was extended to join him and his fellow fly fishing addicts for a long weekend on the flats and I had no choice but to capitalize on it. Obligations and priorities were set aside and trips to local fly shops for tying materials and last minute items were made.My bags were packed and my fishing buddy Nate and I were on the road by 6 pm on Thursday night, from Upstate New York, to maximize our time on the water.Jeremy and Headrush showed up at 8:00 am on Friday and we were knee deep in salt water by 8:30. The first spot we went to was truly amazing. The fish were everywhere and 15 minutes into it we had all landed our first striper of the trip. Nate and I were greenhorns as far as fishing the ocean goes, this was the first time we had ever cast a fly into salt. Friday night Jeremy’s partners in crime, Striper Mike, Louie and Pete made their appearance. Mike is one of the best fly casters I have ever had the pleasure of fishing with; he casts a fly rod like a well oiled, finely tuned machine. By the end of the first day we had fished several different places and landed countless stripers. I found great satisfaction in being able to adapt to a totally new environment and be successful.Saturday brought more of the same, countless fish and sore forearms. We tangled with many “keeper” Stripers, fish in the 30” class. Around 11:00 we headed to an inland trout stream for a couple hours and all got to play with browns, rainbows and brookies. The best of both worlds!

By 3:00 we were back on the flats and loving every minute of it. After hammering fish after fish in our honey hole, Jeremy says “I think we should head down to that point off the next sandbar“. I thought to myself, why leave all these greedy fish where we are standing? I reeled in my rig begrudgingly and followed suit. Little did I know that this move was the most pivotal one of all, the highlight of the trip was about to transpire. At the new spot, right at sunset large boils began to appear about 100 feet out from where we were casting. Slowly the boils began to move closer and closer to where we were casting. Suddenly small baitfish began fleeing for their lives and breaking the surface, as hungry Stripers went into a feeding frenzy 30 feet in front of us. Jeremy was yelling in my ear “strip, strip, strip, faster, faster, faster”. I did as I was told and was rewarded well for my efforts. I think three or four of us were hooked up at one point. Louie came out on top of this may lay. He managed a hog of around 15 pounds out of this “blitz”. The moment I just described will never be forgotten as long as I live. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever been fortunate enough to be a part of.