Stripers in the Lights

The night started off like every other night in June and July. A call from my friend Lincoln asking if I wanted to go night fishing, a hurried dinner and biking down the hill as fast as possible to catch the sunset squid bite. We met at the Menemsha Fish Market, a store known for the giant lobsters they sell, and headed on down to the Menemsha Texaco. We both filled our buckets with squid (about 20lbs total that we would later sell) and made our way over to my favorite spot. Everyone fishes there, but nearly nobody knows how to do it correctly. 
 

I put a single small squid on my 6/0 circle hook by hooking it through the tip of the squid opposite the eyes. I always drop the squid in the crack between one dock and another, where the bass always hang out. Putting my Calcutta 251 into free spool, I let the squid float slowly toward the bottom. A jet black shadow darted out and slowly circled the squid, eating it and spitting it out over and over as if tasting its quality. Finally it ate it and slowly swam back to where it came from. I let it swim for four seconds before taking it out of free spool and letting the circle hook do it’s job. Fish on! A largemouth rod, very little drag, light line and lots of pilings and boats don’t go well together. The fish took off and after a blistering run (for a bass) it slowed down enough for me to get a little bit of line back. It had gone directly under the dock I was standing on, and my rod was halfway in the water so that the line didn’t fray and break on the barnacle encrusted pier. I yelled for Lincoln and he rushed over to help land the fish, which we both could see wouldn’t be happening for quite some time. He changed directions and went in between two pilings about 20 yards from us. We ran down the pier passing the rod to each other under the dock lines before hopping onto a friends boat. Passing the rod around the piling was easy enough. We made the same trip back down the dock, threading the rod through the web of lines. Upon reaching the end of the pier, the fish made a short run underneath the dock and I dove into an inflatable dingy and put the rod tip in the water once again. Pulling a big bass up from twenty feet isn’t easy with fifteen pound test, but after some struggling and a lot more drag being pulled, we had the fish at the surface. Lincoln reached out and grabbed the fish by the lip and hauled it over the side of the dingy.

 

Both amazed with what had just happened, we high fived before removing the hook and slowly revived the fish. With a whip of the tail it splashed my face and swam back into the depth. 

 

A week later that rod snapped in three places and there is no question in my mind as to why.

  

   

Monster 3X Slimshad Review

I have come to believe that the Monster 3X Slimshad is the most versatile lure in my tackle box. So far I have caught striped bass, scup, smallmouth and largemouth bass, flounder, pickerel, sea bass, false albacore/bonito (depending on what part of the country you are from), houndfish, jacks, grouper, pargo, snapper and bluefish. Almost all of those fish were caught on the same Slimshad. The only fish that truly did damage to the Slimshad were the bluefish and houndfish. I have come to believe that there is not a predatory fish that won’t eat the Slimshad. I really came to appreciate the durability of this soft plastic when fishing for smallmouth bass in Skaneateles Lake in New York. While bouncing the lure I felt a good hit and set the hook. When I got the smallmouth within view I noticed something strange. The tail of the Slimshad had gotten caught on the rear spine of the fish’s dorsal fin. When I got the fish next to me, I reached for him and ended up with only the tail of the Slimshad in my hand. I swung the approximately 2-2.5lb bass onto the dock by the soft plastic. Keep in mind since this wasn’t that small a smallie, the plastic had been stretched around 8 inches. I have been told they can hold much, much more, such as a large tarpon while the hook was being removed. These lures can be reeled straight, twitched on the retrieve, used as a trailer on a jig,  “bounced” up and down and much more that I have yet to try. They have a better action when fished on a heavier jig head. In freshwater I use 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig heads and in saltwater 1/2-1 ounce depending on the depth I’m fishing and current. I also like to use the weighted belly hooks from http://www.treasurecoasttackle.com/.The 4/0 hooks they use are very strong and have gotten the job done for me over and over, however in the future I would use their bullhead collarless jig head. I recommend fishing these lures on a collarless jig head initially because they are very challenging to slide over a collar. If they get ripped, (fat chance of that happening) you can switch them over to a collared jig head. I stored my white Slimshads with some other dark green soft plastics in 90+ degree heat and was amazed to learn that their coloring doesn’t “bleed”. In that heat they do stick together, but can be pulled apart with no damage done to them. To purchase Monster 3X products go to http://www.treasurecoasttackle.com/ or http://www.monster3xusa.com/.