11-24-2010, 10:00 AM
I took a novice on his first Rockfish trip below a dam this AM. First drift, I set the hook into a nice Striper in the 8-10 lb range, got it to the boat twice and just as Pat was getting ready to dip it up, the jig popped out of his mouth and we needed about 12 more inches of net handle to dip the fish. emoBang <br /><br />2nd drift, I set the hook into another Rockfish and after a mighty struggle on 6 lb test Suffix neon orange line, and about 5 minutes of battling the current and the fish, it came to the net. Beautiful 32 inch, 20 inch girth striper that weighed 13.5 on my scales. Using the method to calculate the estimated weight of the fish, it worked out to be 16 lbs. My scales may be off a little bit. I thought that the fish weighed more than 13 lbs. emoScratch <br /><br />That was the only 2 bites that I had today. About 1 hour later, Pat hooked and lost a small Spotted bass and 5 minutes after that, hooked into what was probably a Rockfish. He had it on for about 1 minute before it pulled free. We never did see it, but from the way that it was pulling his drag out and running, it nearly had to be a Striper. Pat might have had a couple more bites, but he didn&#39;t set the hook into any more fish.<br /><br />We drifted every current seam and finally decided that the bite was over for the time being. We got back home and I cleaned my fish before the rain started. Thankfully, we got off the water before it started to rain. If I had come home without that fish, Wanda would have dis-owned me. She loves the Rockfish and won&#39;t share it with anyone. emoBig emoGeezer Grilled striper! Can anything be any better? emoHungry