A pretty amusing day .......

[David Lee]

Hooked-up w/ the guy who posted the live Bluegill question on here a few weeks back - turns out he's a nice fellow who actually wanted to learn about flyrodding for Stripes .

It also turns out he's a regular fishing partner of one of my best Friends .

Rich came over around 11:00 , we chattered a bit , then wandered out to the river . I explaned the casting stroke , line control , etc. . Told him the how's and why's of fishing for Stripers w/ feet wet ..... and told him to pay attention to how I would read a bit of water and hunt .

You guessed it .

Flop a cast downstream near a bridge pilling - swing down past the dropoff .... strip a few times ........ BANG .

Nice fish - somewhere between 8 -14 lbs. - I set several times , Stripe starts shakin' the head ..... POP ! There goes the knot that joined the 8 Lb. tippet to the leader .

What did I say a few weeks ago about NEVER breaking fish off ?

Looks like the American will have one more hard-core Striper hunter in the near future .

David

[Mrs.Finsallaround]

POP ! There goes the knot that joined the 8 Lb. tippet to the leader .

What did I say a few weeks ago about NEVER breaking fish off ?


:eek: 8 POUND TIPPET?????

I'm pretty sure we use at LEAST 15# on the American.....

Sounds like a heart-pounding hook-up though!

[David Lee]

Hi Robin !

I've landed a mid-40 Lb. , a low-30 Lb. , and three others over 20 Lbs. on 8 and 10 Lb. tippets (never spent more than 12 minutes fighting a fish , ever)- I can STILL count , on one hand .... the number of times I've been broken off and still have a couple of fingers left over . The only reason I broke off is ..... a punk knot - totally MY fault .

Unless I go to fairyland and fish over a school of 50 Lb. Stripes .... anything over 12 Lb. test isn't needed . In the Delta , perhaps .... because of the weeds/snags/trees/etc. , but not on the American .

Try it sometime .

D.~

[Mrs.Finsallaround]

:o I guess I'm just not that brave...........

[Ed Wahl]

By extending your hand instead of blowing him off you've turned one to "our" side.

Well done sir! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I guess there's a lesson there for me and all the rest of us.

Ed

[David Lee]

I mentioned to Rich that the whole 'how do you fish a live Bluegill' thing kinda turned everyone off a little .... but he did state in his post that he had a flyrod and wanted to learn how to use it .

He is now ON FIRE to take the plunge , learn to cast (I got him started pretty well....) , and chase Stripers ! He doesn't keep fish , by the way ......

At the end of the day ..... I guess people are just people . One more person who uses artificials to C&R Stripes doesn't hurt ! I hope he has the opportunity to meet folks here and fish with them some , 'cause he's just like US - gives a damn about nature and has a keen eye for things .

D.~

[Hairstacker]

Way to go David! Rich is a darn lucky fella to have hooked up with you . . . I'll bet at this point fly fishing probably occupies every spare moment of his mind. :D

[STEELIES/26c3]

Many 'gear guys' care equally for the resource and also practice catch and release...

http://treeofknowledge.org/markphotos/gearguysreleasetoo.jpg

We don't have to be on opposite sides of the fence~;)

Just a thought

M

[David Lee]

Mark -

You are quite correct and I am in the wrong - The vast majority of folks I met at Prospect were GEAR fishers , not flyfishers ..... and I know a LOT of folks that use gear and release everything they catch .

I was wrong to suggest that Rich , coming from a gear fishing background , was stepping 'up' - what I meant to imply was switching from the live Bluegill thing to artificials is a more positive change - less chance to gut hook anything (as usual ..... what's left of my brain was still stuck on the first paragraph of what I wrote and not quite caught up to the end of the post ....) and inadvertantly kill unwanted fish .

I have no desire to insult any kind of fishing - I'll go back and edit the post .

Just for anyone who doesn't know .... Mark AKA Steelies/26c3 has landed and released more HUGE Striped Bass than anybody I've ever heard of on ANY kind of tackle - that kind of commitment to the resource is a rare thing these days .

Thank you for pointing it out !!

David

[jbird]

David

Great post! I have said many times that I blend in better with gear guys than flyfishers. I much prefer to flyfish and do so 99.9% of the time. But I often prefer being around gear guys. They are just a little more laid back. The entire world doesnt revolve around making a perfect cast and wearing their stylish hat just right, and requiring 9 1/2 acres to themselves on a run. And they dont mock their fellow gearfishermen for the methosd they choose to fish.

I believe flyfishing would be a better sport if we all didnt think were "a cut above the rest"

Thanks again David for being a great ambassador of the sport!

PS STEELIES/26c3 Is that an alligator in your post? GOOD HEAVENS???

[Charlie Gonzales]

I would definately agree that both David and Mark are great ambassadors of the sport and do represent "both" sides in a great manner. Mark could write a book on catching monster stripes. The three of us should get out soon.


I also agree that when walking and wadin its a better choice to fish lighter tippets; its much easier to pop of a snagged fly with 8 to 12 lb tippet that the 20lb I use in the boat.

[Tony Buzolich]

Right on Charlie. In the boat 20# leader works fine and it doesn't seem to matter when you get snagged up, it breaks easily enough too. I don't find that the stripers are leader shy at all. With 20# you have some leader strength to put the muscle on when you hook up a bigger fish.

Now, hooking up that same bigger fish with a lighter leader will more often than not lead to more lost fish. The other thing with lighter leader is that it will result in playing the fish longer than usual and often result in an exhausted fish that may or may not be revived.

In defense of David's postion, it would be a safety factor when wading to have a lighter leader. There will be more chances of snags when wading. A bigger fish can break itself off when wrapped up around a tree, and, the fisherman can keep himself from getting pulled over or tangled up in some unbreakable line. Any of you who have waded Sailor Bar very much know what I'm talking about when you get your feet wrapped up in some Spider Wire or other braid from those guys that were long lining and snagging salmon. The damn stuff is unbreakable and will cut you in a heartbeat. AND doesn't deteriate or biodegrade.

[Jgoding]

Nice post David. Lets hook up next week and hit it sometime.

Mark, I don't think I can wade the American anymore after seeing that pic...... I may get my leg bit off or something.

[PaulC]

Right on David. Way to extend a hand and help out:)

Hey Mark,
I've had the pleasure of fishing with David a couple times in the past.
He's by no means a fly fishing elitist and was kind enough to show me around up there for one trip.
I think you'll find a lot of us are buddies with gear guys or throw gear sometimes ourselves.
In the end, we're all fisherman.
Beautiful release picture btw.
-Paul

[STEELIES/26c3]

Yah I know David's a cool cat~:)

and Charlie Ryan, Jason, Andy, Bill K. and many others I've met on the river, in the shop, or at the Capitol building...

There's gradations of gear guys just as there are gradations of fly guys. Fishing is a lot like sex (if I remember correctly...:o) It's not what you got but how you use it.

My fishing buds and I were saddened and pissed off earlier this season with other fishing acquaintances of ours who insisted on running stingers (trailer hooks) on their live bait rigs. We found a couple of large, striper hens floating dead, downriver from where they had been fishing. They had cut out and released... but left large trebles in the foreguts of their 'released' fish:angry:

It seems to me there is indeed a commonly held belief among fly fishers that their method of fishing is more pure than that of the gear guy and whereas I would agree this is true when comparing fly fishing to using live bait, I would have to disagree when comparing it to plugging for striped bass.

In many ways, making a 1-3 oz. piece of wood look like a live or injured baitfish in 5000 CFS of moving water is arguably much more difficult than stripping a heavily-weighted line with a delicately-crafted, pulsating mass of bucktail and krtystal flash...

Yes I realize I oversimplified here.

I also realize this is a fly fishing board and I'm not looking to convert anyone here to gear-fishing :D (LOL)

In my mind as relates to fishing... there is no be all/end all (not in gear fishing, nor in fly fishing...). and I can't imagine ever truly 'mastering' any method of fishing... what would be the fun in that?

I fish hard, catch some, struggle at times (my buds, Benny and Rob have been shaming me lately [-o<) But I'll re-think, re-member, re-create re-joice daily and continue to love the sport with big heart and soul and open mind.

FISH HARD AND LIVE!
m

[Dabalone]

I know far more people who use conventional gear, I take some of them out with me and they always have the option of using one of my fly setups. There is no difference in the level of anticipation, excitement and smiles on their face when they hook up with either a flyrod, baitcaster, or spinning reel. I never really understood the flyfishing elitism, but its out there alive and well, its a real turnoff for me but never stopped me from enjoying fishing with my gear friends just as much as my fly only friends.