Last Striper Trip by Ed Valitutto

Posted on December 13, 2017 by VHFC

I started the day planning on taking my boat out but a call from Alan Goracy regarding West winds and 2 ft. waves changed my mind. We left around 10:00 and were out the inlet by 11:00. We headed out 2-2.5 miles and dropped the first troll line in (white Maja spoon) but the strong west wind made for very difficult fishing. Making things worse was the 2 inch packed snow we had to walk on. I then headed in towards shore and trolled north in 30-40 ft.
Alan changed to a smaller Maja and I attached a 30+ Stretch Manns plug. There were numerous bait, small fish and larger fish returns on my sonar but no takers. Near the first bathing beach around 1:00, I had a fish on the plug. Alan brought every striper lure he owned but forgot his Manns plug so he changed to a shad umbrella rig. Around 2:00, a second fish hit the Manns. At 2:30, we were cold and headed home. Fish were small: one 28″ @8 lbs and the other 30″ @10 lbs. Great end of season trip!

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Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.

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