Reel Fantasea 2016 by Dave Spendiff

Posted on November 26, 2016 by VHFC

On Nov. 22, 2016 four club members, Bill Dabney, Martin Friedrick, Ed Valitutto, and me joined Capt. Steve Purul aboard the Reel Fantasea for a day of striper fishing. It was a very windy, cold day with very low tides creating the need to leave the dock about an hour later than normal. A quick run north of the bathing beach area of IBSP brought us right in the middle of “striper city”. We were casting 6″ swimming shads with hook ups immediately. As this pod of bass moved, so did we and did so for the rest of the trip, generally following the active bird action over bait being pushed up by the predators. To add a little excitement to the mix, big blue fish were also on the feed with more than a few rigs lost for each bluefish boated. The morning bite was best, but fish were being taken on almost every stop during the day. Capt. Steve worked hard, as usual, chasing the fish enabling us to boat loads of fish and giving us the option of having striper for Thanksgiving. Because of the wind and rough seas, a few of us were wet and cold sports by the time we returned to the dock, but all us had that “we caught” smile on our faces.
GREAT TRIP, GREAT CAPTAIN!!!

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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.

The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.