You may remember that I fish with my good friend Howie every Friday from May - September. Well, after 13 years of trying, i finally got him to try the striper fishing down here in Cape May. This morning, i picked him up in Wildwood after he ran his 33 Rampage down for winterizing. We jumped on board the Free Spirit and set off for the big Mud Puddle. We did not even get underway until around 8:00 so I figured that we were in deep dooky since the tide was nearly half shot. We set up and nothing happened where I had been catching for the past few days. The water was so dirty that I almost had to shovel a hole to drop the baits in so we moved off. We set up and at the end of the tide one rod jumped- damn, missed him. I think it was one of those small bass that grab a bait and run off but are too small to get the hook. Anyway, not 10 minutes later a rod folded over and we cranked the handle, and GOTIMON! After a battle I slid the net under a nice 42 inch, 31 lb. bass. Howie's first ever. Well, not a bad bass for your first, right?



As the tide had just about stopped, i was in the cabin on the phone as was Howie when i looked back and # 6 rod was absolutely screaming! I yelled at him to tell the guy he'd call back and he was hooked up again. After a bit, he eased the fish alongside, and I slid the net under an absolute SLOB!



The first fish was 42", this one was 42 lbs.! 48 1/2 " and 42 lbs. What a great limit, huh? anyway, we fished about 4 hours and he limited on 2 fish that totalle over 70 lb. ASA, eat your heart out! Seriously, I had a great time with a great friend, and I don't think I could have been happier. Just the look on Howie's face when the bass screamed off again as they neared the boat made my day. I can't remember when I had more fun watching someone catch fish. Now, maybe I can get him to go again, but hey, how could he top this day?