Yam - I ain't going no-where.... who else is going to keep all y'all in line...... I do appreciate Bigun & StriperJohn behaving last week though given I didn't get much of a chance to look at the board
I'll start the run-down and then Gator & ArchEnemy can chime in and add to it..... A while back Arch said he and Gator were starting to plan a little "field trip" in chase of some monster stripers and asked if I wanted in.... like duhhhhhh, I'm in like flynn.... a lot of research and background work was done over the last few months. Did you guys know that Gator now has a PhD in Marine Biology?
Charlie pulled his rig from NoVA and arrived at my place late last Monday evening and we took care of important things like applying Striper Mafia stickers to his bait tank & truck, and then loaded a bunch of my gear and prepared for the 1st of 5 or more 4-5 hr sleep nights. We met Gator at the Hardy Ramp around 5:15am on Tuesday to point our caravan of band of misfits westward. Some hours later we arrived in the Holy Land of Striper fishing - Tennessee.
I may be getting some of the timeline the 1st few days wrong - its a bit of a blurr now - Tuesday afternoon was mostly getting settled in. I think we launched the boat and caught a few baits and pulled for an hour or so in the evening and had one pull-back but didn't hook up - but that may have been the next day
Up the next morning about 4:45 am to hit the road as Gator had arranged for a 1/2 day guide trip to help us get our bearings. We met the guide and were on the water just after daylight, with a tank of small shiners, small gizzards and 10 or so dollar-bill to money-maker gizzards - at this point we're thinking we've had a disconnect on expectations for the day but we roll with it..... we rode a few minutes and set out in a near-by creek and got to work putting out the boards as the guide says "looks like you boys know what you're doing".
Maybe 10 minutes into the pull a board dives, Gator's on the rod and reeling furiously as the fish swims towards the boat before he realizes it's hooked and then takes off peeling drag. FISH ON!!! Heck Ya! After a fun fight over the rail comes a pig of a striper that was high 30's or low 40's - the guide only had 30 lb Bogas on the boat as he'd left his 50 lb digital scales in his truck
Who cares - Gator's biggest striper to date.... for the moment
We pulled on and on then mid to late morning as we crossed a pinch point between a shoal and a point a board takes off and my quick-draw instincts put me on the rod (sorry Charlie) - this one fights me good - the guide waves off a bass boat that was coming at us directly towards the line where the fish was peeling away.... finally get it to the side and into the boat - 41-42" and we estimate 45 lbs based on the ridiculous shoulders and back on this humpback whale of a fish... a new fresh-water Personal best for me!
Pretty sure that the guide was as shocked to see that fish as much as we were
We pulled on and on and on till around 12:30 or 1 - and were about to wrap the trip when finally another bait got swallowed - Charlie was on deck and pulls in the baby of the trip - 25 lbs.
After that we did we what do best - we spent an hour or so more with the guide catching bait for him....
Gator threw the net for a while and we replenished all the money-makers/dollar-bills that we used to catch the beautiful beast from that day..... not a bad deal for the guide, huh
Back to the cabin, boat in the water (or maybe it was already in the water) and out to catch some bait. Night came on us and we pulled out the 1 Million Candle Watt spot-light and used it to tip off the shad location and we filled the tanks (Charlie's 40 and Gator's 30) with 3 or 4 dozen money-maker gizzards - then we rolled back to the house about 10:30 and heated up some of the best lasagna you'll every have that Gator prepared before coming...
Thursday brought crappy weather... rain overnight and into Thur AM that was supposed to be heavy - we got a bit of a later start - 7ish as the rain started to slack - we stayed close to the cabin that day due to the risk of weather - did not want to be caught along ways away or trailering in high winds - we knew it was likely going to be unproductive but we gave it a shot. After lunch we made a 30 min or so run and put out some gizzards and pulled an island - and picked up a 19 lber to kick the skunk to the curb and get a fish "on our own"
A short while later I get a text from a guy I know in the area saying that bad weather was approaching - check the radar - yep, time to go - we tuck our tails and haul back to the cabin and pull the boat out ahead of the storm - which of course mostly split around us with the worst going north and south - oh, well..... off to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and then to the grocery store for more supplies.....
Up at 5ish on Friday and on the water a little later than we wanted but we got there..... pulled and pulled and pulled with our gizzards - one pull-back that did not connect in the morning... then mid-day we went on a refresh the bait mission... with a fisherman's lunch
We fished it hard till sun-set without another bite..... marked fish but could not get bit - post-front, wrong bait, wrong time, whatever. Back to the cabin a little after nine, and Charlie jumped on the grill with some pork-chops while I sauteed some squash and Gator took care of the rest..... we eat good boys, even if it is at 11pm at night when we do...
OK - last day of the trip - up before dawn - 1st to the ramp - time to make it happen - going a different way today - forget those gizzards - it's Skipjack time baby! Easiest I've ever caught jacks - we had 8 in the tank in 10 min or so - we were not sure how many we could keep in the 40 or how long they would last - I though we had 10, but we only had 8 before we took off to the spot we were going to fish.....
There is no better striper bait in the world! Yam - these put your best Mongo to shame
Charlie gets the boat on plane at Wide Open Throttle - we get more than one odd look from the locals as his 24' Sea Fox is running down the lake..... not a lot of friendly waves going on there
We get to our spot and its nice and calm and not a boat in sight for 10 miles. Out go the jacks and we are pulling..... within 30 minutes drag is screaming and Gator's on the rod. All you here is the real screaming and screaming and Gator yelling to turn the boat. He cant' get the thing stopped and about 2 minutes and a few head-shakes its over
Well, we pick ourselves up and keep on keeping on...... 5 minutes later a board gets hit, I set the hook and hand it to Charlie..... Good fish but not what we came for - only 19 lbs - but we've found some fish so we've got hope....
We keep working that area and 30 or 45 min later Charlie sees a huge black object some up and boil beside a planer. Thing thing looked like a boulder was dropped in the lake. I grab the rod and feel the bait running, the board pops about the same time the rod magically slips from my hand into Gators
He lets the bait lie and then it eats it and he slams that 10/0 hook home. FISH ON again! The reel screaming and the fish making a bee-line to a buoy. We turn the boat and Gator gets the fish turned - a shorter fight but when the fish rolls boat side we dropped our jaws. Could not get him in the net, but I used my new 60 lb Bogas to secure the fish. We'd accomplished everything we came to achieve - catch quality bait and land a monster striper on our own..... 46 lbs and 45"
Ever have your arm 1/2 way down a striper's mouth to remove the hook? Any those bass guys like to show off "bass thumb" - how about "striper forearm"
We were down to a few baits and they were going, so we picked up and ran back to the ramp and dropped of Gator to make a supply run, and then to the bait hole to reload with another 10 or 12 Jacks to fish the afternoon.... we pulled all afternoon in what was almost a gale-force wind with one other tug and then a boil just before sun-down - we just could not buy one more monster bite to get Charlie his monster fish...... but you know what - that just means we'll have to go back
It was an amazing, exhausting, trip with a couple of guys that are as passionate about striper fishing as I, and share the same beliefs of protecting and releasing trophy fish - we had a blast with tons of laughs the whole time. Thanks Charlie for hauling your rig down there and thanks Gator for all you did as well to make this trip happen!
Who cares - Gator's biggest striper to date.... for the moment 
He lets the bait lie and then it eats it and he slams that 10/0 hook home. FISH ON again! The reel screaming and the fish making a bee-line to a buoy. We turn the boat and Gator gets the fish turned - a shorter fight but when the fish rolls boat side we dropped our jaws. Could not get him in the net, but I used my new 60 lb Bogas to secure the fish. We'd accomplished everything we came to achieve - catch quality bait and land a monster striper on our own..... 46 lbs and 45" 
