Personal Best Striper

Started trying to hunt Stripers in the Ocean here in California when it became legal in 2013 to do so...

2013, 2014 and 2015 went by without having any success...saw a few here and there but nothing big and no good chance at a shot...

Starting in May of this year I started having a little more luck and got 5 over the course of a month between approx. 20 and 25 inches.

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2259

Still not really the size I was looking for, and hadn't gotten any killshots on film so kept trying...big swells in late June gave me a few skunks and a few aborted missions, but knew it was only a matter of time until I would get another chance...

On July 3rd I headed down to a local beach at first light and jumped in and swam out through the waves.

Was calm enough that I was able to get in close to shore and still see in between sets.

Didn't see any fish for the first few hours, then saw a school of nice sized ones at my 4 o'clock but they spooked and vanished as soon as I swung the gun around.

Half an hour later I saw a BIG fish come under me...it turned and started to swim off into the haze and I fired my Pathos 75 and my reel line took off. 

Wasn't sure how great the shot was so let it run....it ran for what seemed like forever and I started gently hand over handing up the reel line.

When I got to the bungie between the reel line and the shooting line I still couldn't see the fish but could feel it thrashing and it was pulling me through the water.

Pulled up a little more and saw the beast and could see that the shot looked solid right in her back so pulled in and got my legs around her and my hand in her throat and knew she was mine. 

Ripped her gills out and let the blood flow out while admiring how beautiful she was before swimming back into shore.

The walk back down the beach and to the car was hard with the heavy fish but it felt great to walk past the surf casters and see them all admire the fish.   

Taped out to a solid 43 inches and weighed 28 pounds.

My longest fish that I have ever shot (previous was a 41.25 inch Halibut in 2014), and am super stoked on finally getting a Surf Striper on film.



Here's some pics.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Bad ass!

That's an awesome fish!  Love how the video shows your return thru the surf too.

-Mark-

Killer! Nicely done!

Very cool. I wish we had stripers up here in Oregon. At least we have nice lingcod. I caught my personal best this year on hook and line. Similar size as your fish. 44" and 27lbs.


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Plans A and B for this weekend's diving fell through so decided to stay local.

Left house at 5am, in water by 6am right when sun was coming up.

Saw a few nice sized fish right away but they were moving quick and on the edge of my visibility and I couldn't get a good shot.

Little bit later I saw a fish going by off to my right and I swung the gun around almost 180 degrees and managed to get a shot into her shoulder and the shaft poked through her opposite gill plate and she just twitched.   

When I went to get her another one of the same size swam right by! 

Solid fish and contemplated quitting while I was ahead, but hadn't even been in the water half an hour so strung her up on my belt stringer and reloaded my gun.

Not even 5 minutes later I see a BIG fish cruising by and take my shot...shaft must have hit her spine because she just stopped and rolled over, and I was easily able to wrap my legs around her, rip her gills out and shove my shaft all the way through.

She looked a little shorter than last week's fish but was much thicker. 

Admired her for awhile then swam back in through the waves.

Landed right next to a surf caster who had been there last Sunday as well! Super cool guy named Jose and he was stoked for me!!   

Hike back to car was hard with gear and the two fish, but I made it back there before 7am...less than an hour after I left.   

Snapped some pics and measured the fish...big one taped out to 42.75 inches and weighed 31 pounds on an old ghetto scale, and the smaller one was 33.5 inches.

Was back home before 8am and the wife and girls were still asleep.   

Spent the rest of the morning enjoying the process of fileting both fish, eating the hearts, getting the otoliths out and admiring what beautiful specimens they were.

Feel very fortunate and grateful to have had the chance to take these two beautiful fish, AND to still be able to spend the whole day with my family before they head to Honduras today!!

I'm a lucky guy.   

Here is a vid and a ton of pics.



 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the report Jim.  Always nice to get the job done early and not miss a day with the family.

Very cool. I wish we had stripers up here in Oregon. At least we have nice lingcod. I caught my personal best this year on hook and line. Similar size as your fish. 44" and 27lbs.

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Where did you hear we don't have striped bass here in Oregon? 

The Umqua River has a decent population as does the Coos River. People pick them up surf fishing all the time (particularly southern Oregon).  About three years ago a 52 lb striped bass was landed in the Columbia Gorge area.

You make your own luck, Jim,   by being an outstanding fisherman.  Thanks for the great pic's and reports.