Money man
Senior Member
12/30/2009
“I value my time fishing but I value my time fishing with friends even more.” Money man
Let me just say that I am one lucky man: one lucky man indeed! This time one year ago, I had never caught a striper, never been striper fishing and really didn’t even know what the heck a striper was!
That was then, this is now.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am still mostly ignorant on the habits and feeding patterns and other technical aspects of the much celebrated Morone Saxatilis or as we simple folk like to call them…….Stripers! However, I learned at an early age that many times in life, it is not what you know that is important but rather…..Who you know!
This is my story of being lucky and making friends. I mentioned luck before because as luck would have it, I took the time to join the GON forum community and soon found many friends. One in particular was especially enamored with the previously mentioned Morone Saxatilis and after spending time reading his stories and watching videos of the most awesome jetboat in Georgia, I decided that I need to meet this guy because what he is doing is just too cool! So I decided to send our very own “Cardsfan” a PM and introduced myself. I soon worked up the courage to make him an offer that I hoped he would not refuse. It was simple enough, one trip in his boat for one trip in my boat. Now as you guys might have read in the past, I really kind of pulled a fast one on ole Cardsfan because his boat consisted of a fire breathing rip roaring jet marine propulsion beast
while my boat consisted of a little bit of fiberglass with a 4hp electric motor as primary propulsion. However, I didn’t spend a lot of time going into the details of my side of the bargain.
Not actual boat:
See what I mean? The poor guy never saw it coming. I almost felt kind of sorry for him, like maybe I should throw in some shiny beads or beaver pelts to even the trade…..but I digress. So to skip ahead, he, Jeff C and I had a great trip on the river chasing stripers. It was one of the most memorable fishing experiences I have ever had and as we made our way home, I knew I had made a new friend. We ended the day by somehow finagling another trip with this striper seeker on the lake instead of the river when the weather turned colder. This time, I did not even bring out the shiny beads and beaver pelts as part of the offering!
In the meantime, I spent some time reading more of his stories and looking at all of the pics that his wife Julie aka Mrscardsfan kept posting up and I soon realized that this couple has something special in more ways than one, they actually enjoy fishing……TOGETHER! What an amazing concept. So being the kind of guy I am, I decided that hey, if Lee is a good guy, I really need to meet Julie: his even better half. So being the expert negotiator, I “negotiated” to have Julie join us when we decided to fish together again. At least that is the story the way that I am telling it. So now it was time to wait and wait and wait but they do say that good things happen to those who wait and nearly five months later……it happened.
I get a voice message early on Wednesday morning that the stars and the moon have aligned once again and I have a spot on the jetboat if I am interested. A quick check in with the boss (my wife) and I have the green light and a kitchen pass. (Sidenote)The funny thing about when your wife is off work for two weeks and you have spent the last 7 days together, they become much more “agreeable” with your decision to go fishing. In the meantime, my wife asked me if I had checked the forecast and did I know that it was supposed to be cold and wet. I guess maybe Lee pulled a fast one on me this time because I had no idea we were in for rain. Regardless, I was excited to share a boat with him again and stoked about meeting Julie for the first time. For any of you guys wondering what the big deal is about meeting Julie, take a quick stroll through the picture album in Cardsfan’s profile and look at all of the big stripers and cats that Julie has boated and you will see why I was so enamored by her fish catching ability . I am just glad both of them are a good sport with all of my past teasing about having a crush on her.
Well the morning starts off with me rolling out of bed and looking out the window at the dark and the rain; not a little rain but a lot of rain. I make my way up the highway for close to an hour and Lee calls to let me know we might be held up with a little “truck” trouble. No problems, don’t mind a bit, just glad we are not cancelling! It is still pouring rain and dark and cold but there is no whining in fishing so I continue my trek northward.
(another side note)
For anyone relatively new to the boards, here is the link to our write up for the summer river fishing trip if interested in learning more about this experience.
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=398827&highlight=fishing+tribute
(back to the story)
As I came to the exit where I was to meet Lee, I readied a small token of appreciation that I wanted to give Lee. It was not an expensive item but I figured I would share it with you guys. You see, Lee has a brand new job that came just at the right time and I knew he would be in a new work environment and even traveling a little bit for some training. So I figured he needed to have a picture of the two women in his life to keep at his desk. So I remembered a picture that was my most favorite and I had it printed and put into a small magnetic wallet in a 5x7 size. I made two of them and Julie and I stuck them on the side of Lee’s truck while he went into the store. This picture was from some time back, before I had met him but I think it speaks for itself…..except to clarify that Julie WAS NOT driving when the boat landed this way! There Julie, that is for you.
Here is the link to that story: http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=116553&highlight=
We all got a good laugh and continued to the lake. The rain was still coming down but nothing like before and to be honest, I was a little relieved. As we all got situated and started fishing, we were using some beautiful trout as bait and the thing I have learned about trout versus shad is that they are much much heartier and seem to stay frisky much longer. However, I can see the wisdom in having some threadfin and gizzard shad in the tank as well, just as most bass fishermen have more than one lure in their arsenal. We were running a couple of planer boards, a balloon and a couple of downlines. I learned which size trout are best to use in each situation and it doesn’t matter what color balloon you use, even pink is ok. We were fishing for about 20 minutes and I noticed a bump on one of the planer board rods that I happened to be standing right beside. Suddenly, the thing just disappears for a second and the rod tip bends over like we stuck a concrete block. Being the new guy on the boat, I reached for the rod and prayed the fish would stick and as luck would have it, it did. I held the rod tip high and the drag was peeling off and continued to do so as I could feel this fish was no 5lber and it felt awesome! I remember Julie’s words “that’s a big fish” and I had confidence that she knew what she was talking about. The drag continued ripping out and I asked Lee was the drag tight enough because I was not getting any traction on the fish at all. He checked it quickly and two clicks later and it was right and tight but the fish was not moving. We stopped the boat and I kept tension on the line but I no longer felt the movement of the fish and my heart sank. We all know the mechanical actions of a pulley system that rock climbers use with their rappelling ropes. Where one person can control the descent of another, well, big fish know this system also because this fish quickly ran for cover and decided to put a stop to his “descent” into my boat by wrapping us around and over and maybe even under the nearest tree possible. What is a guy to do?
I don’t know what the right answer is but this guy waited and held the line tight but not too tight. My hope was that the fish would swim out of that cover and free himself because the water was too cold for me to swim in after him. Remember I mentioned in the beginning that I was a lucky guy? Well, my luck held and after what seemed like an eternity, I felt movement again from a live fish and he stripped more drag out but he was starting to tire and he finally broke the surface and I heard Julie again but this time much more animated “Whooaaa….big fish…hehehe.” That joy that Lee and Julie showed at seeing me catch my largest striper so far is something that is admirable in my opinion. They were truly happy to be there with me, making these memories and it was awesome. Lee slipped the boga’s into his mouth and we had fish In the boat. A quick round of high 5’s and I had to let out a little “woohoo” myself. 23lbs is my largest striper to date and wow was it a blast.
As we settled back into the grove of trolling and fishing, the weather was actually warming a bit and what had been a drizzle turned into a really heavy low hanging fog that covered the water. We continued to work some points and ledges and I decided I needed to get some pics of Lee and Julie in action. Note how Lee is able to manage a plotted course with the remote control of the trolling motor while watching the depth finder, watching the rods, planer boards and balloons, and yelling “drop the downlines to 20 feet” all while managing to enjoy the taste of cigar and carrying on a conversation. Simply amazing.
Meanwhile, Julie was able to manage a wonderful perspective on life while telling Lee to "slow down, use your turn signal, you are going too fast, we are lost" all from the back of the boat. OK, maybe I am projecting a little here and she didn’t really say all of that stuff.
But can you blame her if she did? Look at how Lee was trying to give her the bunny ears.
Whatever it was she was saying, Lee should have listened because a few minutes later and one of our planer boards that was huggin the bank about 6 feet off of it got hit and hit hard. Julie raised the rod tip up and it was fish on! I knew to get out of the way but was amazed when she called out to me to come reel this fish in and I said “No way…..that is your fish.” I watched her patiently work that fish like a pro and as Lee slipped the boga in the mouth of a fish for the second time that day, another round of high 5’s. The fish weighed in at 15lbs, both of these fish were larger than any I had ever caught before. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I think Julie’s pb is 35lbs! No matter, this was a nice fish and a great fight.
The fish started to blurt something out but Julie quickly cupped her hands around its mouth before it could say anything and I snapped my picture. Something tells me it was going to make a comment about the pink headband but I am not sure.
We fished the remainder of the day but never had another bite and we lost our daylight, what little we had as the clock counted down. I wanted to make sure that I had some more shots of me and my friends to put into the ole scrap book of fishing memories and Lee and Julie both obliged. I was even able to get a hug out of Julie and Lee didn’t make me walk to plank as Julie snapped a pic of the two of us.
Some people might come to the end of this story and think that this was a story about fish and worry about where we were fishing, how many were caught and how much did they weigh. But for folks who concentrate on those silly details, you are missing the overall point of the adventure for this day wasn’t just about fishing, it was about making friendships stronger and spending time on the water with absolutely wonderful people.
I said earlier that I have been lucky to spend time and meet some great people this past year in 2009 but the truth be told, I have been blessed. I will use this moment to thank every person that I have fished with this year and met from the GON forum and tell you all that I appreciate you and I appreciate the time you have taken away from your other duties, obligations, chores and even family members and shared a little bit of it with me. I am a better person for it.
Happy New Year!
MM
PS: Lee, I think that striper that Julie caught was trying to tell you where his 40lb daddy would be hanging out the next time you are fishing there. So you need to watch Julie, she got the low down!
“I value my time fishing but I value my time fishing with friends even more.” Money man
Let me just say that I am one lucky man: one lucky man indeed! This time one year ago, I had never caught a striper, never been striper fishing and really didn’t even know what the heck a striper was!
That was then, this is now.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am still mostly ignorant on the habits and feeding patterns and other technical aspects of the much celebrated Morone Saxatilis or as we simple folk like to call them…….Stripers! However, I learned at an early age that many times in life, it is not what you know that is important but rather…..Who you know!
This is my story of being lucky and making friends. I mentioned luck before because as luck would have it, I took the time to join the GON forum community and soon found many friends. One in particular was especially enamored with the previously mentioned Morone Saxatilis and after spending time reading his stories and watching videos of the most awesome jetboat in Georgia, I decided that I need to meet this guy because what he is doing is just too cool! So I decided to send our very own “Cardsfan” a PM and introduced myself. I soon worked up the courage to make him an offer that I hoped he would not refuse. It was simple enough, one trip in his boat for one trip in my boat. Now as you guys might have read in the past, I really kind of pulled a fast one on ole Cardsfan because his boat consisted of a fire breathing rip roaring jet marine propulsion beast
while my boat consisted of a little bit of fiberglass with a 4hp electric motor as primary propulsion. However, I didn’t spend a lot of time going into the details of my side of the bargain.
Not actual boat:
See what I mean? The poor guy never saw it coming. I almost felt kind of sorry for him, like maybe I should throw in some shiny beads or beaver pelts to even the trade…..but I digress. So to skip ahead, he, Jeff C and I had a great trip on the river chasing stripers. It was one of the most memorable fishing experiences I have ever had and as we made our way home, I knew I had made a new friend. We ended the day by somehow finagling another trip with this striper seeker on the lake instead of the river when the weather turned colder. This time, I did not even bring out the shiny beads and beaver pelts as part of the offering!
In the meantime, I spent some time reading more of his stories and looking at all of the pics that his wife Julie aka Mrscardsfan kept posting up and I soon realized that this couple has something special in more ways than one, they actually enjoy fishing……TOGETHER! What an amazing concept. So being the kind of guy I am, I decided that hey, if Lee is a good guy, I really need to meet Julie: his even better half. So being the expert negotiator
, I “negotiated” to have Julie join us when we decided to fish together again. At least that is the story the way that I am telling it. So now it was time to wait and wait and wait but they do say that good things happen to those who wait and nearly five months later……it happened.I get a voice message early on Wednesday morning that the stars and the moon have aligned once again and I have a spot on the jetboat if I am interested. A quick check in with the boss (my wife) and I have the green light and a kitchen pass. (Sidenote)The funny thing about when your wife is off work for two weeks and you have spent the last 7 days together, they become much more “agreeable” with your decision to go fishing. In the meantime, my wife asked me if I had checked the forecast and did I know that it was supposed to be cold and wet. I guess maybe Lee pulled a fast one on me this time because I had no idea we were in for rain. Regardless, I was excited to share a boat with him again and stoked about meeting Julie for the first time. For any of you guys wondering what the big deal is about meeting Julie, take a quick stroll through the picture album in Cardsfan’s profile and look at all of the big stripers and cats that Julie has boated and you will see why I was so enamored by her fish catching ability . I am just glad both of them are a good sport with all of my past teasing about having a crush on her.
Well the morning starts off with me rolling out of bed and looking out the window at the dark and the rain; not a little rain but a lot of rain. I make my way up the highway for close to an hour and Lee calls to let me know we might be held up with a little “truck” trouble. No problems, don’t mind a bit, just glad we are not cancelling! It is still pouring rain and dark and cold but there is no whining in fishing so I continue my trek northward.
(another side note)
For anyone relatively new to the boards, here is the link to our write up for the summer river fishing trip if interested in learning more about this experience.
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=398827&highlight=fishing+tribute
(back to the story)
As I came to the exit where I was to meet Lee, I readied a small token of appreciation that I wanted to give Lee. It was not an expensive item but I figured I would share it with you guys. You see, Lee has a brand new job that came just at the right time and I knew he would be in a new work environment and even traveling a little bit for some training. So I figured he needed to have a picture of the two women in his life to keep at his desk. So I remembered a picture that was my most favorite and I had it printed and put into a small magnetic wallet in a 5x7 size. I made two of them and Julie and I stuck them on the side of Lee’s truck while he went into the store. This picture was from some time back, before I had met him but I think it speaks for itself…..except to clarify that Julie WAS NOT driving when the boat landed this way! There Julie, that is for you.
Here is the link to that story: http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=116553&highlight=
We all got a good laugh and continued to the lake. The rain was still coming down but nothing like before and to be honest, I was a little relieved. As we all got situated and started fishing, we were using some beautiful trout as bait and the thing I have learned about trout versus shad is that they are much much heartier and seem to stay frisky much longer. However, I can see the wisdom in having some threadfin and gizzard shad in the tank as well, just as most bass fishermen have more than one lure in their arsenal. We were running a couple of planer boards, a balloon and a couple of downlines. I learned which size trout are best to use in each situation and it doesn’t matter what color balloon you use, even pink is ok. We were fishing for about 20 minutes and I noticed a bump on one of the planer board rods that I happened to be standing right beside. Suddenly, the thing just disappears for a second and the rod tip bends over like we stuck a concrete block. Being the new guy on the boat, I reached for the rod and prayed the fish would stick and as luck would have it, it did. I held the rod tip high and the drag was peeling off and continued to do so as I could feel this fish was no 5lber and it felt awesome! I remember Julie’s words “that’s a big fish” and I had confidence that she knew what she was talking about. The drag continued ripping out and I asked Lee was the drag tight enough because I was not getting any traction on the fish at all. He checked it quickly and two clicks later and it was right and tight but the fish was not moving. We stopped the boat and I kept tension on the line but I no longer felt the movement of the fish and my heart sank. We all know the mechanical actions of a pulley system that rock climbers use with their rappelling ropes. Where one person can control the descent of another, well, big fish know this system also because this fish quickly ran for cover and decided to put a stop to his “descent” into my boat by wrapping us around and over and maybe even under the nearest tree possible. What is a guy to do?
I don’t know what the right answer is but this guy waited and held the line tight but not too tight. My hope was that the fish would swim out of that cover and free himself because the water was too cold for me to swim in after him. Remember I mentioned in the beginning that I was a lucky guy? Well, my luck held and after what seemed like an eternity, I felt movement again from a live fish and he stripped more drag out but he was starting to tire and he finally broke the surface and I heard Julie again but this time much more animated “Whooaaa….big fish…hehehe.” That joy that Lee and Julie showed at seeing me catch my largest striper so far is something that is admirable in my opinion. They were truly happy to be there with me, making these memories and it was awesome. Lee slipped the boga’s into his mouth and we had fish In the boat. A quick round of high 5’s and I had to let out a little “woohoo” myself. 23lbs is my largest striper to date and wow was it a blast.
As we settled back into the grove of trolling and fishing, the weather was actually warming a bit and what had been a drizzle turned into a really heavy low hanging fog that covered the water. We continued to work some points and ledges and I decided I needed to get some pics of Lee and Julie in action. Note how Lee is able to manage a plotted course with the remote control of the trolling motor while watching the depth finder, watching the rods, planer boards and balloons, and yelling “drop the downlines to 20 feet” all while managing to enjoy the taste of cigar and carrying on a conversation. Simply amazing.
Meanwhile, Julie was able to manage a wonderful perspective on life while telling Lee to "slow down, use your turn signal, you are going too fast, we are lost" all from the back of the boat. OK, maybe I am projecting a little here and she didn’t really say all of that stuff.
Whatever it was she was saying, Lee should have listened because a few minutes later and one of our planer boards that was huggin the bank about 6 feet off of it got hit and hit hard. Julie raised the rod tip up and it was fish on! I knew to get out of the way but was amazed when she called out to me to come reel this fish in and I said “No way…..that is your fish.” I watched her patiently work that fish like a pro and as Lee slipped the boga in the mouth of a fish for the second time that day, another round of high 5’s. The fish weighed in at 15lbs, both of these fish were larger than any I had ever caught before. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I think Julie’s pb is 35lbs! No matter, this was a nice fish and a great fight.
The fish started to blurt something out but Julie quickly cupped her hands around its mouth before it could say anything and I snapped my picture. Something tells me it was going to make a comment about the pink headband but I am not sure.
We fished the remainder of the day but never had another bite and we lost our daylight, what little we had as the clock counted down. I wanted to make sure that I had some more shots of me and my friends to put into the ole scrap book of fishing memories and Lee and Julie both obliged. I was even able to get a hug out of Julie and Lee didn’t make me walk to plank as Julie snapped a pic of the two of us.
Some people might come to the end of this story and think that this was a story about fish and worry about where we were fishing, how many were caught and how much did they weigh. But for folks who concentrate on those silly details, you are missing the overall point of the adventure for this day wasn’t just about fishing, it was about making friendships stronger and spending time on the water with absolutely wonderful people.
I said earlier that I have been lucky to spend time and meet some great people this past year in 2009 but the truth be told, I have been blessed. I will use this moment to thank every person that I have fished with this year and met from the GON forum and tell you all that I appreciate you and I appreciate the time you have taken away from your other duties, obligations, chores and even family members and shared a little bit of it with me. I am a better person for it.
Happy New Year!
MM
PS: Lee, I think that striper that Julie caught was trying to tell you where his 40lb daddy would be hanging out the next time you are fishing there. So you need to watch Julie, she got the low down!
