Memorial Day Weekend Fishing

Massachusetts Striped Bass Association
Since 1950

The recreational anglers voice in Massachusetts

On the Water Over Memorial Day Weekend
Submitted by Jim Dow, MSBA President

My Memorial Day weekend was a very fun and memorable one thanks to a few MSBA members that I was able to share some time with
and I just wanted to thank them. I had an unbelievable time, caught some GREAT fish and learned a lot, which I seem to do at every
MSBA event, outing and function or just by simply spending time with any of the clubs members.

If you are new to the MSBA, please take my advice and interact with as many members as possible that this great club has, we are very
fortunate to have access to a wealth of knowledge, skill, experience and the willingness to share it all with other members.

On Friday, I spent the day with Jimmy Reeves and Bob "Doc" Brown aboard the "Chowdah Pot" with MSBA member, Captain Gene
Bernard. We had a great day and landed some beautiful striped bass. The weather was perfect and the fish Gods were cooperative.
We ran into Spray Editor Van Christie, he was out there in his boat "Karavi", filling his live well with mackerel like no tomorrow! It was
funny at first, because the four of us aboard the "Chowda Pot" were less than 100-feet away from him with 3 lines in the water trying to
pick up some bait and were having no luck. Even though Van was alone, I swear Tom "Food Dude" was under Van's boat hooking the
mackerel on for him. We were empty and Van was pulling up a full stringer every 3-4 minutes!!!! After a few minutes, the school of macks
made it to us and we were on, in no time, we were off to hunt for the big boys!

Once we got to the spot that Gene said we'd find the fish, sure enough, within a few minutes, the first rod went off. Of course being overly
excited, I was the first one to reach it and reeled in a 35-inch striper, what a beautiful fish and a great start. We stayed out for about
7-hours and boated about 10-12 fish as well as dropping a few. Gene, Jimmy and Doc landed some great looking stripers, we all had a
blast and a lot of laughs. Gene is a great Captain, a very gracious host and a great guy! It was an awesome day of fishing and the
weather was perfect. Thank you to Gene for everything, he never fails to find the fish!

On Saturday and Monday, I spent the days aboard "She's Hooked" with Joe & Pam Kearney. I have to say that I have not fished with
many more intense, focused or complete anglers than Pam, she is awesome! She is so smart when it comes to the how's and why's of
fishing, I have to say that I'm a better angler after the two days I spent with her. I can't wait to spend more time out there with her!

On Saturday it was just the three of us and all of Joe & Pam's focus was on getting me fish! Every time a rod went off, it was meant for
me, I actually started feeling bad, thinking they were going to get bored just watching me reel in all the fish! Pam assured me it was as
much fun for her to watch me reel them in, I'm not entirely sure if I believe that or not, but it worked for me, haha. Thankfully Pam took the
rod a couple of times and made me feel better. On Saturday, the biggest I caught was a 40-inch striper, I must've looked like a little kid
that got everything that he wanted on Christmas morning after I reeled that one in!

A short time later, I saw something break the surface about 200-yards from where we were so Joe headed over in that direction. Within
minutes of reaching the area, one of the lines went off. I flipped the bait runner and picked up the rod. All of the sudden, the reel started to
scream, I had NEVER seen or experienced such a thing before, Pam ran over and tried to adjust the drag, thinking it was too loose, it
wasn't, whatever picked up the bait was very big, very strong and very fast! Within 20-30 seconds, it peeled out about 250-yards of line
and snapped off at the reel! For the first time ever, I got spooled! Me, Joe and Pam just stood there for a couple of minutes with our
mouths wide open, trying to fathom what just happened! We just looked at each other and said do you believe what just happened????
It had to have been a bluefin tuna based on how hard and fast it hit and ran, it was awesome!!!

On Monday, Arthur Kaplan joined us, Pam warned me about how funny and entertaining Arthur is, I must say, she wasn't lying, haha.
Some of the stories he came up with were very funny. A lot of anglers will focus on the bait, the bite and the fish, Arthur was telling me a
story about cooking burgers and stuff in the middle of the action, it was very funny to hear the stories. We told Arthur about being spooled
the last time out and joked about it as we headed out. Mid-way through the day, one of the rods went off, when I hit the bait runner and
picked up the rod, it began to scream like the previous day, Pam and I just looked at each other and said no way!!! After a few seconds,
it slowed down but we could all tell it was a big fish! I had never felt anything like it before, I couldn't do anything but wait for her to get
tired, it was like pulling a cinder block through mud! After a while a few other club members arrived in the scene to see what was going
on. Mike Bousaleh in "Ave Maria" and Ronny Munafo in "Raider Nation" were close by to watch the final few minutes of the fight.

By the time I got it to the boat, I was exhausted, it took almost 15-minutes to get her aboard. It turned out to be a 45-inch striped bass that
weighed in at almost 34-pounds. That was my biggest fish ever, thanks Pam and Joe!!!!! For the next few minutes, I got a bunch of
congrats from other nearby club boaters including Bill & Jules aboard "Alternative" and Frank Mazzulli aboard "Mazarati". Frank asked if
I was done shaking yet which seemed like a funny question, but the answer was NO, it took a while to get over the adrenaline rush that
the fish provided for me.

Overall, it was by far my best weekend of fishing in my life. I caught more fish over 35-inches (including my biggest ever) than I had
caught combined! Thanks to the knowledge, talent and experience of the MSBA members that got me out there and into the fish, I was
able to have such a fun and productive time. Finding the fish is one thing but helping with the technique to actually land the fish is another
thing. I couldn't have done it without all my friends over the weekend, so thank you to you all, you guys all rock!

Below are some of the pictures from the weekend, if you click on the thumbnails, a larger image will open in a new window so you can
just close it out after you've viewed it.