First keeper Striper of 2012

I'm running way behind on my posts thanks to work, work and more work and Captain Scotty is claiming I refuse to write this post because he out fished us, but that is jut not true.  Now let go of my arm Scott.

The spring striper run here in CT is one that many folks wait for with baited breath.  Fishing last years run was dampened thanks to all the spring rain and storms we had, and with the dry spring this year we were expected a early and heated run.  So when Captain Scotty called and offered up a boat rid for his first striper trip of the year I jumped at it, of course that was after checking with the boss if it was okay to go fishing on our anniversary.  Thankfully she is a great wife and said yes.

Capt. Scotty with the first keeper of 2012

I met Scott and his son Dylan at 5am at the local store for some gas for the boat and some starter fluid for the 3 of us and off to the river we went.  We hit the launch in Hartford only to find a line of fisherman waiting for the gates to open and no one knew when they would.  We gave it about 15 minutes, which was pretty good considering how impatient we were and decided to head south to another launch and it was a smart move as we had no wait to get the boat wet.

As we set up for the first drift we started looking for signs of life and it was void of any.  Not what we were hoping for but this is a drift that usually produces a few fish.  Half way through the drift, Dylan had a good hit but it was a swing and a miss.  I watched a fish come up and smack some bait, but couldn't get one to bite or follow.  We setup for another drift and that produced nothing and as we were reeling up to setup for another drift Scott got slammed and had that fish on for about a minute before it came unbuttoned.  One more drift and another sniff but nothing so we moved to our second spot and repeated.

I missed a run off on this drift and Scott got whacked again so we setup one more time and at the end of the drift Scott finally got the hook set and the first keeper linesider of the year was in the boat, well, after a few misses by the net man Dylan. Another drift or two with nothing and it was on to spot three which was occupied with two other boats and no one catching anything.  By then it was 1pm and the river was getting crowded so we decided to pack it in and head home.

It wasn't what we had hoped for but a keeper is a keeper and Scott has the bragging rights for now, but all it takes is one good fish to change the tide.