Went striper fishing in the lower Connecticut River this morning. The topwater bite on the outgoing tide was great, but there were quite a few blues up to the 12~14 pound range mixed in with the bass. I’ve got nothing against bluefish. They bite aggressively, pull hard, and are more prone to an aerial battle than the stripers. I don’t even mind the number of lures they destroy or bite off. Fair trade for the sport they provide in my book.
I may not be their biggest fan, but I am not a bluefish hater, either. Why then, do they so actively hate me? Two years ago, I had a nice sized one hanging from the Boga-Grip while I used the hook remover to pop my (barbless) jig hook from its mouth. Somehow, the fish came off the Boga and started flailing and snapping its jaws wildly. This was the result…
Bluefish Revenge!
This morning, I hooked a big blue, and knowing it wasn’t a striper right off the bat, I tried to make as quick work of the battle as possible. The fish had hit a 9″ Slug-Go that I was fishing on my AllStar spinnerbait rod. The Revo STX reel was filled with 20# test Fireline, and the 8/0 hook was tied to a 4 foot leader of 30# Berkley Big Game. That’s my standard rigging for stripers (and the blues that so often come along with them) except in the winter, when I fish lighter fluoro line instead of the Fireline. Once I was a minute or two into the battle without getting chewed off, I knew I could put maximum pressure on the fish with little chance of losing it, and asked Alex for the Boga.
Dave and Steve were within talking distance, and Dave remarked, “That fish isn’t anywhere near ready for the boga,” “I’m just going to lean hard on it and get it ready quick,” I told Dave as I reached for the BogaGrip Alex had tossed me, adding, “What’s the worst that could happen? I might…” The rest of the sentence was going to be “lose it?” But at that instant, the fish, only about a dozen feet off the boat, put on a power move that popped the rod right out of my hand. Right out of my hand and into the river.
I don’t really remember, but I assume I uttered a few rather uncomplimentary remarks about the bluefish’s mother, and perhaps other relatives, as well. But I quickly picked up another rod and went about catching more stripers. Don’t think I caught another blue after that last one that I can’t say I actually caught.
On the ride home, Alex remarked that I had taken it amazingly well, and held my calm. “Ah, it was a 15 year old rod,” I replied, realizing as I said it, that I don’t keep a rod for 15 years unless I really like it. This was my favorite spinnerbait rod by a wide margin. And of course there’s nothing really like it available any more — a slow taper, heavy action, 6-6 casting rod that handled 3/8 ounce lures with the same ease that it handled 2 ounce lures. You just can’t get that kind of range with the faster action rods that are in vogue today.
If any blog readers happen to have an old All Star “Viper” series 6-6 heavy action casting rod handy, please let me know. Or, if you’re fishing the CT River or Long Island Sound and happen to catch a good sized bluefish that just happens to be dragging one with a Revo STX reel on it, I’ve got dibs, man, ’cause it’s mine!