# Another Back Yard Striper - Incredible !!!



## Desert Eagle (Apr 25, 2012)

Barefoot's report from 2-21 got me to craving a Spec dinner. Checked the weather late last night and it seemed the rain would not begin until mid-morning today. Up at 0500hrs and crap, raining. Drank coffee until about 0700 and the rain stopped. Walked down to the dock and the Pelicans and Loons were really having a ball an noticed a 6-8" half dead Silver Mullet floundering next to the dock. I tossed a 1oz Badonk-A-donk, tied to an Abu Garcia Inshore reel, into the mix and I experienced one of the most amazing top water explosions I had ever seen - twice!!! It seemed that I needed bigger tackle so ran back to the storage house and grabbed my Abu Garcia 60 Series NaCl with a 6" Bomber tied to it. First cast and KA-BOOM!!! The first pic is the fish - 37" & 25lbs7oz. The 2nd pic is me showing off my Abu Garcia hooded sweat shirt. The 3rd pic is my lure next to the 5 Mullet that was inside the Striper!!!


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## pcola4 (Apr 13, 2009)

Sweet!


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

Dude.... THAT'S how it's done! Way to go man. I wanna get a big striper so bad. Definitely on my list. Loving the Abu gear too.


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## 153 Large fish (Nov 30, 2013)

Man what a fish!....how was the fight?...great catch


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## 60hertz (Oct 1, 2007)

Impressive.


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## LIM-IT-OUT (Aug 26, 2014)

That's it im comin over. ill set up a tent in your backyard and not leave until I get one hahaha.

beyond envious GREAT WORK BUD


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Dang....way ta get that fatty!!!!


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## ifish911 (May 21, 2014)

Nice report. I catch them on a river dam like that on top water. They are some strong fish. Thanks for sharing. Now where do you live. LOL


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## jonscott8 (Jan 18, 2015)

Another awesome catch, congrats.


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## Reel fishing girl 86 (Sep 4, 2014)

So I've always wanted to catch one mind if I use your backyard ? Nice fish I'm kinda jelous makes me want to go fishing but the weather is crappy again .


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Super nice fish brother ! :thumbup::notworthy:


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## chaps (Aug 31, 2009)

Wow. I'm impressed! Great catch


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## WAReilly (Jun 2, 2014)

Nice striper! !


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## cobe killer (Apr 13, 2008)

very nice striper and report!!!!!


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## submariner (Oct 2, 2007)

some days are like that- nice and easy and exciting. Others you have to work for it. Glad your day was one of the easy ones and thanks for sharing.


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## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

Hellofva striper...they are great fighters...don't quite have bellies like that here in the lakes...but they don't get to eat mullet, only gizzard shad! Thanks for the pics.


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## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

Sweet!!! Pre-stuffed fish!! You coulda slid it straight into the oven!

Nice rod n reel combo too.

BTW, is that still commotion going on behind you to your left?????


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

Back when I lived in Bama we would target those this time of year at Smith Lake. I was always told the ones that big were not very good to eat......of course I have been told that a bunch of times about various fish. Please tell me I did not release about a million pounds of good eating fish!!!!


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## Fielro (Jun 4, 2012)

Nice fish. Congrats


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Striper are great to eat if you don't freeze them IME. They get mushy if you freeze them. Now strippers..... different.


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## coltongunner (Sep 4, 2013)

Awesome catch!


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## Buckyt (Oct 1, 2007)

Wow, that is a beauty!
It's nice to catch them right off the dock. When I have done that, my wife looks like she is thinking"why do you need that boat"?


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## h2o4u (Dec 1, 2011)

Great job, definitely the catch of the year so far!


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## Jeffbro999#2 (Feb 17, 2014)

Awesome fish for sure! How was the fight, did it try wrapping you in those trees or anything? Seems like they always know right where the structure is.


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## Bigwill4life (Mar 3, 2009)

Where is your back yard... LOL...NICE fish.


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## Desert Eagle (Apr 25, 2012)

Appreciate all the comments. I do want reply to some. First of all - kanaka's comment about "pre-stuffed fish" was really accurate. Look again at the photo of the 5 Mullet that was in the fish. My 6" lure is laying beside the largest Mullet - that Mullet is 10" long!!! Heck, that Mullet was big enough to eat. The fish was large but NOT the largest caught in this area. A 30 pounder was landed here a couple of years ago. That angler was free lining a large Blue Gill. One afternoon, a large school of Stripers came in here and I caught 12 within just a few minutes. A few weeks ago, an angler caught 3 in 3 casts - 3-5 pounds each.

Was this a good fight??? Yes it was and I have no idea how long it took to land/boat him. On the initial hook-up, a number of thoughts ran thru my mind: damn, this is a HUGE fish - I wonder if I have a good enough hook-up so I can at least see what it is, as my drag was smoking - plus, the rod I was using is like fishing with a 2 X 4 X 8 and it was bent very much - then I had to climb down into my boat that was against the dock in order to be close enough to the surface to net him - then he rolled over near the surface and a new thought occurred - my net isn't large enough!!! But I could see that I had a very good hook-up - one heavy treble in his upper and another in his lower lips. By this time both the fish and I both are worn out and I still have to figure out how to get the fish out of the water. Picture this. I place the rod handle under my right knee, lay the rod across my left elbow (this fishing rig is almost $500 and I'm not holding on to it), run my left hand into his mouth, grab his lower jaw, and with a rag in my right hand I grab his tail just above the tail fin. I then fall straight backwards into the boat. America's Funniest Home Videos would have enjoyed that. 

It wasn't the fish of the year!!! Lim-it-out, ThaFish, Reel Fishing Girl, 153 Large Fish, and the rest of the bull chasers @ the 3MB have caught larger fish - but I may have the largest Striper this year - so far. But as with other inshore anglers, I still need to get my 40+ inch bull Red, and it WILL happen!!!

VERY tight lines, everyone...


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## mystic fishermen (Sep 4, 2014)

oh man dang im with yall time to get on some stripers nice catch thanks for the report


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Damn nice fish


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## Amarillo Palmira (Jan 2, 2010)

oh man! That is a huge one!! I've been lookng for some more and bigger ones and that one is BIG! Congrats! It is hard for me to stop fishing for them once I've gotten a big one. I should have started fishing for bass already, but I keep looking for that big striper!


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## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

DE;

That is a great trophy!
Lol, I wish we could have gotten the fight and balancing act on film.

Nicely done, great photos, great story.


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