Hey Fly Tiers...What's In The Vise?

[rgfixit]

Foam for sure. You could heat the edges and pinch them down.

So...stripers eat oyster crackers? Do they resemble baby crabs or something?

RG

[Bartman44]

Foam for sure. You could heat the edges and pinch them down.

So...stripers eat oyster crackers? Do they resemble baby crabs or something?

RG

Yes, matching the hatch    Have to go out to dinner now but I'll tell the tale when I get back. Stay tuned.

[Bartman44]

Foam for sure. You could heat the edges and pinch them down.

So...stripers eat oyster crackers? Do they resemble baby crabs or something?

RG

Ok RG, here's the story. About a month ago I was visiting the Mystic  Aquarium in CT with my wife, son and girlfriend (that would be my son's girlfriend). After the tour, my son wanted to take us to lunch and he recommended a place called Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in nearby Naonk which is right on the ocean. While ordering I glanced to my right and noticed a sign the said something like "the stripers swimming under our pier prefer oyster crackers over potato chips. Please don't feed them potato chips." I didn't think much of it until I was eating lunch on their deck over the ocean when a guy at the far corner flipped a small object in the water (oyster cracker) and a shadow came out of nowhere and sipped the cracker  right off the surface just like a Delaware brown trout taking a mayfly. I said "***censored****?" it was a striped bass about  30 inches.  I then noticed that I had eaten all my oyster crackers but had a small piece a crab meat left so I went out and tossed it the water - nothing.  I went back to our table and when we were done my son was glancing over the side and said "Get over here" When we looked down there were about 15 stripers looking up at us like koi fish looking for a handout. Some of these fish pushed 15 pounds. I was dumbfounded and wished I had brought my fishing gear. These fish were wild, were not in a pen and able to roam freely about in the ocean but had taken a liking for the establishment's oyster crackers. When I got home,  out of curiosity, I went to You Tube and typed in  Abbott's / stripers - evidence below.

Naturally, my evil fishing mind started working. I probably will never get to Alaska or other remote destination so I have to find adventure and challenges close to home. I've already found  a nearby kayak launch and plan to launch at dawn (before Abbott's opens) and cast an Oyster Cracker dry fly (maybe a tandem fly) at these critters. If I pull it off it will be another Bartman fish story in books and I can tell my grandchildren that a caught a 15 pound striper on an oyster cracker fly (or was arrested trying to do so).

Here's some proof so you won't think I'm crackers. Avid striper fisherman may find these videos disturbing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXq0eLcMKHQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jje9VIn9aIA         

[rgfixit]

That was/is a great story. Talk about your apex predator. You sir, are a true fisherman.

Now I'll tell you a story.

My family had a cottage on a lake when I was growing up. There was a very well to do clan with a huge estate in the town nearby. On that estate was a swan pond. People came from miles around to feed bread to the swans, ducks, geese and fish. The fish in the pond were carp and bullhead. The bullhead were huge, if at least to a 10 year old. They would slurp bread off the surface all day long. Very well trained.

Long story short, the town police returned me to our cottage with my bicycle, a bag of bread, a hunk of braided fishing line with a hook, a stringer full of bullhead and a demand for payment of damages by the owner of the pond. As I recall, Dad gave the cop $20 and we cleaned the bullhead for dinner. I never went back to that pond for "feed the bullhead" again...........during the day.

RG

[trapper2000]

was a  small  stream that ran right by the  trooper  barracks where i  grew  up , a stream to  fish and  trap  catch crayfish  and  explore ,  a stream  to  spear  suckers  in the  spring ....  a  stream where  very large  pike would  spawn ... wait  young boy +spear+large  pike +  troopers   = you  get the  idea  , back in the  days of comman sence  a  trooper simply   scared  you  and sent you  home  and  talked  to your dad  .....  and  RG ,we ate  the  northerns too

[fishing mechanic]

Good reads.....cheers gents. Kids growing fast Jay.

[KingPerch]

Great stories guys!! --KP

[rgfixit]

KP,
I think I still owe you some uglies in exchange for the rat you sent me. By the way...don't let JR read all this. Relating our sordid pasts might fuel some off color ideas in an otherwise fine young mind.

I mean ...really Trapper....spearing pike.....shame on you!

RG

[trapper2000]

statute of limitations ran out ...however  the   "talk"  the  trooper  gave  me   will  always  be  there  ....  as  i look  back  i  realize  ,  he  was  doing  me  one  big  favor..... and  he  took the  time  to  "impress on me " breaking  the  law  was  a  very  serious  matter !!!! 

and  no worrys  KP  jr  is  smarter  then  we  were  at  that  age  ^5

[Deadeyez]

Great stories guys!  That is pretty neat vid of the stripers! 

[trapper2000]

i  got  2  bags  of  oyster crackers   for  chum  ...ya  never  know  and  it was a  awesome  vid!

[Bartman44]

Bad Boys, bad boys. . . maybe we should change the name of this thread to Felony Fly Tyers.   

As a side note on Abbott's, very good food and it's also a BYOB place which was cool if anyone is ever in that area. 

I thought about chumming with real crackers to get them worked up but thought that would be cheating (maybe just a fly fishing misdemeanor)

Anyway, need to get some light tan foam first and start tying.   

[rgfixit]

Let us know what the bail is. You can pay us off in striper fillets.

Rg

[Dark Cloud]

Nice uglies RG, and stories all... 

We had a little field trip to the neighbors pond this weekend...

[trapper2000]

fished the river  today  no problem catching  lunch  then  i went  to  the  other side and  had  some  fun  with the  bass  on  clousers  was a  nice  day  even is  i  got  soaked