VIDEO and PHOTOS: 3 Big Stripers on 3 Drifts

One of the best parts of fishing is the people you meet.  It is also awesome to find out that people you already know love to fish, too! This day of fishing took place on my friend Chris Jez’s beautiful Grady White 336 Canyon, and featured all three anglers on board getting personal bests, on topwater, on the same 247Lures Elite Mully Spook, on back-to-back-to-back drifts!

I played lacrosse at Conard High School in West Hartford, CT with my brother Chris.  One of our rivals was Somers High School, and two of the better players on Somers were also brothers, Chris and Nick Jez.  We had some good battles in high school, and then in college we had some even better battles! My brother and I both played at Endicott, and both the Jez brothers went to rival schools (Chris at Springfield and Nick at Western New England).  Although we were enemies on the field we definitely respected each other and even played on the same teams in a few summer leagues.

Two years ago Chris and Nick reached out to me for some fishing tips because they had just picked up a nice little used boat perfect for the fishing they wanted to do.  I gave them the whole run down on what gear to buy, what lures to use, and what to look for when choosing a location to fish. They had some success in their first season and couldn’t wait for more!

Last year I met Chris and Nick at one of the fishing shows to introduce them to my friend Alain and to plan out some trips for the next year.

It wasn’t until late August that we finally got around to organizing a fishing trip.  It was at that time that I found out that they had replaced their old boat, and had purchased a beautiful brand new beast of a boat!  Everything on the boat is well thought out and it is a pleasure to fish from.  It is a little bigger than most boats I fish from, but it handles perfectly.

We launched early in the morning in a steady drizzle. Just as we began our search for bait, the rain started to come down hard, which made it difficult to spot the bunker schools.  After a good hour of freezing rain we couldn’t find any schools so we left the harbor and headed up the coast.

We decided to try a spot that has super shallow water close to deep water of over 50 feet.  It gives big bass the opportunity to come up and look for baitfish getting ripped over the shallow water when the tide is running, but also allows them to settle in deeper water as well.

On the first drift, I hooked up to the first striper of the day, a little schoolie.  I was using my new 7″ Elite Mully spook, in order to target the bigger bass, but turns out small fish like big plugs too! On the next drift both Nick and I hooked into small keepers, which gave some great signs of hope!

At this point I decided take the helm and give the brothers a chance to hook up on some quality fish. I gave Nick my rod with Mully and let Chris use a 247 Flipping Mullet.

This is when the madness started…

On the first drift, Chris’ Mullet kept getting hit, but the fish wouldn’t commit to the smaller spook.  As we were all watching the strikes on Chris’ lure, Nick’s Mully got demolished by a big fish.  After a great fight Nick landed his personal best Striped Bass on topwater. A nice 34-inch fish!

The next drift Nick gave his brother the rod with the 7″ Mully to see if he would have the same luck.  Towards the end of the drift Chris started learning how to work the lure, and it paid off when a big striper inhaled the plug and took a nice run away from the boat.  Chris did a great job fighting the fish around the boat, and eventually landed his personal best striper ever at 38 inches, which was his first fish ever on topwater!

I couldn’t believe the consistent action that the lure was getting.   It was a successful day already, but it was about to get even better!

Chris was so pumped up after landing his fish, he insisted I take my rod with the Mully back and get back on the bow for another drift.  This was the longest drift of the day without a strike, and I thought perhaps the bite was dieing down, or we had spooked the other fish in the shallow water.  However, at the very end of the drift I hooked into the biggest fish of my life!  The strike on the lure left a hole in the water that looked like someone dropped a bowling ball.  Before I knew it the fish was running against the tide and screaming drag off the reel, and I could tell this was a BIG fish!

I told Chris to get the boat in gear to chase the fish because I was worried about getting spooled, or the fish breaking me off in the shallow structure.  We tracked the fish down just as it finished its biggest run and thankfully it turned into the deeper water.

After a few more runs, the fish finally tired itself out and I was able to get it close enough to the boat for Chris to get it in the net.  The fish was so big that he couldn’t even lift it into the boat by himself, and it eventually took two of us to get it over the rail.  When the fish was safely on board I couldn’t believe it, and needless to say I was excited!

After untangling the bass from the net, I went over to lift it, and couldn’t believe how big it was!  The fish’s head was huge!  We took a couple pictures with the fish, mindful of the how long it was out of the water because I wanted to make sure she would be able to swim away safely.

I jumped over the back of the boat and got the fish in the water and started reviving her.  It took a couple minutes, but it wasn’t long before I felt the tell bite on my thumb that is the telltale sign letting me know she was getting ready to swim off.  I then held it’s tail for a little while longer before she kicked off and swam safely away!

After the fish swam away I was still in disbelief, and still am.  The fish taped out at a little over 45″, but unfortunately I never got the girth measurement to more accurately estimate her weight.  I won’t know if it officially weighed over 40 pounds, but it had to be close!  Its more important that the fish swam away safely than getting an accurate measurement.

It was an awesome day on the boat with Chris and Nick and I am so glad they invited me to go out with them.  I can’t wait for more trips next year on the Grady, and hopefully our first offshore trip as well!  I can’t wait to go back to the spot again next fall to see if I can beat my personal best in the same spot three years in a row!

~Joey Gugino blogs at Why Knot Fishing