San Antonio - there was a bit o' blood too Bob....but justa' lil'

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Hit the long haul to San Antone’ with Latfeisher (John) and his buddy Bob…

Started out slow….very slow…no action for a bit..

As I discussed variations of striper patterns and potential variation in patterning with John, I noted that many times as the sun kisses the water, the stripers sometimes get into a boil frenzy…

I went on to note that I had never seen this occur yet at SA but to be ready at all times and it very well could happen given the pattern I saw the fish in…..

About 10 minutes later…………

I saw TWO swirls…

AND THEY WEREN’T CARP !
(SORRY Carpbait !)


My voice raised in excitement !

“THERE THEY ARE !”

As those words cleared my lips…..

2 swirls turned into 5 BOILS !

5 Boils turned into 10 BOILS

10 to 20….and so on……

Blood pressure racing, I quickly positioned the boat and CUT OFF the motor
(please note this part for anyone ever approaching this action !)

I COASTED in on them !

Fortunately, I had listened to my own advice and had 2 other poles ready to rock….

1 had a KPN Mini shad topwater on it and the other had a KPN Skinny shad subsurface..

WHamo !

SLammo !

Hoookup !

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ! went the drago…..

As the pole went BENDO !

As my drag ripping fish made many powerful runs, I coached my two partners in crime through the action !

I get my fish on deck…..


A little more prompting….

AND…………..


HOoooooooook-UP !

Bob is on…..ZzZzzzzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz !

Followed by MORE Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I had to stop for a quick millisecond to observe the look on his face and the action of the bendo on the pole as his fish made a good SOLID 30 yard drag peelin’ RUN !

By the way, this was the 1st time Bob had fished for stripers and his 1st striper on the line of course !


Saweet !

Bob’s still fighting the fish which seemed to go on for a real long time, this topwater tubby didn’t want to give up !

His fish even bent 2 shanks on the #4 owner stinger hooks !...

POWERFULL !

As Bob battled on….

My attentions turned to John and the KPN mini shad –subsurface !

A little more instructional …

AND ,……………..

BENDO !

Drag PEELA’ !

This was on my Curado baitcasting reel so no Zzzzzzzzzz!

But the reel had a distinct WHUR ! as the drag peeled out …

Peeling max drag of the 20lb Spiderwire stealth Braid !

Both Gentleman battled these fish like troopers !!!!

After a lengthy battle….

John’s fish was 1st to the boat….
Woooo-Hooo !
John’s Personal best so far : )



Johns fish had fouled up in the net….

I couldn’t get it out….

Bob’s fish was at boatside by now…

What to do ?.........

What to do ?

I could lip ‘em but that fish was viciously thrashing about and I didn’t want that KPN splilling MY BLOOD !

So…….

I make an executive decision and use John’s sweet huge net to net up Bob’s fish while John’s was still stuck in the net……

IT WORKED !

3 on deck !

Saweeet !

Here’s Bob’s 1st striper ever !



Our photos came much later after the boil subsided !

Here are some closeup pics of the KPN lures we nailed them on:



We fished on through the day after that and the fish were there but MAN…I tell you, they knew we were coming or SOMETHING !

Cause they didn’t want to bite….I tried and tried…

We got beat down by the heat and packed it in about 5:30

In my heart I wanted to stick it out till about dark to see if the Stripey’s light switch would flip but we were all beat down hard…so we packed it in..

Thanking the fish god’s for the even dispersal of 1 sweet feesh each…and especially on topwater…

THAT ACTION WAS BAD ARSE !

It’s a little odd….these fish weren’t the completely “Footballed out” versions we normally see but they were really solid fish.

And to nail them up top was Saweeeeet !

These photos really don’t do them justice, they are bigger than they look…

Good times…good times..

Great being out there with you John and Bob..

Congrats to both of you on your 1st stripey Bob and your PB John !

Hope you all enjoyed the read..
Till next time,
Gary

P.S.
John's fish had engulfed the KPN skinny shad so far that the tail hook was in his gullet...

Bloood WAS speelled !

EVERYWHERE !

as we got the hook out, Johns Boat seat was "SLATHERED" IN IT...

WE FORGOT TO TAKE A SHOT FOR YOU BOB...
That just means we'll have to return to do a repeat job with:

MORE BLOOD !

MORE Carnage !

[skunkmaster]

Those are nice fish Gary, thanks for the report!

[troutdog]

Nice looking stripeys guys, congrats around the horn on punking the skunk!


TD

[FINSMACKDOWN]

Nice Gary, way to get them boys on their first jailbirds!

[trail blazer]

gREAT JOB gary,,,,,,,,,,,,,Gettin your buds on there 1st stripees=PRICELESS

CONGRATS BRO!!!

You da man

[cutbait]

Way to slay latfish and co....

[Wingnut]

Always nice to see you out on the water John. Congratulations Bob on your first of many Stripers. Way to go Gary on putting friends onto some nice fish. We didn't see many boils all day... actually, we didn't see much of anything all day. But I do have a request... the next time you decide to show us the "full moon", give me a warning so I can put my sunglasses on... the bright white glare was quite blinding.

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Thanks everyone, Sorry if I don't reply to each of you individually with a quote but I am having serious issues with the site...

When I try to view the page it's HUGE and I have to scroll way over and then when I quote someone.....it doesn't show....

Hmmnnn..

we're gonna have ta get something fixed here feller's : )

[Fishbones]

Cant beat a crazy surface boil.,.,.congrats on the blood shed,.,.,.and gettin my stripey....

[LateFisher]

Hey Gary and Bob, it was a memorial day I will never forget, although at times I felt like we were in a shake and bake oven. " such a long day " but well spent with good friends. Arthur it was good to see you guys it's been awhile, wish we could have had time to visit, maybe next time. And thanks to all you guys that posted for your kind words. Thanks everyone and I promise we'll slay them better next time. Bob ( Striper Only ) I almost forgot, we were going to send you a great blood shot of my seat with at least a inch deep of striper blood,it was so beautiful you would have loved it, as gary says we must have "blloooodddddd" thanks all, John