Fun day with the boys: Left the house at 4:30 and headed down to Neptune City, NJ to fish the Raritan bay with the boys. Water temperature was 50* and bunker were tough to find in...

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Left the house at 4:30 and headed down to Neptune City, NJ to fish the Raritan bay with the boys. Water temperature was 50* and bunker were tough to find in numbers, the schools scattered but we eventually got a few. Threw 9” paddle tails while hunting for bunker and even trolled to no avail, they wanted bunker only. Had a lot of fish that would pick up the offering, run for a bit but then drop the bait without committing. Landed 13 bass between the 3 of us and lost quite a few. Ben got the largest at 33# with Gregg a close second and dad mopped up the rear. I did lose a really good one boat side guessed at 35#. Really wanted to take one home but all were over the slot of 28-31.” Day started slow but ended up quite well. Fun time with the boys.

US MARSHALL Loc: LAKE LANIER GEORGIA

I'd say ... was a day well spent

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

bknecht wrote:

Left the house at 4:30 and headed down to Neptune ... (show quote)

Nice catching guys! All the fish being over slot is a good sign for the future recruitment years. Thanks for sharing the day and pictures Brad.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

US MARSHALL wrote:

I'd say ... was a day well spent

Thanks US, we had a fine time.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Fredfish wrote:

Nice catching guys! All the fish being over slot is a good sign for the future recruitment years. Thanks for sharing the day and pictures Brad.

For sure Fred, the slot limit is enhancing future recruitment. It’s tough getting a fish within those narrow confines though. Stripers aren’t my favorite on the table but I would have liked to have kept one for the smoker. Smoked up a few last year and they were fantastic.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

bknecht wrote:

For sure Fred, the slot limit is enhancing future recruitment. It’s tough getting a fish within those narrow confines though. Stripers aren’t my favorite on the table but I would have liked to have kept one for the smoker. Smoked up a few last year and they were fantastic.

I haven't had any in quite a while, but I remember them being very tasty.

DVTracker Loc: Harrisburg, PA.

bknecht wrote:

Left the house at 4:30 and headed down to Neptune ... (show quote)

Nice fish! You and your sons have been doing great catching stripers…keep catching!

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

DVTracker wrote:

Nice fish! You and your sons have been doing great catching stripers…keep catching!

Thanks DV, they’re a ton of fun at the end of a line.

ranger632 Loc: Near Yosemite Park Ca.

bknecht wrote:

Left the house at 4:30 and headed down to Neptune ... (show quote)

What a great day with the boys and some great fish

Ridleyblake2017 Loc: Honesdale Pennsylvania

Those are some great stripers. That must have been an awesome trip.

DCGravity Loc: Fairfax, VA (by way of Cleveland OH)

Wow! Those are some massive stripers! Nicely done. Great way to spend time with your boys!

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

bknecht wrote:

For sure Fred, the slot limit is enhancing future recruitment. It’s tough getting a fish within those narrow confines though. Stripers aren’t my favorite on the table but I would have liked to have kept one for the smoker. Smoked up a few last year and they were fantastic.

Try smoked bluefish. They are much better than smoked stripers.

1Oldboat42 Loc: Kearney, Nebraska

Congrats to you and your sons. Slots sure can be discouraging but we know why they are there.
Fish On!!

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

ranger632 wrote:

What a great day with the boys and some great fish

Always fun to get together with the boys for some outdoor activities Ranger.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

NJ219bands wrote:

Try smoked bluefish. They are much better than smoked stripers.

Thanks bands, I’ll have to give them a whirl. Just wondering if you’ve gotta remove that hemoglobin rich deep red meat, always do it with the stripers.