Hook N' Scales... at LI Fall Fling 09' (aka Gilgo)

Well so here's the story.... :)

Friday Morning 7am... I hit the road with 4 gallons of water, a giant can of coffee and a coffee pot in tow... I get to Captree and turn into the lot with the bait and tackle shop and the rude food place... it was around 9am.. hungry for some grub and coffee i make my way to the food place... grab some Bacon egg n' cheese and a coffee... call smoke and find out he's already at gilgo.. he gives me directions and as we hang up i remind him i'm in a car... LOL... so i park at cedar beach and hang out for a bit... putting new hooks on my plugs n' such and wait for someone to pick up a straggler...

Charlie Shows up in his Uber Rig... man what a Truck!!!... and what a blessing that he showed up... Charlie I owe ya big... and a huge Thanks for everything... I throw all my crap in his truck and off we go... but before we leave we talk to the ranger their... he says i cant park here over night.. so we drive to Lot 2 on RM state park... now we're off to Gilgo...

I meet and great everyone there grab my rod and start setting it up... when i look over at charlie he's already hooked up... this looks as a great day....
well the fish was lost in the surf but put up a great fight... We all threw plugs and bait all freakin day with just a few bumps but no hook ups... Charlie points out all the fish jumpin through the waves.. he says Joe Smoke told him they were doin that and to keep an eye out...

I break off a pencil and a spoon cuz my reel is too smooth and the cup spins around as i'm wippin em out there... :( gotta put more grease in the housing...

Night falls and reality hit... its slow going... I'm still throwin plugs and their just not in the strike zone long enough to get nailed... I remember reading that darters are great in strong current situations and being i had one Black n' Purple darter (thanks Kevnmary for the plug it works well..).... a few casts and i get a feel for the plug... I've never used one before so i knew nothing of how it was going to feel...

a few casts and BAM!!!... fish on... I CANT BELIVE IT Adrenaline starts rushin through... and giggling like a school girl yelling YEAH... I KNEW IT... somehow i knew the plug was going to get nailed... I run over to the guys cuz i also lost my wading belt and pliers in the surf... they all jump up and cant believe what i was holdin... a striper... around 26"... they all start fumblin through their plug bags to find somethin similar...

I get back out there... few more casts and BAM!!!... fish number 2... I drop her in the surf... :(

keep throwin.. and BAM!!! fish number 3 by now i'm thinkin holy cow i've found the plug of choise... I reel her in and she turns out to be 28-1/2"...
Dinner!!!...

I keep throwin em... and fish 4, 5, 6 came really quick and were released without a problem...

Till Fish number 7.... OYE number 7 by fish number 7 i cant believe the night i'm havin... i've never had a night of fishin like this... and am supper stoked... i reel fish number 7 in and realize she has swallowed the whole frekin plug... the only thing stickin out was the eye of the plug and the front treble...

I go to reach for the fish's lip and with a 1 - 2 hit she nails me... with my own treble... my eyes cant believe what i'm seeing... the fish... hooked deep, my thumb hooked deep and i'm 200 feet from anyone to save my ass... Charlie was the savior of the night... he ran over as i was yelling for some help... sees what i've caught and then the thumb... OYE!!!.. ouch.. by now i'm sitting on the fish as its now a bit calmer and not thrashin about... we manage to get the plug off my line (thank god for the clips)... and now i need to get the hook off the plug... I jam my finger nail into the split ring and with a shaking hand i manage to get the hook around the split ring.... OUCH!!!!... right before the hook pops out the fish thrashes one last time...

I tell Charlie to take care of the fish and my rod... not realizing that charlie has a bad back and cant get up on his own... he manages to unhook the fish and get up using the rods... Sorry charlie...

I run over to the camp and start yelling that i need medical attention ASAP... the guys cant believe what i've done... the hook was in and in good... the plan of action was to cut the hook flush to the skin and i'll push out the hook the other end... but first a few swigs of something warm... THANKS GUYS!!!...that really helped... so we snip the hook with some dikes and i now realize what i must do.. I have to push the hook out with my other thumb through my hand...

affraid Prepared with dikes ( i think it was mike) as soon as he saw the tip coming through the skin he was to grab it and yank it out... boy it felt like it took forever ... I manage to pierce the skin but not enough to get it through... i needed to stop as it was hurting more... second try i push it through just enough and mike yanks without me even realizing it... and out it came... blood pouring all over the place... I realize no one was taking pics and start my yelling... WHAT THE HELL... SOMETHING COOL JUST HAPPENED AND NO ONE WAS TAKING PICS!!! ... everyone runs to get cameras and snap some bloody pics... i wrap it up and head back out to fish...

First cast back... i dont ever move the plug and BAM!!!.... fish number 8.... a keeper... just barely but... a keeper... i asked charlie if he wanted it and he said nah.. she's too close to being short... so i say alright i'll catch ya somethin bigger... he laughs and heads to the truck... to take a nap..

twenty minutes later... BAM!!!... this one takes line... Fish number 9... she's pullin hard... I'm fighting this thing with sore arms, throbbing thumb and fatigue... i pull her up on shore and man o' man... she's well over 30"... (to some this is no big fish but for that night its a beast)... I grab her by the lip and run up to charlies truck.... he's nappin... I shine my light into it and he wakes... I ask is this big enough.. he yells dam you.. i was just fallin asleep ... affraid

then sees the fish... and goes YURP throw her on ice...

this happened all in 1 night... between 9pm to 3am ....

someone's got pics of my thumb... please post em... thanks guys for all your help... Charlie.. what can i say.. :) your the man!!!... :you da man:

man...that was a great read....felt like i was there watchin you the whole time. haha.......i wanna go fishing with echopeus! and i could be like Charlie.... and come home with a fish....

Pete was high hooked for the weekend.. also sorry to here about you getting a hook in the thumb.ouch!!!good job on getting the hook out boys,pete hit me up any time you want to ..PS THERES NO FISH ON LONG ISLAND!!!!!!!!! :.......:

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There will be more blood ! :..............
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That was quite a night
here's some pics of the carnage of gilgo,
great fishing with you uke,hope you liked the the blue and the black(old no.7)

LiFishinVT darters boys! I some some more to sell if anyone's interested.

Pete I was glad to have you as a guest in the truck for the weekend. Great report buddy you did nail them this weekend. It was like you had a pact with the devil. And you really learned how to use a darter. great fishing with an education thrown in to. Maybe you can claim this weekend at tax time.
Now we need to work on that reel and get her in top shap for the next trip. Maybe a drill and paint job.
Also we would need to rig up a coffee pot in the Tahoe to keep you going. LOL
Meeting and fishing with you and the others is what makes this site great to me.

thanks for the pics TheWogg :), smoke expect to have company ... next time i expect to use some of the bunker i buy :??????:
charlie... buddy the pleasure was all mine.. hangin with ya... hope you post that pic of your truck and the big fish..
with the amount of pluggage i lost i hope i can get it back in taxes.. ... lol
gunna pack my reel in grease and test her out tonight... but a drill job would be awesome!!!.. gunna try that darter i bought
:.......:

Pete...when I saw you walking up I assumed you had another fish....then I saw your finger..OUCH. When you had suggested cutting it and pushing it through...the first thing that came to mind was...let me see if this guy is in shock or is OK to make this decision.....so after determining that you were OK just crazy I went ahead with the plan. When it came time to yank I didn't hesitate...I figured it would hurt more if I went slow. When I saw what I had pulled out...I didn't realize that there was still more bend in the hook...I knew that it was going to hurt later. affraid You man'd up and got the hook out and kept fishing

Hey Pete

Bin there done that

Have you had a tetanus shot in the last few years ...??/

If not i would go and get one...

Just my 2 cents

Glad you had a great time

Ed

Kevnmary wrote:LiFishinVT darters boys! I some some more to sell if anyone's interested.

yes st is interested