Saturday, January twenty fifth, was a windy, overcast, and gentle day on Martha’s Winery—a minimum of by this winter’s frigid requirements. Circumstances had been prime for ice fishing on one of many island’s many freshwater ponds, so Matt Strem—joined by his two buddies Seamus and Cameron—hit the arduous water in pursuit of pickerel, panfish, and bass. Strem, who has seen 26-inch pickerel and a few high quality largemouth come by the ice on this pond, actually didn’t anticipate hooking a bass of the seven-striped selection.
Matt Strem’s ice fishing profession began 5 or 6 years in the past, however he by no means loved utilizing commonplace traps for fish like walleye, pike, and lake trout. “I’d a lot somewhat struggle a fish on rod and reel than by hand-lining,” mentioned Strem, who ventures off-island to pursue the aforementioned sport fish. As a substitute of traps, he builds his personal rods that are set on tip-ups so he can sense each thrash and head shake of his quarry. “The tip-up is designed so when a fish takes the bait, the flag pops up and line on the spinning reel goes out,” he continued. And boy, did the road exit when his stay, 3-inch shiner was taken by this feisty striper.
“The flag went up and we noticed the rod bouncing violently—the fish took perhaps 100 yards of 10-pound braid off the Shimano Nexave earlier than we put the brakes on her,” Strem mentioned. “To be sincere, I believed for certain we had hooked an otter.” That’s when he felt the unmistakable head shakes of a striped bass pulsing by his customized rod. Strem added that stripers are recognized to winter over on the Winery, and although it’s a uncommon prevalence, they’ll observe colleges of baitfish into this freshwater zone. For sure, he felt barely undergunned for the duty. Fortunately, the 20-pound-test fluorocarbon chief was in a position to stand up to this fish’s pulling energy.
“We hooked her round 3:58 p.m. and the struggle lasted round 12 minutes. By 4:11 p.m. we had her on the ice,” Strem mentioned. However touchdown this fish was not a easy one-man job. Because it approached the opening, the trio acquired a glimpse of her dimension. “There was about 3 1/2-inches of pure, clear black ice, so it was like wanting by a glass window,” he mentioned. “She had a skinny again and was missing the shoulders you see on bigger stripers, so we didn’t suppose the fish was very massive till she turned broad aspect and revealed her girth. Then we began to fret that she wouldn’t match by the 8- to 9-inch gap.” Performing quick, his pal Cameron acquired a great maintain on the bass whereas Strem fumbled for his fish grips. To their shock, she slid by the opening and onto the ice with relative ease.
Strem’s adrenaline was operating excessive, however maintaining the fish in good situation for a wholesome launch was paramount. “We held her within the water for about 5 minutes so she may regain her energy, then we pulled her out for 15 to twenty seconds for measurements, returned her to the water for just a few extra minutes, and took her out once more to snap just a few fast photos,” he continued. Like a great omen from the fishing gods, the clouds—which had blanketed the winter sky all day—disappeared because the setting solar peeked over the horizon, offering simply sufficient mild for a spectacular photograph op.
Whereas Strem dealt with the fish and saved her within the water, Cameron and Seamus augered just a few barely bigger holes within the ice. “We wished to verify we had a large enough gap to launch her with out getting ice and snow in her gills or mouth,” Strem mentioned. For nearly 5 minutes, he sat and revived the fish to make sure she had all her energy again. “She tried to shake free a couple of times, however I waited for her to kick off robust as a result of I might have been devastated watching her go stomach up underneath the ice. We actually took our time.”
With a whack of her broom tail, the 25-pound and nearly-40-inch striper took off, leaving Strem with a smile that I may nonetheless sense on his face as he recounted the catch on our cellphone name 4 days later. “I don’t actually smile in photos,” Strem chuckled, “so you’ll be able to inform from the pictures Seamus took that this fish was an enormous deal to me.”
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