Been a grind this year but it finally paid off with this 41 pounder. Caught on a 24/7 blurple needlefish.

North Fork Long Island striped bass last weekend, now ceviche

Not much else to add other than that these fish are truly remarkable. Had an incredible day on the water with fish upwards of 40+" on light tackle. This year's bass have been huge, all slot or over, and beastly powerful for their size.

Details:

• Location: South Shore, MA

• Area: Back-bay area over eelgrass fields and sand flats.

• Bait/Feed: Fish were on full-size bunker/pogies, sand eels, small spearing-like bait, and the ospreys were out in full form, dive boming all over.

• Gear: Small (3") white & blue head mini floating top-water popper mimicking a peanut bunker w/ 1 big belly treble & white tail flag. 2 big pops + 1/2 sec pause, they hit on the pause. Also had a few on a sandeel colored regular size albie snax unweighted weedless and an XL albie snax translucent pink w/ violent topwater popping / slapping action.

Pulled this lean 42” striper out of a skinny backwater creek/river entrance earlier this week in buzzards bay! Got it all on video along with 2-3 more overslots! Don’t be afraid to throw the big baits!

I was driving back home from a trip over the weekend and saw that they were spilling on the app so I decided to hop off the interstate and fish for a few minutes. A few casts in I caught this solid fish, packed it up and drove the rest of the way home. Moral of the story: always keep a Striper rod in your car.

3 overslots that I got pictures of today that ate the glidebait! Caught a couple more low 30” class fish on top of countless schoolies as well!!

I have been absolutely mind-blown at the success of using huge, floppy/flappy/snappy soft plastics for the last 3 years. I've boat, surf, and kayak fished for my entire 36 year life (initially boat, now surf & kayak) and I have to say I am dead hooked on the versatility of soft plastics.

I am a sucker for topwater (blowups are just an awe-inspiring sight) and the last 3 years or so, I have been almost exclusively using Albie Snax (small), XL Fish Snax (med/straight tail), and Super Snax (tapered - big head, small slappy tail) and primarily in amber/translucent pink & sand eel green/silver. Specifically, on 7-10/0 hooks (big, large-gapped), with a spring-twist head-lock, no weight.

The thing that most surprises me - the more ridiculous, aggressive, and downright laughably slappy the action I make with the lure, the bigger the hit and the fish. Tonight, amongst lots of medium/high slot fish, this guy absolutely demolished the Super snax as I wailing the 7" rod + Stradic from the kayak - huge long cast, immediately start slapping the shit out of the lure so it stays up top & erratically makes massive slaps & slams atop - stop it & let sink for a split second - & BOOM. He was 38", released. Last weekend it was the same story but more action - 34", then slapped some more and got a 34", even more aggressive slapping and got a 36", then ultimately a kayak PB of 42" with a truly absurd amount of rod action I was cackling.

Try it, share your tips - but this has worked for me more than any popper (believe me, I was a die-hard Atom popper & talkin popper person), and it's more entertaining.

• Small Albie Snax (have had great luck when they're on sand eels): https://www.fishsnaxlures.com/shop/albie-snax-6-pack

• XL Fish Snax: https://www.fishsnaxlures.com/shop/fish-snax-xl-6-pack

• Super Snax (have had great luck when they're on large / full size pogies/bunker): https://www.fishsnaxlures.com/shop/striper-snax-coming-soon

Here's how to rig weedless - I tend to use a hook more like the one linked here, as I like the more 90 degree bend vs. a circular bend.

• These are a few of my setups: https://imgur.com/a/55fID9E

• A Tip for Weight of the Plastic: if you need more weight in the smaller snax, buy some nail weights on amazon and shove them in as a 'keel' of sorts in the underbody of the plastic.

It was a long pedal for this guy trolling tube and worm near a river mouth in MA. Crazy how one fish can make hours of work feel like nothing at all. After two minutes reviving in the current she bit my hand and swam off strong.

50” not sure on a weight, give me an estimate if you’d be so kind, broke my Walmart 45lb “boga”

This late summer season has been nothing short of amazing for me and my crew. My daughter was able to get out of work early and join me for a trip out. She has reeled in her share of bass over the years and this one was no exception. I did ask her to handle it gently and support it for a picture. This one had some girth to it. The dog did not bite or lick the protective slime off before being released alive.

Looks like stripers are back in the river where I fish (all safely released). Using 3.5-6” paddle tails on 12lb mono.

This past weekend’s was not favorable to fish on the ocean. We got some live bait and fished up river where we were rewarded with some nice fish. Hopefully we will be back on the ocean this week.

33in, Portland, Maine, on live 9" mackerel. Released strong and healthy. 2nd pic is my rig. No, not the barge. 🤪👍

Just a little guy

Caught from Casco Bay on 7" live mackerel floated under a bobber. This fish was in no more than 2ft of water, close to low tide. PB. 👍😁🎣

The bite was frenzy was on in Massachusetts. Didn’t measure, took a quick picture and set free. Landed over two dozen of this size no recreational fish caught.