Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I had the pleasure of spending 2 awesome nights striped bass fishing on Block Island last week. I made the trip up to NJ last Wed and stayed there to rest for the night. The next morning I met a buddy of mine and we packed up the truck and headed to Point Judith with a quick stop in New London CT to pick up another friend. We tried to get on 2 earlier ferries so that we could scout out our spots but were shut out and got on the last boat at 7:00 PM. After a one hour ride to the island we checked into our hotel, got our gear ready, discussed a game plan and headed right out to fish.

The first night was a miserable night weather wise. A steady 15 knot wind with gusts to 20 and rain most of the night with occasional heavy downpours made for an uncomfortable night. On top of that with total cloud cover and the approaching new moon we were fishing in extreme darkness. Throw on top of that having to wade in treacherous boulder fields with heavy, ankle grabbing rock weed and in some spots a 3 foot swell. Needless to say, I was in heaven. The fishing was tough but we still caught fish and I ended up landing 5 bass to about 13 lbs. We all had our share of hits and lost as many as we landed. Charlie had a big fish on for a bit but was unable to coax him over the outer rocks and the fish won the fight by modifying Charlie's hook as you can see in the pic below.

The second night was much more comfortable with low winds, no rain and a lot more light. We all expected that Friday night would be the night. Unfortunately the fish had other plans. We had fewer hit's that the first night but the quality was better. I only landed 3 fish to 15 pounds but had as much fun none the less.

While the fishing wasn't great and we didn't get any big ones, Block Island is one of my favorite places on earth. Just the thought that your next hit can come from a 50# bass makes every cast exciting and meaningful. I haven't been out there in over 10 years and the island has changed a bit but the shoreline is still as rugged and challenging as ever. It's extreme surf fishing and not for the faint of heart but it will leave you with memories that last a lifetime.

One of the things I won't forget from this trip was Saturday morning as we fished into daybreak. I was standing on a boulder fishing a point I had some success on the prior night. I was sleep deprived and achy. I knew I only had another 10 or 12 casts in me. I decided to throw a big metal lipped swimming plug. While I didn't see the explosion on the surface, I got a hit and set the hook. The fish took off splashing on the surface spraying water everywhere. It then dove down and started taking drag like mad. after about 8 or 10 seconds it slowed down and I thought I would ave it turned. Well it had other ideas and did a 180 and managed to shake the hook. I reeled the plug in with nothing but a big scale stuck on one of the hooks. We both won. The fish got free and I ended the trip with a memory making me want to go back sometime soon.

Here are a few pics-

The hotel-


One of my keepers-


My fishing partners Mason and Charlie-


15 Lb-


Charlie's hook-