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Written by Bill Nolan
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"A fifty pound tale" By Bill Nolan
It goes without saying every surfcaster worth his salt wants that magical fish. That number "50" rang in my head for years, would I ever get it? Can it be that elusive? Let me say first that being a good surfcaster does not mean you need to have that fifty notched out on the rod. If your catching fish consistently and putting in your time, your doing something right. Being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with it, as does a certain amount of luck. No one can predict the size of a fish they will catch. Now the story of my bass of a lifetime.
My fishing partner Joe and I had a good pick of fish going for the better part of two week's. We each caught fish in the thirties and many 20lb plus fish. This after all was October and to a striper fisherman looking for a trophy in the northeast, October spells big bass. I have always put most of my fishing effort into the fall with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. The fall is not the time to go easy, this is the time to fish!
On this particular night October 25 1998, We had a screaming southwest wind. This had me fired up and rearing to go! I just knew we would be into bass even better than the previous night's, which were not all that bad in there own right.
Once we got down to the shore and I saw all that white water I knew we made the right choice. Isn't that white wash beautiful? Heck, I get exited when I see the suds in the bathtub ! We like to call that white wash "champagne water". Anyway, Joe and I fish with small handheld Motorola radios and fish different parts of the shoreline to determine were the fish are. These radio's are a great addition to your arsenal, and a great item to put on your Christmas list. Two people can cover a lot of shoreline this way. And not have to run back and forth to let the other know where the fish are.
I left Joe and headed to one of my favorite rock's. I began fishing with needlefish plugs to get a better cast into the wind and after a half hour of casting without a hit, switched over to eel's. I knew that my casting range would be cut in half but with the wind the way it was my theory was that the bait and fish would be pushed close in against the rock's. I was right, on my third cast "bang" I had a fish of about 18lbs,after releasing that fish I cast out again and had another fish right away about the same size.
I called Joe on the radio and told him to come on over I had fish. I had another hit and miss on the next cast and then there was a lull in the action as the tide slacked. Once the water started moving again, Joe had the next fish, it was a nice bass that went 28lbs. I tossed out again and had a hit right away and yelled out to Joe,"I just missed one!" What actually happened was the fish hit and swam right at me. As I reeled in the slack I felt life on the other end! I set the hook hard a couple of times and knew this was a real good bass! Joe asked me how it felt and I answered "good, real good." Little did I know I had the best fish of my life on the other end of that line.
The fish took a tremendous first run that felt like it would never end. I gained line and then the fish took it all back. After about ten minutes of this tug of war and shattered nerves on my part, I had the fish under control. I turned on my light and saw the fish about twenty feet out, wow! It looked huge! All I could think about was that hook falling out or some wave cutting my line on the rocks.
The fish at this point was totally exhausted and came in fairly easy. As soon as I landed it, I had that feeling that this fish was special! I walked it to shore and measured it first. " 50 inches" I yelled out to Joe. I then grabbed the scale. (The last thing I wanted to see was 49lbs.) The scale goes to 50, I hooked the fish up and that manly scale bottomed out! All of a sudden in that moment I was hit with a ton of emotion.
I finally reached a pinnacle I thought I would never see. Joe came over to me and congratulated me with a huge bear hug! He said in a funny tone "I guess we are done for the night Bill." He was right, I was to exited to fish anymore and couldn't wait to get to a phone and call my wife!
There was still some work to be done however. I was a mile out on the beach and had to haul that fish out of there! "talk about paying dues" Joe said. I was so happy that I could have carried a horse out of there that night! I slung the bass over my shoulder and began walking it out. It seemed like it would take forever to get that fish out of there! All along the beach guys were congratulating me with high five's and well wishes, It was a great feeling.
Once I got home I couldn't sleep at all. I rousted my poor wife out of bed to come have a look. She congratulated me and the next sentence out of her mouth was, "Bill, this means you can stay home now right?" In all seriousness, I have to thank her for putting up with my fishing addiction. She is a truly understanding women and never says a word about my fishing. I am lucky in many way's.
I starred at that fish all night. I was also anticipating the next morning when I could parade it to all the bait shops for an official weighing. The first stop on the list was Quaker Lane bait&tackle in North Kingstown. The owner said "Bill, what have you got this time?" I said lets see! We strung the fish up on the scale and it toped off at 52lbs. Seeing that scale read that number was one of the best feelings I have ever had. This was it! I had really done it. The pressure was finally off! I could now relax and never wonder again if that fifty was ever going to come!
The fish is now being mounted and I'm sure it will help me get past all those cold winter night's dreaming about the start of another season, And the story will never get old, I will tell it till my last day's!
I hope every striper fisherman has the chance to experience that feeling. It is what fishing is all about. With the remarkable comeback of the striped bass, I'm sure more large fish will be landed and many great fish tales will be told. It took me seventeen years to reach that fish, I have knocked on the door a few times with fish in the high 40's but nothing will top that fish! Except maybe a sixty?
Tight lines to all!
Copyright © 1998 Bill Nolan No part of this article may be used except with written consent by the author
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