So what to do at 248 am when the dog rolls over on the bed and the wife gets up. I thought about going fishing.....so I did. With a morning with no trips and a day full of photo editing I figured it was good time to get out and in early.
I started with a Banger in the dark, which wasn't so dark with the waning gibbous moon overhead and lights from town behind me. I worked into dead low tide and connected on a super nice 27" fish that I couldn't get a good shot of with my dSLR camera. Canon couldn't be fast enough as both my G12's are in Virginia getting repaired. Both were suffering corrosion from exposure to salt water. The big camera is nice but it can't be worn around your neck when fishing and doesn't play well into a quick CPR - catch, photo, and release. So it was one frame and that's it. From the image it doesn't even look like a striped bass nor 27" inches....
After a move, as night became day, and as the flood tide entered it's second hour the fish started to show. They were on bait in the wash. It was a short cast out straight or a slightly longer one along the beach. I had about a half a dozen blow ups on the black Banger that I had on but none stuck. I decided to go popper/ dropper and added a small epoxy baitfish 20 inches of the bend of the popper's hook. Again a few more swirls and tail slaps before the above fish hit it almost on the beach and ran. I didn't measure the fish but the Banger goes 6 inches. It was a fat football shaped fish that has been eating well.