Reel Class Saturday 11/22 Bass Up to 20#!

[Reel Class]

Ran a full 6 man open boat trip today on the new boat. Having a full crew of 6 really is a difference in terms of fishing and personal space on that bigger boat as compared to the Albemarle

Ran down the line as per some intel we had and put the spoons out. Got one fish about 15 minutes in by TJ (his first bass ever) which was ~20#. Trolling after that really dried up for us but the birds came up and we put the jigs and shads on.

Had immediate action on AVA's and white shads, actually the first fish boated was a 30" keeper by Ryan. We did have several shorts, but the guys occasionally boated a keeper here and there.

One drift we banged 5, right in a row - all nice fish over 32" - but as soon as that came that dried up, so we went into search mode.

Ran down off IBSP and got a few more shorts on the jigs, but that was it. We then put out the trolling gear again and got one more nice fish by Vern (the wire on this fish broke, and we had to hand line it in - and it's time for me to rewire the rods!) - another nice fish ~15#.

Tried trolling/jigging a little more, but once that S wind really got cranking things were done for us. On one of the last drops we heard of a few fish caught on bucktails - so Ryan got a weird but familiar bite in on the beach on one of Larry's bucktails and lo and behold, he had a nice fluke (24.5"!) - we slipped the net under the fish snapped a few pics and released it. Fish was ~5# (the pic below doesn't do it justice).

Finished the day with 8 bass in the box to 20#, and 1 bluefish. We also had ~2 dozen shorts and the fluke that went back unharmed. Ryan was the start of the show with 12 bass on the jig, 3 of them being keepers, + the fluke. Real good day with a great crew - 4 new guys were great gentlemen! Thanks for coming down guys, enjoy the fish!!!