What do you consider as a large Striper?

[spitfisher]

I consider any striper as "large" over 36 inches. My largest on a fly- the size of bird- was 46 inches. And I wish to add to it as being a combination of a tug of war and tackle football.
Although I have fished for 40 years, I really began targeting them the past few with spinning gear and fly rods. last year I may have caught over 35 large fish- 10 were on a fly. I fish the cape early, most of my fishing is in the piscataqua river area of NH and Me.


I kept one, the rest were treated with respect and released.

[gseries69]

Originally Posted by joebe

I still get confused when someone tells me he got a 40. I grew up when bass were refered to in pounds. No one ever spoke of inches, except when they were talking about trout. I think any fish over 35 lbs to be a good fish, get it over 45 pounds and then it is a big one. Technique is a preference, like bow hunting for deer. Guys shoot a lot of bucks that any gun hunter would give his left arm for.

I would say one major reason is that you have had a large influx of freshwater fly fishermen in the past 2 or 3 decades that come to the striper fishing scene with a trout fishing mentality. Trout fishermen speak in terms of inches.

I grew up on LI and fished both north shore, shouth shore and Montauk. I left around 1990. I never saw many if any fly fishermen casting in the salt. Today there are thousands of fly anglers on the beaches and many if not most come from a trout back ground and have likely read a ton of trout litterature, all speaking of trout in terms of inches.

[brushfly]

We speak in inches now because everything starts at 28". Years ago when it was 36", you stayed with talking weight becuase it started at 16lbs. minimum and that sounded fairly accomplished. Today when fish are at or around 28", your talking 8-10 lbs. and nobody is going to go bragging, "hey I got a 8 pounder today". It sounds better to say I got a 28, 30, etc. and then go to pounds once back to the high teens. IMO.

Regarding trout converts, that's not the case in LI anymore, I pal around with a bunch of fly fisherman on LI who fish salt, and maybe one grew up on sweetwater.
Most converts these days come from those who enjoyed throwing lures on light spinning and not meat and potatoe guys.

Still for the 36" one fish a day as I posted earlier. The Party Boats are the ones to have the most to say here on LI going from two fish to one regardless of size, as it's now part of their bread and butter taking up slack for the loss of income from flounder (will be closed this year) and the dreadfull proposed fluke regs, every other fish has been cut back from them and us, only the bass has been increased in bag and reduced in size.

[bbicknell]

My biggest striper was 40 inches.
And I tend to think anything 40 and over is big.
But, when I talk with my buddies, I tend to refer to anything 36 and over as big. This may be due to the fact that when I started fishing 36 was the keeper size; I still tend to think of a true "keeper" as being over 36.

[lhonda]

To me, a good bass is 20 lbs+. A really nice bass is 30 lbs- 40 lbs. Anything 40 lbs. and points north is a great fish. Anything 50 lbs.+ is a monster and a fish of a lifetime to me; the benchmark size I dream about catching, and what keeps me going to the water to haunt the beaches and jetties at 3:00 am...

Been fishing for stripers for about 25 years now. Have hooked countless of the first class above, quite a few in the second, none in the 3rd and only dreams of one in the 4th. This is the year, though!

[fatkenny]

A larger striper is anything over 50 lbs.

A large striper on the fly is a "keeper." And by "keeper" I mean one fish, 36 inches.

A large stripper is maybe a deuce, deuce and a half.

[lhonda]

Originally Posted by fatkenny

A large stripper is maybe a deuce, deuce and a half.

Hey, thanks in advance for a little warning before posts like this, please. Fat lot of good an explosion of beverage--passing first through my nose and then beyond--does for my poor computer.

But to add my pair of coppers, I guess that's about right-- for those keen on 'adult entertainers' of the big-boned persuasion!

[e-sea-e]

if its over 40" its a large fish in my book.

over forty LBs and its a really large fish.

as for over 50 LBs, Ive never seen one, but If i ever do I think it will be a really f'in large motherf'in fish.

I caught my first (and only) flyrod bass last year, it went about 18- 20 lbs or so, a pic is below. after that, it seems to me that any fish over 36 inches on a fly is a real accomplishment.

[Jacob K.]

Originally Posted by bbicknell

I still tend to think of a true "keeper" as being over 36.

but do you only keep fish over 36?

[fatkenny]

Originally Posted by Jacob K.

but do you only keep fish over 36?

no doubt.

And no, I don't keep every fish over 36 inches either.

Also, I don't keep every stripper over 36 either.

[e-sea-e]

Originally Posted by fatkenny

no doubt.

And no, I don't keep every fish over 36 inches either.

Also, I don't keep every stripper over 36 either.

all strippers should retire once they hit 25. I do not support strippers over 36 either.

[Albiemanmike]

Originally Posted by captmike

They're all awesome

I agree with that statement. When you catch bass over the 45 lb. mark they are now in a different league and look completely different from your sub-45 lb. fish. If you have not had the pleasure of landing one that large believe me the wait is well worth it and all the long hard nights of cold and rain/fog will be rewarded with a fish that will make your eyes pop out. My biggest to date is 56.5 lbs. and that was my second over 50 fish. I consider myself very blessed to have been able to fool 2 bass over 50 and hope to land a few more before the big guy says I have had enough. My biggest on the fly was a little over 40" mid-20 lb. range and a beautiful fish on the fly but I really want one in the 35-45 lb. range on the fly before I can call the bass adventure complete. A bass that size on the fly would easily eclipse the two I caught on conventional gear and i would be far more proud of that one then of the conventionally caught fish. Nothing against those fish as many guy's never get the chance to ever see one that big so no complaints but it is a very greater accomplishment on the fly when they are that big. I have a friend who took a 49.5 lb. bass on the fly and that was just an enormous fish on flygear.

[Cheju]

Unfortunatly for the fly fisherman, big bass like big bait. It is very hard to cast a fly that is large enough to entice a really big bass. When you throw old age, rheumetism, bad shoulders into the equation, I feel lucky to catch anything over 30".

Cheju

P.S. I do pretty well with Blue gills and pumpkin seeds up to 10".

[3-Cs]

To me, judging what is a big fish is like trying to classify something as pornography, There are no set definitions, but you will know it when you see it.

Interesting to see how many posts here classify large fish in terms of pounds.

I stopped weighing fish when I started releasing bass. Hanging any fish by the jaw (especially the "large ones") on the end of a Boca is potentially harmful to the fish.

[fatkenny]

Originally Posted by 3-Cs

I stopped weighing fish when I started releasing bass. Hanging any fish by the jaw (especially the "large ones") on the end of a Boca is potentially harmful to the fish.

Totally agree. Taking a fish that big out the water is stressful. If it's close enough to be measured, I generally let it go (without taking it out of the water).

Hanging by the jaw is also damaging for stipp.. never mind you know what I was going write. Not that the comment could ever get old.

In fact, I am going to go ahead and blame lhonda for encouraging me, me being a blue bellied liberal and all; "the TV made me do it!"