My First Stripped Bass

So I have off on Mondays, was really sick this passed weekend. I had the opportunity to get out there and go fishing and no matter how sick I was I was getting out there. Last trip I went on there was no fish to be caught, that was a bummer. So I told myself I have to get out there, I grabbed my rod, which is a Shakespeare Ugly Stick Tiger Lite and headed out to Captree, Long Island.

As we approached our first spot to cast our lines down, nothing was biting, for the first 2 hours, only one person brought in a stripped bass. I was getting frustrated! My friend has just picked up his new beautiful high end rod and reel on our way to the boat, and he started getting bites, he brought in 2 stripped bass within 20 min. Now I was getting even more frustrated. He lent me his rod in hopes it would bring me luck, besides he was at his limit. It sure did bring me luck, within 5 minutes of dropping his line, I had FISH ON!!!!! The feeling was exhilerating!!! These fish fight!! Im reeling in the fish, he's trying to run the line out to Japan, but I get him to the boat and I loose him. A little upset but still siked about getting to fight the fish and feel that feeling!! So I cast again, and 10 min another FISH ON!!!! I start walking to my fish, this one didnt try to run that far, got him in the boat and he was 26" to short! They must be 28" long to keep. My energy is pumped though. I quickly put more bait on the hookm, we were using big clams, and cast the line again. Ten minutes maybe fifteen minutes go by and I feel nibbling, I hooked the fish and I knew right away this was a big one!!! Im reeling the fish in, he takes off,the sound of the drag as the fish tries to run away from me is fantastic, everyone is routing me on!!!! My shoulder feel as if its going to fall off, but i keep at it, raising the rod trying to get the fish tired and reeling in when he is not trying to run from me. I get him to the boat and he is indeed a big one. I think I got the pool winnings in the bag, but I didnt very close though. My fish was the second biggest one. It was 36" long about 25 lbs or more. The guy that won the pool had a slighty fatter fish! : ( But boy was I excited you could not wipe that huge smile off my face for anything. A day that didnt seem to be a good day at first turned into one of my most exciting days of fishing ever!!!!! Hope you all enjoy the pic!