About a year ago my husband entered as contest on Flies and Fins to win an Orvis Zero Gravity Rod and Mach Reel. He promised that if he won he would give the gear to his wife, and he reluctantly did. A few days later I was the surprised and ecstatic owner of a brand new saltwater fly rod and reel. I had been fly fishing fresh waters in Maine for a few years but had never been saltwater fly fishing so I could hardly wait to give it a go.After a long Maine winter, Spring finally came and I got out on the water to test my skill and new fly fishing gear for fishing Stripers on a local beach. Being used to freshwater angling, I realized that this was a whole new game. After a couple of cast attempts with a 260 grain sink tip line, I came to realize this was not about the smooth casts and delicate presentations of freshwater fly fishing. It was about getting the line out there and stripping it in before the fly sank to the sand.Since I was fishing from the shore, it was quite a challenge for me to cast far enough to even stand a chance of catching my first Striper. I realized the importance of making a good double haul to get this cumbersome weighted line to deliver to where the fish were feeding. After a few bad casts and a couple of better ones, I finally got the fly far enough and sure enough I hooked up. I called for back up to help me land what, in my mind was quite possibly the biggest Striper anyone has ever caught in Maine. Later I came to find out that there are bigger fish swimming around the coast of Maine, but at that point it was a big victory for me. I had caught my first Striped Bass.
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
Emilia – glad to see the rod and reel got put to good use … and it was used to catch your first striper! i hope the rod, reel and you see many more memorable fish in 2007 and beyond … good luck …
Way to go! nice way to christen the Zero G. I hope 2007 holds some more salt water outings for you. I think you are ready for the Blues and hard-tails now! Boz, you are a true gentleman, I think I would have given my girlfriend my old set up. Nice work!
Nice to see yet another girl flyfishing. Respect for your man that he gave you the new gear.
Good luck in the future with the saltwater fishing.
Nice fish btw.
Great video, the pink line surprised me, I’m going to get some. Congrats. on your first striper and hope you continue fly fishing. You should be thinking Bahamas and Bone fish now.
Emilia:
I am sooo jealous! I, too, am the beneficiary of a flies and fins contest, having received a Mach Reel for participation on Flies and Fins South. I spent much of this summer attempting to convert from freshwater nymphing to catching stripers. (perhaps you followed the thread in the salt water forum in which several hard core Striper gurus [mostly from Maine] tried to impart knowledge to me that may help me next summer).
I am really excited that you were successful on your first attempt. “First fish” represent so much to all of us: success, outsmarting the finned creature, getting everything together all at the same time (cast, fly, stripping, fish present). But I believe that it is especially glorious during such a major transition from the subtleties of trout fishing in streams to the different subtleties of catching stripers in the salt. My recent endeavors parallel your’s remarkably (except that you caught a striper!)
I hope that I do not appear too sexist in my excitement that you, a woman, posted this fishtale. I am particularly pleased that women are more overtly participating on this site. I believe that the thrill that I seek in my fishing endeavors (All too often it is only the possibility of the thrill that brings me back) is shared by most of us here. My thrills do not require the largest fish or the fastest fish, rather the accomplishment of succeeding, fulfilling my anticipation of finding, hooking and bringing the fish to hand. I believe that you captured this same thrill in your fishtale and video.
I encourage you to continue to help this site become more gender neutral, because, I believe that we all have so much in common! Congratulations and thanks for sharing your joy with us!
Dave
Nice fish tale babe, and good work on your first Striper! I was just thinking about the first time I took you out by Portland Head Light when the waves were pounding the ledges hard, that was insane. We had tons of fun chasing them all summer together. Next year we’ll have to chase Blues and Albies!!!
Whip,
I don’t know if I’m a gentleman, but I do keep my word. My wife did deserve the new rig, and when I’m good (on occasion) she lets me borrrow the reel 🙂
(Original contest post)
“However, the past eight years of knowing my “now” wife, she has happily accepted all of my factory second flies, the reel that works fine if you keep tightening the screw on the drag control every so often, the rods I’d fished for two seasons then give to her, you know, Hand me downs.
(Those here with many siblings know this too well.)
Despite all of this she still loves me, and can cast this crap gear better than most of my buddies, and myself on most given days.
I’d love to have the new Orvis Zero Gravity rod and Mach reel to give my wife for Christmas. If anyone deserves it, its her, and she’s never fly-fished the salt!
She’d be so happy to go Striper fishing for her first time equiped with only the best gear!
I can picture her “gloating” smile now.”
Great story and video! Watching it has me longing for spring and Congrats on the set up. Nothing like haveing the right gear for the job.
Yeah, right gear is essential. That’s why I need to get a boat for this season 🙂