A 25-Pound Striper Through the Ice on Martha's Vineyard

Matt Strem admires his prized catch—a 25-pound striper via the ice on Martha’s Winery. (Photograph by Seamus McKeon)

Saturday, January twenty fifth, was a windy, overcast, and gentle day on Martha’s Winery—at the least by this winter’s frigid requirements. Situations had been prime for ice fishing on one of many island’s many freshwater ponds, so Matt Strem—joined by his two buddies Seamus and Cameron—hit the exhausting water in pursuit of pickerel, panfish, and bass. Strem, who has seen 26-inch pickerel and a few high quality largemouth come via the ice on this pond, definitely didn’t anticipate hooking a bass of the seven-striped selection.

Matt Strem’s ice fishing profession began 5 or 6 years in the past, however he by no means loved utilizing commonplace traps for fish like walleye, pike, and lake trout. “I’d a lot somewhat combat a fish on rod and reel than by hand-lining,” stated Strem, who ventures off-island to pursue the aforementioned sport fish. As an alternative of traps, he builds his personal rods that are set on tip-ups so he can sense each thrash and head shake of his quarry. “The tip-up is designed so when a fish takes the bait, the flag pops up and line on the spinning reel goes out,” he continued. And boy, did the road exit when his dwell, 3-inch shiner was taken by this feisty striper.

striper through the ice on Martha's Vineyard — Though it was constructed to deal with bass and pickerel, Matt Strem’s customized ice fishing rod was capable of subdue a 25-pound striped bass.

“The flag went up and we noticed the rod bouncing violently—the fish took possibly 100 yards of 10-pound braid off the Shimano Nexave earlier than we put the brakes on her,” Strem stated. “To be trustworthy, I believed for certain we had hooked an otter.” That’s when he felt the unmistakable head shakes of a striped bass pulsing via his customized rod. Strem added that stripers are recognized to winter over on the Winery, and although it’s a uncommon prevalence, they’ll comply with faculties of baitfish into this freshwater zone. For sure, he felt barely undergunned for the duty. Fortunately, the 20-pound-test fluorocarbon chief was capable of stand up to this fish’s pulling energy.

“We hooked her round 3:58 p.m. and the combat lasted round 12 minutes. By 4:11 p.m. we had her on the ice,” Strem stated. However touchdown this fish was not a easy one-man job. Because it approached the outlet, the trio bought a glimpse of her dimension. “There was about 3 1/2-inches of pure, clear black ice, so it was like wanting via a glass window,” he stated. “She had a skinny again and was missing the shoulders you see on bigger stripers, so we didn’t assume the fish was very huge till she turned broad aspect and revealed her girth. Then we began to fret that she wouldn’t match via the 8- to 9-inch gap.” Appearing quick, his pal Cameron bought a great maintain on the bass whereas Strem fumbled for his fish grips. To their shock, she slid via the outlet and onto the ice with relative ease.

Strem’s adrenaline was operating excessive, however preserving the fish in good situation for a wholesome launch was paramount. “We held her within the water for about 5 minutes so she might regain her energy, then we pulled her out for 15 to twenty seconds for measurements, returned her to the water for a number of extra minutes, and took her out once more to snap a number of fast footage,” he continued. Like a great omen from the fishing gods, the clouds—which had blanketed the winter sky all day—disappeared because the setting solar peeked over the horizon, offering simply sufficient mild for a spectacular picture op.

Whereas Strem dealt with the fish and saved her within the water, Cameron and Seamus augered a number of barely bigger holes within the ice. “We wished to verify we had a large enough gap to launch her with out getting ice and snow in her gills or mouth,” Strem stated. For nearly 5 minutes, he sat and revived the fish to make sure she had all her energy again. “She tried to shake free a couple of times, however I waited for her to kick off robust as a result of I might have been devastated watching her go stomach up beneath the ice. We actually took our time.”

With a whack of her broom tail, the 25-pound and nearly-40-inch striper took off, leaving Strem with a smile that I might nonetheless sense on his face as he recounted the catch on our cellphone name 4 days later. “I don’t actually smile in footage,” Strem chuckled, “so you’ll be able to inform from the photographs Seamus took that this fish was a giant deal to me.”