The reason I created the Striped Bass Academy is because I feel the that stripers are more
of a recreational fish than a commercial fish. Massachusetts recreational fishermen catch 870,000 fish weighing over
7.5 million pounds per year and the commercial fishermen catch is around 61,000 fish weighing 1.2 million pounds. The commercial
lasts around 18 days and the recreational is about 200 days.
I don't have any children, and don't want my 40 years of knowledge lost when I
die. That's why I am giving the whole world the secrets of how to catch striped bass consistently and with confidence.
It's a lot easier than you think. I learned how to catch striped bass from my dad when I was 10.
Finally, this year I broke down and showed a friend of mine how to fish the tube and worm. I
have taken five friends out on an annual Memorial Day tournament called the Healy Cup for the last 6 years. Picture this, two of them have
their own boats, but they still go fishing with me because they can't catch any fish on their own.
There are usually 50 to 60 fishermen in the event. Five of the fishermen have their own boats
and the rest charter a boat and captain. Most of the 6 years we come in first, second, and third in the tournament. The charter
boats have an eight hour trip. They start at 6:00 a.m. and are at the dock by 2:00 p.m. I have to make my living doing my
normal days fishing which is catching black sea bass, scup, tautog, and lobster. Because of this, we don't start until 12:00
p.m.
In Massachusetts recreational fisherman can catch two fish per day, and they have to be 28
inches or bigger. We start at 12:00 p.m. and are usually at the dock by 2:00 p.m.
Keep in mind, there are six people on the boat including myself. This means we can catch
12 fish. And, we always get 12 fish. We rotate the poles between every person on board until we catch the bag limit.
We head in and take the fish to an official weigh-in station to weigh our catch. The whole
fishing trip, weigh-in and all, takes about 3.5 hours. We ask the owner of the tackle shop has anyone weighed in any fish
bigger than ours. "No one has weighed in any fish at all."
Next, we go over to the local pub and have a few beers, reminisce about the days fishing,
and wait for the other fishermen to come in. Usually a few fisherman are already having a couple beers. Thet tell us stories
of how they caught a big fish or two. We say, "No one has weighed in any fish except us."
The tournament ends at 4:00 p.m. The results are in, 60 fisherman, 21 fish caught. As usual,
we come in first, second, and third.
There is a lot of talk amongst the contestants. "It isn't fair, Jon's a commercial fisherman."
I argue. I tell them, "I may be commercial but those charter boat captains (most of them I know very well) are professionals.
They say, "If they are professional and you are commercial, why do you always win the tournament?" I tell them, "It is skill, knowledge, and patients."
Finally after 6 years, my good friend Peter comes in first. He said to me, "I will give
you $1000.00 dollars to teach me how to catch stripers." I said, "What?" He said, "You heard me $1000.00 dollars." I am not
going to argue with that type of money. I said, "Yes!"
The next day I took him out and showed him how to catch stripers using the tube and worm.
It took about an hour to train him. After we caught and released five fish, I let him be the captain and I was the mate. We
caught another 22 fish in two hours while he was captain of the boat.
Last year this man, who had never caught a striper in his own boat, caught 368 fish in 50
days. Some days he would go out three times in the same day, and take out different friends each time. He said to me, "Jon
it was worth every dollar I gave you." This
is how the striped bass academy got started.
