Catching the BIGGEST Fish of my Life!!! (40" Striped Bass on CA Surf) 

Any true fisherman knows that nervous excitement. Love to see it.

Your drag wasn’t set bad bro, that was a big striper. You gotta have it somewhat loose so you don’t bend out those trebles. Nicely done man!

Your drag was just fine and handled it very good, congrats for landing that beauty and thank you for releasing, you are a true fisherman.

Love the original reaction 😂 Like a Lil kid that got his first bike. Good shit 👏

Great fun and inspiration to see such joy as you landed that fish. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your excitement and taking me to go out there! Tight lines!

Amazing first striper and much respect for the release. I wish more people practiced c&r for stripers over here so the big ones could be caught more frequently like in the east coast. Great job and tight lines 🎣

Great for releasing the big fish . What an awesome fight !

Man that was so perfect... 'right here guys watch this...' BOOM. LETS GOOOOOOO. Awesome bro

Glad to see you released it back. I would have done the same. Glad you had the camera.

Funny, exciting, and Hilarious. great catch!

Lol....love the excitement after landing that solid fish. Good stuff! Keep em coming! 👍🏽

Congrats 🎉🍾. You KNOW you tie excellent knots😉

That was epic and love your unbridled excitement catching that beast!

This video was awesome man, I felt that whole interaction in my bones.

Yo I appreciate you and this video to the fullest! Nothing like that first time! Till this day I still get nervous till that fish is landed! Good stuff bro!

That was awesome! Great job! Congratulations on your first Striper! 👏

Great Catch, man that is some good stuff, keep on grinding👊🎣👍

Bruh bruh, I tear’d up with joy and happiness for you! 🙏🙏🙏

I love the reaction 🤙🏽💯🤣 can’t wait to catch my first striped bass

You had me at the cliff descent in crocs 😂 subscribed. Tight lines brotha!

Crazy first striper! Ive caught quite a few but never one that size, good stuff bro 🤙

That was awesome as hell man!! Great stuff ❤😃😃

What a hell of a first striper holy crap bro 💪🤙

Ah reminder to self, change up lures quickly until you get the bite! Congrats!

Bad ass catch man! 20 pounder easy! Much respect for the release! ! Right on!!

thank you for the release!

Just like to good ole days. And for some reason when you out in that lure, I had the feeling that was the one that would get bit. I heart throbber for you!

I like those sp minnows. You can cast them a bit farther than other similar lures, if need be. I noticed your comment about it being a floater. Floating/suspending models are the way to go in the surf, usually. Something that won't dive past 4-5'. And you won't ever hear any comment about to light drag from me. If it doesn't spool you, it's all good. I prefer to fish as light drag as possible to get a good hook set, then let the fish run. If anything, you where working the reel too hard, and not using the bend in your rod enough to do most of the work for you. It is very hard on the gears in the reel to crank it like that. Either way, you landed it and have a life long memory of that great catch. Very nice specimen, especially for your first surf striper. And it was released to boot. Awesome.

Love the end message!!!!! Dope asss video!

That was a slob!!!! Great catch brotha congrats on your first Striper!! 🤙👊

Epic dude. Congratulations

Congratulations on that big striper!!!! I haven't seen a big striper like in years.

So good 👍 Every one should experience that.

“Water is kinda cold. Not really “! Lol 😂

Nice fish! Congrats!

That was so epic man congrats! I’m still in the search for my first stripper

Awesome catch man! and great video. That's gonna be a hard PB to beat lol.

Mean bruddah

Congratulations, what a feeling

Awesome, now retire that SP minnow and date it with a sharpie and buy another. Fish on

Bad ass! Grinding for that one!

Superb !!!

Phenomenal catch and ever better that you released that big girl

Good stuff! Just a tip with those plugs, it looks like you’re reeling a bit fast which causes them to dive against the bottom. Notice how it struck immediately as you paused to clean the Lens? It allowed the sp minnow to float back into the strike zone. That’s a hell of a first striper by the way, jeeeez.

Good job kid. Catch and release 🤙🏽

WOW great job!!!

Brooo you're so lucky, that's huge!!!!

Nice catch!! 🔥

Great. Catch

Good job brotha, Nice catch👍👍👍

Damn bro! That was a hella good video! Good sh¡t out there! Keep it up!

Just ran into your Channel are you later and saw this monster of a striped bass congrats even though it's a year later it's always awesome thank you

Awesome first striper.. going to be hard to beat that PB now.. my little brother did something similar too.. keep it up

was just there this past Saturday. caught me 3 stripers. 2 keeper 26" and 30" and one 17" and also caught a whole bunch of perch and craokers

LMAO that's quite the bar to set for yourself. Unreal

Congrats on your first Stiper, That’s a beast, still looking for my first one.

Congrats on your first striper. Looks like a 20 pound around 38 to 40 inches. Caught myself a 20 pounder a few weeks ago at 38 inches..

Awesome!

Hell yeah dope bro still haven’t caught one hopefully it’s just as big when I do

gyatttt thats a big bass, glad you released that sucker

greats vid, that's a solid 30

First time watching your "Channel?" and, as an old striped bass surf fisherman of the San Francisco Bay Area, mostly from the Cliff House and the Gate area, say Half Moon Bay to the south to Stinson Beach to the north with occasional forays to Santa Cruz to the south and McClures Beach to the north, I've caught a lot of stripers. Now I realize you were going after surf perch and were geared up for them and not stripers, but there's a few things I might suggest that may help you eliminate or at least minimize some of the problems you were having. 1., If you're goiong surf fishing, dress and gear up like you're going surf fishing, not for a casual walk on the beach while carrying some fishing gear. To me that means a good pair of chest high waders and a decent hooded rain parka cinched around your middle with a "Surf Belt". The kind I use used to ba available in Army Navy stores and were surplus and served two vital functions; a., if you were to get dunked by a wave (I've been there) they keep most of the water out. And b., they accept clip on pouches of various sizes that were made for the belt to carry your gear with you while you cast, follow, fight and land your fish. No running back and forth like a mad man to where you plopped your gear down to get a different lure/whatever. (Also keeps honest people honest when your attention is elsewhere.) While I prefer using conventional, revolving spool gear myself, I even made an 11' one piece spinning surf rod and topped it with a Penn 706 with 20# Stren for any friend I might want to take with me to introduce them to the sport. I use a conventional 11' one piece rod I made with a Penn Squidder that I narrow spooled. There is something I've noticed in a lot of recent videos about striper and surf perch fishing in Calipornia, which is everyone who is using spinning gear has never heard the advice of an old Indian salmon fishing guide, from "Down East" Maine: "When he pulls, you don't. When he don't pull, you do". Yes, the old pump and reel is still the best way to bring in a fish who can make runs. With a conventional reel, if a fish is taking out line and you keep reeling, the fish is still taking out line against the drag and that's it. With a spinning reel, if the fish is taking out line and you keep cranking the handle, every revolution of that bail puts another twist in your line which weakens and - depending on a variety of factors - may start to abrade it. Stop by Modern Bait & Tackle on Mission Street in San Francisco when you're in the area. Not only do they have great manufactured rods and much, much more, including tips and the latest info on runs, but they also do custom rod making as well. If Eddy Banta still hangs out there, tell him I said hello. Don't forget, "The worst day of fishing is still better than the best day of working".

Good job🎉

Great catch man! Not true if you tightened your drag but in big surf like that i would be careful. Amazing catch tho man!!!

Awesome catch, bro. I'm going soon and thinking of near Morro Bay or Santa Cruz. Will camp near the beach for a couple of nights.

Thanks for letting it go! No need to keep the big ones

Nice release 🎉

What rod are you using? I've been trying to decide on a rod that can cast a calissa and 2oz carolina rigs. thanks!

Nothing wrong with the drag - with a big fish you gotta let it take some line to tire it out.

bad ass 🔥🔥🔥🔥

That a monster man grats can i know what size sp minnow and what pound test fishing line were you using?

you are the man let's go

Nice catch!! 👍🏽 If you don’t mind me asking, what did and reel combo are you using and what beach is that?

Dang bro nice catch !!! I'm pretty sure that's what I got broke off by a couple days ago by the looks of this lol , I hooked onto something and it just peeled my drag (Penn Pursuit 4 4k Reel Penn Prevail Rod) I made the mistake of over tightening my drag and it ripped off ... when I checked my drag afterwards it was extremely tight so the fact that it kept peeling that much drag is crazy 😮

Thank you for the release. Congrats on the beast !!!

Nice fish

Nice fish you need some cali covers it will help with your stick baits.

Epic the way you called that… “Watch this right here guys “ I’m heading up to Monterey Bay to drop off my daughter for college and hopefully I can duplicate your results… I’m meeting Ilan from “Fisherman’s Chronicles” I came across this video because I’m studying best setups and lures for Striper… I’m planning on starting with a Yo-Zuri 150 LC

I didn't think the drag was set so bad, it's better to tighten during the fight then the alternative.

What rig did u fish with the grub?

Good job on landing that fish. Looks like a 20lb class fish as it was not that girthy.. drag could be a little tight but I do not know the size of your line so it was fine.when the fish stops running take a few cranks but next time let the fish run when it wants to since it's a beach and doesn't have structure you don't have to horse in the fish and enjoy the fight.

What test line did you have here?

Where in California.??? I usually go to Half Moon Bay area

Bro is that the sinking or floating sp miow

good job friend

Jealous right now 😪awesome video tho 🦀🦀

I’m starting to fish with my 10 year old son. I would love to fish in a spot like this. Where can I find a nice spot like this????

Very nice.

just sub, that is a nice fish. crack me up when pulling the fish and fall off. lol. what type of fish that we can keep when fishing at the ocean?

Where is killa spots in the bay to fish ?

I have never surf fished ever. What are good beaches in SF for this?

Where do you get the Stripper at what what beach

That’s crazy! Nice catch bro! It’s Ricardo from high school, I stumbled on your channel from the Fishbrain app. I’ve been trying to go surf fishing for a while now. I’ve just been at the local piers for a few years with a pb of 18 inches.. Let me know if you’re down or if you’re near Antioch 🤙

I’m new to surf fishing. When is the next time you go man. I just got skunked there today. 😢

Nice 'work' young man.Your drag is fine,but...do not wind while the big fish is pulling.Use your rod.... lift, then wind.Congrats on a real beauty

That's a pure breed striper. Nj stock descendant from over 100 years ago.

Im sure you had like 20lb braid . That loose drag saved you

Nice

I give you the name slayer. God bless you for releasing that beautiful striped bass.