RI Striper

While working in New England this week, I worked an evening of fishing in Rhode Island into my schedule. The surf was heavy (the were a hundred people surfing the waves on the other side of the lighthouse pictured below). I strung up my eight weight and walked a jetty for 300 yards before deciding that I would die or lose a flyline if I attempted to fish. Plan B. I hit the rocky beach below the lighthouse and found a trough with nice waves crashing over it. Double haul, cast...strip, double haul, cast...strip. From what I could tell, there wasn't a better place nearby to be soaking my dumbell eyed Bad Hair Day, so I just kept casting. A few surfcasters arrived (which gave me a little confidence that I had picked a decent spot). Then they left. I stayed and kept casting. My polarized glasses salted up and the sun was going down. I snapped a quick photo of the red orb sinking into the earth and kept casting. Strike. A swirl at the end of my retrieve at the lip of the trough. A clean miss. I popped the BHD back into the foaming water stripped and Bang. Striper on. It was a decent fish maybe 20-22" and it made my day. I had one more hit a few casts later, but the night ended with 1 fish landed. I suppose some day after I do this for a few more years, a 1 schoolie night might be a bummer. For now however, it's victory.