Could Not Sleep

  Last night i could not sleep, so rather than staying up and looking at the ceiling all night i decided to go fishing.  To some of you picking up the good old 9wt at 230am may seem crazy; however, to most northeast bass guys its the norm.
  If you fly fish for striped bass and don't fish at night then you really should re-think things.  Stripers are known for being night feeders.  Another big plus is  the fish come in close to shore to feed in the dark hours of the day.  They seem less weary and easier to catch.  To be honest catching these fish at night is truly awesome.  This morning for instance, I had peace and quiet as the 120,000 people that call Stamford, CT home were sound asleep.  Peace and quiet is hard to come by when you only live 30-40 minutes out side New York City.  I fished several different shore locations this morning.  Who would have thought i would be wearing  shot sleeves at night in October?  The weather was perfect; full moon, warm air temp, light breeze, and no bugs.  I fished a tidal pond first with no luck.  So i switched locations and found my self at a rocky point know to produce nice fish.  I prowled the rocks slowly in the darkness stopping to fish where ever i found a clear lane.  I was worried because even though I had good weather and tide on my side i was not finding any fish.  I was finding a lot of good sized silver sides amongst the rocks, but no fish.  I decided to have a seat and formulate my next move.  I could see some bait in the moon light flipping and i was staying tuned in to hear that popping noise on the water us bass fisherman listen for.  Nothing.  All was quiet.  About 100ft down the shore i stumbled on an old beaten down jetty I have fished several times before.  Since I have know this spot since childhood i did not use my light to negotiate the walk out to the end.  On my second cast something different happened!  I was hooked into a fish.  The strike?  The strike was powerful.  The fish quickly put itself on the reel and into my backing.  The fish fought with great power and for a while was taking advantage of my 9wt.  I did manage to get the better of the fish.

   When it came time to land it I was very surprised to see a small 22 inch fish.  I figured the fish to be a lot larger by the way he was fighting.  Normally 22 inch fish do not put you into the backing on a 9wt.  I did feel a lot of respect for sheer power the fish unleashed and i was more than happy to give him a gentle release.  That would be all for the trip.  I am very happy with the way it turned out, after all i caught a fish on a Rhody Flat Wing I tied.  Right now i am writing the post, up loading a few pics, having a beer and then off to bed.  Mean sea creatures do go Bump in the Night, go get'um.