Took a trip down to Norwich and the Thames River Basin this morning to
see what's up. Stripers were in the basin - huge school. I had taken
my new 7' medium action Ugly Stick/Penn 460L combo with me just in
case. Fortunately, I left my tagging supplies in the truck from my
last expedition down the Thames.

51 stipers total on a 1/2 ounce yellow bucktail loaded with a 6" Senko
watermelon worm hooked wacky style. Nice fish - most in the 18/21"
range with the occasional 15" schoolie mixed in. All tagged and
released. No sea lice and the fish looked very healthy - a little
thin through the body but great color and definition on the stripes.

The Thames River striper school is massive - I've heard some reports
on the over Winter fishery - 200 untagged schoolies a day is not
uncommon. Gives some credence to the theory that the Thames River
striper school is a seperate breeding group from the Hudson and
Chesapeake.

Had a lot of fun - can't wait to Spring. Better yet, can't wait for
Feb vacation and some Lake Murray fishing.

Speaking of which, here's my boy with a striper we caught over
Christmas vacation - caught 15 or so of these in the rip between two
islands off Jakes Point. Temp was about 40, but the wind was ripping
at 20+.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TeaFran#p/a/u/0/yqZfGuyCCIM