Video summary
The video documents Day 1 of a seven-year-old striped bass tournament held off the coast of Maine, where two teams are competing for cash prizes and engaging in friendly side bets. The narrator and his partner Joe form one team against younger competitors Josh and Cody, with the wager determined by who can land the four longest fish over the course of the event. Before heading out on the water, the group discusses their strategy involving live Atlantic mackerel caught earlier that day as primary bait, supplemented by eels for later use in the evening. Despite initial optimism about keeping the mackerel alive to maintain an advantage, a mishap occurs when someone accidentally hits the well with their knee, killing all the stored bait and forcing the anglers to rely on freshly caught fish or switch tactics immediately upon entering the tournament zone.
As soon as lines go in the water at game time, the team faces immediate challenges due to the lack of live bait but quickly adapts by targeting eels and whatever mackerel they can catch fresh. The action intensifies rapidly when Cody hooks into a massive striped bass that eventually weighs 42.5 pounds, followed shortly after by Josh landing another huge fish around 39 to 40 pounds. Meanwhile, the narrator also gets on his new rod with a personal best of 43 and a quarter pounds, showcasing impressive gear setups including Shimano Baitrunner reels paired with Tsunami or Salt X rods designed for heavy action and long leaders necessary when fighting large stripers in deep water conditions typical of Maine's coastal waters.
Despite these early successes, the day takes an unexpected turn as both teams struggle to maintain their momentum; notably, one angler throws back several fish without officially weighing them because he believed they were too small or insufficient for his needs, only later realizing that doing so cost him a potential top-two standing in the tournament leaderboard. This oversight highlights a common pitfall in competitive fishing where emotion and fatigue can lead to costly mistakes under pressure, especially when teams are trying to maximize their catch count while managing limited bait supplies as night falls closer to midnight. Ultimately, although disappointed by not securing enough fish early on compared to expectations of dominating every category, the group maintains a positive attitude emphasizing camaraderie over competition, celebrating surviving another challenging day at sea and planning strategic adjustments for future sessions involving river fishing or different pond locations tomorrow morning.
Read the full video transcript
[music]
>> Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's happening. We're
out here for a tournament, seventh
annual void striper tournament. We've
entered that through the Fish Donkey
app. It's going to be your best four
fish. Now, we've also got quite a few
other boats we've got in on a side bet
for cash.
And in this boat, we have another side
bet. The two old guys, Dudley and I
versus the two young guys, Josh and
Cody, for some even bigger money. So,
stay tuned, guys. We're going to try to
get us some big stripers on the coast of
Maine. This is what's about to go down.
Me and Joe got a side bet going on in
this boat with these two shenanigans
right here.
We have got some major cash going on.
And
>> We had to loan We had to loan them the
money to bet, but
>> We had to loan them money bet. So,
basically, me and Joe are probably going
to win our own We're going to win our
own money back, but hey,
we did give them a loan. They agreed to
it. They signed their bank statements
and everything about this bet. So,
whoever has the longest four stripers
wins. Joe,
>> Don't tangle them up, boy. You're about
to tangle up the all of Sabikis.
>> Oh my goodness.
Oh my goodness. Look at here. Would you
look at here? Would you look at here?
How did Joe How did we get the unbaited
part?
>> I don't know. I think we got the short
end of the stick on this. Well, you got
to hook this one.
>> paid our entry fee, they're unhooking
our bait for us, and they paid for all
the gas.
>> So, guys, we're catching Atlantic
mackerel for bait, and we're going to
fish eels tonight.
But in the meantime, and for a backup,
we're also going to fish some mackerel,
whether they're going to be caught,
whether they're going to be dead, or
whether they're going to be alive. So,
that's the plan for today. We're
catching these mackerel on Sabiki rigs.
It's a lot of fun. Sometimes, it's even
more fun than striper fishing if you're
not on the striper.
I got you on YouTube right now. You want
to tell the folks at home how this
tournament's going to go?
>> Uh
The boat's going to get kicked.
>> Who? Us or you?
>> What? We
We We've got it going on.
>> We're going to get our butts kicked?
And
Dang it. What's the side bet? Is it 300
a boat?
>> Well, yes.
>> Okay.
Well, if I could ever pull W away from
the bar, we'll be on the water soon
enough.
>> All that works out. Standing, I think
you're right on schedule.
>> Okay, buddy.
>> Okay, man. We'll talk to you later.
>> Good luck to you guys. Yeah.
All right. Love you, too.
That was Brandon's dad. We got a $300
bet per boat. And his other son,
Brandon's brother, has been on these
fish for months. And he is He's locked
on to the fish. They are locked in.
They're locked on.
It's going to be the guy to beat, so
we're going to do our best. Lot of side
action going on in this tournament. So,
gear for today, guys, you have to use
inline circle hooks. You have never had
a problem with Gamakatsu, so this is an
octopus inline circle hook there.
And we're running them anywhere from 5
aught to 9 aught we have on the boat.
And so, we have our Gamakatsus. We got a
bunch of owners. Think we got some
Mustads on board. I don't know if it
matters with brand or what's better or
anything like that. We do have a a few
light wire ones. We have a couple heavy
wire ones. We're planning on getting on
some pretty big fish in the 30 to 40 lb
range. For line, everybody's got a
different Everybody's got different line
on today. So, Don Lee's fishing 14 lb
test Gamma. Josh is fishing 20 lb
Seaguar. Cody's fishing 8 lb uh Sniper
FC Sniper. And I haven't decided what
I'm fishing yet. I think I'm going to be
probably 20 25 lb test. Uh we're all
running braid as a backer. We're just
using fluorocarbon leaders. And then
I'll walk you through the rods, the
reels, and the gear as we progress. All
right. First part of the journey is
done. We got the bait. Josh also brought
some eels to use when it gets a little
bit darker. David caught a few eels at
home that we're going to use, some big
ones. We're going to try to keep these
mackerel alive. The The The well isn't
huge, but they're They're doing okay.
And then uh we're going to go get set
up, try to locate some fish with a side
view, with a side scan, see if we can
find a school or two and be ready for
first cast coming up soon. All right,
guys. So, for gear tonight, I think most
of We're most of us are are really
digging this Shimano Baitrunner in the
6000. This is the 6000D.
Uh anywhere from like most of us are
running 30-lb braid as a backer to like
20-lb leader with fluorocarbon, running
like a 6- to 10-ft leader. You don't
have to quite go that long, but it'll
work. This rod right here, I just picked
up. I'm going to try it out. I had super
good luck with my other striper rod was
a Tsunami of all brands. And they have
anything from like $40 rods up to $200
rods. This one's kind of in the middle
of the pack. This one's the the Salt X.
Uh I like the feel of it in the shop.
It's a 7' 7" heavy. So, I'm going to
give it a run tonight. I also I'll show
you the reel I used last year and the
one
on my other Baitrunner,
my Shimano 6000D Baitrunner, which is
just It's just such an awesome reel when
you're fishing live bait cuz you can put
it in that Baitrunner and it's just the
fish picks it up and pulls it and runs
with no tension or very little tension.
Whatever tension you want to set really
so he doesn't feel you or any
resistance. And then you just click a
lever and then it's like game on. That's
your hook set with these circle hooks.
The rod I used last year a lot and my my
favorite so far that I've tested is this
Tsunami forged. And this one is also a
7' 7" heavy action.
Um just seems to be the right size when
you're mackerel fishing for me. Anything
under under seven around 7 and 1/2 ft.
Um It's It's long enough so you can get
a good hook set and it's got enough of a
tip to fight them, but there's also
backbone too. So, those are the things
I'm looking for on a uh good striper
rod. Right now, we're going to utilize
our electronics, look for these fish so
we can be set up for opening bell.
Not good, guys. Not good. I just opened
the well to check all of our mackerel
are dead. Somebody hit it with their
knee, I think.
Yes, me. So,
uh we're either fishing dead bait or
we're going to go catch some more
mackerel. Game time starts in T minus 5
minutes.
All right, guys. It's officially time
for lines in the water for this
tournament, but we got no bait. All our
bait's dead. You can't catch one dead
bait, but why wouldn't you try if you
got live bait? It's easier to make dead
bait than it is to make live bait.
All right, guys. Kind of a bummer we
could not find the mackerel like we had
before.
Uh we've been out here searching around
for almost an hour. We're an hour into
the tournament. We haven't made a cast
yet, but we got a handful of mackerel
and we we got eels in the live in the
box, so we're just going to go fish some
eels and fish what we have for mackerel.
So, here we go. Back again. Josh, how do
you feel about it?
>> I feel pretty good.
>> Josh? [laughter]
>> Triples.
Triples.
>> Guys, I'm the only one not hooked up
right now. We just made our first cast.
Everybody's hooked up but me. I'm going
to film. That's all right. I'll be the
film crew. But, Cody's into a giant, we
think. Uh we've only seen the tail of
it.
>> Hey, honey.
>> Put this that thing in here.
>> 30 39.
39 on the nose.
>> We're not even measuring 39s?
>> No, you're right here.
Is it a good one?
>> Oh, that's a tag. Josh is Josh has got a
tag. We're in trouble. We're in trouble.
Oh, Cody.
>> I'm barely hooked.
>> Cody.
>> Get her.
>> Yeah.
>> Pressure check.
There you go.
haven't seen
that's a big one Cody
you got to get your ass out
I can't take pictures
41 and a half
that was close.
Damn
it.
40 42 and a half
>> What you got Josh?
Hold those up for the camera.
Got it. Got it. Thank you. Appreciate
it.
>> Now you got to get a video of turning it
loose.
>> No, it only asked for the one thing in
the tournament. All right, so we got a
43 and a 42 and a half. David's was What
was your 39 and a half?
David's was 39 and a half. I got
nothing. I'm helping these guys. I just
I guess I'm just going to help these
guys upload their fish. On the app. But
eventually I might get a bite. We'll
see.
Well, I'm hooked up guys. First one
on my new rod. I called him small. I
think I'm going to pay for that.
>> If you just took a run.
I can't turn him. He's got it.
>> You've had him in the ocean.
>> I hope that wasn't a shark we saw
earlier.
Somebody's line is over me Dave.
>> Yeah, I am. I'm
well over.
>> Boy, I kind of messed up guys. Every
single boat in the ocean just came over
to us. I got to put this rod lower.
You look like you're ready to grab this
fish David.
>> I am.
>> Ooh, holy cow Joe.
That's a
tank.
>> That might go 40.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you reach your pocket?
>> Yeah.
Good gosh, Joe.
>> Really?
>> Yeah. That's all. That's a bigger than
what
>> [laughter]
>> Oh my goodness.
That's my new PB, I'd say.
>> What you got, Joe?
>> 43
43 and a quarter, yeah.
>> [laughter]
>> That's my new PB, guys. That's 43 and a
quarter. Going back.
>> I have never seen one this small.
Look at this, guys.
All right.
Anybody got a light on this fish for me?
There we go. We're on the board. Maybe a
keeper, maybe too small.
Not even hooked.
Doing a little night fishing out here.
He didn't have enough meat on him
anyway,
even if he kept. We threw him back.
Well, guys,
you know,
we could say we're a little disappointed
in the results, but that's why we call
it fishing.
It was a lot tougher out there than we
were expecting. We thought we were going
to win the entire tournament tonight,
first, second, third, and fourth place,
and we're hardly on the leaderboard at
all.
We should have We did one of the number
one rules that you don't do in any
tournament is throw fish back without
weighing them in if you still need them.
And we threw back, I think a 42 and a
half. Cody got
>> Yeah.
>> And Dudley had a 40 and a 39 and a half,
so we'd be sitting in
in pretty good place for uh side bets
right now. We'd be sitting really good.
I think like second place overall if we
would have weighed everything, but
hey.
High hopes. So, now we're up against the
eight ball. We're going to call it a
night. It's It's closing in on midnight.
These guys aren't going to have to sleep
in the doghouse tonight. Cody might not
even be sleeping in his own
>> [laughter]
>> house today.
>> Might be locked out. Yeah, Josh, I think
he's not in the doghouse tonight at
least, right? Well,
>> Yeah.
>> Maybe.
>> I'm in the doghouse with you guys. I
oversold this place.
>> No, no, that's fishing.
>> I'm not in the doghouse.
>> No, you're you're not.
>> I'm safe.
>> So, what do you think about not weighing
those fish? You'd You'd be in second
place in the entire tournament right
now.
>> Stupid is what stupid does, and yeah.
Well, y'all were talking like, "Dudley,
you going to take 48 40" I'm not even
going to weigh them. I mean, measure
them let's say 45 [laughter] in.
>> There was a 45-in minimum, so that's
fair.
>> So, I'm chunking them back and thinking
we're going to recommend I could have
been in second place.
Blah, blah, blah.
>> But, you know what, guys? That's fishing
for you. It was still an awesome day.
We're happy to be alive, happy to be out
here fishing with buddies on the big
lake, and what could be better than out
here fishing, right, guys?
>> Right.
>> Yeah, I'm I'm honestly so happy I got
that bite. You know what I mean? Cuz I'd
be coming in with a 27-in fish.
>> I mean, we started the first 10 minutes
with a 42 and a 43. [laughter] You would
have thought we would have wrecked them.
>> with a 42 43s and 42. We thought we were
we were back.
>> I think we Did you catch your PB
tonight, though?
>> Yeah, that was my PB, 43 and a quarter.
>> And it was a good night.
>> I'll do it. I'm I'm stoked I caught that
fish. But, I really think we should have
just turned in when all them mackerel
died.
We should have just went home.
>> [laughter]
>> But, Josh Josh said don't give up on on
that spot for tomorrow, so we're going
to look at it again tomorrow.
>> Maybe try something different in the
morning and and come back tonight.
>> Yeah.
>> Or tomorrow night. Well, tonight at this
point.
>> So, Dudley and I are a little bit more
in the river fishing for stripers. We're
going to give that a shot tomorrow
morning. We're going to try a river, and
then we're going to fish the big pond
after that.
>> That's That's a great game plan.
>> Yeah. So, hopefully you'll see us on the
leaderboard.
>> Yeah.
>> At work, you're going to be getting
notifications. Got another one. Got
another one.
>> Watching us climb up the leaderboard.
>> Yeah.
>> Haha. All right, guys. Thanks for tuning
in. Next time you see us, it'll probably
either be at the hotel or on the lake
tomorrow.
Huh?
>> Which one did he claim?
>> Which one? Oh, with you?
>> You took way more