Rhode Island 2008
Introduction
Most fisherman probably have a certain fish species they want to catch that seems to be out of reach because of various reasons.
A species that was on my wish list was the Striped bass.
I had red many books about the subject and roamed forums about this fish species for information.
Locations like Martha’s Vineyard, Montauk, Rhode Island and Massechussets came to mind.
The plan
I did not have a plan to pursue my dream untill I came into contact with Jeremy Cameron of Maine.
Jeremy did some IT work for the Everglades Angler flyshop I frequented in Naples Florida.
Jeremy ran the Flies-and-Fins website and as a New England local he pointed me in the right way.
My first thoughts where to visit Massachussets but with some intervetion from Jeremy it became Rhode Island.
Travel
Plans where finalized and off I went on a flight to Boston with a short stopover in Iceland.
From Boston South Station I took the Amtrak Northeast Regional to my final destination in Rhode Island.
Just about midnight I arrived at a small train station in South county and with the last charge of my mobile phone I ordered the only cab in town.
Confusion
The late arrival worried me and when I came to a small hotel at the beach confusion set in.
The hotel all dark with loads of people outside in the parking lot.
In the middle of all this confusion a girl came up to me and told me that crowds where attending her wedding party.
At my request she pointed me out to the appartment of the caretakers.
Luckily they answered the door and gave me the keys to my room.
After all the planes, trains and automobiles I was as drained so I dumped my stuff in my room and fell asleep in no time.
The next morning at check in I was asked if I had heard anything of the racket from the other night.
The cops had to come out twice to restore the peace but I was out fishing for stripers in dreamland.
The fishing
It was as hot in Rhode Island as in Florida so not what I had expected.
In the first week of my stay I received the grand tour of Rhode Island by Jeremy when we fished various locations from foot and from the boat.
The first striped bass came from a set of rockpiles where fish started hitting our flies when the tide began to run.
I got a taste of fishing the breachways to the saltwater marshes and the
open coast.
The open beach was epic as we had the luck to run into a bluefish blitz
with the waves, diving birds and the whole lot that makes this fishing so addicting.
An eyeopener was the sight fishing for striped bass in the shallows at one of the barrier island, I always thought that was only done in southern climes.
Striped bass 
Second week
The second week as my unguided week and so I explored the beach and the nearby bay on foot.
I spend a lot of time on the beach slowly learning how to find the fish and when to fish for them .
It went so far that I was on the beach untill midnight catching stripers in the moonlight.
I even ran into one of the Flies-and-Fins forum guys while fishing the bay when we both hooked into large stripers.
Equipment
For the fishing I used 9-weight rods and fished with an intermediate line to fish through the waves.
Besides the obvious clouser minnows I used several flies I sourced from an auction at the Stripers-online Surftalk forum.
My most favourite pattern where surely the flatwing patterns I had sourced from the auction, light to cast and still having a full profile.
With the risk of lower temperatures occuring any time I had off course waders with me.
Conclusion
My time in Rhode Island was fantastic.
I sampled all the environments where one could expect to find stripers with the exception maybe of freshwater.
The Mission to catch stripers was accomlished.
While travelling home I vowed to visit Rhode Island again in the future.