NEAR WORLD RECORD STRIPERS!!!

NEAR WORLD RECORD STRIPERS!!!

2011 started out as a rough Trophy season. After days of waiting around at the hotel for decent weather, and numerous "touch and go" trips in between sloppy conditions, we found ourselves smack dab in Trophy Heaven.

This is the first time I brought my two boys to the Chesapeake in December for the Cow Striper run. We were lucky enough to squeeze the trip in between two small craft advisories and fish in flat calm conditions. I was fishing with good friend and old NSBA buddy, Dewayne Lambe. We started the day by setting our spread of 10 rods right on top of the school of a lifetime. We barely had time to get all of the rods out when we heard the first drag sing, then the second. The 50 pound plus fish struck the two outside planer rods which were at least 200 feet away from each other. This gave us any idea of the size school we were dealing with. 13 year old Michael was up first, I strapped the belt on him and he set the rod into gimbal pin just in time to hear the second screamer. 11 year old Jonathan grabbed the rod, but the belt was in use, so he had to "gut" it out!

Both fish were big, taking huge amounts of line from the spools set at 7-8 pounds of drag with 30lb mono, with the fish 100 feet away at strike, and another 100 stripped away, they were both in for a battle. I don't know if they could have got it done without the ACCURATE 50N 2-speed reels. If you have never used a 2-speed before, the biggest advantage is being able to down-shift to the incredibly powerful 3:1 ratio gear. In this gear, the boys only had to hold the rod tips high and slowly crank whenever the fish were not draining line. NO NEED TO PUMP AND TAKE!

These 2 boys have played tackle football for more than half of their lives, but there is no way they could have conquered more than one of these beasts with a traditional single speed reel, especially with a high speed reel. There is just no way. Twenty minutes of Pump and Take would have done them in.

The first two fish weighed in at 52 and 57 pounds! If caught just one year earlier, or weighed just a few lbs more this year, they BOTH would have had new all tackle IGFA World Records in Junior and Small Fry divisions! BUT, the day wasn't over yet, the boys went on to catch another half dozen cows EACH over the next few hours, the smallest being a 40 pounder. Dewayne capped the day off with a 56 pounder, just before we went in with an empty live well.

These days are a gift, fishing with a good friend can make it special, but watching your Sons do what nearly EVERY professional Striper fisherman in world has only dreamed of doing, truly makes it a treasure.

I'm sure it will be quite a few years before my Boys realize what they have done, but I realize right now that it could NOT have been done without the ACCURATE 2-SPEEDS!

Thanks again Accurate!

Please watch the video from that day on You Tube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w84Bo51rhU&feature=channel_video_title

Every fall thousands of trophy Striped Bass venture South from New England
seeking warmer water. These fish only stop when they find enormous quantities of forage. Up North clams and menhaden are on the menu, but when they pour into the Chesapeake Bay, its eels. We concentrate on the giant females that are smashing through schools of bait, inhaling anything that will fit down their throat. During this very small window, these cows let down their guard and strap on the feed-bag. Sure you can catch stripers all year, but the Chesapeake cows are only catchable for a short time. One month a year at best, but it’s usually more like one week, or even one weekend. So there you are, two weeks until Christmas, you got off of work, and you talked a few buddies into coming along. You talked your wife into letting you go. You spend thousands to buy your boat. You spend thousand on your electronics. You spend thousands every year on fuel, maintenance, tackle, bait, licenses, boat insurance, boat tax, highway tolls, hotel bills, and Gortex winter gear. What did that leaning post cost?
A grand? What did that T-top cost? Four grand? How about that diesel pick-up to haul that beauty, 50 grand? Let’s not forget those aluminum mag wheels on the trailer that you had to have. (Another grand)? So there you are, smack dab in the middle of Trophy Striper Heaven and at the right time for once. So grab that $100 rod and reel combo that you got at Wal-Mart and go to work! It doesn’t take you long to realize that you brought a knife to a gunfight. SNAP! There goes another one (maybe I tied the wrong knot). SNAP! (It must be the wrong fish finder). SNAP! (It must be the wrong T-top). SNAP! (It must be the wrong mag wheels). Nope, it’s the wrong reels!

Sure, my crew works hard to catch trophy Bass. We have caught our share of 50 pounders, but

we have never boated a trophy fish because of our MAG WHEELS!

My teammate and I caught 46 fish on one day this December. Every fish was over 25 pounds. Thanks to our Boss Magnum 870’s, we had 46 hook ups and 46 boated fish. These reels are the smallest of the Accurate reels. I can easily fit three of them in a 50 pounders mouth at one time. When you get your hands on one of these reels, it quickly become apparent that you’re holding a different animal. I can definitely see my Grandkids using these scratched up, banged up, reels 20 years down the line. With 30 pound mono, we never even came close to getting spooled. Notice I said “We caught all of those fish, thanks to our 870’s, not our mag wheels”.







Thanks again,
Mike Smedley
Captain/ Team Old School

8 year old Jonathan Smedley of Team Old School wins freshwater Tournament

David, Ben,

Thought you might enjoy this;

We fished an open tournament this past weekend. The lake has mostly small fish, but the minimum size limit is 26". I brought my youngest Son (8 years old). We won first place in the Big Fish event, and took second in the overall. 80% of the field zeroed. These are pics of my Son bringing his fish up to the weigh-in with ALOT of embarrassed old-time locals that pitched a zero watching on. We only used giant 1 pound live Shad, and he caught this one on the 870-2 speed. With 30lb mono, he had to go "full throw" to stop this fish in the shallow brush-filled water. Although he is only 8, he is very smart, and knows more than just about everyone at the weigh-in about lever drag reels. He was on that rod, hit low gear, and went full throw before I could even open my mouth. NO BS!
I spend alot of time training both of my boys to hopefully take over the fishing world some day.


This was a full open event, not a youth event.

Thanks for everything.

Mike Smedley
Team Old school

December 2009

We are having a GREAT Trophy season. I have been very busy in promoting these incredible Accurate products. Ben has been helping me quite a bit in providing me with what I need to do so in the way that I feel is most effective. I have taken a page out of your "long-range" book. I have always felt, since day one, that to hold and use an Accurate reel is the only way to appreciate these animals. I have loaned out rods and reels to anyone and everyone I could find, (and trust), during this trophy season. I deal and mentor the East Coast's best Striped Bass fisherman. These men are the best of the best and incredibly set in their ways.

HOWEVER!- They cannot argue that to boat a Cow Striper on an Accurate set-up is like going fishing again for the first time. I can honestly say without ANY exaggeration that every guy that caught a fish on an Accurate rig will be re-rigging over the next few months. The reels speak for themselves.

Thank you so much for your continued support,
I will continue to carry on, showing this side of the world what they are missing!

December 2009

Freshwater STRIPERS- Live Bait and Umbrella Rigs- Fall- Team Old School

One Reel does it ALL!

Accurate Reels can do it all, they have even un-cluttered my boat.

While fishing the tournament Trails, we have had to carry dozens and dozens of rod/reel combos. Some for live bait, some for trolling, some for jigging, some for cut bait (chunking), and some for casting plugs. While lugging this mass amount of gear in and out of hotel rooms day after day, it occured to me; I think these new Boss Extremes can pull the load and wear more than just one hat. It didn't take long to get it dialed in. Using just one Boss Xtreme 400, I was able to get it all done. With it's large line capacity and small profile, I was able to fish, using every style with just one combo. In one day we caught fish using live bait, trolling, chunking, and casting plugs! All with the same rod and reel, and without sacrificing ANYTHING!

It is a unique situation where buying a reel that is a little more expensive can SAVE YOU MONEY!

This is a short video we did catching freshwater Striped Bass on live bait in the morning and trolling Umbrella rigs in the afternoon.

Thanks again ACCURATE!

Mike Smedley
Captain- Team Old School.

Old School Scores Big on Accurate Reels

Check out Mike and the boys from Old School