We set up around 6 on the old span. Anchored, live eels, on bottom, middle and top. Popped a few beers and just waited for the action to ensue. 2 or 3 hours go by and the only thing we caught was a beer buzz.
We decided to get on the radio to see if any other boats were doing any better. Knowing that Striper season brings out the "best" in radio chatter - we made our request not expecting a reply...........at least not one of value.
To our astonishment a friendly captain clued us in on a better location and technique. New span of the bridge and bumping in and out of the pilings rather than on the hook. He said he was catching and releasing TONS of big fish and ran out of live eels and was still catching on artificial. I could hardly believe it............We did as we were told and immediately caught a fat 38 and 43, All released of course. I called out on the radio to thank the captain for the tips and found out that we actually knew each other. His name is Jay and he took me fishing like 12 years ago with Mike Winner (Rockin Robin). Small world. I NEVER forget anyone who takes me fishing.
The real crazy part is this isn't this first time we've run into one another on the radio. This summer he was fishing right next to us for Cobia and he sent us pics of our landing a 73 lb'r.We picked up a few here and there while watching Jay catch fish after fish. All told he caught 25-30 fish in the 38-45+ range. 3 papers. At that point we only had 3 fish for the night. We later found our "hot spot" and picked up a fish on almost every drift. Only problem was it was already 1:30AM
We ended the night at 3AM with 12 in the same size class with 1 paper and 3 near papers. 
BIG THANKS TO JAY!!!!
You made our day and we owe you big time for calling us in on the fish. Amazing that fishing the same area but a different span can be ALL the difference. Beers on us 