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Lou and Mike from Hooked In New England: The Future of Striped Bass

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Episode Show Notes

Hooked in New England is a fishing podcast built around a single species — striped bass — and on this episode hosts Lou and Mike join Tom Rowland from Maine to talk about what makes striper fishing different in the Northeast, and why they built their whole show around protecting the fish as much as catching them. The conversation covers how a single-species podcast survives, what the water looked like during an unusually quiet season, and why they believe conservation starts with admitting there is a problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are Lou and Mike from Hooked in New England?

Lou and Mike host the Hooked in New England podcast, a Maine-based show built around striped bass fishing that covers both technique and the conservation work needed to protect the fishery.

What does the Hooked in New England podcast focus on?

The show centers on striped bass specifically — not just how to catch them, but how to protect the striped bass resource for the long term.

When was this episode recorded?

Tom recorded this conversation early in the COVID-19 shutdowns, during a stretch when both Florida and New England were seeing almost no angling pressure on the water.

What do Lou and Mike say about striped bass conservation?

They frame conservation the same way they would frame solving any problem: the first step is admitting there is one. That directness carries into how they talk about protecting the striped bass fishery.

Where can I listen to the full conversation?

Press play above, or find this episode of the Tom Rowland Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Why I Wanted Lou and Mike On the Show

I like finding shows built around one fish by people who are genuinely obsessed with it. Lou and Mike built Hooked in New England around striped bass, and I wanted to know how you keep a podcast interesting when you never leave one species. I also wanted to hear how the striper fishery looked to them from Maine, since that is a completely different world from what I see here in the Keys.

What a Quiet Season Looks Like From the Water

We recorded this one during a strange stretch, right as everything shut down. I asked them what the fishing looked like up there with almost nobody else out on the water. Lou and Mike had their own version of that same eerie quiet, and what they noticed about the fishery during it is worth hearing in their own words.

Admitting the Problem Is Step One

There is a line early in this conversation about problem-solving that stuck with me: you cannot fix anything until you admit it is broken. Lou and Mike apply that same thinking to striped bass conservation, and it shapes how they talk about the fishery on their own show. I will let them explain it rather than paraphrase it — worth hearing in full.

Final Thoughts From Me

I do not get many chances to talk striped bass on this podcast, so this was a fun change of pace. Lou and Mike know their fish and they know their audience, and I think that combination is why their show works. Press play above to hear the whole conversation.

People & Brands Mentioned

Lou, Mike, Robert Trossett.

About Hooked in New England

Hooked in New England is a podcast hosted by Lou and Mike focused on striped bass fishing in Maine and the greater Northeast, covering technique alongside conservation of the striped bass fishery.

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Episode Transcript

[Verbatim excerpt from the full episode transcript on file in Google Drive (doc 1Z1HeHvBcOfDkrUZwAo5p3wkERLkVLBmlGqwpKG6NMVo, EP 124 per Deepgram Nova-2 transcription, 15,792 words total). Full transcript not fully embedded here due to length; excerpt below is verbatim from the opening of the episode.]\n\nSpeaker 1: So the first step in any solving of anything is admit that there's a problem. Speaker 2: We are hooked to New England, and this is the Tom Roland podcast. Speaker 0: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show today. We're gonna move to a new area. We're going to Maine. We're going to Maine today, and we're gonna talk to the guys from Hooked on New England, podcast up there where they really focus on the striped bass, not only just the bass and how to fish for them, but also conservation and how to protect the striped bass and the resource. So here it comes, Hooked on New England. Alright, guys. How are you doing? Speaker 1: We're doing good. How are you doing? Speaker 0: Well, just like we were saying before we hit record, uncharted territory. It's a funny time in the world right now, but all things considered, doing pretty well. Speaker 1: Yep. How's the weather down there? Pretty good? Speaker 0: Yeah. The weather's good. The fishing's great. Just nobody around. It's like a ghost town, and it's funny funny time. But, did one with a podcast with Robert Trossett yesterday, and he was saying that just felt like it was given the earth a time to breathe. You know? It's like, this is usually one of our busiest times. I don't know about your fishing up there, but it's usually one of the times of the year where we get the most angling pressure, and there's virtually none. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out in the next year or two with, you know, maybe it's really good. Maybe it's incredibly good. Who knows? I don't know. I'm looking for the silver lining. Speaker 1: I know. I was supposed to be down there in Big Pine Key, actually, with two friends of ours. And when the Keys were shut down, so was our Airbnb and our trip for the whole week.

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