The Fishing Has Been Fair

As I type this update I'm hearing reports of the first solid showing of Bonito and even Albies all along the Southcoast. Many reports are coming in from the Vineyard and Long Island but still I've not seen any on my daily hunts between here and the Islands which is no fun because everyone wants to chase them. I still get many calls and emails but I'm serious these small inshore tuna have managed to stay out of sight pretty well to this point. I really think the lack of bait we usually see along Newport and other areas has just not come together this season so far and until then I think the actual numbers of fish breaking on top may be very small. This makes it hard to locate them and in turn you spend hours looking for a fish that might just not be there or is there and not showing so you blind cast for hours with no results.

On a more positive note, the bass and bluefish have been great most days. For the last few weeks many days of fishing have been 6-8 hour days and during much of them the fishing has been better then expected. Anglers using surface lures have done very well at first light along many of the usual haunts and when the tidal flow is right even later into the morning. I've had some days with multiple 30lb fish taken after 11am this year which is solid proof if you work the structure right bigger fish are around you just need to make them eat or at least take a look at what your throwing.

The big problem the past few weeks has been the unpredictable thunder storms that just seem to evolve right above the boat. I had a great client Jim Allenchy about two weeks ago lined up for an all day trip. I looked at the forecast the night before and decided why not we can give it a try in the morning and see what the conditions are like as we go. We'll anytime your greeted at the ramp by no other boats, an empty parking lot, and a very red sky you should rethink things. I figured the run would not be all that bad and it wasn't. We start fishing at around 7am and things are not all that bad. Find some decent fishing finally when the sky decided to go from a light shade of grey to almost night and opens up above us with rain like a tropical monsoon. Thunder and lightning and from what I could tell a few good water spouts appear and its suddenly like Armageddon on the water. Well we run for cover along a safe beach and wait it out only to start fishing again to see another cloud coming so we decided to call it a day and made the really rough ride back. I must give Jim credit he never complain if anything loved it from what he said and he did land a very nice fish in what I would consider a tropical storm and lost what could have been the largest fish to date to a huge rock and poor boat handling on my part.

Other then the serious weather I feel the August fishing has been awesome overall. The bass bite has been tougher the last few days with the full moon and seaweed almost everywhere you turn. I think in the coming days with these cooler night and first signs of fall here the fishing should turn on again and I hope to see some Bonito or Albie first hand in the coming days even if I have to break down and run to MV with Phat Matt for a recon trip in his little boat. As I mentioned I have been busy and looking at the calender all I have left is 5 DAYS between now and October 1st which is amazing considering the state of the economy and peoples spending habits. I'm trying to my best and it appears to be working I guess. I look forward to seeing everyone who's booked in the coming weeks and if fishing during the cooler months of the migration are what your thinking about please book your October rates now. I have some very nice dates open in October around good tides which is a shock but they will fill in soon. Stay Tight!

Double Trouble!

Todays trip was booked way in advance as a gift from Kathy's dad Bob to her husband Vance for his 30th. These two are not only a great time to have on the boat but are very accomplished anglers who love to chase big bass on plugs. Vance gets out all the time when the bite is good in NJ where they live and Kathy gets out from time to time as well but really likes boat fishing over the surf stuff so she looks forward to these trips and had no problem tossing big lures in the rocks with Vance today. We started in the usual spots that had fish early last week which had been good and again when two good anglers get the plugs in the good areas and you get "no love" its time to move. The fish have moved from these areas or are just not feeding well on the weaker parts of the tides so we had to look a bit before we found bigger fish. It started out slow but about an hour into the trip found a real good slug of bass in the 10lb-30lb range laid up in the rips and rockpiles looking for food. We did see many nice bass follow the other hooked fish to the boat so we knew they were there. We never did land anything giant but hooked and lost one good one and I thought overall it was a great trip. Kathy got on the board with a nice 18lb bass and Vance with a 25lb bass. As always I look forward to having these guys again as they make the pilgrimage every summer to Newport and look forward to fishing. See you guys next year.

PS....Vance please ditch that silly Yankee's hat next time!

Thumbs Down On NOAA Today

Well, after talking with Peter G late last night we decided to give the offshore run a go today. Well at 5am this morning we all meet at Joe Dwyers boat in Newport and the wind was already ramped up and things just did not look good for an offshore run due to a bad forecast. We all piled in the boat anyhow to get out front of Newport with the plan to dash south to look for small BFT or Bonito or any pelagic fish for that matter if the wind stayed the same or even settled down around 7am. We in turn tried sitting for about an hour off Land's End and then we decided even with the wind to try and run south and look for some fast movers. Pete G was at the helm and the 23 Regulator was regulating the high seas and I mean high seas. After we crossed about the 10 mile mark the sea conditions went down hill quick. Seas with a stiff NW-W direction with outgoing tide in Rhode Island Sound made for some real grumpy seas. We had solid 3-5 footers and a few miles north of Cox's Ledge called it and decided today was not the day for tuna fishing and changed our course from SW to NW. We then made the run into Pt. Judith's Harbor of Refuge and decided to try and look for Bonito which was also not really happening yet. We sat for about an hour looking at empty water and just got bored quick really. After looking there we decided to go into Pt Judith to grab some quick "chowda" and Clam Cakes @ Georgia's and try to regroup which was a great call...Thanks JD! While eating them we just decided maybe just take a cruise around and try some good bass waters and enjoy some time out on the water and what time we had left in a pretty nice day other then the windy conditions offshore. Overall a great time with some great people and I love days off on the water when driving and putting people on fish is just not what I need to do I can rest and watch others fish. Seeing that Dan will be going back to Afghanistan in a few months for what I think is his 4th tour "in country" I think he needed that trip and it was great to see him fishing before the real work begins. Good Times on the Beast and drinking a few beers and cruising in the Regulator is always fun even if the fishing is just down right slow. Maybe next trip well catch more then a good buzz and sunburns guys!

Warm Water and Smaller Bass This Weekend

Today I was lucky enough to have Jim Burton on board for 6 hours of fly slinging. Jim's an accomplished angler and outstanding fly caster so trips like this are always a pleasure for me as much as the anglers. We started out slipping along some really nice structure with good moving tides so I figure this should be great with low light conditions and some fog. Well after ten minutes of moving around we found it to be dead and I mean dead. I just could not believe how one day the place is covered with fish and the next just empty and void of even a few small bluefish. I guess they have fins and will move so that's what we did we grew our own fins and moved to cooler water and better structure. Anywhere on the south side of the Islands today was awesome. Nothing real big but plenty of fish in the 18"-30" range. Jim had a great time catching tons of schoolies and was rewarded with one plump 15lbs bass that put up an awesome fight. Overall not a bad weekend of fishing and the water is a bit dirty and still loaded with weed so lets hope the big tides and some wind push that stuff out. Nothing like seeing "Walter" headed toward your fly or plug only to see him turn away due to 5lbs of seaweed on your offering. I'll be going offshore with Pete, Dan and Joe Dwyer on Joe's 23 Regulator in search of this seasons south side first inshore BFT or Bonito. Stand By!