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!