10/10 Offshore: Sticking it Out

A guest post from our friend (nut) JJ:

The past few days have been by most standards automatic for the tuna fishing. There is currently a massive body of fish hanging around Stellwagen Bank. While they have been showing in the mornings on halfbeaks, it has been mostly a jig bite. Friday, I had the opportunity to fish with Captain Rich for a busman's holiday. It was a tough morning, with a quick hook-pull the only strike. We struggled to find feeding fish after this hookup. While there were certainly fish around us, they were just very switched off.

Rich and I began swapping fishing stories, speaking about our personal tuna philosophies. A theme we hit often was the importance of sticking it out on these fish. Sometimes, you have to wade through hours of boredom and remain vigilant in order to earn that fish. There is a reason why these animals are regarded as the most difficult quarry in our fishery. We both talked of our intense passion for these fish, how we fish all day for one strike. It really is a remarkable addiction and a truly fulfilling experience when you do get that strike. The runs are blistering, the violence of their headshakes, and the reminder of their power when they finally dig in on the spiral. I never cease to be reminded that these animals have the highest level of hemoglobin per unit of blood of any creature on earth. Their power and tenacity is truly unparalleled.

Around 1pm we got a call from Captain Derek of First Light Anglers that he was on feeding fish. We made our way over towards his numbers and began marking fish almost instantly. It wasn't long until I got tight. Fishing a highly specialized fighting blank, Rich and I were able to have the fish boatside in 10 minutes. A quick gaffshot and the fish was on the boat. The size of this fish was suprising, in the spiral the tuna looked staggeringly long. We put the tape measure to it and realized this was the first >60" tuna taken aboard the McKee!

While we were both in a timecrunch and had to run back after this fish, had we wanted to we could have hooked quite a few more. The volume of tuna in Massachusetts Bay is the greatest it has been all year. The fish have been showing consistently in the mornings and sporadically through the afternoon. However, the jig bite remains very strong. Even when the tuna are not showing on the surface, they are consistently being marked right around the thermocline at 50'.

Interesting Photos from Sept/Oct

Carlton's unweighted sluggoShock n' awe to catch a hawg on such a windy day


Urban fishing at its best


Capt Sluggo puts his mojo to work


Wonder what it would be like to catch a big tuna

Um er...thats a big fish i gots me.

Supposed to be better than this...

Early October is supposed to be a sure thing around Boston Harbor. We have grown accustomed to finding life teeming wherever we go. Not so this year. The bait, birds, and fish are not nearly as widespread as in past years. There are big bass and bluefish keyed on the large bunker inside the harbor but other than this, there is a distinct lack of active smaller fish. Many have talked of changing patterns but I am concerned.

We are catching fish on each trip (and there are good numbers of bluefin tuna offshore) but are not finding the wide open bites that last for hours. We will be out there trying through the end of October. Here's to hoping the weather stays nice and the fish find us.

John

Fall in Boston

The seasons have definitely changed. Fall is here. The temperatures have cooled off and the north winds have arrived. When we can get out (it has been VERY windy occasionally) the fishing has been good. As many are reporting, the typical fall surface action is way down this year but the fish are still around. We are working structure, rips, and the sporadic surface feed and have been rewarded with a number of good bass in the high 30" range on fly and spin.

We do have a few dates still available during the next couple weeks so please let us know if you want to get one more fix before the season is over.

Cheers,

John

Mixed Bag--Tuna, Bass, Blues and Albies

It has been a while since the last report. We've been fishing a lot--inshore, offshore, bass, blues, tuna, and albies. The weather has been mixed as well, from flat calm and sunny to windy and cold. Overall, while not true fall run conditions, the fishing is good. We have hooked tuna every trip out, mostly on Stellwagen Bank casting, jigging, and even trolling a few sluggos. Inshore, the bass and blues are feeding mostly on the large menhaden prevalent in almost every nook and cranny in Boston. Up to the north, the baby bunker are starting to come out of the rivers and we have found some nice surface feeds of mixed bass and blues. This entire season has run about two weeks behind last year so I anticipate some great fishing between now and the middle of October.

We have some great dates--Oct 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10--available for bass/bluefish charters. Mornings or afternoons should be great during this window. Call or email if you'd like to get out. Dont wait as it will be a long winter!

Tight lines,

John

Quick Update--Don't forget to Tie Down Your Boats

Tropical Storm Hannah will make her presence felt in New England this Saturday. She will come and go quickly Saturday night but could leave a lot of rain and wind in her wake. Dont forget to tie down or haul your boats.

Bass fishing continues to be on the slow side. Tuna are still biting on the bank and the surface activity has picked up some over the past couple days.

We've been out of action for a couple days (the weekend will be mostly a blowout anyway) due to a bent propshaft, but will be back in action next week and fishing hard right through October.

We have some good dates the last week of September and the first three weeks of October still open so let us know if you want to get out.

Cheers,

John

Fishing Update because of the French

John's in France with his lovely wife and I've been hitting the water without our resident poster Capt. Mendy . Forgive me if my nouns and verbs don't agree but we all cant right like mendy man. I know...I misspelled "write" smart guy. First off, First Light Anglers hosted a "Tag a Tiny" tournament this past weekend, even if you couldn't participate consider sending a donation. Mail a check to “Tag a Tiny” at 2 Flume Rd, Magnolia, MA 01930. Checks can be made payable to: North Shore Community Tuna Association.

Onto the fishing... we have had some cool thunderstorms pull into the harbor this month, this shot was taken between the storms as the fish showed on top for some nice feeds. Other than that its been pretty slow for fly and light tackle. As for other updates the poggies are everywhere and bluefish can be found snacking on some of the schools. The bait is thick and ready for a good chew, hopefully it will go off soon for all.

Meg's got mojo




The tuna fishing has been tuna fishing!! Great days to "ok this sucks" with wind and hard to find fish. The reports from other dudes has been consistent and folks are working the hell out of the bank from north to south, east to west to find the fish(couldn't resist my Ted Kennedy thang here, have to see the clip). Everyone is catching consistently but having to mix up tatics depending on what bait is showing predominance. The fish have been big but with some footballs mixed in which is a good sign, none have been hooked to my knowledge probably because big tuna rule. Dont forget to report your catch at NMFS. Some real pigs have been caught on spinning gear and the pics from other guides have been outstanding. SeeRuge's fish. Nice job!! BTW the way this post took me 5 hours to right um er I mean write.

Bob's mighty Bassana


Ricky's tight



Jeff Connon's corker

Short report and a few good links

The tuna fishing is getting better by the day and we have caught fish each of the last four trips. It will only get better from here and should last throughout October. As long as the weather cooperates, we will target them!

Speaking of tuna, there have been a number of recent books and articles on the subject. Today, marine biologist and writer Richard Ellis was on On Point with Tom Ashbrook talking about his recent book, Tuna: A Love Story, which tells the tales of the current state of the tuna fishery. A very solid read for anyone interested in the fate of one of our most favorite fish. You can here the interview with Tom Ashbrook here. My friend and hunting buddy Leighton just caught a fish in our local waters that was tagged in Spain! We've known for a while that these fish migrate across the oceans but his story is worth checking out.

Richard has been on vacation with his family this week. He will be back fishing next week when I leave for vacation with my wife. We will both be back in action on Labor Day and fishing hard for the last two months of the season.

For now, tight lines.

John

Mass Bay Tuna: A Photo Essay (Part 2)

Mass Bay Tuna: A Photo Essay (Part 1)

Boston 7/24--Wind, Rain, and Fish!

The fishing has improved a bit this week in Boston as we suspected it would the week after full moon tides. We still have tons and tons of bait--mackeral, juvy herring, adult pogies, and even a few squid! The bluefish have started to trickle in a bit more so expect the mackeral to begin to thin out. Though we have been off the water the past two days for some boat maintenance and a weather related cancellation, we will be fishing every day for the next five days starting tomorrow.

It should be a good weekend and next week's tides are good also. We have Saturday morning, August 2nd open, if you'd like to get out for an early-morning 4 hour trip.

Tight lines,

John

ps Sorry for the lack of photos. I left my camera in the TV Diner studio and am waiting to get it back...

Weekend Report (includes our TV Diner appearance!)

The fishing remains tough but we are plugging away and keeping the dreaded skunk away. The weekend trips, both morning and evening, yielded decent catches. We found a couple good schools to the north working bait on top and caught good numbers on both fly and spin. My clients today, husband and wife from CT, who were both new to saltwater fishing, had perfect conditions for fly casting and caught their first striped bass. The tides are better this week and with the loads and loads of bait of all kinds everywhere, things are poised to bust wide open. Still very few bluefish in our waters which is very unusual for this time of year... Usually the macks are long gone and the blues have moved into every nook and cranny of Boston Harbor.

Our tuna interview on NECN's TV Diner aired yesterday. We are still new to being in front of the camera but I think we were able to get our message across. Thanks again Jenny and Billy!

TV Diner at 10a Sat the 19th

We did another episode of TV Diner for this weekend. Always a good time with Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa! Check out T.V. Diner. Oh, and if your wondering about the fishing, its slow. Work structure, white wash and the comming tides. Enjoy.

Boston 7/10--Hit or miss...

The fishing has slowed some overall but we are still catching good numbers most trips. Things were on the slow side over the 4th of July holiday weekend with the boat traffic but have rebounded since. We are finding bass feeding on a combination of small mackeral, pogies, and young herring. This morning the Ocean Lure Sand Eel lure did a good job imitating the juvy herring. Still not many bluefish in the harbor which is unusual for this time of year. The tuna fishing has been on the slow side too, though the fish are here, just not feeding hard. We will be running a mix of bass/bluefish trips and tuna trips over the next few weeks.

Even though the fishing is not red hot, get out while you can. You never know what you're going to find!

John

Boston 7/1 Kids Love Fishing!

The fishing in Boston is holding up well despite the summer heat. We are still finding fish well inshore. The bass are oriented around the large schools of adult menhaden which are prevalent in our waters this year. We have had great success using topwater flies and lures to entice these fish to eat.

Recently, I had Mark Lawrence, his 12 year old daughter, client and his client's 10 year old son. Isabel is a seasoned angler and got the hand of striper fishing right away. The fish were finicky at first but as the tide dropped and the sun began to move lower in the sky the fish became active. We caught schoolie after schoolie and a few keeper sized fish as well. Everyone had a blast and dads and kids went home having caught their fill.Richard will be fishing in Boston for the balance of the week. I will be down on Martha's Vineyard targeting bass with the flyrod from shore. Should be great with good night tides and lots of sandeels along the beach.

Tight lines for now,

John

Boston 6/25

The fishing continues to be solid in Boston. Richard fished this morning and found breaking fish under birds before hitting the structure to find a steady pick of bass, all on the flyrods. There also continue to be large schools of pogies scattered throughout the harbor. Unfortunately, most the the time the schools of big baitfish are unmolested. Bluefish have moved into our waters though the ratio of bass to bluefish continues to be very good. Tuna are here and we have found some decent feeds out on Stellwagen Bank. We will start targeting these fish more aggressively come July.

We have a few good openings over the next few weeks (including this Friday morning, 6/27, for a 4 or 6 hour bass/blufish trip) so let us know if you have a date in mind.

Tight lines,

John

85 at 85

Bert is 85 years old. The tuna he caught this week was 85lbs.

Enough said.

6/18 Bass and Tuna

Short report this week. Richard and I have been on the water a ton, chartering in Boston and down on the Cape. The bass are here in good numbers and continue to cooperate for fly and light tackle anglers. Even better, the school bluefin (which are really growing up this year!) have arrived both up north and way down in the bay. We've hooked a number of fish in just the past few days. The hot lure is the Ocean Lures tuna popper and their "SP." Check em out at www.oceanlures.comLet us know if you need info on the local fishing or want to get out for a trip.

Tight lines,

John

Boston 6/10--Big Dog Days

It feels like the dog days of summer around here with temps reaching well into the 90's over the past few days but the fish dont know it. We have been chartering a lot over the past few days and finding good fish all over the inner harbor. Both incoming and outgoing tides have been producing though the bigger fish have eaten better on the low incoming. Saturday we took a number of large fish on really light gear with the largest going just over 40" and 32lbs. The fish have been a bit picky the past day or so as they feed on smaller bait and the hot sun beats down. That said, there was a good feed again today and my client Bernie took this 36"/2olb fish on the fly, his largest of the year so far!We will be out most days this week. Check in often for updated reports.

Cheers,

John

www.bostonfishstix.com

Boston 6/2--Quality and Quantity

Rich took the weekend shift and put clients on fish all weekend long despite battling some wind and weather. As others have noted here, find the warmer water and you will find the fish. We have been fishing in shallow water with temps ranging from 54-57. The fish are schooled up and feeding aggressively even during the middle of the day on the right tide. The big fish yesterday was a 38", 21lb bass taken on the fly. Bill had to strip it in after the reel seized up. (pic below)My charter canceled today and I spent some time working on the boat before sneaking out for an hour in the early evening. The start of the incoming tide was great, and I caught fish, most above 26" with the largest about 35", on almost every cast using both large sluggos and yak hair herring flies. Water was about 10ft deep and the wind was calm. A beautiful night on the water.

We have an opening this Sunday (June 8) morning for a 4-hour trip as well as Tuesday (June 10) morning. Good tides should make for some solid action.

John

Living Large in Boston Harbor--Memorial Day Weekend Report

Our charter season began in earnest last week, coinciding perfectly with the arrival of school after school of striped bass into the waters of Boston Harbor. In short, the fishing has been excellent. With charters as well as some family and friends trips we took multiple parties of fly and spin fisherman out over the course of the week and found fish of all sizes. We have seen less of the traditional early season schools of small bass . Generally, the schools have been of mixed sizes. One cast you might catch an 18" fish, the next a 36". Many fish over 20lbs. have come to the boat on fly and spin tackle.

The fish have been feeding on large baits including good schools of mackeral around the outer islands. Inside, the fish are keyed on herring. In fact, there seem to be more herring around than in the past two years combined. This bodes well for a sustained spring run. The fish are schooled up and often feeding on top. It is not necessary to run and gun to the birds as many fisherman seem to do. We have had great success setting up long drifts and steadily picking away at fish after fish, often far away from the birds.

Flies and large soft plastics have been the ticket-we are imitating the herring as best we can. The water temperatures are still a bit cold. Just 52 degrees inside the bays, and barely 50 degrees outside. We have been finding fish on both the incoming and outgoing tides. If you are not finding them, move around, they are here in good numbers.

Let us know if you would like to get out. We have select dates open in June and early July. Now is the time!

Tight lines,

Capt. John

It begins...

Boston Fishstix started the season in style down on Martha's Vineyard. Rich and I were joined by James and Christian for a long-weekend of fishing down on the island. While some of my favorite spots were not as active as in past years, we explored some new areas and were rewarded with fine fishing. We found the best action on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning under overcast conditions. Large schools of bass and bluefish were pushing through the area and eating all along the way. We had great visuals of 5-6 fish following our flies and lures right to the boat in shallow water. The fish were of decent size with numbers of 30"+ fish in the schools. The weather soured a bit on Friday but the fishing remained solid. More and more bluefish moved in as the weekend progressed and by Saturday, the blues outnumbered the bass by 3 to 1.

Overall, it was a fantastic way to start the season. Good fishing, good food, and good company. Christian, a fine professional photographer, captured the weekend with some great shots. Check out a few of his images here and more at his website.

Charters begin this week in Boston. The fish are here chasing a good amount of bait. Should be a solid Memorial Day Weekend. See you on the water!

John

New Website!

I'm sure you can already tell, but our new website went live last night. Mike Eaton once again put together some fantastic new features (including this blog) to really make the site pop!

Let us know what you think!

John

Getting closer...

Saturday was boat day. We made alot of progress--installing new rod holders, cleaning and waxing, and generally prepping the boat for the season. I'm headed to Miami on Wednesday and plan to do a little fishing in Islamorada. Supposed to be sunny and 80+ all week!

We plan to drag the boat down to the Vineyard the second week in May for some fishing and filming. After that trip, the boat will be in the water in Boston and our charter season begins.

I'll post up some Florida fishing pics when I return.

Splash!

We've had a stretch of fantastic weather lately. Rich and I took advantage of it today and ran the boat on a shakedown cruise in the harbor. The new trailer is great and the boat slides off and on easily. It will be great to have the trailer to follow the fish and to be able to perform routine maintenance on the boat when needed. For the best of both worlds, we'll also continue to have the slip at Marina Bay!

Next weekend, weather permitting, we're planning to head to the bank for some groundfishing. Stay tuned for a report and up-to-date information on the arrival of striped bass into Boston and points north. We'll be posting regularly as the season picks up in earnest.

Tight lines for now,

John