Boston FishStix T's online

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas my fishing friends

We are already planning for next season's fun! So many folks have asked for a t-shirt with our logo and finally thanks to our friend Mike Eaton we have our unique BFX logo on shirts for men and woman because that's just how we role!

So visit our site and see the collection at Boston Fishstix by clicking on the t-shirt icon.

We be fishin soon!

Hung a beast on the fly today!

More later but Bob Clancy hooked an estimated 68-70" tuna on a Mud Dog fly and fought it for almost 4 hours before the flyline parted with the fish 20' under the boat.

Boston Fishstix goes for a City Limit!

Rich and I had the pleasure of shooting an episode of City Limits with Mike Iaconelli on Monday and Tuesday. The shoot was demanding and we had to work through some weather but we ended up catching a lot of fish and had a great time doing it. Cappy Rich held his own against the pro. Tune in on Versus this fall to see just how well he did!

Ike was a terrific guest--extremely generous and easy going, not to mention an outstanding fisherman. With his freshwater bass gear, he put a hurtin' on the local striped bass population!

We will be out a bunch in the coming weeks fishing for a mix of bass and tuna. Inshore, the late summer is shaping up great with lots of small bait around. We're finding good surface feeds of 24-28" bass with the occasional larger fish mixed in. Bodes well for the fall!

Tight lines,

Capt. John

Sweet Goodness!!

Maine to Mass Bay, trouts, tuna, 6x tippet, threading flies while eating flies, 130lb fluro crimping, casting hatches, hooking the blitz, finally some nice weather and the striper bite getting back to normal in the harbor. Enjoy.

Tuna, tuna, tuna

Richard went 3 for 8 yesterday. I will let him share the story (it's a good one!)

Here's a picture of Boston Ballet Artistic Director (and nutty fisherman) Mikko Nissinen with the one fish they kept.

30lbs Striped Bass. 88yr old Bert.

Last year, Bert caught an 85lb tuna fishing with us. This year Richard put him on a 30lb flyrod bass. Not bad for the young man.

Thump.

Good fishing this week. Lots of surface feeding bass. A few bluefish and the occasional tuna sighting. All we need now is some sun and a SW wind and things will get very, very good.

Fish gods have been good!

Outer Cape Shout Out

Gotta give my buddy Jeff at Fin Addiction Charters some props. This dude catches fish!

http://finaddictioncharters.blogspot.com/

Not suprised that he put his clients on tuna so early in the season! This spring is shaping up to be a banner run all over the Bay State so get out while you can. We've been putting lots of bass in the boat here in Boston. Mark Ellis joined me for a short morning trip and caught some nice bass to 32" all on the fly. Richard is chartering the next few days and will be reporting while I am out of town.



John

The Big One

David Kinney's new book on the Martha's Vineyard Derby, The Big One, has been getting a lot of attention in both the fishing community and in the press.  It is a colorful account of the month-long tournament and the many obsessed fisherman who compete around the clock for the two grand prizes (among thousands of daily prizes.)  As someone who has casually fished the derby and often thinks of stealing away for a month to do nothing but chase striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, and bonito, this is a must-read.  For now, we can all experience The Big One vicariously here:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-One-Obsession-Furious-Pursuit/dp/0802118909

Fishing is solid up and down the coast.  Cool temps and cloud cover this week should keep 'em feeding all day long.

John

48" Bass from Boston Harbor!

Boston Fishstix Blog reader Allen Francis from Cambridge sent us this photo of a large bass taken on a live mackeral in Boston Harbor. The macs are plentiful right now and overall, the bait situation is great, especially compared to the past couple years. Let's hope it keeps up.

Great catch Allen!

Tight lines,

John

Nice Work Boys!

Richard had the Milton boys out this morning and they found some great fish busting on the herring not far from the dock. As suspected, the fish have been very active on this tide cycle after a brief slowdown last week.

I was out on the Vineyard last weekend and found a great feed early Sunday morning. We took 6 keeper bass up to about 36" throwing plugs, plastic, and flies from shore.

The weather is great and the fish are hungry so get out there if you can!

John

On the fish again!

The fish continue to feed aggressively on the herring. The action was great for Richard and his "sports" Bob and Mikko Monday night. They caught fish up to 31" on the fly. I had Art Spinner on board tonight for the first official charter of the season. The fish were there again but the feed was not as sustained. Art took fish up to about 28" on the Mud Dog bunny half n half but could not get one to eat the gurgler. The wind, which had been out of the SE died and then swung around to the SW. When this happened the fish got lockjaw. We continued to mark a lot of fish and connected on a few more to end a great night on the water.

I'm off the the Vineyard for a few days. Cappy Dick will be running the Fishstix in Boston through the weekend. Reports to follow here and through our tweets here: http://twitter.com/BostonFishstix

Tight lines,

John

It's on!

Fish in the Harbor? We'll see!

Heading out tomorrow (Saturday) morning for an inshore shakedown cruise and to look for some early season fresh striped bass. I'd say there is a 50/50 chance of finding some schools working in the harbor.

Tight lines and best of luck for a great season!

John

Cappy J Bringing it Home--Cod/Shakedown 5/3

Nice morning for a boat ride. Our first trip of the season came off without a hitch. The boat ran great. The weather was perfect with flat calm seas. We even put a mess of cod in the boat.

Here's Cappy J bringing us home in style:



Back at it later in the week to find some haddock!

John

Boston Fishstix Featured in Forbes Traveler Magazine!

Folks,

Its been a while. We've been busy working on the boat and getting our tackle ready for the season. We made some minor upgrades to the boat including some new rod holders and and improved screen on the gps/sounder unit. A clean and a coat of wax and she'll be ready to go. On the tackle front, we upgraded our tuna gear again to hopefully match the size of the fish we'll target this year. Most people expect the majority of fish to be north of 100lbs!

In other exciting news, we were featured as part of an article on city fishing in the United States. I was interviewed last summer and had all but forgotten about it when we were asked for some photos to accompany the story. Check it out:

http://www.forbestraveler.com/adventure/city-fishing-story.html

Enjoy this nice weather. We'll see you on the water soon!

John & Rich

SWS Seminar Series 3/7/09

I participated in the 2009 Salt Water Sportsman Seminar Series at Regis College in Waltham yesterday. This annual event travels across the country and puts on a great, informative show. I was on various panels with a number of excellent fishermen from SWS who's articles I've read since I was a kid. I was also joined by local guides Derek Spingler from First Light Anglers and Chuck DiStefano from Skip-A-Dory Charters. Both are great guys and excellent fishermen.


The past weekend was 60's both days which really got my blood pumping for the season. Richard and I have the usual boat prep, gear organizing and upgrading to do, but should be ready for some early groundfishing by the middle of April, just over a month away.

Boston Boat Show--Feeling a bit like Spring...

Off to the boat show today with some buddies. Word on the street is that the turnout is underwhelming this year. No surprise there... Took the dog for a run today and the sun has some warmth to it finally. Will likely splash the boat for a test run and maybe some cod fishing two months from now! Time to start tying flies and getting the gear in order.

John

Winter Greetings from Boston Fishstix--January 26, 2009

Greetings from Boston Fishstix Guides!

While the weather in Boston does NOT make one feel much like fishing, the 2009 New England fishing season WILL be upon us in short order. Thus, Rich and I have been busy planning for what promises to be an exciting and busy charter season.

2008 began with a 4-day trip to Martha's Vineyard. Rich, James and I brought along a fantastic photographer, Christian Kozowyk and he took some great shots of the fantastic bass and bluefishing we experienced.
The middle of May is a great time to head to the waters of Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay. The fish are plentiful and always very hungry.

After departing the Vineyard, we slipped the boat at Marina Bay and began our Boston Harbor charter season. The spring started strong, with many schools of large bass moving into the shallow waters of Boston's bays and estuaries. We had success targeting these fish with surface flys and lures.The tuna season began early--we took our first bluefin while fishing out of Plymouth with the Patricelli party from Oregon. The tuna were much larger this year, running from 70-150lbs+. We have upgraded our gear once again and will be throwing nothing less than 15wt flyrods and heavy spin gear loaded with 65lb braid in 2009. If you are up for an serious angling challenge, the Mass Bay bluefin are just the thing!In other news, I will be participating in the Salt Water Sportsman Seminar Series to be held at Regis College in Wellesley on March 7, 2009 (http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/article/Other/2008-Seminar-Series) The seminar will focus on our local waters and I will be talking specifically about fly and light tackle opportunities in Boston. 2009 promises to be a busy year on the water. We are planning to get out with our photographer friends more, brothers Jon and Christian Kozowyk, starting with a trip to the Vineyard in May. The peak of Boston Harbor striped bass fishing is the month of June--last year we sight cast to many 30lb+ fish up on the flats. Tuna and bluefish won't be far behind toward the end of the month.

Finally, we are starting to book up for prime late-May and June dates so please be in touch if you'd like to book a trip. Thanks to everyone who fished with us in 2008 along with our terrific sponsors: GLoomis, Atlantis Weather Gear, Muddog Flies, Hogy Lures, Ocean Lures, and PLine. Many thanks also to the shops we work with: First Light Anglers and Firefly Outfitters.

We look forward to seeing you again this year!

Tight lines,

John and Rich
Boston Fishstix Guides