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