<sub>July 25: Those of us who were fortunate to fish the harbor this weekend had some of the best fishing of the season! There is still plenty of bait around and the bass were feeding voraciously on herring. On Friday, Scott Dimare and his son Nick caught and released more stripers than I could keep track of... Nick was keeping count and it became sort of a competition. I think his dad caught one or two fish more but Nick landed and releaed a 30+ pounded!

Scott holding Nick's big one! This one bottomed out my 30# boga grip!!

Scott with a nice fish...

Saturday, despite thick fog in the early morning, also turned out to be a banner day. Dave Grainger and his friend Stephen came out for a morning of spectacular fly fishing and weren't disappointed. What more can I say?

Steve with a nice striper on an 8wt. fly rod. 

David Grainger took this one on my 8 wt Helios!!

A weak front moved through last night and we had to contend with WNW winds from 10-15 mph. The fish showed up right on schedule but the early morning bite didn't last as long as yesterday. Ray Lewis of Chicago and his son, Dr. Mike Lewis, joined me for a morning of fly fishing. It was MIke's first time catching stripers and he had fun christening his 9 wt Orvis Zero G. Both Ray and Mike had an awesome experience fly fishing for striped bass and will remember the day for many years to come.

Ray Lewis with a dandy!

This wasn't Mike's biggest fish of the day but it was his first!

Doubles were not uncommon today!

We moved off to fish a rip by ourselves and had good luck for a while. Later in the morning, the fish came up big time on the flats! What a great weekend of fishing and guiding!

July 19: Week 3 of the kid's fishing program has started off great! After finding a few fish inside the bay, we ran offshore yesterday to find (on a tip from my friend Capt. Bill Smith) a large school of big stripers. The conditions were FAC...perfect! A soon as our lures hit the water, it was fish on! Today, we found stripers in the N. Channel (so did the rest of the fleet;) and a bit later near one of the islands in the bay. We then went further into the bay to catch small bluefish. No legal lobsters to take today though...

Uri with a nice keepr bass!

Mitch landed the largest fish of the day...

Gus released this one this morning...

July 17: Max Cavallaro and his two childhood friends (both named Mike) came out for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. Light to no wind, warm, just a spectacular day. We did find stripers outside the harbor (so did the fleet;) and for a good part of the morning they were kind of tough to get on, moving around chasing herring. We lost a few nice ones and landed some too, including 3 small keepers for the grill. Just a great day on the water!

Max took this on on the fly...

All three anglers were hooked up! Nice!!

Mike fooled this one with a 1/2 oz jig and white sluggo

July 16: It's been a great week for the Reel Dream Charters Kid's Fishing program! Although we had to cancel 2 afternoons due to weather (we'll make up the days), the morning and afternoon fishing (save for Monday in the afternoon which was very slow) the fishing has been outstanding. Today's morning session found schoolie bass just outside of the harbor. Robert caught and released an almost keeper and we hauled up the largest crab I've ever seen in my lobster traps.

Robert with nice striper!

Logan shows off this big boy!

The kids in both the morning and afternoon sessions got into some great fishing just a few miles offshore. Below are some pics of the week, including a very large fish taken yesterday afternoon on a jig tipped with a white sluggo by Adam Brown.

This one bottomed out the boga and weighed 30 plus pounds!

Adam also caught and released this nice 24 pounder!!!

Kevin released this small keeper in hopes of catching a bigger fish ;)

Logan kept this beauty for the table.

The following are some pics of the kids who participated in the morning session:

Big bluefish blitz on Monday afternoon! Or, was it Tuesday???

We caught small keepers too!

Alex's brother Luke got into the game!

Stephen got his first keeper!

Joey caught numerous bass throughout the week...

July 10: Tough fishing today for Carl Borromeo and his son Christian and daughter Natalie's. It was a beautiful morning but the schools of dish out in the sound we have been seeing all week long were not to be found. Decided to fish the Great Brewster I and Christian was rewarded with a nice bass off thr rocks on a bass assassin'. Carl hooked up on the fly but the fish git away as did Natalie's fish that was hooked on light spin tackle. The kids casted around and raised a fish or two here and there but that was all she wrote. Btw, for a 7 year old, Natalie was casting better than many adults!

Christian

The kid's fishing program had mixed results as the afternoon fishing was about as tough as it gets. We got lobsters during the week and on thr last day Scott bagged a nice blue on a top water jerk bait! Double sessions this coming week!!!

Scott with a hefty toothy critter ;)

Thuresday morning was an epic day of saltwater fly fishing for David Weinstock and his wife Gianna. We found a nice school of fish off the rocks up north in crystal clear water and it was  fish on for just about every cast! You could easily see the bass swimming around and under the boat and it was cool to see them come up and turn on our white seaducers. What a day!

David and Gianna double up!

a nice 30" fish on an 8 wt.

David took this 39" 22# beauty in the deeper water


July 6: Week #2 of the kid's fishing program began yesterday and the fishing inside the harbor in the afternoon was slow to poor. So, change of plans... There has been a large school of bass and some blues in the mix feeding heavily on macks offshore in the morning. Decided to switch to a morning schedule this week and was rewarded with fishing as hot as the day today! All on board caught and released bass including some small keepers on jigs and top water soft plastic baits. In fact, the soft plastics worked very well in the deep water. All the fish were heavy (for their size) and loaded with sea lice.

Jackson with a small keeper...

Scott kept this one for the grill (his family likes fish ;)

James had a grat time!

July 1: Very windy and cold this afternoon. The fishing has been better over the past couple of days in the early morning with a dropping tide. I'm told late afternoon and early evening has been good, as well. We pulled the lobster traps today and found another keeper lobster and a trap full of skates. We let the skates go ;)... After searching far and wide, we found a school of fish and dropped our jigs down to connect with a handful of nice bass before the tide slacked off and with that the fishing too. Alina struck again with a nice 30+ inch linesider and Sanyi lost a big one close to the boat. Kristen caught a few nice schoolies but unfortunately Noah was fishless for the day.

Uh, should we let it go?

Kristen... all smiles!

Alina with her second keeper of the week!

June 30: The first session of the Reel Dream Kid's Fishing Program has been a great success! The weather has cooperated, even though we had strong winds on Monday, and with the exception of Tuesday the fishing has been great. Alina the "Fish Whisperer" did bag a nice 32" 14 pounder on light tackle just before we headed in on Tuesday. Below are some images of the week. More to follow...

Alina with a nice bass taken on a jig off Thompson I.

Alina gives Jake a hand...

Sanyi got a keeper on the first day!

Am I cool, or what?

Kristen

Noah landed this nice keeper bass yesterday!

June 27: There has been some very good action in specific areas of the harbor in the early morning hours (very early:). We're finding fish in QBay, the North Channel and the Anchorage on the incoming tide. Inside the harbor, thr fish have been feeding right through the slack high water. Very difficult to catch them due to the amount of boat traffic and the speed with which the school is chasing bait. Today, we had sort of a late start but caught the tail end of the feed outside the harbor and Rick Dyer (check out an article about Rick in today's Boston Globe Parade magazine) managed a couple on the fly including a nice 29 inch fish. Young Noah (only 5) reeled in a few bass on light spin tackle.

Noah

Noah and the Capt.

Rick Dyer with a nice fly rod keepr bass!

Yesterday, Dick Gordon and son Charlie, along with his friend Christian joined me a for a morning of light tackle fishing. We found fish off Rainsford I. and in the Anchorage but again these fish were hard to stay on and even harder to catch! It was a great day on the water even though the fish count was not high.

Charles Gordon with friend Christian

On Friday, Charlie Peters and Mike Cunningham came aboard for a fly and light tackle excursion. The fish were mainly located in the North Channel and there were just as many boats as birds (well almost)! Tough catching on the fly but Mike did well using jigs.

Mike Cunningham

June 24: The fishing has been sort of on and off over the past week, or so. Today, we found some activity inside and outside the harbor but it was sparse and short-lived. Tough day fly casting for David Weinstock!

Yesterday, I tool a bussman's holiday with Robin and her son Jake. We found a large school of bass feeding on big blueback herring outside the harbor. The bite lasted through the slack water into the drop and both Robin and Jake had luck on bucktail jigs. Your's truly landed a nice 35" bass on a small silderside pattern. Oh, Robin also caught a seagull that was released unharmed and in good shape.

Robbie.........

great fish on my 8 wt!

June 22: Tom Connors, his son Owen, and friend Mark Tuttle joined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. The school was in the same location and feeding more aggressively that yesterday. Both Tom and Mark had great success on the fly! It was a bit harder to connect using spin tackle but when he did, Owen landed a 23# beauty that was released in good shpe to fight another day.

Owen Connors with a 23#, 38" linesider!

Mark caught his first of many stripers on the fly today!!!

Tpm with a nice schoolie bass.

June 12: Bob Paglione celebrated his son's 10th birthday today and brought along a friend and his son for the party. The quartet had a great time flishing light tackle for stripers and all on board caught fish!

friend of Bob and his son in the foreground.

June 8: Reports from the harbor over the past few days have been fantastic with birds working over large herring on the inside and big schools of bass, including many keeper size fish. There are still macks on the outside with larger bass under the schools of baitfish. On Saturday, Elya Schwartzman and his son Nathan came out for a morning of light tackle fishing. We got out after the rain, around 7 am, and had a super morning on the water. The sun even came out for a while!!! Both Elya and Nathan caught and released a number of nice fish using buctail jigs and shad bodies.Now is the time to fish, if you've got the time ;-)!

Nathan with a nice schoolie

Elya with a small bass (he did catch bigger fish too!)


May 31: The wind gusted today but we found fish in the late afternoon between Spectacle and the Castle.

Jake with his first striper!

Jake with your's truly...

Robbie is hooked!

May 30: Overall, it was a great weekend to be on the water. On Sunday, there was a large school of bass chasing herring east of thr Great Brewster I and The Graves. Robin joined me for a beautiful afternoon on the water and caught her very first fish ~ ever!

Robin</sub>

In the morning, James Bandler took his son Daniel and two cousins, Carli and Tyler, for a morning birthday trip in honor of Daniel's 8th birthday. The kids all caught fish casting and then trolling tube & worm rigs.

Daniel

Carli

Tyler

<sub>May 29: Arnie Waters came out for a morning of fly fishing using his Spey rod. Although the catching was not spectacular, Arnie enjoyed his time on the water, perfected his cast, and caught a few fish in the process.

Arnie Waters

May 23: Had we got out yesterday morning before the top of the tide, we would have been into a nice bite in either Dorchester Bay or Quincy Bay. Instead, I put my money on ther outgoing tide and it never really got going! David Pope and his 5 year old son, Cameron, only manged to get a couple of fish and had to contend with a cool northeast wind, which may have put the fish down. The largest was 34" and weight @ 14 # on the boga. It was folled by a wite bucktail jig tipped with a white sluggo.

David Pope and son Cameron

Cameron with his first striper!

May 15: The fishing had been very good in the harbor but alas, another strong cold front pushed through last night accompanied by NW winds that gusted to 30mph this afternoon. This morning, Nicola Denardini and his father, Luciano, who hail from Milan, Italy,  braved the 15-20 mph winds and choppy seas hunt for catch stripers. Nicola was hoping to catch one on the fly but the wind just got progressively stronger thoughout the morning. Unfortunately, there were no working birds nor schools of fish chasing bait in the bays. I moved to a back cove where I marked a number of good fish hanging out between 12 - 30' of water. White bucktail jigs tipped with sluggos produced a handful of bass up to 32".
 
Nicola fighting a nice keeper bass...



Nicola and his Dad Luciano with schoolie stripers...

Due to the strong winds, I was forced to cancel my afternoon trip.

May 11, 2010: The fishing slowed Monday after a strong cold front pushed through. However, the bass were up in large numbers yesterday! My buddy GW got out late but was into non-stop action for a few hours in the afternoon. Now is a great time to fish Boston!!!

May 8, 2010:  An early start to the season with stripers showing in the bays in good numbers and larger fish chasing herring up by the Charles River locks. Paul Ramage, a "Brit" who resides in France in the Alsace region, had a great time catching and releasing  bass up to 27" on an 8 wt. fly rod. The fly of choice was a gray/yellow/white Rhody Flatwing @ 3-4" in length.</sub>

1st fish of the 2010 season!




<sub>April 25: The boat is already in the water and after a brief shakedown cruise yesterday, all systems are go! The water temps are beginning to warm up and by the first week of May, we should begin seeing some stripers...

February 25, 2010: As I reflect on last season, I am hopeful that the 2010 fishing season will be much better. We had some memorable days on the water last year but also experienced some very slow fishing outings. The fall run never really turned on the way we had hoped with very few peanut bunker around to hold those schoolie bass and blues. The weather didn't always cooperate with lots of wind, typical of October and November. However, the old expression "hope springs eternal"  can apply to many things in life, including fishing! Most of us who have been around fishing boats for a while know full well that one cannot always predict how the forces of nature and man will affect the fishing from year to year. Many are concerned that the striped bass stocks may be headed in a downward cycle, whereas some would say this season will be much better than last. And we all know that bluefish are cyclical in nature. Last year, we had blues in Boston but not big fish in big numbers. Maybe, this year we'll see those large schools of bluefish again in the Broad Sound and North Channel. No matter what, I am excited about the upcoming season and can't wait to get the boat ready to splash in the water.</sub>

<sub>October 10: We had a decent early morning bite in the harbor and the weather was great. Mild, no wind, not much fog in Boston. The fish were on the small side and feeding on small bait, such as minnows and peanut bunker. A small white deceiver pattern worked well for Enoch Huang, whereas small fin's'fish on 1/2 oz jig heads worked best on light spin tackle. Enoch took his 6 year old son, Ian, on his first satwater fishing trip and Ian had a great time. He was very patient and wanted to reel in his own fish, all the time. Enoch's frine Richgard also joined us. Once we lost the tide that was it.

Ian with a nice schoolie!

Enoch with a good fly rod striper

Ian with yours' truly...

Richard with a nice 27" bass

Sept. 30: One of my guide friends reported that he was into some really nice bass and bluefish action for hours this morning. It's definitely on!

Sept. 29: All I can say is that the fishing in and around the harbor has been unpredictable. The past couple of mornings have been pretty good with some top water action on the inside and a better feed on the outside with a mix of bass and blues feeding on peanut bunker. However, the weather has been a huge factor all season long. Ed travelled down from New Hampshire to enjpy some fall action!

Ed with a nice bass and one of many blues below.


On Saturday, Ed Constantini formerly of Minnesotta (now residing in Wisconsin) came out to Boston and was hoping to find that fall blitz action that is typical this time of yesr. With post cold front conditions, the fishing was pretty tough. It was "deader than Elvis" out there, at least for fly fishing. 

Sept 20: Ernie Pagliarini from Pennsylvania and son Mike, who is a chef at Via Matta in the Back Bay, joined me for some lightb tackle fishing this morning. The duo was hoping for bass but all we found were bluefish. The blues were  moving very fast in  Broad Sound making it difficult to hook up. After landing and releasing only a couple, we headed toward the harbor and found a better concentration of fish in the North Channel. We landed a handful on bucktail jigs worked deep in the water column. It should have been better with relatively light wind and a good incoming tide. My sources tell me that the late afternoon outgoing tides have been producing much better.

Mike with a nice 11# bluefish on light tackle.

The day before, Linda and Nick Hiscott,  from Portsmouth, England, came out with the hope of catching stripers and blues on light tackle. With a strong west wind making conditions tough, the fishing was just not easy. We did find some breaking fish off Little Nahant Harbor but got bit off by a blue and only managed to land one small striper before the action died. It was just a very tough day on the water. Did I say it was a tough day?

Linda with her first striper!

Sep. 12: Brendan Kasper and friend Massa (from Japan) joined me for a morning of fly fishing. While we managed some bass on the fly, it wasn't going on like the day before.

Brendan with a nice striper on the fly!

Massa also caught and released a nice schoolie

Sept. 8: Well, what a difference one day makes! It wasn't the British Invasion, it was a Bluefish Invasion to the waters outside the harbor and beyond the sound. Although I'm back to my ft job during the week, I continue to receive extreme;y reliable reports from fellow guides. Here's hoping the fishing stays strong through the weekend.

Sept. 7: Very slow morning inside the harbor. 'Nuff said.

September 5: No charter today, so I slept in and got out in time to catch the bite on the incomimng tide. It was a beautiful day and using a 3-4" white deceiver, I managed to fool @ 6 stripers before the feed was over. There are lots of baitfish in the form of river herring and silversides but no peanuts as of yet.

September 4: Well, prior to this morning, their had been a pretty good bite north of the harbor. With great expectations and a rising tide, Greg Berardi and his cousin Andy joined me for a full morning of fly fishing. It was a full morning but it was a tough day of fishing. In hindsight, I suspect the full moon tide affected the bite and fish were most likely feeding heavily from dusk to dawn. The bite never happened up north and upon returning to check out the scene in Dot Bay, we found ourselves late to the party. There was a brief bite inside but we missed it. Both Greg and Andy got bit off by big bluefish in QBay and then Andy got a nice bass off the structure around Spectacle I.

Andy with a nice bass on an 8 wt fly rod.

August 26: Back on the water yesterday after servicing the new engine, etc... Mark Tenant and his sons Duncan and Ronan fished with me this morning. We left the dock at 6 am and it wasn't long before we found breaking fish outside the harbor. Mark had a number on the fly and both Duncan and Ronan caught and released their share on light tackle, using bucktail jigs tipped with white sluggos. The trio was into school stripers for a good 4 hours in addition to Ronan's bluefish. The wind picked up later in the morning but overall it was a great outing!

Duncan releasing a nice schoolie

Ronan and Dad with a pair of stripers

Mark Tenant from Redding, CT having a grat trip!

August 20: Every day is different on the water. Today was the reverse of yesterday! Dr. Matthew Budd joined me in the morning for some fly fishing and did manage to catch a few on an 8 wt using a fast sink line. However, the surface activity of the day before never materialized and the fish were kind of scattered throughout QB between Rainsford and Peddocks I. On the other side, my kids' campers had the best day of the week. We were into breaking bass and bluefish in Dot Bay for a solid 2 hours before the thunderstorms chased us off the harbor. All fish were caught on light spin tackle using jigs and 8 yo Victor Maldonado landed a 31" 9# bluefish! Way to go Vic!! And what a great way to end another season of Reel Dream Charters Kids' Fishing camp! Thank you!!!

Yours truly holding Victor's big blue!

Joe has been waiting all year to cast to breaking fish!

Jack landed a bunch of bass AND a nice blue!

Doubled up!

August 19: David Weinstock joined me today for a litle early morning fly fishing. It wasn't long before we got into some nice surface activitiy with breaking bass aggressively feeding on small herring. The action slowed @ mid-tide and David needed to get in early for a meeting anyways. However, my sources tell me that the fish came up again at the other side of the harbor near the top of the tide. It was a HOT afternoon but the fishing was well...not so hot. Sam trolled up a 30" keeper which he decided to release and Jack caught and released a smaller fish. That was all she wrote! We did get a keepr lobster and also went swimming in Quincy Bay.

Dr. David Weinstock

Sam with another nice bass!

Jack's fish was just under the legal limit!

August 18: Nice push of big fish have entered the harbor the past couple of mornings. The afternoons have been on the slow side for surface activity but we're still catching them going deep, or trolling tube & worm rigs. Yesterday, my last camp session began casting for blues in QB but  no luck. The kids and I moved outside the bay to an area that has been good for holding bigger bass. We set up and trolled along a depth between 6-12' and in no time at all Sam Desjardins was battling the heaviest striper he's ever caught. After a few pics, the fat 20# 37" linesider was released to fight another day. Next up was Joe Ingoldsby who landed and decided to keep a nice 29" keeper for the grill. Jack Protentis got into the act and got himself his very first keeper measuring 28".  A nice legal fish to keep. So far, my campers have been very good about releasing the very large fish as they just might be breeders. Last but not least was Victor Maldonado. Although Victor is the youngest onboard this week, he is no less an avid fisherman and  had a great time. Victor's striper gave him a great fight even though it measured only 27". We checked and baited the lobster traps and found a bunch of shorts and crabs. We'll check them again tomorrow.

Sam with his big bass!

Joeseph was all smiles to get his keeper!

Jack was a happy camper ~ as always!

Victor had his hands full with this bass...

Yeah, nice job Victor!!!

August 14: What a difference a day makes! A high, clearing weather system brought beautiful bright skies and although we saw baitfish flipping on the surface, there were no schools of bass or blues below. So, we ran into QB and proceeded to catch buefish on surface lures. This time Michael hooked up with an even bigger blue, weighing 7# and 29+ inches long. Mitch and Alana also caught smaller blues and later trolled up a few nice bass on the tube rigs. All and all, nice way to end the week!

Alana Looney with a nice striper

Mitch Reid with another nice bass!

August 13: Depsite NE winds and choppy seas (on the inside) we immediately ran into a school of schoolie bass crashing on the surface, more than willing to take our bucktail jigs. The action slowed and we broke out the tubes ~ but not for long! The fish schooled up again and we enjoyed a mix of bass and blues for the remainder of the afternoon. No pics today as my camera was acting up :(.

August 12: Fishing strated off on the slow sied with little in the way of surface activity. Ran over to QB and Michael proceeded toland a 6# blue on light tackle. A couple more strikes but no takers. So, we decided to troll the tubes along Spectacle when after landing a small striper, we noticed birds diving and fish crashing the surface. The water was literally raining bait fish with a mix of bass and blues below. The bait initially looked like herring but could have been large 5" sperling or silversides. Great way the end the day!

Nice blue, Michael!

August 11: Week 7 of fishing camp began today with the kids baiting and setting the lobster traps. No fish on the surface to cast to, so we were relegated tro tube & worming. All hands on deck caught fish with the biggest at 25+ inches by Noah Friedman. Tomorrow is another day!

This was a make-up day for Noah. Nice fish!

Michael Looney also landed a beautiful schoolie bass.

Alana Looney shows off her fish before releasing it to fight another day.

Michael Page, back for another season, got into the game...

August 10: No fishing today as my boat was being re-powered with a brand new four stroke engine!

August 7: With the previous morning being so good, I convinced my kids' campers to meet me at the dock at 7am. We found a short flurry of activity and working birds outside but it was short-lived and somewhat disappointing. The cold front had moved in with NW winds, albeit light. The kids were psyched to cast to breaking fish but it just wasn't happening :(. Still, they all had a great time and Sam finally got his keeper bass! Nice job Sam! Kristen also took home a keeper lobster! No pics today as I chose to take videos which will be posted on my site soon.

August 6: Michael B. joined me this morning for a long awaited fly and light tackle trip. We proceeded to run outside and found and excellent bite with stripers willing to take jigs, flies, or surface baits. Although Mike has done a lot of trout fishing, he had never caught a striper (or any other saltewater fish) on the fly. Well, happt to say today he did!

A nice fish on an 8 wt fly rod!

August 5: Make-up day in the morning for one of my camp sessions. Joey Bloomer and Joe Brooks had a fantastic morning with bass busting on the surface in Dot Bay for at least 2 solid hours. There were also fish outside earlier in the morning but we missed the bite as we didn't leave the dock until 8am. In the afternoon, the kids' campers found little top water action and so we broke out the tube & worm rigs to troll up some bass. A keeper lobster was also found in one of the traps!

Kristen and Alina keep one and throw back a few...

Joey Brooks

Joe Brooks caught and released a bunch today!

August 4: Tim and Rebecca Write from Louisiana booked a light tackle trip as part of their vacation in Boston. It was an incredibly beautiful day on the water but the fishing started off very slowly. We found a few fish popping here and their near Georges I but really didn't get into any good action until and hour or so before the high tide in Dot Bay. So, the trip started off with a whimper but ended with a bang!

Rebecca with her first striper

Tim Write got a bunch on surface jerk baits...

Day 2 of the kids camp and there were no fish on the top to cast to so we opted to troll tube & worm rigs but did catch a handfull of bass, including a nice 31" keeper by Alina "The Fish Whisperer" Carroll.

Ok, this looks bigger than it really was...

Another nice fish!

Crane Friedman with the first fish of the day

Kristen had fun too!

Sam's fish was almost legal. Close but no cigar, Sam!
 

August 3: A new kids fishing camp session began today with Crane Friedman, Kristen MacNeil, Alina Carroll, and Sam Irish. What a spectacular day (weather-wise)! Alina landed the first fish casting a Bass Assassin' and also the largest fish which measured exactly 28" (on a tube rig). Kristen landed a nice 27 incher and Sam's fish was just shy of 28. Crane's turn tomorrow...

Alina with a small schoolie C & R near Governor's I flats.

Kristen did a nice job landed this one!

Sam was admiring his catch!


Alina with a fish on in 3 feet of water!

Nice fish Alina! Hold it out just a little farther...;)

August 2: Dr. Ezra Stern, a fellow in medicine, came out this morning accompanied by his parents who were visiting from Israel and wanted to check out the harbor. Ezra's first time fishing in saltwater and we got off to a "late" start. Missed a good bite earlier in the morning and found fish popping up and down between Rainsford and Peddocks only to catch and release one schoolie. Later in the morning, we caught a nice bass on the tube & worm rig near Lovell's. It was a beautiful day on the water but the fishing was slow.

Ezra Stern with a typical schoolie bass

August 1: Newport Folk Festival! Awesome!!!

July 31: Got out early with the kids campers for a double session to make up for a weather day. Although we had missed an earlier bite near the light, we found a handful of birds circling and diving in the shallow water and decided to investigate. We had two nice fish on within minutes, including a beautiful 21 pounder that was caught and released by Stod Rowley. Collin Flibotte released a smaller fish but it was also a nice one! I decided to move a bit offshore just after slack high water and was glad I did! We found some nice schools of bass and bluefish in the deeper water. The kids had a blast and at one point in time we had 4 fish on!!! That was interesting as Sam Jenkins was using a fly rod while CollinBarker, Collin Flibotte, and Stod Rowley chose to use light spinning rods.  BTW, Sam was thrilled to catch his first bass and bluefish on the fly! When things slowed outside, we moved back into the bay and found a few snapper blues before the sky opened up on us. Great day and terrific end to the week!

Stod needed Collin to help him hold this big fish!

Sam fights his first fish on the fly...

A feisty bluefish!

Collin Flibotte with a nice schoolie bass.

Stod with a typical 5-6# bluefish

July 29: I had the pleasure of taking Jeff Rausch and his colleagues Larry and Bill who were in Boston this week for a conference. Jeff and Larry preferred fly fishing while Bill opted for a spinning rod. Interestingly, it seemed that the fly outfished spinning lures today. With a little help from our friends (thanks, Capt. George), we found some large school of bass and blues to the north in the deeper water. Although these fish moved quickly, we were able to snag a handful, including a nice 20# linesider fooled by a small silverside pattern. Back inside, there were fish around the islands in the narrows. We also hit upon some good action around structure in QB before we lost the tide and headed for the barn.

Jeff Rausch

Larry with his first ever fly rod striper!

Bill with a small schoolie and Jeff with a fish on!

In the afternoon, the kids campers were less successful with respect to catching fish. We had numerous fish chasing and swirling at our poppers in QB but no takers. So, we opted for tube & worming at a different location and caught and released two nice fish before calling it a day.

Collin Flibotte with his largest striper (33', 14#) Way to go Collin!

Stodd Rowley with a fish just shy of legal. Can you guess where we were???

July 28: Dr. Drew Hyland, philosophy prof at Trinity College, joine me for a morning of fly fishing, and only fly fishing. I'm told yesterday was pretty good but this morning ~ not so much... We did find a rather large school of bluefush maurading around outside the harbor but these fish were tough to stay on. The kids campers had better luck in the afternoon. We raised a  handful of fish in B, caught and released a couple of nice schoolies while casting bass assassin's, and lost a huge bluefish. I decided to run to a different location and troll tube & worm rigs. We only caught 2 more fish but... the small one was 14# and the larger fish (released to fight another day) weighed in at 22# on the boga! Nice job kids!

Colin could hardly hold this one which weighed 14 pounds and measured 33". What a fatty!

Sam wanted to release this big mamma

Colin's first striped bass. Too bad the LCD on my camera wasn't working:(.

Sam Jenkins caught and released this fish on light tackle


July 25: Well... what a difference a day (storm!) makes. After the big blow on Friday, the harbor was like a desert. No sign of working birds or breaking fish. Didn't even mark any fish!!! So my sports (Chuck Donovan, son CJ, and friend from N. Carolina Rob Curry)  fished the rocks along the outer harbor islands and managed to catch and release 4 nice schoolies and one monster weighing 20#. All fish were caught on top water soft plastics. No pics as I couldn't find my camera! Duh...

July 23: No charter today, so I did a morning camp session. Got out a bit too late to catch the early bite but noticed birds working near the Gut. Hard to get on these fish as they were moving fast. We did hit a small pod of fish near a ledge in QB and Joey bagged a nice 32 incher on a bass assassin" (unweighted). Got a bunch of juvenile lobsters to throw back and one very large egg bearing female ~ also threw back. The rip didn't produce well mid-morning as it had yesterday. Nasty weather coming in but hopefully things will clear and settle down for Saturday's trip.

Joey Brooks was definitely high rod this week!

This big female went back to lay her eggs..

July 22: The bass fishing remains strong in the harbor. Bill Eichold and his friend Derek joined me for a fabulous morning of light tackle and fly fishing. We were into fish all morning and these were fiesty schoolies ranging from 25-27 inches.

Derek with a typical striped bass.


The kids had a tremendous afternoon with loads of bass in the Narrows and in the rips. So much bait (small herring) that the fish were somewhat selective out in the deeper water. However, in the rips, it was a fish on every cast. Joey Brooks had the largest fish which measured out at 31".

Nice fish Joey!

Joe Bloomer landed a nice one too!

July 20: Marty Eng a pharmacist from Kansas joined me for his first time ever fly fishing. With FAC conditions, plenty of willing schoolies, a good instructor (yours truly ;), and a background in karate, Marty got the hang of it in no time at all! There were schools of fish in a variety of locations all over the harbor. The bass were feeding on small herring and we had good luck with a gray/yellow/white silverside pattern.

Marty with a nice fly rod striper!

In the afternoon, Sanyi Voros, Joseph Blommer, and Joey Brooks came out for an afternoon of fishing camp. Of course, the wind had picked up and there was no bird activity or surface feed to see. However, we found a few bass and bluefish casting unweighted bass assassin's and trolling with a tube & worm rig. Joey managed to fool and land the largest striper of the day AND the biggest bluefish weighing 8# on the boga.

Joey with a feisty QBay bluefish and schoolie striper below!



July 18: With FAC conditions, a little fog, and threat of isolated storms (that never materialized), Ross Murphy of Tulsa, OK, and his sons Connor and Sean joined me for a morning of light tackle fishing. Although we didn't see the sustained blitz in the channel, we were into fish the majority of the morning. We found bass feeding on the surface and also along some of the rip rap around the islands. The largest fish of the day measured 32" and was the biggest stripe Connor ever landed (and released)!

Connor with a great fish on light tackle.

Sean and Connor with a couple of schoolies...

Ross was into it too!

A triple! What a great morning of fishing!!

July 17: The kids campers had an outstanding last day of fishing and were into fast and furious schoolie action for @ two solid hours. All the fish were taken on surface lures and jerk baits.

Sam Abrams with one of many nice fish!

Breylen Ammen shows off his fish!

Adam Brown with a fish on!

and this is it!

July 16: I guided Paul from Michigan and his daughter Melissa and son Nate for an outstanding morning of light tackle fishing. The fish were mainly feeding on small herring and were busting on the surface non-stop for the better part of the morning. What a trip! Given the weather reports, the afternoon camp session was rescheduled for ther next morning.

Nate shows off an average size schoolie.

Melissa caught and released many of these puppies...

July 15: I guided a few anglers today as part of a multi-boat charter for Capt. Bill Smith. We got off to a late start and things were very slow. However, we fished a rocky shallow water flat to fool a beautiful 18# striper on an unweighted soft plastic jerk bait. The angler Drew Barber, a summer intern with the Skadden Law firm, was no less a novice to the sport!

Drew Barber with a beauty!

July 14: We left the dock at 8:00am in hopes of finding working birds and bass and we were rewarded! Everyone caught and released decent size schoolies using spinning rods and 3/4 oz bucktail jigs. After the action died off, we trolled the tube & worm rigs on a flat and hooked up with what we thought was a snag. As we got closer to the "snag" the libne began to move. No snag... it was a 42" 25# linesider that was promptly released to fight another day! This one was truly a team effort!!

Nice job guys!

Adam with another nice striper

Breylen with a fish on!

Nice fish, Breylen!

July 13: Once again, there were bass outside the harbor after first light and loads of bluefish that fed until the tide slacked off. Too late for my kids campers as we left the dock shortly after 12:30pm. The afternoon foshing was slow and the wind really picked up later in the day. Two fish were caught on the tube & worm rig by Adam Brown and  Sanyi Voros. We also got to see one of the tall ships leaving the harbor. ~ cool.



Adam with a nice schoolie off Deer I.

Sanyi decided to keep this fat 32" bass for the grill!

July 11: Charles Dean and his colleague Keith, who teaches at Queens College in Ontario, joined me for an incredibly beautiful morning of light tackle fishing. Shortly after first light we located striped bass outside the harbor in the deeper water feeding on silversides. One oz buctail jogs were the ticket! After the action died off, we moved north to find piles of snapper blues and some larger bluefish voraciously feeding on silversides off the beach and out in the sound. Today was the first day in weeks that we saw a good number of working birds and bait fish. The blues were mostly small but fun to catch on light spinning rods and 3/4 oz bucktail jigs sparsely tied. A 7 or 8 wt fly rod would have been too much fun!

Keith shows off one of the larger bluefish... Charles Dean in the background.

One of many silversides that had a very bad day... ;^)

July 10: The morning fishing in the harbor was on the slow side but the campers managed to get a few bass trolling. My lobster traps were loaded with mostly juveniles or throw backs but Gus "The Lobsterman" Muscato shows off a couple of lobsters one of which Kyle Brown took home along with some nice big crabs!</sub>