Picture of Sam Dyer taken a few weeks ago
Sept. 5: Happy Labor Day! The fishing in the harbor over the past few days has been very slow with respect to working birds and breaking fish, at least in the mornings. For the fly and light tackle enthusiasts, working the structure inside the harbor, casting around boulder strewn flats, rip rap around the islands, and white water along the outer habor islands have produced some nice fish up to 31". Choice of flies have been 5-6" herring patterns and smaller silverside patterns. Larger 7 " white sluggos fished unweighted have produced some nice fish, including the two below for Bob and Jim Scoon. There's much more fishing left in the season and I can't wait for the fall run!
Bob Scoon
Jim Scoon
Sept.1: Pre-Irene photos: The storm hasn't pushed the fish off, so now is the time to book your next trip before or during the fall run.
Sam Dyer with a nice bass off Long I.
Rick Dyer
Hylton Souther
Grant Souther
Aug. 20: Dave Pope and his son Cameron joined me for a morning of light tackle fishing. The fishing continues to be on the slow side but we managed a handful of fish, including two keepers up to 31+ inches on structure.
Dave and Cameron
Cameron Pope
Aug. 18: Got rained out on Monday so we extended the days to make up the time. Tuesday and Weds. we had great action but the bite stalled on Thursday ~ beautiful weather... Below are some pics of the week:
Sanyi Voros
Leo
Mickey
Charlie
Aug. 14: Enjoyed a really nice morning of light tackle fishing with Kevin Brunning and his son.
Aug. 13:The early morning bite had slowed down a bit over the weekend only to pick up an hour or so prior to the top of the tide. On Saturday, Taylor Wray and his girlfriend (whose names escapes me) had a good morning using light tackle for stripers.
Taylor Wray with a nice one off the rocks!
Aug. 12: I had a great crew of boys from Marshfield and Scituate this week. The weather cooperated, even with the week starting out with thick fog, and with the exception of Weds., we managed to find fish every day! Yesterday was awesome with a good bite at the top of the tide and on the drop. Got a couple of keeper lobsters this week but the catch is thinning out... The boys also tagged and released stripers for the American Littoral Society.
Anthony with the big fish of the week at 35"!
Chris with a nice striper!
Greg had a few nice fish this week!!
Aug. 4: Last day of week #6 and some great pics!
Mitchell fights a good one!
Nice one, Mitchell!
Julia caught and released o couple of nice bass today!
Lobsters too!
Nolan had a nice bass the other day :-)
Aug. 3: The afternoon dropping tide was awesome! Greg Sofar and his family shared a memorable time on the water!
Leemai...
Zachary
Nicholas had the big fish of the day!
Greg
Aug. 2: Urban fishing over the weekend at its best and worst! Lots of fish out there on the rising tides but lots of boats, as well. Whereas, most of the anglers were respectful, there are still many that haven't the foggiest clue about boating safety and fishing etiquette. Week # 6 of my kids' fishing program began in earnest yesterday. We saw lots of fish but found it hard to hook up. Mostly, we spoent a good portion of the morning learning how to cast and retrieve ~ alway a good thing! The kids will be back at it today!
July 31: Dave Granger, professor and avid fly fisher from Utah (originally Idaho) and his colleague Marcus, who hails from Germany, spent a pristine morning catching and releasing stripers and blues. Well, we actually lost a couple blues at the boat who bit off our flies.
Marcus fighting a fish (obviously ;-)
His first striped bass (well, maybe it wasn't his first of the day...)
July 29: Peter Young from Manchester, UK, and his wife (or maybe gf?) Angela and her son William, joined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. The fish were popping up here and there and moving around quite fast during the early morning hours. To be honest, after 3 hours of trying to catch fish it was looking pretty grim. The fish did come up and we found a sustained feed that pleased all anglers and saved the day (for me ;-).
William
Peter Young
July 26: The past two days of fishing have been nothing short of epic for the kids fishing program! The boys are catching, keeping, tagging, and releasing numerous keeper bass, including one 35" 16# beauty that Justin fooled on a large white sluggo.
Justin
Kevin
Gus
Mitch
Kevin with a fish we tagged
July 24: rick vaccarelli and his fiance, tina, jopined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing to celebrate rick's big birthday! the bass were scattered throughout the east side of q bay and hard to get onto, much harder to catch. after we got rained on a bit, we found a nice school of fish and made a number of drifts to catch and release a bunch, keeping a couple for the grill ~ including a nice 33" fish that tina caught on a bass assassin'!
tina
happy birthday rick!
July 23: Charlie, Sean, and John came out today for an enjoyable morning of fishing and time on the water. We had the fish at the same location as yesterday but not quite as many. Harder to catch and it seemd the fly was the ticket as my light tackle lures just weren't working! Again, the bass were feeding on river herring and took a small silverside pattern. We had to wait out the storm at Quincy Yacht Club but found the bass busting on bait after the storm had passed.
Charlie and a keeper for the grill...
July 22: Achim from Heidelberg, Germany and his colleague Hunter, both cell microbiologists, joined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. The fish came up really good on the outgoing tide and were aggressively keyed into feeding on small herring. We didn't catch as many as one would expect but it was a great day on the water.
Achim with a nice 33" linesider
Hunter
July 21: Although the week began on the slow side with respect to bass fishing, things improved significantly toward the end of the the week. The kids all caught bass, some keepers, some we tagged, and most we released. Sam, our youngest onboard, captured a really nice blue! We also caught some nice tinker macks, crabs, and lobsters!
Max, Sam, Steven, and Andrew
catch of the day!
July 16: What a difference a day makes!! Greg Shiferman and his friends had a truly outstanding day catching very large bluefish and nice keeper bass. Most of the fish took top water soft plastic jerk baits and hard stick baits. These fish were feeding aggressively on mackerel in the deeper water. At one point, I saw a small pod of bluefin tuna crashing on bait less than 100 yards off my bow. What an awesome sight!
Larry caught this blue that weighed in at @ 12 # on the boga.
Pierro with a nice bass :-)
Greg also landed a big blue!
This was the biggest fish Chris ever caught!
nice catch!
July 15: George Beal and his two close friends joined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. It was a perfect day (weather-wise) and we found breaking fish off the Graves but the bite wasn't long-lasting. Tough day for fishing as the bass were few and far between today. I'm told that there was an very good bite in the mid to late afternoon in the North Channel. Who says mornings are always better?!
July 13: Loads of fish feeding aggressively in the harbor but very selective and extremely difficult to catch! So much bait... We finally scored some lobsters and huge crabs in our pots, so that was good!
Steven with a fish we tagged and released.
Moved the traps to deeper water and voila!
Kevin released a nice keepr bass today!
July 12: Another good day on the water with lots of bass feeding aggressively in the deeper water and showing up in spots in the bays, as well. The kids all caught fish today and Sam and Steven kept a keeper for the grill. One of the fish had what appeared to be a butter fish partially digested in its stomach. The bass were feeding on what looked like large herring, possibly tinker macks.
Kevin C.
Sam
Steven with first fish on!
July11: The fishing in harbor has definitely picked up since Sunday with lots of bait and bass that have moved in, finally! We're also doing better in the deeper water with big school of very large bluefish and bass. The Kid's Program started the third session with a bang yesterday. Steven D. hooked a 35" buefish which he brought to the boat and we promptly released after pics. Kevin caught a few nice fish including a keeper bass which we tagged and released. Sam got cut off but also landed a nice bass and TJ landed and released a good blue!
Steven could barely hold this bad boy!
Does Kevin look happy, or what?
TJ with another big blue!
Sam Morgan with his first striper of the season!
July 10: After a rain out a few weeks ago, Victor Maldonado, his nephew ricardo, and Victor's friend Clay joined me for a beautiful morning of fly and light tackle fishing. On a tip from Capt. rich Armstrong, we found a willing school of mostly keeper bass feeding aggressively on baitfish in relatively shallow water. Victor used my levender/gray half & half and Clay and ricardo used buctail jigs and top water soft plastic jerk baits. Th trio tripled up numerous times and just had a great time!
Clay and ricardo
Victor with a fish on the fly...
Nice one on an 8 wt!
July 9: Peg Juckett and her two sons joined me for a long morning of light tackle fishing. Although the day was great and the weather was beautiful, the fishing was extremely slow post cold front conditions. After casting all day to structure, reed juckett caught this nice schoolie off the rocks by nahant. A lavender soft plastic bass assassin' fooled this one.
July 7: The second week of the Kids' Fishing Program has been fun! We're catching flounder and Philip had a keeper bass on Monday.
Yesterday, the boys caught, tagged and released a couple of small schoolies. Slow fishing today but wde did see some breaking fish and managed to catch and release a few.
Philip with Scott in background hooked up!
The fishing in Boston (inside the harbor) continues on the slow side. Early morning action occurs at selected spots in the bay and we'll see sporatic feeds but no sustained duration. The bait has thinned out a bit since Friday. Saturday's charter had a good time catching flounder but no bass. Swap Shah's 5 year old son, Armand, had a super time!
Armand
On Sunday, russ haims joined me with his sons for a morning of light tackle fishing. We had some flounder and did get into some breaking bass later in the morning tide.
Jordan (5) and Jason (8)
July 2: We're seeing tons of bait in the harbor, including loads of tinker macks, silersides, herring... The bass are keeing into the bait making the fishing tough, at times. A 5 inch herring or sperling pattern fished on fast sinking lines seems to be working well. The Kids Fishing Program finished off the first week of the season. The kids caught a few nice bass and tagged and released a good one on Thursday. The flounder fishing has been good but the lobstering ~ not so much.
Harrison Quillen with a nce flatty
Collin with his first keeper of the season!
Jeffrey caught a skate too!
A bunch of nice flounder...
Collin hooked it, obert reeled it in, and we tagged and released the fish.
June 27: First day of the kids fishing program!!!
June 26:Tough fishing today and tough fishing yesterday, as well. Enough said...
The weather has really affected the bite big time! On Friday, Alex and Sarah, newlyweds from Wisconsin, came out for a morning of light tackle fishing. The fish were scattered and chasing herring up and down. No sustained feeding actiity. Despite the slow fishing and sometimes inclement weather, the couple had a great time on the water.
Sarah
Alex
June 21: Lately, we're seeing scattered schools of fish in and outside the harbor feeding on large herring. Last Sunday, Mark Costello and his Dad, John, joined me for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. The wind was a bit stronger than predicted which made fly fishing somewhat challenging, especially since the fish tended to move fast ~ pushing the bait up and down and all around! Still, a few nice fish were landed before the tide slacked off and so did the bite. Later in the aftyernoon, the fish came up @ two hours into the going tide.
Mark
John Costello
June 10: Trip cancelled today due to weather :(. Yesterday, I took Brian Mahoney and his two boys, Kyle and Frank, out for a morning of lioght tackle fishing to celebrate the boys' 9th birthday. The opeartve word was "quality" vs quantity. The fishing was a bit tough but both kids caught keeper bass and Brian caught and releasded a beautiful 39", 20# linesider! All were taken on bucktail jigs tipped with a soft plastic D.O.A bait.
Kyle and Frank Mahony
Brian Mahoney
June 8: This weekend we saw some larger fish move into the bays and in the Broad Sound area. The Second Annual Thompsom Island Fishing Invitational was a blast and produced some nice fishing and a beautiful day for anglers and guides alike. Charlie Larkin caught and released a nice 39" linesider on a chartreuse and white herring pattern. Peter Smith caight and released the biggist fish of his life (on a bucktail jig) measuring 40" and weighing @ 24# on the boga. The afternoon fishing was tough but George Lewis landed a nice 39+" bass on a bucktail. The bass were typically feeding on herring, silversides, and mackerel.
Charlie Larkin
Peter Smith
George Lewis
On Sunday, Bill Tersky and his family joined me for their son, Nate's 9th birthday celebration.Appropriately, Nate hauled in the largest fish of the day on light tackle using a 1/2 oz bucktail jig tipped with a sluggo tail.
Bill and Nate Tersky
Nate ~ all smiles!
May 31: Hylton Southey and friend Mark joined me for a morning of light tackle fishing. The fish were somewhat spotty, moving quickly, feeding on small silversides, and very selective. We did manage a few nice ones on small metal lures and bucktails.
Hylton
Mark
May 28: Peter Gillis and his girlfriend Amy joined me for a morning of light tackle fishing. In the main, fishing was on the slow side early but then picked up before, during and after the high tide. The bass were feeding on small bait (silversides and shrimp) and were somewhat selective. A half oz white bucktail worked very well. Some nice stripers in the 28-30" range were cauight and released.
Steve Gillis
Dr. Amy
May 21, 2011: A big surge of striped bass, many in the keeper range, finally pushed into the harbor late last week feeding voraciously on herring. There are also reports of some big bass outside the harbor on macks. So, after a wet and cold early spring, things are finally busting wide open.
Reel Dream Charters Kid's Fishing Program (photo by Capt. Bill Smith, Draggin' Fly Charters)
August 19: Last day of the Reel Dream Kid's Fishing program. Mixed results this week with outstanding fishing at the outset but slow on the last day. This didn't deter the kids as we had fun catching tinker mackerel and herring, including one incidental bass on the fly! Here are some pics of the week:
Collin Barker with a nice bass
Joey Ingoldsby with Victor (left) and Leo on the right.
Leo with a striper on the fly!
Hey, this isn't a tinker mackerel!!!
Leo Salkind from Israel
August 15: Charles Dean and his nephew (name escapes me now) came out for a morning of light tackle fishing and had a great time! We caught a mix of bass ndblues with including one unusual looking bluefish with the head of a dorado!!
Charles with an early morning striper...
Charles's nephew with aother nice bass! Can you guess where we were fishing? ;)
Interesting looking bluefish, eh?
August 13: The sumer may be winding down but the fishing has remained strong. Yesterday morning, Kevin Bruning and his son Stephen had some early morning fast action until the tide slacked off. Afterwards, the picking was slow.
Kevin Bruning
Stephen and Dad
The afternoon tides have been very good, as well. David Pope, his Dad Ross, and David's son Cameron joined me for an afternoon light tackle trip on Thursday. Amazing! We were into non-stop action from 2pm until 6pm!!
Cameron (foreground), David and Ross
The Kid's Fishing program had another banner week fishing the morning tides. Below are a couple pics of the week:
Uir with a beauty!
Stephen landed this nice fish (he just needed a little help from his friend Uri to hold it!)
August 6: What dog days??? This past week we have enjoyed some of the very best fishing of the season! Today was no exception. Fred Webb took his two sons, Pete and Joey out for a morning of light tackle fishing. Although there were schools of rather large bluefish outside Pt. Allerton, my party chose to remain inside fishing for stripers. Many small keepers were taken and released. The largest fish was taken on a 1/2 oz jighead tipped with an albino shad sluggo. This one bottomed out my 30# boga grip and I'm guessing weighed closer to 35 pounds!
Joey (right) landed and released this monster!
Pete and Joey Webb
Below are some pics of the week's Kid's Fishing Program:
Sam Irish got this 37# fish tesyerday.
Kevin with a nice keeper...
Adam Bown strikes again!
Sam Morgan with a small keeper...
Uri let this nice one go...
July 30: The fishing started out very good at the beginning of the week and tailed off a little towards Friday. We're still seeing tons of bait in the harbor and good sized schools of bluefish up to 11 # on the outside with stripers in the mix in the deeper water. Took David Bartley of Naple out this morning with his son Loga, not yet 4 yo! Found a nice feed off one of the islands and had fun hooking fish on topwater jerk baits aka sluggos. The action died off at the bottom of the tide although it was still going on outside.
David with son Logan (he was happt wlthough he doesn't look it ;)
On Thursday evening, Leighton Patrick (Australia) and friend Trevor from South Africa had a great evening of light tackle fishing and put their respective countries to a healthy rivalry. I think Australia won this time!
Leighton with a nice bass...
Trevor with a feisty striper.
The kid's fishing program had to contend with some weather during the week but also got into some good fishing, especially at the beginning of the session. Here are some pics of the week:
Sam Jenkins fights a nice blue on the fly!
Collin got this keepr on Monday.
Stodd caught and released this one!
Nathan was hooking up too!!!
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
Daniel
Carli
Tyler
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.
1st fish of the 2010 season!
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.
2009 Season:
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
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
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!
Gus with one keepr and one throw back
The afternoon tide was better and here are some pics of happy campers!
Noah Friedman
Kyle Brown with a 27 1/2" schoolie bass!
TJ McDonald with a tube & worm schoolie
Gus & Kyle double up on the tube & worm rigs!
July 8: Camp was cancelled today due to potential storms in the afternoon that never happened! Go figure? We'll make it up tomorrow and Friday. It was unfishable outside the harbor this morning due to wind and waves, but sources tell me there was a rather large school of bass spotted in the sound. So, that's a good thing!
July 7: Scott Desmari and his son Nick joined me yesterday for a morning of light tackle fishing. Nick had never caught a striped bass, so it was only fitting that he caught and released more fish and the biggest fish of the day than his dad. We found a mix of bass and blues in the bay and a fe more off structure before the heavy rains chased us off the harbor. We also saw the Romanian vessel enter the harbor ~ that was cool!
Nick fooled this nice 12#, 32" striper with a floating bass assassin'
Scott with a nice schoolie bass
Nick's first striper!
Tall Ship from Romania
July 4: Barney Keezell joined me today for some light tackle fishing and to celebrate his birthday! Unlike past years, fishing just wasn't as hot as a firecracker on the 4th of July:(. There were no signs of working birds and really not much bait visible throughout the harbor. Although we located some fish on structure, Barney managed to fool only one schoolie before the NW wind began to crank up and we called it a short day and headed back to the barn. That's fishin'...
July 3: Robert Keys, of Santa Fe, NM, fished with me today and was happy to catch his first striper on the fly. We mainly worked the structure around the outer harbor islands to catch and release a handful of small bass.
Robert Keys with a nice fly rod striper!
The kids campers came out again this afternoon and had to contend with some wind that made casting somewhat difficult. So, we dragged out the tube & worm rigs and caught a a mix of bluefish and stripers up to 27". No lobsters to harvest but we'll be at it agin Monday afternoon.
Gus and TJ double up!
Mitch strikes again!
June 30: The weather continues to wreak havoc with the fishing in Boston. Took George Beal, David Firestone, and friend Nat out yesterday for some early morning fly and light tackle action. Ok, there wasn't much action:(. We had to travel far and wide to locate fish and only managed to catch a few. I did mark a bunch of fish on an offshore ledge but they seemed to have lock jaw! On a positive note, My kids campers had an awesome afternoon casting top water Bass Assassin's to stripers (up to 28") and bluefish. On Monday, we set the lobster traps and tube & wormed up a few bass. We'll be out again today and pull the traps, weather permitting!
Sam Mahler trolled up this nice schoolie
Gus Muscato with his first keeper of the week!
TJ with a nice QB schoolie just shy of the 28" mark
Mitch "The BassMaster" Reid strikes again!!!
June 17: Got my boat back today and splashed it in the water. It's back at the slip and the engine runs like a top! Will this weather pattern change soon???!!! Fishing tomorrow morning and we'll see what's going on. Last day of school for me is June 23, so it won't be long before I'll be out on the water on a daily basis. There are some really interesting tides coming up next week. Call now to book your next trip.
June 13: I fished with Capt. George today as my boat was in the shop for engine repairs :(. There were a good number of bass chasing herring in Dot Bay after first light but these fish were on the move and difficult to catch. We ran outside the harbor to find small schools of bass off the beach and managed to fly rod up a bunch before it got quiet.
June 8: There are lots of stripers in the harbor and early morning has been better, as usual, for surface activity. The other day Joe Lofgren and his partners George, Ed and John fish both fly and light spin tackle. We missed the early bite but found good numbers of fish chasing herring before, during, and after the top of the tide in Dorchester Bay. An unweighted 7" bass assassin' outfished the fly.
Joe Lofgren with a nice schoolie bass
George used an all white seaducer to foll this bass
Ed with a feisty striper...
June 2: Anglers found breaking fish in the Bay during the early morning hours of the incoming tide. Great fun on fly & light tackle! Tom Haynes and his wife, Christine, from Nashville, TN, came out with me for a short, late afternoon charter. It was a pristine afternoon with sun and light winds but not much in the way of surface activity. We ran to a "secrete" spot (not so secrete really) and began marking fish and trolled up a handful on the tube & worm. Largest fish of the day was @ 32". Christine, who is a chef, decided that this one would be perfect for the chef at their hotel to prepare for dinner.
Christine Haynes with a schoolie bass
Tom Haynes with a nice keeper for the grill
May 31: James Bandler, his son Daniel, and Daniel's two friends joined me today for a Daniel's belated 7th birthday fishing charter. We didn't get out until 7ish and missed the early morning surface action near Rainsford I. It was slow going for bass fishing and even the flounder fishing was slow. Guys drifting or trolling live mackeral were doing well picking up bass in various locations. The big fish of the day was 35" and weighed in at @15# caught on a tube & worm rig. It was a team effort!
James Bandler and his crew with a nice keepr bass!
Daniel with a small flounder.
May 30: Dr. David Weinstock and his father-in-law John, both avid fly fishers, joined me for what began as a beautiful day on the water. Well... it was a beautiful day but the fishing was less than expected. Don't get me wrong, anglers drifting live macks were catching bass here and there. However, we only saw a little surface action in Dot Bay and David managed to fool a nice schoolie on the fly. That was all she wrote! Tough day of fishing... Perhaps the cold front and high pressure systen accompanied by NW winds put the fish down? Just a theory...
David with a nice fly rod bass!
May 25: Happy Memorial Day! Fished the incoming tide this morning about an hour after dead low. Not much happening inside so we ran outside to find FAC conditions and acres of bass feeding on small bait. Many fish in the 24-26" range but also smaller schoolies in the mix. Landed a nice 31" striper on a 3" olive/white silversides pattern with epoxy eyes. The fish were a bit finicky and you had to strip the fly pretty fast to fool 'em. On the way in, I found birds working bait on the Governor's I flats.
May 23: There were fish off the Sugar Bowl and towards the mouth of the harbor early before the east wind picked up and sort of put the fish down.The bass appeared to be feeding on smaller bait, such as silversides. Hope to get out again over the weekend and will post another report.
May 21: Dwaine Foster from New Orleans fished with me this afternoon and managed to catch his first striped bass on the fly. We had a fairly breezy afternoon which made line management, etc... somewhat of a challenge. Not much happening inside the harbor, so we ran to an outside location to find a couple of good size schools of bass feeding on large bluebacks.
Dwaine Foster
May 13, 2009: I had the pleasure of taking Roland Perkins and his son Michael out for an afternoon of fly and light tackle fishing. Well, the weatherman had predicted 10-15 knot winds but the reality was at least 20 sustained throught the entire trip. We fished the outgoing tide and did not see any bird activity nor did we mark any fish in the harbor. I decided to run outside and try to find a lee where there might be some bass and birds working over bait. Although we travelled far and wide, we did find some fish to make the day and prevent a skunk on the boat. Damn wind...
Roland Perkins and Michael Perkins
May 9, 2009: The wind was light and the weather was typical New England ~ ever changing. However, the fishing was just awesome! Took my friend Bob out for early season striper fishing and found a rather large school of bass @ 2 hours into the coming tide. We stayed with these fish for a couple of hours, until the water flooded in and the fish scattered. Ran outside to a favorite flat and fished the grass beds to catch a handful more, including a nice 30 incher. Back into the bay after the tide started moving and found loads of voracious bass on the outgoing stage of the tide. With a full moon tide, it appeared that the fish were feeding on worms as well as herring. The majority were feisty 26" schoolies with a few small keepers in the mix. I actually missed one fish that appeared to be 30+ inches, but it's always the big one that gets away ;-).
Bob Lauzier with an early season keeper
Yours truly...this one took a deceiver pattern First fish of the 2009 season. Deceiver, 8wt, Depth Charge Line
May 2, 2009: Still working on getting all my gear down to the marina but it won't be long before we start seeing the first schools of striped bass chasing herring into the bays and estuaries along the harbor. Lots of good dates available for spring striper fishing so now's the time to book your next trip! BTW, the Tall Ships will be coming to Boston July 8 so that will be a very exciting time to be on the water.
The Kids Fishing Camp
April 28, 2009: 92 degrees in Boston today! Wow!! Splashed the boat in on Sunday so I'll be ready to do a little scouting next week for early season arrivals. Went cod fishing on the NW corner last Friday with Erik Kulin (Live-Well Charters) and got a bunch of cod and a few haddock. Mostly small fish gorging on sandeels. Great day on the water and great start to the 2009 season!
April 21, 2009:
As for the Kids Fishing Camp, I still have one or two open spaces for most sessions except during the week of July 27th. Sign up now!!!
Bunker Deceiver and the good old Half & Half
February 17:
Oct. 6, 2008: Reports from the harbor were very good this morning. Surface activity in the bay for at least two + hours or so. Signs of the fall migration, finally!
Oct. 5, 2008: Gwen and Craig Pozega avis fly fishers who hail from Helena, Montana fished with me today. We were blessed with calm winds and flat seas... Worked the are up north by Lynn Harbor and Revere beach but managed only one schoolie bass! Ran back inside the harbor to find a mix of bass and blues in Quincy Bay. Probably were feeding actively most of the morning. But hey, you can't be in two places at the same time! Right?
Gwen Pozega fights a nice fly rod striper!
Oct. 4, 2008: Tough day on the water with strong NW winds and cold front conditions! Give me a break!! Mike McGee and his colleague Jamie joined me for some light tackle fishing. Jamie landed and released a decent fish right off the bat but Mike would ony catch one more and that was it! Boy, what a tough day...
Jamie with Deer Island linesider
Lee with a small keeper bass anf friend Michael with a nice schoolie...
On Saturday morning, BillyWilson anf friends Adam and Natalie came out looking for big blues. It was Natalie's first time in the salt and of course she managed to catch more fish than both Billy and Adam! Never found the big blues that were lurking beneath the schools of pogies. In fact, the pogies had thinned out a bit since the previous week. We ran out to the Sound and fished the north beach to catch a handful of blues and one bass.
Natalie with her first bluefish! Adam with his first blue on the fly!
Stephen fights a very large bluefish on the fly!
David quickly gets into the game!
Aug. 30, 2008: Had the pleasure of taking Rick Dyer and his sons, Adam and Sam out this morning for a fly/light tackle charter. Things were slow... It was encouraging to find a mix of bass and blues crashing on herring around the day marker near Castle I. Plenty of pogies for those choosing to live-line, but we weren't after that kind of action.
Adam Adams shows off a schoolie bass
Aug. 24, 2008: Alison Adams and her med. school friend Marion joned me for a beautiful day on the water. Alison has been fly fishing only for a few years and lives in Charelston, VA. Hoping to catch her first striper on the fly, I didn't want her to be disappointed. oth she and Marion did catch a few stripers and yes, Alison did catch one on the fly. But only one... It was very slow...
Alison Adams, Revere Beach/Lynn Harbor area
Joseph Brooks with a small bluefish
Michael Page released this nice keeper bass. Joe Ingoldsby with a small keeper (29")
Stod Rowley puts this female lobster back in the water.
Aug. 15, 2008: For David Weinstock and his friend John, the fly fishing was about as tough as it gets today. We logged many miles on the boat and fish a number of areas only to catch and release one 27" bass and two blues! The fish came up later in the morning chasing bait (at the top of the tide) but we were at the dock by then. With better weather, reports of peanut bunker, and a good outgoing tide, next weekend ought to be much better. It won't be long!!!
John had to work hard for this one!
Matt Seymore's turn today to bag a nice 19# keeper!
The afternoon campers got a break with generally nice weather, no rain, and light afternoon winds. The low tide posed a challenge but we found lots of cookie cutter size bass (24-25") around the flats in the anchorage. The kids landed and released @ 20 bass!
Stoddard Rowely....................................................................Sam Jenkins and Joe Brooks........<*)))><
Kid's Camp veteran Matt Seymore helps Michael and Alanna show their fish for the camera.
Graham needed a few hands to heft this cow! Crane catches a smaller keeper...
Joe Bloomer is all smiles today! Jack has a "fish on"!
Exciting fishing from Hingham Bay
Graham Schwandt with a nice 30" keeper! Jack Duffy with a fiesty schoolie bass
Crane Friedman with one of many schoolie bass...
Overall, there has been a bit of a slow down this week after a great week of fishing, mainly during the beginning and middle of last week (of course, I was on the west coast!). There is still plenty of bait in the form of pogies, juvenile herring (3-5") dumping out of the rivers, tinker mackerel, and squid (my local bait shop guy catches these squid on jigs off the Nut Island dock at night).
Brittany Husk
On Friday, the kid's campers also had a slow day. One nice bass was landed by Mitch Reid and two keeper lobsters were taken by Annabel and Meg. Still, the kids had a great time!
Gus with a nice keeper bass! Meg with one of many smaller fish
Annabel Bermejo
On Wednesday morning, we had a make-up rain day for week #1 kid's camp. We deceide to try something different and snagged a bunch of pogies to live-line. First fish on weighed in at 20# on the boga and measured 38" in length. Way to go Jacob Pierce! Unfortunately, we had some more fish on but couldn't keep them hooked.
In the afternoon, the kids were into casting bass assassin's on the surface and caught a bunch of nice bass in the 24" range. Annabel had what I would estimate to be @34", 12-15# striper that sadly slipped out of my hand at boatside, so no pics :(.
Janet Piskurich coaxed this nice bass off the riprap
George with a schoolie bass.
The Kid's Fishing Camp ended on a high note, well, at least for Mitch Reid. Mitch not only caught the most fish and smallest fish, but also the biggest! While blind casting below structure on the incoming tide in the bay, Mitch landed a beautiful 36" bass weighing 19# on the boga.
Mitch is all smiles hefting this big cow!
During the morning, Ed Moore of Connecticut and Charlie Devems of Charlestown spent a beautiful morning fly fishing instead of working! It took a while for the fish to get going due to the tide and unfortunately, the pair had to leave fish to get back to the dock.
Ed Moore Charlie Devens
Max Harrison with a nice keeper! Kid's Fishing Campers & Capt. Wayne
Capt. Dan Demarco with one of many nice fish! Joe Sullivan with a beautiful bass on light tackle...
Gus with a nice 31" keeper Collin with a 29" bass on lite spinning tackle
On July 4th, Victor Moldanado and his brother, Carlos from Puerto Rico, came out for a morning of fly and lite tackle fishing. We started out early in the rain which fortunately didn't last too long. I commented that I was due for a big fish (usually a mistake) on the way out to QBay. With only an hour or so left in the outgoing tide and a big minus tide at that, not much was going on in the bay. We fished the structure hard and then decided to move to another location. Good move! Began marking lots of fish and big fish too in the deeper channel. We had a very difficult time getting these fish to eat a fly. Victor managed only one on the fly. Carlos, on the other hand, caught a handful on a bucktail jig tipped w a white sluggo, including a small keeper that measured 29" and a monster measuring 43" and weighing 30# on the boga.
Carlos was a happy man, especially after landing his big bass!
Jonathan Klip with his first striper on the fly! How cool is that?!
The Kids' Fishing Campers flogged the structure to no avail before heading into the bay and finding the same school of bass we located in the morning. After the action slowed down, we trolled up a few more on the tube & worm before heading back to the dock. Below, Jake and Connor double up!
Max and Connor are all smiles............................................................<*)))><
Chris and Jake with a couple of nice schoolie bass.
Over the weekend, Cliff Deetjen, his brother Leif, Tom Schneider, Ted Trask, Tom's brother and another friend fished the harbor for two days guided by myself and Capt. Tom Koerber. Friday brought sunshine and hot weather with a number of schoolie bass taken on fly and light tackle. Saturday was cool and foggy, for at least part of the morning. Ted's big fish, 35" and 15#, was taken in the fog off the rocks.
Ted trask with a very nice keeper bass. Cliff D. with one of many schoolies
Leif Deetjen Leif, Tom and Cliff triple up!
Tom Schneider guides for trout in Colorado
On Weds. June 25, Bob Bloomer took his son, Joseph and father-in-law out for a morning of light tackle fishing to celebrate Joe's B-Day.
Joseph and his Dad show off their catch.
This morning, Mark Ozog and his GF Jessie, from Great Fall, MT came out for a morning of fly fishing. Both caught a bunch of schoolies before we called it quits and tried to beat the storm before it hit Boston. No luck...
Jessie with her first striper on the fly!
Yesterday, Rick Dyer and his sons Eric and Sam joined me for some fly and light tackle fishing. Once again, all on board caught fish and had a great time even though no big fish were taken. Sam caught his first striper on the fly!
Sam and Eric Dyer............................................................................<*)))><
Rick Dyer
On Saturday, Roy MacDowell and his colleague Eric joined me for some early summer fly fishing for stripers. Overall, the day was on the slow side although both anglers caught fish. Eric caught and released his very first striper on the fly. (He's caught bass before on light tackle.)
Eric with his first fly rod bass! Roy MacDowell shows off a schoolie caught on an Orvis 8 wt Helios
Mitch and his friends enjoying a birthday party on the water...
David Weinstock Gary Cook
Over the weekend, Guido Stein, along with his brother and dad fished with me using fly and light tackle. The fish we caught, and it wasn't many, were taken mostly fishing channel edges and flats. There were fish scattered about on herring in the deeper water but they were hard to get on, especially given the boat traffic. Dave Grainger and Gary Cook had a great morning fly fishing schoolie bass up to 31". We found a decent school of fish concentrated on small bait and fortunatelt very few boats on them!
A fat 32" fish... taken near structure in the bay.
May 28, 2008: Wind, wind, and MORE wind!!!! Ok, so I'm not a weatherman and the weather over the weekend did not settle down. Last week, there was good action in the harbor with working birds over herring and silversides and breaking fish in the usual spots (QBay, Dot Bay, the anchorage, North channel...). But the NW wind made for difficult fishing on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. We saw some sporadic bird action and surface breaks but didn't mark many fish. I was not out on Saturday but heard it was about as slow as it gets.
On Sunday, I guided Antonio Mingrone, an Alitalia pilot from Milan, who chose to fly fish the harbor. It wasn't particularly stellar, but Antonio was quite pleased to catch a handful of schoolies on the fly. On Monday, the wind shifted to the WSW in the morning and was breezy right from the get go. And it picked up bigtime by late morning. Brian Lowinger, his Dad, Larry and father-in-law, Barry fished light tackle with me. The action began a couple hours into the dropping tide in Dot Bay and moved to the anchorage. It wasn't easy fishing but all aboard caught fish and had a great time! Those who chose to fish slow and low off the bottom did well picking up schoolies and larger bass.
Barry with a feisty schoolie Brian Lowinger
Brad Connor with a feisty schoolie bass
Reel Dream Charters
fish@reeldreamcharters.com
60 Dracut Street Unit 1
Dorchester, MA 02124
617-909-7122