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| FishWire Coordinator: | Mark Cahill |
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| The Best of the Best?
Okay, I've made mention before, but the current conditions are simply too good to left this unsaid - this may be the best season in the Boston area since the pre-bust years of my youth. Let's look at the current conditions. The area is loaded with bait, absolutely loaded. That's drawn in and held the fish. With the fish starting into their fall migration, that's brought an influx of fish from the north, and they've settled in for the time being like a 400 lb. trucker at an all you can eat buffet. They've put the feed bag on and there going to feed here as long as the water temps stay in their comfort range or the bait moves out/is consumed. In addition, it's created a months worth of fishing for school bluefin tuna that has been absolutely beyond compare. I can't ever remember fish of that size coming in and staying so long. It's perfect fishing for fly rodders who want to test their mettle against probably the fastest fish that swims (while I can't cite the source, I have heard that researchers have clocked their runs at over 70 mph). Our summer doldrums were short, and not as bad as they've been in the past. We had a great spring and early summer. Now we're in the time that is traditionally the best fishing of the year. Get out there now! On a side note, since so many folks have been going out after bluefin, I need to mention this: while the permit limit per day is four bluefin, you need to remember that these fish take something like 15 years to grow into giant bluefin. Yes, they taste great, raw, grilled with a little teriyaki over wilted greens...(oops, I digress, this isn't the food channel). My point is that you should limit your take to one of two. No one needs hundreds of pounds of bluefin in the fridge. Also, bluefin will fight to the point of death. Make an effort to get the fish in as quickly as possible so it can be released unharmed. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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Boston Metropolitan Regions
| NEWS |
| The low pressure from Gustav earlier in the week really turned the fish on, creating massive blitzes throughout the area. Bluefin action continues throught the area. Blues are hot, bass are hot, the whole darned coast is hot. Get out now! |
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Boston Harbor
Capt. Wayne Frieden of Reel Dream Charters reports: Saturday, September 7, 2002: Rob Surdel and friends Ben and Brett Sunday, September 8, 2002: Denis Blaise and his brother Eric joined me Thursday, September 12, 2002: Great fishing, especially for bluefish, Until next week, we'll see you out there... Capt. Wayne Frieden Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters reports: Sunday, Sept. 1, Paul Morey of Quincy, Chris Wilson of Avon, and Steve Viglas of So. Weymouth were aboard for an early morning trip. Paul, who is awaiting the arrival of his first child, hooked the first bass, a beauty measuring 36 inches, while monitoring his cell phone. Then it was time to catch bluefish that were blitzing off Hangman's Island. Draggin' Fly hit them well with all anglers tight to fish before the fleet arrived to break up the school. On a hunch, Captain Bill moved inside to Hull where he found a good pod of fish working bait in very shallow water. The crew decided to hunt out bigger fish- a good decision as Steve hooked a big bass on the first drift off Hull Gut. The fish was a twin to Paul's bass. "Hahbah" veteran Jim Fitzpatrick of Holbrook put together the rookie crew on Saturday, Sept. 7. The minus tide of the new moon kept Captain Bill from launching until almost 7:00 am. However, the fish didn't seem to notice. Just outside of the Harbor, the Draggin' Fly encountered large schools of busting bluefish. For awhile it seemed like Captain Bill was in for a long day with multiple hookups and quick breakoffs. With the help of the first mate, Jim Fitz, tackle was quickly rigged and the crew was soon back into action. Bluefishing was fantastic most of the morning. Tom and Brian are still arguing over who caught the biggest fish. Doug knows who caught the most. And Fitzy.....
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South Shore
The big story is the bluefin. Check these reports out! Big Red reports: Launched out of the North River (Marshfield) today and had shots at schoolie bluefin all day between the "H" buoy and Manomet, but alas, only 1 short hookup, my leader to mainline knot gave way. I think I need some hook up lessons from the riptide boys. If you think Albies are tough, try these things. Capt. Terry Nugent of Riptide Charters posted this bit: Here is the final score 8 hits, 2 singles, 2 doubles, 6 home runs, and 2 errors. Not a bad outing. If I were a ball player I’d get a fortune. By 0830 we had our 4 fish in the box. Jimi Grasso got a monster today that weighed in at 73# GUTTED AND BLED. I had one hit on my second cast and promptly lost the fish. Next cast I hooked up solid and after a blistering run my line to top shot knot gave out. My bad! Re-rig and back in the game. Jimi and I double up in short order. Since I have more line and a little more rod I land his first, then he lands mine. 2 in the box both around 50#. Next pod of fish, BOO YAA!!! Doubled again. Same drill except this time I horse mine in fast and have to gaff my own. I go to gaff Jimi’s fish and the cheap gaff comes apart! Bye Bye gaff! Now to tail rope a pissed off 80# tuna. It took some work but it got done. A heave ho and number 4 is on the deck. We have 1 more fish each and both were C&R boat side. Now I need a new gaff. Now as for the 2 lost fish, Jimi noticed his drag was tight so we pulled the reel apart and found a mess. I decided to do the same to mine since I’d lost 2 fish already. The fiber washers in the Penn were fine. The Teflon ones however were cooked! The underside of the spool and the top of the rotor were covered in a fine mist of Teflon dust. I pulled all the washers and wiped everything down with paper towel and tissue, re-assembled both reels and the rest of the day was fine. I will say that my combo was able to really man handle the fish compared to Jimi’s. His 8500 with 50# mono (limited capacity) and less stout 7’ rod were no comparison to the heavy Penn rod and the Whiplash. Plus having worked the big fish yesterday I was more comfortable with the limits of my gear. I have never used stuff this heavy and I was unsure how hard I could pull. Today I held the spool on all but the hardest runs and then as soon as the fish stopped got right back on him. Average fight time today was under 15 minutes for me and around 20 to 30 for Jimi. The gear makes a HUGE difference.
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North Shore
Blitzes, blitzes, blitzes.... Capt. John Pirie of On Line Fishing Charters had this tantallizing report: Fishing Report written 9/11/02 by the On-Line Fishing Charters Crew: Well the peanut bunker invasion appears to be in full force. THe Marky Mark reports: Went to fish the harbor (wading) 6 a.m., it was o.k., but @ 7:30 a.m. the water BOILED !!! I never saw so many stripers jumping like they were this a.m. It was a sight to see! Touching Cloth posts: Manchester by the Sea Blufish Bonanza Got up "late" and was on the water in Manchester by 8:30 AM. Didn't seem to matter to the blues off of Magnolia. They were holding in about 20 feet of water, and were not completely concentrated, but I enjoyed a fish about every 10 minutes for the entire day from 9 AM-3 PM. The blues were up to about 13 pounds, and were feeding (coughing up) small bait. Cought two on sinking fly line and clousers, but it took so long to get the flies into the strike zone that I gave up and used Kastmasters. I bet things were really interesting during low light. I would bet the fish came up, and schooled then, as they were all fat, and well fed. I'd recommend any of you guys getting out there. I had most of my luck off of that little island just south of Magnolia, between the island and the mainland. The water was between 30'-40', and the fish were holding in 20' Tuna Wishin' reports: Holy @#%& Bluefin, Batman! Do yourself a favor and get on the water between Marblehead and Gloucester to just witness the crashing bluefins! Don't bother if it's rough; but if the wind and waves lay down you'll see so many rises... This time of the year I usually go to the Vineyard for bonito or Albies but I can't pass this action up. Do yourself a favor and get the permit and fish with a partner because you'll need help subduing the fish. I hooked and fought to the boat a 60 pounder and lost him while trying to control him for the gaffing. My assumption was my heavy spinning rod and Penn 7500SS would be toast if I ever hooked up with 30# test and braided material as backing, specifically the reel's drag system. It worked great and I was shocked at the size of the fish when brought in because I would have expected a complete tackle melt-down based on his size. I lost the fish like an idiot, but hooking and nearly landing him was one of my best angling thrills! |
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The Merrimack River
Capt. Charlie Crue of Channel Edge Charters reports: Merrimack River Report #22 September 12, 2002 We are in the count down period to the end of another great season here on the Merrimack River estuary. Each day is shorter and the fishing is less predictable. As an example, Monday, we had extraordinary bluefish action just outside the river mouth but Tuesday it was all striper action. The stripers were in the river along the Salisbury side chasing peanut bunker (the same bait fish that the blues were feeding on outside the jetties on Monday). The best fly was a peanut bunker imitation. When I switched to one on Monday morning I immediately got hits by bluefish that were busting the surface following frantic leaps oh the baby bunker minnows. A wire shock tippet was required for those hard fighting fish. After a morning of bluefish action (mostly 7 to 10 pounders) my gear was beat up and my body was too. I am thankful for the Boga grip and using hooks with the barbs bent down. Also when using spinning lures I use mostly the one with single as opposed to multiple treble hooks. Besides saving me some possible injury it allows me to release bluefish and not kill them. Most fishing has become very visual as the birds give away the locations of feeding fish. Sometimes the fish only show for a few minutes and then disappear only to appear at the surface again yards away. Since the action has been on the top, surface lures and poppers have been working well. The winds from the near miss of hurricane Gustav shut down fishing yesterday and today. Hopefully tomorrow conditions will be good and we can get out to see what the stormy seas did to our inshore fishing. Tune in next week! |