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| FishWire Coordinator: | Mark Cahill |
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| Starting to Wind Down
In retrospect, I probably didn't need to get the crystal ball out last week to predict that the remains of TS Isidore would probably trigger the fish to start into a full fledge migration pattern. After all, at this time of year, it may very well have started without the storm. The outlook for the weekend is mixed. Saturday will probably be a wash with rain and thunderstorms predicted. Sunday is supposed to be a perfect day to be outside, so plan to get out. You can always bring a radio to listen in on the Pats game. The school tuna have moved out. These are highly migratory fish, and with their speed, they can disappear quickly when the water or bait conditions don't suit them. Even a slight water temperature change can send them fleeing. And we've definitely had a change in water temperatures. Boating Etiquette There has been a lot of discussion lately, all along the coast, about boatin ettiquette. At a recent NY tournament, Montauk shore anglers have accused guides in boats of crowding them out. This is an issue we hear about all the time on the Cape, especially at the Vineyard, especially during albie season. It's also a prevailent issue around this area, particularly in Boston Harbor. The issue of boaters getting too close to shore doesn't normally come up in this area too much, mainly because much of the productive shoreline can be reached only by boat. I have seen boaters drift right up close to the waders at the Merrimack, and as one of the guys standing up to my waist in the water, I really didn't like it. We've all had people motor right up to the school of breaking fish we've been working and put it down. There are few things in life so frustrating. The truth of the matter is that there is only so much shoreline and water to go around. As participation in our sport (fishing) increases, the demand for these resources increases and there's only so much to go around. We've got to all try a little understanding of the other guy, yet we've also got to expect that these situations are only going to become more common. I see a day when access to prime fishing spots like the Monomoy Flats is restricted. I hope that I don't live to see it. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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Boston Metropolitan Regions
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NJ Nuke Plant Discharge Kills 1500 Fish I guess the warm water discharge cooked up a good number of stripers. Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press here. |
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Boston Harbor
Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters had this: Sunday, Jay Hoffman of Marshfield was on board as Draggin' fly pushed off of dock guided by the moonlight. Captain Bill wanted to target some big bass that he thought would be feeding on the full monn. His hunch paid off with the first fish almost hitting the 40 inch mark. Smaller fish were taken before the blues invaded the area. As the light came up, bass trapped peanut bunker on the shallow coves of Peddocks. Jay, who has fished with Draggin' Fly for the last six years, said that this was the most unbelieveable surface bite that he had ever seen. Jay used Bass Assassin Shad twitched along the surface to catch dozens of bass, many of legal size. A call from a fellow charter skipper sent the Draggin' fly to Revere's Beachmount area where Jay was able to sight cast to big bass in 3-4 feet of water. The biggest measured 38 inches. Jay has already scheduled his trips for next season. Seasonal charter, Damon Reed of Norwell and John Kieley of New Hampshire joined Captain Bill on Wednesday afternoon. Since this was the last trip of the season, they invited Ed Nowak of the the Fisherman to share join them. Small bass were found inside Hull. Then Captain Bill decided to move out through the Gut, where anglers found areas of breaking bass and blues. Damon used his infamous Fleece Fly on a floating line and John fished deeper using soft hackle flies fished on a Teeny quick sinking line. Action was nonstop, often in very shallow water. Ed caught the biggest, a 32 inch bass loaded with sea lice on a white jerk bait. John and Damon have already signed on for next year. Saturday's trip with the Paul Lindsay family was weathered out. Captain Bill used the time to get the Draggin'` Fly ready for the season finale. Capt. Wayne Frieden reports: Monday, September 23, 2002: Back at work today but a report just in from one of my recreational fishing friends: Lots of blues and bass from Hull Gut to Nixes Mate from late morning to late afternoon. Go fish! Thursday, September 26, 2002: Still lots of bass and blues in the harbor. The weekend should be good unless Isador messes things up. I still have open dates during the Columbus Day weekend. Give me a call if you're hankerin' to get out before it's all over. Sunday, September 29, 2002: The high winds from Isadore followed by a cold front and high pressure system muddied up the waters this weekend and made for tough fishing in the Harbor. Mike Liu and his friend John, both fly fisherman, only managed a handful of bass and one blue but covered more territory from the Inner Harbor to Lynn than they'd ever seen before! We found fish tight to the airport shoreline in 2' of water at first light and I'm told the south side of Long I also had fish. The prevalent bait was peanut bunker. In the cove near Chapel Rocks, we cam upon literally thousands of peanut bunker fron 2-4". Looking down from the casting deck, the water was chock full of bait with periodic crashing bass happily feeding on these juvenile menhaden. However, we couldn't buy a fish casting our flies or lures due to the amount of live bait. Further north, near Wnthrop and Revere, I located working birds and busting fish. However, the action was short lived. So it goes... Wednesday, October 2, 2002: Reports from my recreational buddies were very positive today. My friend George W. (that's Whitehead not Bush) was into large bass from first light until 8:30 am off Long I. Viking Son (Ernie Jo) spent the last day of his Northeast fishing season catching bluefish all over Quincy Bay. I'll be out on the water this weekend (weather permitting) and hopefully the bass and blues will cooperate. I've got a couple of dates open during the Columbus day weekend then it'll be all over for me until next season. Until next week, we'll see you out there... Capt. Wayne Frieden
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South Shore
As you'd expect, things are happening around Plymouth. Check this out from Eastern: Ellisville to E. Sandwich Report Fished canal west to Ellisville Water Temp fell from 59 to 52.9 near Ellisville. Hit pods of bass from 24 inches to just above keeper size. Fish were up and down near the rocks. Worked all the way back to Scorton where the temp rose to 64 degrees. Small blues and black bass were all we could jig up. Finactic had this capper to the season's bluefin action: Just got back to Maine after a 3 day tuna hunt. We started in Duxbury (with Capt John Bunar) on Monday. John B was a great guy/guide and said the fishing was v. slow only seeing two pods on Sunday (said they were packing their bags), we made him go anyway and took our chances to maybe get a look at these beasts we were hearing so much about. He was right and we got a big goose egg not seeing any tuna. But we learned alot from John about the area and fish and would fish with him again. All geared up and visions of tuna still dancing in our heads we regrouped and got on the phone. Got some good news from some friends in the gloucester area so we packed up and headed north (we also were towing our own boat). We called the First Light Angler boys when we arrived Monday evening and they said there were tuna sightings in the Ipswich Bay and Merrimack River areas still. We launched at dawn on Tuesday and started the search. We covered alot of ground looking and finaly saw hundreds of shearwaters on the water and under those were hundreds of TUNA, 60-100lb. monsters flying through the air everywhere. My heart pounding in my chest the two others starting casting as I ran the boat to keep them near the pods which seemed to be everywhere. On my buddies 2nd cast he hooked up and off to the races we went on a blistering run as I chased with the boat. After about 40 minutes the fish sounded and he pulled the hook trying to lift the fish. BUT now we where in the game! Back to the fish and another at the wheel I was on a fish in minutes. After about 30 minutes and a few blistering runs I had the tuna boat side but about 8 ft down, another 10minutes and the fish pulled the hook as well. Back at them again (new hook) and the last guy hooked up but his spiderwire/flouro connection failed on him after about 15 minutes. After it was all over we were wiped out but had hooked and fought 3 tuna on our first sighting. We tried to repeat on Wed. and saw no fish anywhere we went?? Could not figure it out but the fish moved on. That day will sit in mind all winter waiting for another shot someday. What a sight! I have fished all over and have never seen anything like that before. New England is truley blessed to have those fish around and we were truley blessed to have experienced it.... I'm ruined!!
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Baby tuna report...  |
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North Shore
FishinBill reports: I fished last night from about 5 pm to 9:30 pm just east of Singing Beach. It was a great night to be out, even though the fishing was only fair. I did not see any fish breaking or birds working, and only caught one schoolie on a fly after dark. I saw schools of bait, but nothing like the swarms that were there a few weeks ago. I'm guessing that the bass are still there, but the frenzy of last month may be over. |
Manchester From Shore - 10/2  |
The Merrimack River
Fly fishing for stripers has been absolutely great over the past week. The fish have been coming well up river chasing huge numbers of baby bunker. They are very selective on what flies they will hit but if it looks like a bunker it gets hit. The fish sizes range from 16 to 25 inches with an occasional larger fish. The action is all top water or just under the surface. Monday morning I watched as the bait fish was driven up to the weedy shore by the bass. Birds, including cormorants, terns, egrets and even great blue herring join in on the feeding. It was spectacular to witness. I took some video and will show it at my booth at upcoming fly shows. Look for Channel Edge Charters on the program. Last Sunday I took three guys out to enjoy the action. Two used light spinning gear with small Rebel lures and the other guy used the fly rod. They all caught lots of stripers (photo). There are still bluefish outside the jetties and they will probably hold as long as the water temperature stays up and the bait fish remain in the area. They move around fast surfacing only for a short while. The tuna fishermen and have been doing well except for the constant battle with dogfish that chew up any bait in the water. Well, the local charter season is winding down for me as I will pursue some stripers, albies, bonito and good restaurants for a few days. After that it will be time to haul out the boat. During the off season I will go through all my reports and notes and write a summary of the |