We headed out Wednesday evening as the second half of a two boat trip. After a lot of looking and casting Connor landed our first fish. With no more luck we were offered some bait and decided bottom fish were better that no fish. I had three young men bouncing bucktails tipped with squid and they had a steady flow of every kind of bottom fish coming aboard. Lots of laughs and a fun trip.
Saturday morning brought Jerry and Jerrod down for their first trip with me. We left early in the fog to a place that held some bass and large blues. We arrived to find a bunch of boats drifting and trolling through some scattered fish that would come up every now and then. We had some great shots but only managed two small mackerel for their efforts. I have no idea where they came from or why the other fish were not interested in what we were offering. We lost the tide and moved on to a half dozen other spots. Finally Jerrod had a bass take a slap at an albi snax without being hooked. We switched to the old reliable bucktails and soon after Jerry put a bass in the boat. For the past two weeks the water has been especially dirty and that has made our lives difficult. All in all it was still a fun day on the briney.
It’s been a while since I put anything up so here is an update. We had a couple trips that were from ok to pretty good. Then we spent some time in South Carolina with our favorite granddaughter and her family. Back to work brought Jim back for the first time this year. He did well with some nice bass on a fly. After that trip I went out and caught some of my first bass of the year. Then another Jim brought his daughter and her husband out for an evening trip. Both could throw a fly and were rewarded with some nice schoolies. Saturday Chris and Michael brought their dad out for a Father’s day present. Dad put on a clinic for the boys with fish in the eight to ten pound class.
A different Jim came over for a quick trip this morning. The tide was just starting to run when we arrived. We found a few scattered fish and Jim hooked up pretty quickly. He always uses a barbless hook to make it a bit sporty. We let a couple go short of the boat and then he landed two nice ones. Jim was happy with his fish so we called it early. After dropping him off it was still early so I went out for an hour. I put four of my first stripers of the year in the boat using an Albi Snax on a spinning rod. A pretty good day on the briney.
Three weeks into the new season has me scratching my head. We’ve had some really good trips with it good numbers of large bass and the next day they’re gone. The ebb tide has been better but when Gail and I fished the ebb last week all we had to show was a bluefish. The spring migration is still on with some pretty good sized fish being taken in New York. We’re seeing a little more bait coming through so that will be helpful. I have a couple of trips this weekend so we’ll see what happens.
Sunday evening brought Jim along with his brother Peter out for a sunset cruise. We had the tide that skunked us last week so I wasn’t super confident for our success. We struck out in the first spot but put a few fish on board at the second. The third brought us into a spot that required a lot of paying attention to where we were. It paid off with a handful of stripers and we didn’t end up on the rocks. Great night for a boat ride.
Jim had so much fun on Friday he came back on Sunday afternoon with Sean and both guys wives. After Saturdays skunk my expectations were not really high. We did have a different tide to work with. We left the dock with about a quarter mile of visibility which soon dropped to 50 yards. Memorial Day Weekend in the fog. What could go wrong. The first stop had a few fish up that showed no interest in what we were offering. The second stop had a few fish showing but these guys were hungry. Jim hooked up on his first cast with the fly rod and it didn’t stop for two hours. Everyone caught fish including the girls. These fish were all in the six to eight pound range. After the shoulders and arms got sore we decided on one more cast and called it a night. At the same time both guys hooked up with Jim’s fish in the 20 pound class.
Saturday morning brought John and his son Jack down for a morning trip. We started where I finished the night before. Nothing was showing so we took a ride to check more areas. Nothing doing there so we kept going. Pretty soon we found good numbers of bass slurping bait on top. Tried a bunch of flies and lures and the fish weren’t interested in anything that we threw. The guys worked real hard for zero results. While checking several fishing sites that seemed to be a common problem that day. There was a worm hatch occurring which didn’t help.
OFF TO A GOOD START
We put the boat in yesterday afternoon and had our first trip this afternoon. Jim came all the way from Rhode Island for his first trip of the year. We headed out to find some moving water and it took Jim 10 minutes before he landed the first fish of the year. He caught a bunch from six to eighteen pounds. The bass are moving in and they weren’t shy. Stay tuned.
Capt. Sandy Noyes has lived and fished in the Southeastern part of Connecticut for his entire life. … [More...]
