Friday brought old friend and former guide Johnny who brought his son Jack out for some quality time on the briny. We were delayed enroute by a large school of breaking bass. We managed one fish and discovered that they weren’t really interested in what we were offering. We left them to find more cooperative fish. We found the same deal at two other spots. We did manage a couple more fish after trying most of my bass patterns. The guys were putting the fly right where it needed to be and the fish just weren’t having it. Finally we gave up and stopped off at a place that had nothing showing so I put on normal bass flys and the guys hooked up right away. Sometimes too much food is a bad thing.

Last night a neighbors tree came down and took out the pole with our service lines on it. We got our power restored but our internet service is another story. Good old Frontier Communications said they can’t get out here until next Thursday. If you need to contact me call my cell. (860) 884-3792.

Thursday Bob came out of hibernation to do a bit of fishing. We went to the usual places and found some fish in each one. He struck first with a nice schooler. After I missed three in a row I found that the fly needed a point to keep them attached. With that problem solved we proceeded to catch. A pretty fun day on the briney.

We went out mid morning just to fish the tide. Found bass where they were yesterday so we stopped and played for a bit. They are feeding on tons of silversides. Later on we tried two more spots that had fish on top. We took a ride and stopped for a sandwich and the bass popped up all around us. Ate played and called it a day. Headed in and came across more fish on top. Stopped for some large bluefish. In the last two days I caught more blues than all of last year. This just might be an exceptional year on the briny.

Tuesday morning I took a shakedown and scouting cruise. The forecast was for NW wind 5-10 so that looked promising. When I arrived at the dock it was 15-20 from the East. With that and a cloudless sky I wasn’t overly optimistic about catching. Mostly I just wanted to check the motor and see what I might stumble upon. I arrived at my first stop to see a few birds in a couple areas with fish under them. I dropped a fly in the water and was stripping line off the reel when a bass wacked the fly. I’ve caught fish on the first cast but this was a first for catching one before I had a chance to cast. I found more fish in different areas so it was mission accomplished. The boat was flawless. Good to be back out there.

We launched the boat this morning at dead low tide. Everything went well so we took a little shakedown cruise. The water temps are a couple degrees higher than I expected. Heard reports of some nice sized bass in the neighborhood and saw a big bluefish that was taken on a fluke rig. we will get out next week and do a little fishing.

We picked up the boat today and brought it home to start getting ready for this season. Last year we replaced everything north of the driveshaft and this year we went south. About the only things older than one year is the computer, drive shaft and the engine cowling. Just like having a new motor. For this year the rates are the same as last year. The reports coming in are that the little fish have made it to the cape and some bigger ones should arrive hear fairly soon. Most of last years fish were pretty decent so these should be a little better. I’ll keep you posted.

We pulled the boat Monday morning to end our season. This was a strange year for us. We had decent bass early and they were larger for a change. I think that we only caught a couple of bluefish this year. The bonito weren’t as good as the bluefish. Albies showed up on time and when things were just starting to come together a hurricane brushed us and that pretty much ended our Albie season. The fall run started and quickly folded up. There are a lot of fish to our north but there is no guarantee that they will come inshore on their way south. Our last couple of trips consisted of more looking than fishing. Stay safe this winter and we hope to get together next season.