Julian brought his parents and good buddy Wes all the way from the west coast today. We started off with a bunch of sand sharks for everyone. They were followed by a half dozen porgys and a few fluke and one lonesome sea bass. We tried but could not find the elusive sea robin. The Noyes had some fun and the Captain did too.

Paul came across the RI border to find some stripers that were willing to play. We left near the end of the flood tide and stopped at almost every place that I’ve caught a bass and with the exception of one half hearted strike we pretty much struck out. Luckily the tide changed and when it started the fish showed up along with their appetites. We finished the day with a few in the boat after way too many casts.

Rick and his brother Zac made the short but dangerous crossing of the Rhode Island border to go in search of the elusive striped bass. We did a lot of moving and picked up a handful of schoolies bass and one nice blackfish on a fly. With all of the Sunday traffic out there we didn’t see another boat land a fish. A pretty good day after all.

Wednesday morning brought Dr. Jeff up the always dangerous Rt.95. We left the dock bright and early to catch the end of the ebb tide. It took Jeff two casts to put the first fish in the boat. It was a good bite till the tide died out then we went exploring. While out and about we came across a young humpback whale grazing on millions of small sand eels. The youngster was about 30 feet long. It put on a pretty good show for us. We poked around and found more bass on top of a bunch of boulders. Had some fun and called it a day.

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I practiced on Thursday and caught this one on Friday. It was 27#s on the Boga but not quite as big as Gail’s the day before. For a weekday we had people stemming, trolling, drifting and running around. We had a pretty good morning with fly rods. We even caught a couple of fish in different areas than the normal ones.

Gail and I left the dock at the crack of 0830 to catch the right tide. We had about 50 yards of visibility at the start. It took us about two casts for the first hook up and then it was pretty steady for the next few hours. If any of you are thinking about a trip, it won’t get much better than this.

Today brought Gary up the long but ever dangerous drive up Rt.95 from SW Connecticut. We left early and found the fish waiting. They were pretty scattered today so we had to work a bit harder. We had a pretty steady bite until lunch had come and gone. Another fun day with a good friend. Gary has been fishing with me for about 25 years or so and we have had some adventures for sure. One day we were looking for bonito in the fog and when I shut the motor off we heard someone yell for help. We found a guy snorkeling a couple hundred yards off the beach and he had no idea where he was. We tossed him a line and towed him to shore. A while later when the fog lifted we heard a snort and looked out to see a sperm whale breach a hundred yards from the boat. Picture a brown Mobey Dick. We had a day In Montauk when it was a fish on every cast. All albies until the big stripers showed up. Good times with a good friend.

Travis and Reagan made the long trek east for an evening on the water. We left the dock and stopped at a few spots that are usually productive on an incoming tide but not yesterday. We continued on to head for the area that I had some luck on Friday. We were early for the tide change but the fish were already there. It didn’t take long for the crew to hook up with some nice bass. As the tide slowed the fish grew larger. By the time we were done we landed three fish over 20 lbs. That would be over 40 inches for the people that use a tape instead of a scale. We left at dark with all of us pretty much done in. Lots of laughs and good memories were made today.

Yesterday I forced myself to get up early to catch the right tide. The fish were waiting for me and they were hungry. I managed a handful between 10 and 18 lbs. and that was enough for me. It was a bit on the breezy side and the tide was ripping. Good times. I have my first trip later today. Stay tuned.