Today Jim brought Win out for his first shot at bass on a fly rod. We hit the first spot and had breaking fish with no takers. We moved to another place and set up to stem. About that time Gail called and a lot of you know what that means. Win hooked up while I was still talking and that set things up for a steady pick for the rest of the trip. Another fun day on the briny.

Friday brought Mark and his son Clayton out all the way from Idaho to have some striper fun. We left the dock before the sun came up and headed out. The day before was too stormy to fish so I spent the day tying more flies that worked so well on Wednesday. We made our way out with a big heave from the previous day’s storm and arrived at our first spot. The fish were there but were not thrilled with what we were throwing. We tried several different patterns and the guys managed to each pick up a few fish. There were fewer fish around and the water was pretty dirty and that was not helpful. We decided to find calmer and clearer water to fish. We pulled in to a new spot and were greeted by a bunch of spread out fish feeding on tons of silversides. It looked like the old days complete with a large seal watching us. The bass were busting all around us but would not have anything to do with our flies. The vast amounts of seaweed floating by did not help. All in all it was a fun day on the water.

Wednesday brought Jim back up Rt. 95 for another shot at some stripers. Its been a while because of the pandemic but its always a fun day with Jim on the boat. We were using flies so I went to work tying up some new ones to try to match the bait. It actually would have been easier if I could see what kind of bait they were eating. After about the fourth different pattern we struck gold. It was one after another until Jim reached his personal limit for the day. Now I’ve got some flies to tie. Stay tuned I’m starting to hear rumors of other fish in the neighborhood.

Had an issue with the tilt and trim motor on the boat so I took it to my mechanic for a cure. He had me in and out in a few days complete with a new trim motor and pump. Just in time for Henry who brought brother Bill along with Fred and Charlotte. They were all using spin gear. We found the swarms of bass right away in a different location than this past week. The bass are feeding on micro bait which makes it difficult to get them to chew. After a lot of work the kids beat the old guys and had some fun too.

Wednesday Henry brought Charlie and David out for another adventure on the Sound. David struck first with a small schoolie. We tried a lot of spots and some more than once. We had a bit of a pick until the tide changed. With that there was not much improvement. Around 11:00 the bite started to improve. We started finding fish up to 12#s . The bite held up just long enough for Henry to be named Champion of the boat. A lot of work but lots of fun.

Friday morning Gail an I took our first striper trip of the season. We left early with 50 yards of visibility and made our way out. The first stop was empty of fish so we decided to move on. The next stop was holding a good amount of bass. We each had a handful and decided to move on for some fluke. We tried different places and could only manage to get fish less than keeper size. We will give it another go next week.

Wednesday morning brought old friend and long time angler Dr. Jim back for his second trip of the season. We headed out early and it took Jim about ten minutes to hook the first of a bunch of stripers. We had a steady pick of fish all morning. I had mentioned to Jim that I hadn’t caught a bass yet this year. So when he was resting his casting arm he gave me the rod and even the guide caught a few fish. Pretty fun day on the water.