Jay brought Doug out for his first venture with a fly rod in the salt. The weatherman had predicted spot showers off and on scattered around the state. We left the dock with flat seas and calm winds. The first stop had Jay hooked up on his first cast. We landed that bass and a while later Doug was fast to a fish. It wasn’t the biggest of the day but it was his first and that’s what counts. We were treated to a pretty good dolphin show as six or eight showed up to play. One cleared the water by ten feet and if you want to see a cannonball. The clouds gathered as we picked up a couple more bass and a bluefish. When the lightning started we left for a quick trip to the dock till it blew through. Going back out we were treated to a series of monsoon downpours. I guess all of the spot showers had their eye on our spot.
What showers
Slammed again
Today I was able to spend the morning with longtime friend and client Dr. Jeff. We left the dock in less than favorable conditions. Our first stop and Jeff’s first cast produced a feisty bass. Unfortunately The tide was against a stiff breeze so we couldn’t stay there comfortably. A short time later the bonito showed up and we added one to our collection. We took a ride to find calmer water and picked up a rare sea robin. We finished the Grand Slam with a blue fish and called it a day.
The fish were hungry today
Todays plan was to get Paul and Mike their first boat caught bonito. We started out with a bunch of bluefish in the boat so the guys could at least have some fish before the search began. Today the bonito found us and we had four in the boat by the end of our first hour. The rest of the trip was a steady bite of bass and blues with a couple more bones thrown in. When we weren’t running I don’t think that we went five minutes without a fish and we had far more doubles than singles.
Smorgasbord
I had Jason and Art out for their first time fishing in the salt. On the way out we picked up a bluefish and a sea robin to start. We went a little further and added another blue followed by a longer run. The next stop brought stripers more blues a couple more sea robins and a sea bass. The next fish was a fluke and that was followed by a peanut bunker which was smaller than the bucktail. Had it not been hooked in the mouth it would have been disqualified. We ended the day with another bass and a bluefish. I’d say the rookies had a pretty good day for themselves.
Still at it
We have been concentrating on bonito for the past few days when we could get out. One day they are around in decent numbers and the next day they are being difficult. We were out this morning and just before the tide changed we had a half dozen pods running around. I hooked one on my second cast and lost him when he took off under the boat. I redeemed myself later with the biggest of the season so far. When the tide started to run in they pulled their disappearing act once again. Oh, if I forgot to mention it before the albie scouts are in the neighborhood. I received three confirmations from three distinctly different areas in the past two days. I would think that they may be around in catchable numbers by next week.
Trifecta and a Slam
Today Jamie brought his son Mac out for a morning trip. We beat the sun and found the bass right away.. both guys caught a bunch and when the tide slowed we went in search of the elusive ones. The first stop produced a couple of bluefish and shortly after we saw the tell tale splashes. once again both guys hooked up and completed their trifectas with a pair of bonito. That was mac’s first bone and just to prove who the high hook was he added a sea robin for the slam. It was a fun day out there.
Two Fer
Todays report is for the past two days. Monday Gail and I took a ride looking for you know who. The weatherman was his usual inaccurate self. We had a pretty stiff wind from the east and that usually is the kiss of death for bonito. We did manage to find a large bunch of hungry stripers so the day was not a loss.
Today we were promised low winds and flat seas by a different weather guy. This time the forecast was accurate. We headed out and after a ride we found a few pods of bonito. We doubled up twice and landed three bones. For some reason they quit soon after that. I think they had some place that they wanted to be. After looking and waiting we decided to head in the direction of our dock. We came across a bunch of birds and breaking fish so we were forced to get the fly rods out once again. We pretty much had them all to ourselves for about two hours. We quit when we were too tired to keep throwing. We had far more doubles than singles. Another great day on the briny.
I’m not sure why but for the past few weeks there have been more bass around then I have seen in the last twenty years on most days. If you like catching stripers then now is the time to be out there.
It was a great plan until it wasn’t
Today I had the pleasure of fishing with the infamous Dr. Jim. In all the years that Jim has fished with me we have never been able to get him a bonito. Todays plan was to leave the dock before dawn catch a bunch of bass, tire Jim out and go look for bonito around eight or so. We were fishing in the dark and it took Jim two casts to get his first fish. We had eight miles of visibility when we started and after a few hours it dropped to 150 feet. That is not good for spotting bonito. We kept at it and sure enough Jim needed a break around eight so I took the rod and picked up a half dozen or so bass. The tide went to slack and the fish continued to eat. Jim took the rod back and added a bunch to his total. I don’t know what it was but it was pretty good. Around ten we heard the approaching sounds of a good sized thunderstorm so we called it a very successful day. We had pretty much non stop action for four and a half hours.
Nice day on the water
This morning Gail and I left at the crack of bonito time looking for a repeat of yesterdays fun. The wind was down, the tide was moving, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky 12 miles of visibility. What more could you ask for? We arrived at the desired location and three hours later we left without seeing a single fish. The curse of the elusive bonito.
Grand Slam
I took a solo trip this morning to search for the ever elusive bonito. The bass bite has been really good early mornings so I beat the sun leaving the dock today. The bas co operated and I caught a bunch before moving on. I passed a school of chub mackerel and picked up one on the way to bonito city. I arrived where I wanted to be and found several pods of bones raising havoc with the bait fish. I made a great shot and hooked up almost immediately and I dropped it 10 seconds later. This was to be repeated may times this morning. I switched to circle hooks with the same results. Finally I threw into a pod of bones hooked up and brought the fish to the boat only to find out it was a bluefish. I was probably lucky to be alone today because things were starting to get ugly on board. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and soon landed two bones for the slam. The tide changed and a bass blitz started that was bigger than anything that I have seen on this side of the sound. Part of it broke off and I took this pic at noontime. Tomorrow is another day.
