6/9 Weekly Update - Lots of Bass on the Fly and light tackle

First of all, don't let anyone fool you. If you love to fly fish for big fish, now is the time to get out here.  Some guides will tell you that because the bass are keying in on larger baits this time of the year, fly fishing is not the best option and you should go to the salt ponds or the shallow waters if you want to fly fish. I beg to differ. This week we were catching 35 inch bass on the fly right around the large schools of bunker.  We were able to blast through the slop and get to protected areas to do this. You won't like being on a flats boat with 3 foot chop and be forced to fish salt ponds and shallow water this weekend. These fish are feeding on large baits in the upper bay and with patience, they can be fooled to take a fly. Brian and Leo, out for there third year from CA showed how its done.  Large EP Bunker flies were the hot fly this week! If you chose to go with a guide on a flats boat, you would have been cancelled due to the weather, not us. My boat is custom built for offshore fly fishing right here in Bristol RI.  Think of it as a flats boat on steroids! By fly fishing with me, you have a larger opportunity to get yourself to where the fish are.

Today, we experienced some great fishing in the upper bay with light tackle as well. Most of the fish were 34-38 inches and there were some MONSTER blues as well.. The 12-15 lbers that create a lovely shade of red in the water when they feed.   

  Water temps were 64 on the surface and with just enough cloud cover to keep the fish active through the morning. My boat is great because we were able to back drift onto the schools and hold position where everyone else was drifting at 2 knots the wrong way.  Dave and Joe both broke their own striper record today on their third and final trip with me.  Thank you both for 3 great charters!

When you look for a charter guide, weather its for fly fishing or light tackle, there is no greater time to be on the water than now!  I built my business around my passion.  By fishing both techniques, I know where the big fish are,what they are feeding on and how to fool them. 

First Weekend in June was Spectacular

There are not too many times that I get several straight days of fishable weather. This weekend was one of them. We not only had the tides and weather on our side, but also the fish. The rivers produced consistent fish and the bait was readily available. While my mornings started at 3 am, being the first on the water has its rewards. I find the bait first and I find the fish first. My customers reaped the rewards. Bait was pretty consistent in upper rivers and the incoming tide was by far the most productive. All of the fish were from 16- 19 lbs and the longest was 37 inches.  Both live and cut bait produced fish.  We went from using various length of leaders to various pound test to keep with the rising sun and it made a big difference. Thank you to my clients this weekend as we only kept 9 fish out of 18 that made it to the boat.  The ones kept were actually the better table size compared to some larger ones that were released by their choice.  Awesome job gang!

By Sunday, a fair amount if the fish moved out of the upper regions of the river (compared to mid week where it was a 14 fish outing in less than 50 yards of water). Fine by me as it weeds out the stalkers of charter boats.  Either way, that is what log books are for and we found them on Sunday and we were all by ourselves.  The water temp was around 68 in the upper rivers and 64 in the upper bay (surface temps).  Like I said in other posts, don't be afraid to try waters where there are no boats. This is the time when the fish start to move. Be the first and enjoy the rewards. There are also some very hungry blues working now so be ready to change chafed gear if you want to land a big striper!

Game On!

The weather changed some things over the weekend and I had to switch some of my days around but when it gave us the chance to fish we took full advantage of it.  There was tons of bait and aggressive bass ranging from 33-40 inches.  Even with pressure from multiple boats the fish just kept feeding.  We lost our fair share but made up for it with a 14 fish morning, all released successfully.  The only fish kept this week was by our future hall of fame 11 year old angler as he was an animal on the rod. Boated two fish in this similar class range all by himself.  Incoming tide on this full moon seemed to be best.

Fish seem to be spreading themselves out as reports like this are starting to filter in from other parts of the bay. All I know is that I was the first one on the water at 3 am, one phone call later and I had myself a party (broke my own rule).  Oh well, everyone enjoyed themselves but I was the lucky one to have anglers that only took what they wanted for dinner that night.  Hopefully these teen pounders will make it to enable us to see them when they hit 40!  Get out in the bay as soon as you can, its an awesome time of the year and the fish are feeding hard. Don't worry about getting bait, as we lost one, we just snagged another next to the boat.  We don't know where they will be in a day let alone a week especially if we get any kind of heat wave.  Go explore, check out some areas other than where the fleet is and most importantly, have fun!

Weekly update

While there are still plenty of the fish in the 20-32 inch range feeding on silversides, there has been a turn for the better with fish this week feeding on live pogie/bunker. These fish have averaged 12-15 lbs which is normal for the first run of bigger bass in the upper bay.  This is more of your 35+ inch fish.

 If you have had a difficult time locating surfacing bait, keep an eye on your sonar. These fish are just below the surface most of the time and can be had with a little patience! If you do see them on top, don't rush over to them! Let them gather up a little and approach them from the sides. You will find you will be able to get more than one cast into them and won't put them down for others that may be on the same school.
In shallow water, after you snag one/or have one in the live well, remember not to use any weight. Stripers are moving quickly through the water column and have no need to worry about what is only on the bottom... That is unless the blues are in.. which they are in deeper waters of the bay.

With weather questionable for the weekend, you should have a lot of room to yourself. I actually prefer it this way!

Surface feeding bass - soft plastics have been the way to go. My favorite has been the 6 inch Hogy with a weighted hook.
Blues may go through them quickly so have several packs on board. For some reason the hard plastics have not induced as many strikes as the soft subsurface baits.

I will be out for the next 3 days so hopefully I will have more updates by the weeks end.

Have fun and be safe,

Capt. Brian

Weekend Update

This past weekend was filled with surface feeding bass, blues and tons of bait! Like clock work, each day produced fish via topwater and subsurface at the same times and locations. While most of the stripers were on the school size, there were several in the 26-34 inch range.   Larger fish were marked  on the screen as you can see in the photo below.  Outgoing tides seem to spark the feeds in 3 specific locations that we spent time.  Our lure of choice was small Hogy lures in amber and black/silver. It was interesting that most of the bait was not even close to the Hogy but still worked wonders. We did use some topwater lures, and even did get some takers but nowhere near the hits that the subsurface stuff did.
After finally marking the bigger fish down deep, we even picked up a bass on live pogie (bunker) mid day.
The forecast for this week: with the weather keeping cool, the bass will be moving further north. Reports from NJ states that the bass have left the bays a week ago and the larger fish are going to show up over the next two weeks. As those fish move north, they will be feeding on the larger baits and the topwater stuff may slow down a little except near the shorelines.  We will continue to use flies to catch those fish feeding on the sand eels but will also use live and cut bait to fish those slobs coming to Rhode Island for the season.  There are some big blues cruising around so be prepared to switch techniques when they are around your baits. Be prepared to hear some larger fish being caught in CT and Southern RI this week. With luck, they will swim fast to the upper bay!

May is setting up to be fantastic!

Well, I told everyone this would be the only place I was going to put any form of reports so for those of you that subscribed or took the time to check my page out, you are in luck today! May is setting up to be the same, if not better than last year. Here is why:
 Upon the regular tour of my fishing spots that I do this time every year, I was welcomed with bait EVERYWHERE! I never went more than 5 minutes from the ramp to find Herring and Bunker AKA pogie all around. They were so spread out that it was actually hard to get a single location for them. I will venture to say that there was actually more schools than this time last year and for those that fished with me in May last year you know what I am talking about.  While there were only a few "swirls" of fish witnessed from a distance, they were not in any amount of numbers to tell everyone you "should have been here".  I will say for those that have a charter on the books for next week and thereafter, things are looking better than expected.  If you want to go Striper Fishing and stay close to the ramp to maximize your charter time, get a date in the books sooner than later.  As an FYI, the weekend days remaining in my books are as follows for May: 19,26. All other days are also limited but weekends seem to be the most popular for obvious reasons.

Blackfish reports have also been steady, while not my target species this time of year, they are found in the same spots you would fish for them in the fall. The wrecks and structure areas in the upper bay are producing some keepers, but the season ends at the end of the month and will not reopen until August.

I will post up images from the structure scan of the bait pods later this week but man, once the fish find them there will not be too many skinny stripers this season!  Get things in order now because it will be pure mayhem this time next week!

Capt. Brian

Oh yeah! It's that time again!

Well after a nice winter break (who we kidding in New England), it's show time! I will be at the New England Saltwater Sportsman's show this upcoming weekend (booth 1205) in Providence RI and Striper Season is right around the corner. I have been busy tying up some new patterns, getting my gear rigged up and picked up a couple new sponsors to help get some more top quality gear in your hands. The boat will be rigged with not one, but two Lowrance screens. One 10 inch HDS Gen2 and the new 12 inch HDS Gen2 Touch screen. Last year it made all the difference in finding bait and fish!  Orvis added me to their roster so I will have the new H2 rods on hand. I had a chance to cast them last year prior to launch and I must say that if you ever thought about saltwater fly fishing, these things make you look like a pro in the early stages!  Just like last year I will also be continuing my relationship with Van Staal, Quantum, Abel and Deep Ocean Apparel. I found that by surrounding my self with industry professionals that keep the same high respect for the fishery as me it is a win win.

I have had many people ask me the same few questions over the winter so I would like address two of the most popular now:

When is the best time to book a charter?  The answer is simple and specific. What do you want to catch? If you want stripers, book now! The season starts in mid May in the upper bay (literally 5 minutes from the ramp) and continues there until about July 1 depending on when we get the first heat wave.  Then, the best chance for stripers, and large ones shift to Block Island. By booking early, you get the pick of the days to eliminate the most variables. Any good captain will share with you the ideal days to select and help steer you away from potentially bad ones. By eliminating the variables, you only have to rely on the weather and if the fish are there. I am a firm believer in eliminating as many variables as possible when choosing a day on the water
The same goes for other species but here is the calender breakdown for you own planning:
May: Stripers and Bluefish
June: Stripers, Bluefish, Tuna (Cape Cod)
July: Stripers (Block Island), Bluefish, Sea bass (regulations dependent), Fluke and Tuna
August: same as July plug Tautog (with limits)
September: July, plus Tautog, Albacore tuna, Bonito
October: Stripers start to move, Blues are still around, Tautog limit increases, Tuna is fantastic
November: Tautog and Tuna

The second question that was asked most often was: I never caught ?? where should I go and what am I doing wrong? I know this sounds like a typical charter response but it is - Book a charter.  We are not trying to get you to spend your money on us. We are trying to get you alone for 5-8 hours where we can show you the spots, teach you step by step how to fish for the species and save you money! By booking a charter, you just saved yourself potential numerous trips alone, burning gas, bait and time to keep doing what you have always done. Even if it is not with me, there are many great captains out there that want to teach you. That is why they got into the business in the first place (or should have). Most captains feel shy about just giving up coordinates over email or in conversations and rightfully so. They spend a great deal of time on the water to get you into fish. By booking them, you see where they are because they want to see you catch fish! Ask a million questions while your out there. You just booked them for the day. Listen. Learn. Repeat.

I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you at the show this weekend! Scroll down a few posts to see my promotions!!

Sincerely,
Capt. Brian Patterson
Patterson Guide Service