Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Report for Week ending 6/16 - still 5 minutes from the ramp!
We were still able to find fish this week in the upper bay of Bristol. Larger bait like Menhaden were located in various spots which enabled each group to get some private fishing in each morning. Saturday, we had some nice schools of menhaden up north of the Mt. Hope Bridge where we were able to land some nice 35 inch bass on large fly patterns. I am editing the video this week so I hope to have it up soon (my new GOPro project). It was just picture perfect that morning and no winds which made fly fishing a dream come true.
Sunday: While we found some baits in the usual spots, it was completely opposite of Saturday. We found the bait, we found the fish, but we really did have a difficult time getting them to eat. We fished 5 different locations, each holding fish (I even showed the customers what I was looking at) to just have them turn their nose to it. Sometimes that is fishing. We did land one nice 20 lb striper on the very first drop but that was all we could get to the boat on Sunday. My crew worked hard all day and kept doing everything right. The good news: There is still a ton of fish around and in the 32-40 inch range. Water temps were creeping up to the 67 degree range as you move up the rivers but stayed at the 64 range in the mid bay area. EP Puglisi bunker patterns in green were the fly of choice that fooled two big bass on Saturday! Hopefully this week keeps up with the pace of Saturday... and lets keep these cool temps coming!!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
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.
Monday, June 3, 2013
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!
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!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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!
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!
Friday, May 24, 2013
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
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
Sunday, May 19, 2013
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!
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!
Monday, May 6, 2013
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
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
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