Captain Kirk's Fishing Blog

Panama Big Game Fishing Club Adventures!

2012-01-31T16:10:00.002-05:00

My son Bill and I spent last week in Panama fishing with a number of our friends at the Panama Big Game Fishing Club. We flew into Panama City on a Saturday evening and spent the night followed by a tour of Panama City and the Panama Canal on Sunday before proceeding by plane to David (just south of Costa Rica) on the Pacific side of Panama. We then took a drive for about one hour and were transferred by boat to the fishing club on Isla Boca Brava. We spent five nights and fished four days and caught Sailfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Bonito, Cubera and Mullet Snapper. The accommodations, staff, and food were superb. When I got home I told my wife Sue that I now know what it must be like to be the queen of England and have a staff attentive to my every need. Hats off to everyone at the Panama Big Game Fishing Club who made our experience unforgettable! For more pictures see http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3195578454164.165270.1407053045&type=1&l=5db1c98086

2011-10-21T08:45:00.001-04:00

From my number one son, John. Troutfishing and steelheading out in Idaho and Washington. What a trip. Wedrove out to Superior, MT and over Hoodoo pass into the Idaho wilderness. Once we made it into the woods, my friend Nathan and I stayed in a forestservice cabin on Kelly Creek. Kelly Creek flows into the North Fork ofthe Clearwater River, which flows into the mainstream of the Clearwater River,near Orofino, Idaho. Orofino is home to the Dworshak steelhead fishhatchery. This place is a very popular fishing area because the hatcherygrown steelhead run from the ocean all the way back to the hatchery waters tospawn.

Anyways, Kelly Creek is a worldclass Westslope Cutthroat dry fly fishery with fish averaging 18-22"during the summer season. As we get closer to fall the Cutties migratedown river into the N. Fork of the Clearwater and down into Dworshak reservoirto spawn. We caught mostly resident fish in the 14-16" range, butcatching 30 in a day on October Caddis dries made for some awesome fishing. I highly recommend you look into trying this place out some time. The access to awesome camping spots is unlimited out there, and once youget tired of catching cutthroats, you can go chuck big streamers on the N. Forkfor big bull trout. And these guys get BIG, like over 30". Agreat place to catch a trophy trout in the Idaho backcountry.

From there we spent acouple days swinging wet flies on spey rods on the Clearwater below Orofino. The final destination was the Grand Ronde River in Washington. Allin all, an awesome and humbling fishing trip.

2011 Captain Kirk Fishing Report

2011-09-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not making regular post this year but we have a good excuse…………………..we’ve been too busy fishing!
The season started off great with the spring migration of Striped Bass and the Blues have been strong all year long. We’ve also caught quite a few nice Black Seabass while trolling over shallow rips for Blues, Bonito, and Bass. They have been coming up after chartreuse Yozuri Deep Divers as have the Fluke. Most of the Fluke in the rips are small while the Black Seabass that choose to attack a 7 inch lure are good size. We have also done a bit of bottom fishing and taken nice size Fluke, Scup, and Back Seabass.
Bonito showed up more or less on time off the end of Martha’s Vineyard at the Hooter but fishing for them in Vineyard Sound has been slow. We made one Tuna trip to Peaked Hill Bar off of Provincetown and got into some top water action but were unable to hookup. We will be doing more of that in October so stay tuned. Right now we are waiting for the False Albacore to show up.More photos

Cape Cod Bass Bite

2011-06-10T07:20:00.010-04:00

The Cape Cod Bass bite is hot!

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66Cvdl2hzc

Capt. Kirk Receiving 100+ Hour Bedford VA Hospital Volunteer Service Pin

2011-04-23T10:58:00.004-04:00

Captain Steve Kirk received his 100+ hour pin from Mary Ann Petrillo, RN, Acting Nurse Executive at the Bedford VA Hospital at the volunteer recognition luncheon on April 17th at Hanscom Air Force base for his 100+ hours of voluntary service during fiscal year 2010. Steve is the Program Leader at the hospital for Project Healing Waters Inc. a program dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.

Concord Carlisle Fishing Club March 8th Meeting

2011-02-03T15:43:00.005-05:00

Concord Carlisle Fishing Club Tuesday March 8, 2011

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. - Union Hall

First Religious Society, Carlisle MA

PRESENTATIONS

Fly Fishing the Deerfield River
Tom Harrison, Harrison Anglers
&
Atlantic Salmon on Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec Plus Spey Rod Basics by Jim Rusher, Jim Rusher Spey Schools

Tom and his brother Dan specialize in guided float trips on the Deerfield and other Western MA rivers. The Deerfield is a great trout fishery consisting of native species and large stockings of rainbows, browns, and brook trout. The lower Deerfield also holds great shad, smallmouth bass, and “bronze bonefish” (carp). Tom will discuss river access, fly selection, water conditions for big fish, give practical tips for wading and float fishing, and the opportunities for winter fishing.

Jim Rusher will talk about his Atlantic Salmon fishing adventures in Quebec on the Gaspe Peninsula and discuss the basic of using a spey rod for long distance fly casting. Jim owns and operates Jim Rusher Spey School in Routhierville Quebec.

For more information call Steve Kirk at 978-371-0176 or email Stevekirkfisherman@gmail.com

There will be a five dollar admission for room rental.

John Kirk Addresses the Concord Carlisle Fishing Club

2010-11-26T06:27:00.007-05:00

While John was home from Bozeman Montana for Thanksgiving he gave a talk at the Concord Carlisle Fishing Club on which rivers to fish in South Central MT during various seasons of the year. Also included were tips on which flies to use to "match the hatch". He followed his presentation with a video from the Montana Wounded Warriors program which brings wounded U.S. servicemen and women to Montana to fly fish. John works at Montana Troutfitters in Bozeman as a guide is a volunteer for the Wounded Warriors program.

Captain Kirk at the Carlisle Cub Scouts

2010-11-26T06:13:00.003-05:00

At the November meeting of the Carlisle Cub Scouts Captain Steve Kirk gave a presentation on where the kids could fish in the Concord Carlisle area. The talk included what kinds of fish frequent which habitats and suggestions on which tackle would be easy to use for those new to fishing. The talk ended with a free raffle for three Bass Pro Shops hats and a Zebco spinning rod and reel supplied by Captain Kirk...............and a great round of applause (which caused Capt. Kirk to "beam").

Montana and Idaho Fly Fishing

2010-11-13T07:46:00.005-05:00

John Kirk on the Beaverhead River Madison County Montana with a nice Brown Trout caught on a streamer on a crisp November day.

Rotary Club Sponsors Veterans Appreciation Fishing Trip

2010-09-28T06:25:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday Capt. Kirk, Gene Kirk and another VA volunteer, Tim Whitson, a Bronze Start recipient from Vietnam, accompanied a group of twelve veterans from the VA's Crescent House in Lowell MA on a deep sea fishing trip from Newburyport MA. We caught cod, haddock and cusk. A great time was had by all. A special thanks to Captains Fishing Parties for giving us a discounted group rate, the Rotary Club of Concord MA and the First Religious Society of Carlisle MA for additional financial support.

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Striped Bass From Chatham MA

2010-09-06T18:06:00.000-04:00

These fish were taken near the site of the Great White Shark tagging area off of Monomoy Island, Chatham MA along with numerous Bluefish. Although we had a good day of fishing we had to cover a lot of ground to locate fish.

Tagging Great Whites - Chatham Massachusetts

2010-09-06T14:01:00.004-04:00

The folks in this photo were about one mile from where we were fishing the other day (Chatham, MA). They were tagging Great White Sharks. I did not get a shot of the actual tagging but we did see a fin several times directly under the bow pulpit. They had a spotter plane circling above them and were towing a seal decoy.

At one point we saw a fin break the surface near our boat so we reeled in our lines and gave pursuit with our cameras at the ready...............unfortunately it turned out to be a whale about 17 ft long. BTW we were in my 19ft center console so if we did get up next to a shark there is a good chance we would have been around the same length. Maybe next time!

More Bonita From The Hooter

2010-08-15T11:25:00.001-04:00

Capt. Kirk holds a nice Bonita caught yesterday by Reverend Diane Miller from Carlisle Mass. at "The Hooter".

Bonita Bite

2010-08-12T10:36:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday we fished “The Hooter” off of the southeast end of Martha’s Vineyard for Bonita. We caught three on Yozuri Deep Divers and Rebel Fasttracs. However, the area was thick with Bluefish and for every Bonita boated we caught 15 -20 Bluefish. I had tennis elbow after a few hours from reeling them all in.

Dawn at the East End of the Cape Cod Canal

2010-07-24T07:45:00.004-04:00

Oil tanker lines up to enter the east end of the Cape Cod canal while Striper fishermen jig for mackerel to use for Striper bait. I was about to join the crowd when I took this photo over the bow of my boat as the sun started to come up over the horizon. "Good Day Sunshine"........and it was a good day. I caught three Bass over 20 lbs and numerous smaller keepers and large Bluefish.

Striped Bass Takes A Dive

2010-07-24T07:22:00.002-04:00

One of several nice Striped Bass caught recently off of Barnsable Harbor Cape Cod Bay. Bass and Blues were present from the east end of the canal to Barnstable harbor with the major concentrations in the areas holding the most bait, typically small Markeral.

Yellowstone River Report - John Kirk's Guide Service

2010-07-21T05:31:00.003-04:00

With the Yellowstone finally on the drop after runoff, clarity is coming into shape and so is the streamer fishing. Floated Springdale to Big Timber yesterday and knocked a 23", 22", 20", 19", and a couple 18 inchers during the course of the afternoon. Overall, a better than "typical" yellowstone day.

-John Kirk

www.johnkirkflyfishing.com

Bluefish Make Bad Neighbors

2010-07-19T15:16:00.003-04:00

Mike Bishop shows off half of a Bluefish caught on a fly rod at the end of Monomoy Island, Chatham.

While he was reeling in the fish one of its neighbors either saw an easy meal or accidentally chomped its neighbor in half while vigorously feeding on sand eels.

Quad Catch

2010-07-19T15:08:00.002-04:00

On recent fishing trip which raised $425 for the Concord Rotary Club for the Concord Carlisle High School scholarship fund June Grace shows off her catch.

The umbrella rig came through again with three Bluefish and one Striped Bass at Middleground shoal, Martha's Vineyard..

Upstate New York Steelhead Extravaganza!!

2010-04-08T18:04:00.000-04:00

An old friend of mine, Andy Card (in photo to the left), introduced me to fly fishing for Steelhead Trout recently in upstate New York.
We slaughtered them (figuratively, we released all the fish). We caught over twenty fish the first day and two on the second. I never knew trout could peel off line like a False Albacore……………pretty cool, not to mention the acrobatics. I’ve been sworn to secrecy as to where we were fishing but if you want to see more photos copy this URL into your browser http://gallery.me.com/stephenkirk1#100047

Bamboo Fly Rods & Fishing Joppa Flats, Newburyport MA ---- CCFC Fishing Meeting Thursday 3/25 7 p.m.

2010-03-17T16:40:00.004-04:00

I’ve arranged for two speakers which I think you will all find very exciting. Below is a brief description of their presentations. The meeting will be in Union Hall again at the First Religious Society , 27 School Street, Carlisle MA.

Bamboo Fly Rods – Confessions of an Avid Collector - by Richard Ketchen

Richard is and avid bamboo fly rod fisher and is an expert on their construction and characteristics. By profession he repairs antique clocks and antique laboratory instrumentation. He is the only person I know who made his own fly reel! Richard will talk about the various styles of bamboo fly rods, their history, and when to use which kind of rod. He will have six or seven on display as well as his handmade reels.

Fishing Newburyport’s Joppa Flats and Surrounding Areas – Dan Le Blanc

Dan has been fishing Joppa Flats on the Merrimac River and surrounding aera for many years. He is an expert on the topography of the estuary, the currents, the tides, and when to best fish where. Dan fishes mostly at night with live eels for Stripers but his knowledge of the aera is applicable to any fishing technique you prefer whether it be fly fishing or light tackle. The flats are easily accessible by boat or from land and in recent years have become a popular aera for kayak fishing. Dan has caught many fish over 30 lbs on the flats. I went with Dan last summer and we managed five nice bass on spinning rods, three of which were over 20 lbs.

Above is a is a picture of Joppa Flats from Google. Its close by and a great place to fish.

Want To Catch The Striped Bass of a Lifetime?

2010-02-16T17:29:00.002-05:00

Captain Blaine Anderson from Anderson Guide Services gave an excellent talk at the Worcester Sportsman Show last Sunday which I attended on catching monster Striped Bass on live bait. He fishes the southern shores of Connecticut and Long Island Sound around Montauk Point. He gave a lot of great tips on how to catch Hickory Shad, Scup, and Menhaden (Pogies) for bait, how to rig them for live lining and how to fish rips and reefs for large bass. Check out his website for more information. He is also a Principal at Connecticut Outfitters a tackle shop near Hartford CT and the Connecticut River. They provide educational seminars, tackle, and guides services for a wide range of fishing techniques from ice fishing for Walleyes and Northern Pike to trophy Striped Bass.

Fly Fishing the Millers River---A Rare Blue Ribbon Trout Stream in Massachusetts

2010-01-27T19:33:00.001-05:00

Scott Evan’s presentation, “Fly Fishing the Millers River: a Rare Blue Ribbon Trout Stream in Massachusetts” plus “Shoot-Out on the Pemi River in NH: A Duel between Spinning Gear and Fly Rodder” from the Concord Carlisle Fishing Club meeting on January 26, 2010 Can Now Be seen online. Just click on “Scott’s Presentation”. The presentation is stored as JPEGs (photos).

Years ago the Millers River was the number one trout stream in Massachusetts favored by famed baseball legend, Ted Williams. The Millers River is 44 miles long with over 50 tributaries.

In addition to a very detailed presentation including maps and great photographs, Scott discussed his most successful flies, when to use them, and under what water conditions. Go to his presentation above if you would like more details.

From “Combat” Fishing in Alaska to the Ultimate Fly In Week

2010-01-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

Glen Urban’s presentation , “From “Combat” Fishing in Alaska to the Ultimate Fly In Week” from the Concord Carlisle Fishing Club meeting on January 26, 2010 Can Now Be seen online. Just click on “Glen’s Presentation”. The presentation is stored as JPEGs (photos). Viewing in slide show mode recommended.

Glen gave a great presentation and then invited inputs from the audience from other folks who had fished in Alaska. Several attendees shared there experiences which I think made the rest of us a bit jealous. Fishing in Alaska should definitely be on everyone’s bucket list.

Tired With the Hassles of Wire Line Trolling?

2010-01-26T07:56:00.004-05:00

Have clients or friends who are young or older and may have trouble with heavy rods and reels (not to mention reeling in 50 lb. test wire line)?

Capt. Pat Renna of T-Man Fishing Charters and T-Man Custom Tackle gave an excellent talk last night at the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association on a new technique he developed using light tackle, braid line, spoons and tubes to catch BIG Striped Bass and other species. His methods get you down deep where the fish are and catch large and small fish alike including Bluefish and other popular New England species.

Visit T-Man Custom Tackle for more information.

Best fishes!

Capt. Kirk

Project Healing Waters At Marlboro MA Fly Fishing Show

2010-01-19T17:58:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of the Project Healing Waters booth www.projecthealingwaters.org from the Marlboro MA fly fishing show. I spent the weekend working the booth. We had a successful show and raised quite a bit of money and recruited a bunch of new volunteers.

Alaska Halibut & Salmon Fishing on a Budget

2009-12-31T10:26:00.005-05:00

These photos are from a presentation I attended Monday night at the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association about fishing in Alaska for Halibut and Salmon on a budget by Captain George Doucettee. Capt. George recommended Island Point Lodge in Petersburg Alaska. The total cost for a week of fishing including air fare from Boston, meals, tackle, and boats is less than $3,000.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. (Henry David Thoreau, from “Walden”)

2009-12-16T13:50:00.005-05:00

I recently gave a fishing talk at the Thoreau School in Concord MA for the Cub Scouts. I discussed where to fish in and around Concord, what fish they might catch, and what tackle to use. Prior to the meeting I drove around Concord and photographed Walden Pond, the Concord River, Whites Pond and a bunch of other fishing locations in and around Concord. I included the photos in the presentation. In the auditorium where I spoke there were a number of Thoreau quotes stenciled on the walls which are included with the photos at this link. Most of the quotes were from Thoreau’s book “Walden”. This inspired me to get a copy from the library and read it again. In addition to the quote used in the title of this blog post the one that follows is another of my favorites that is related to fishing. “Time is but a stream I go a-fishing in”.

I subsequently went and said hello to Henry at his resting place in Sleepy Hollow cemetery (photo included at link above) and told him how much I enjoyed his writings, especially his books “Walden” and “Cape Cod”.

Capt. Skip Montello of North Coast Anglers Charter Services Discusses Targeting Big Brown Trout in Small Water in Western New York

2009-12-09T16:44:00.001-05:00

We attended a great presentation last night by Captain Skip Montello at the monthly meeting of New England Saltwater Fly Rodders. Skip talked about fishing on the Salmon River and Oak Orchard Creek in Western New York. He presented techniques and strategies for catching large Brown Trout, Steelhead, and Chinook salmon. He also described tying an assortment of flies from Woolly Buggers to salmon egg imitations and nymphs. Skip said that the best time to fish these rivers is between mid October and mid November. More photos from meeting. Skips website is http://www.northcoastangler.com/

November Brown Trout On The Upper Madison

2009-11-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

John Kirk “living the life” of a bachelor fisherman in Montana and his friend caught several nice trout yesterday on Black Wooly Buggers. They were fishing the Upper Madison where it flows into Quake Lake. The Brown in the photograph is 20 inches. More Pictures

Windy Day at Sea..

2009-09-19T15:56:00.003-04:00

Too windy today to catch albies on the fly rod.....just have to go another day...

Helping Hands

2009-09-09T12:44:00.003-04:00

Trout Unlimited member Kirk Reynolds and Rotarian Chad Duggan assist Bedford VA hospital resident tie a green and white “Deceiver” at our recent Project Healing Waters fly tying event at the Bedford VA hospital. We had 15 fly tyer volunteer instructors and 20 VA participants. Volunteers and residents alike had a great time tying flies and swamping fishing stories. Project Healing Waters is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.

Trout fishing on the Yellowstone River

2009-08-20T19:18:00.008-04:00

Barack Obama followed us around Montana visiting Yellowstone Park and trout fishing.

We arrived in Bozeman Montana the day prior to Mr. Obama and unlike Barack were quite successful catching Rainbow Trout on the Yellowstone River.

See photos of Yellowstone Park and drift boat trip on the Yellowstone River. (best viewed in slidehsow mode)

Sue Fly Fishing on the Shields River in Montana

2009-08-20T18:23:00.007-04:00

Sue masters the fly rod on the Shields River which runs through sprawling meadows and cattle grazing areas near Bozeman Montana.

She is sharpening her technique with a 5 weight rod, floating line, and “Hopper” fly in search of Brown Trout.

Monomoy

2009-07-12T18:17:00.002-04:00

This video is from a recent trip to fish with my faithful canine companion, Peaches, in the rips off of the end of Monomoy Island at Chatham MA in my 19 ft center console. A little tricky given the size of the waves and speed of the current. Monomoy is a long island that extends south from Chatham into Nantucket Sound. This is where the sound opens into the ocean. There are strong tidal currents and numerous shoals which create a perfect environment for striper fishing. On this day I caught five keeper bass and a few shorts. Bass were busting on squid at the edges of the rip. To see photos from several other recent trips see http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveKirkFisherman/JuneJulyFisihingTrips

Tight Lines - Fly Fishing Succonnesset Shoal

2009-06-28T18:59:00.002-04:00

Under overcast skies and a fairly strong northeast wind Trout Unlimited member Pete Sterndale demonstrated he does in deed know how to handle a fly rod. We caught several nice bluefish off of Popponsett (New Seabury, Mashpee MA) before making the rounds of several other locals in search of bass. We finally found them feeding on squid in the rip at Succonessett shoal. I kept the boat positioned at the edge of the rip while Pete cast into the rip line, often to stripers busting on squid. Caught seven or eight bass, two of which were keepers. For more pictures see and a look at the fly see
http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveKirkFisherman/UntitledAlbumFlyFishinhJune28PopponessetAndSuccenessetShoal#

Night Fishing With Eels - Joppa Flats Merrimac River Newburyport MA

2009-06-21T19:06:00.003-04:00

Night fishing on Joppa flats with fellow Rotarian Dan Leblanc on his 19 ft Eastern center console. Dan has acquired a phenomenal level of expertise for this kind of fishing from catching and maintaining his eels to knowing the techniques, tides, and best locations to fish. To view photo album with captions see http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveKirkFisherman/MerrimacRiverNewburyportMANightFishingWihtEels

2009-06-18T07:48:00.003-04:00

Sushi anyone? Captain Kirk lands a 60 inch Bluefin tuna (approx 150 lbs) while fishing with his friend Eric Swanson. Shows how fishing with the right captain (Eric) pays off. His attention to detail and knowledge of tuna fishing is truly remarkable as is his ability to consistently catch fish for someone who only recently started to focus on tuna. Hats off to Captain Eric!

2009-06-18T07:30:00.004-04:00

John Kirk the fly fisherman from Montana achieves his goal of catching a Striper greater than 30 inches (this one is 35") during a recent visit home to fish with his father. To see additional photos off Stripers and Blues see http://picasaweb.google.com/SteveKirkFisherman/CuttyhunkAndFalmouthJune2009#

30+ Anglers Attend May 15th Concord Carlisle Club Meeting

2009-05-17T06:39:00.004-04:00

Melissa Winstanley of Concord Outfitters started with an overview of their fly fishing education program, what’s needed to get started fly fishing, and photos from many of her fresh and saltwater fishing trips. Eric Swanson followed with exciting videos of Bluefin tuna fishing off the coast of Massachusetts and a PowerPoint presentation on the issues facing the worldwide Bluefin Tuna population. He also reviewed his number and size of tuna caught in the last three seasons and speculated on their long term implications and the future of the tuna fishery. Next, Dana Booth presented his photo essay of his recent quest for Mahi Mahi and Wahoo in the blue waters of the Bahamas. Steve Kirk wrapped up with tips and techniques for targeting Striped Bass, Bluefish and Bonito around Cape Cod and the islands

Block Island Fly Fishing Report - Sam Bird

2009-05-17T06:15:00.002-04:00

They are definitely here! Paddled out into Great Salt Pond (Block Island) yesterday at first light (which is ungodly early this time of year) and found breaking fish all over. Lot's breaking right under my rod tip. I expected them to be in the 18" - 24" range but was pleasantly surprised to find they were in the 24 - 30 range. I got several fish with two keepers and then had to head in about 5:15 as the wind picked up and it got sloppy. I filleted them on the beach but in my pre-coffee fog I forgot to check bellies - but I suspect they were chowing down silversides - typical for this time of year.

I was fishing my version of a Ray's fly - a very sparse and simple tie. Body braid on the shank, about a dozen white bucktail hairs on top of that with about 8 hairs each of yellow, chartreuse, olive, on top of that (in that order) then two peacock herl and done. I usually add two strands of pearl crystal flash in with the white or before the body braid - but only two! Over the years I've become convinced that sparse flies with very little flash work best - whereas most of the SW flies in the shops are way too flashy. They catch more fishermen than fish.... Ken Abrames Striper Moon site has a good picture and recipe for other tiers out there - I recommend it highly when bass, blues are on sand eels or slversides. Here's the link:

http://www.stripermoon.com/flyarch/arc1.html

Feel free to share the info.

Tight lines,
Sam

2009-05-17T06:07:00.006-04:00

These shots are me going out of Green Pond in the Twin Vee, a Squid boat, and a few of the five bass I caught on my first cape fishing trip of 2009. I bought some fresh squid form one of the boats and fished them in the mouth of Popponesset and Waquoit. I caught two 25 inchers from Popponesset spit and three 30 inch, 12 pounders at Waquoit inlet. There was a whole school of them at the end of the jetty. There was a strong incoming tide and the bass were sitting at the end of the jetty picking off bait as it flowed out of the sound into the inlet. When I caught the fist one about 15 others came chasing it trying to get the squid from it. They are all around the same size................but good strong fish. The second one peeled off line and I thought he was going to take me into the rocks. I had to get him in the center of the inlet toward him down. I was only using 14 lb test on the spinning rod.

2009-05-17T05:52:00.006-04:00

Dave Martinez,

First Keeper Bass of 2009.

Details:- Size about 34 in. Cooler is 33 in- Caught with fly rod - fly used shown on chart. Clouser green and white- line used 450 grain sinking- water depth ~17 ft- location Buzzards Bay (lots of birds hitting water)- largest caught a few minutes later 35 in (same fly)- conditions light wind but very heavy fog

Gov. Patrick Stocks Walden Pond with Trout - see link below

2009-05-03T10:59:00.006-04:00

In celebration of Earth Day, rainbow and brown trout were stocked at Walden Pond State Reservation this weekend. Governor Deval Patrick helped with the stocking along with local Boy Scouts and other families from the community.

Check out the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYQP6bc3l3U

The Enterprise Gets Her Spring Bath

2009-04-26T17:00:00.000-04:00

In anticipation of the spring boating season the Enterprise III goes to the car wash for spring cleaning. Afterwards she will be waxed, bottom painted, and have her engines prepped for launch around May15th.

2009-04-16T19:31:00.001-04:00

Cod Fishing Trip, April 2009, with Yankee Clipper Gloucester

· Here are some of my notes regarding what seem to be the best approaches to catching Cod and Haddock from a head boat.

· Serious Cod Fisherman are using the following:

· Cod jigs which are specially rigged and include a teaser. See heavy Jigs up to 24onces in photos. Big jigs go down further and hold near the bottom better. The fish are on the bottom and up to 5 ft. in the water column so you need to be down there. Big heavy jigs keep you in the strike zone longer.

· In addition to the type of fly teaser in the photo (yellow feathered one) the guy next to me was using an orange “Mario Squid Strip” soft plastic as a teaser and that was working well too. One of the other guys with special Cod Rods was using a blue/black feathered teaser.

· Guys are using high speed reels (not sure of brand but they looked like the reels the Hook Up Guys use for Tuna jigging (Shimono??).....) or Penn 330s

· Line combinations were braided line with mono leader, or all mono, or 80 lb Dacron and a 30 foot mono leader.

· A guy I talked with on way in is a “black belt” on Cod fishing and uses 80lb Dacron with a 30 foot mono leader so he can feel the bottom and the bits. He said the bigger fish are more aggressive and go for the jigs and that in general the jigs catch way more fish than bait. I was definitely doing it wrong (with bait) especially the way my hooks were wrapping around the leader. All the black belt guys have their teasers rigged to stick straight out and use big chrome cod jigs on the terminal end of the rig.

· Note Black belt man in picture (see slide show) has a lot of hardware (swivels and such) in the “jig rig” and seems to be a doubling the line in one place as a shock leader.. It also looked like there was not swivel at the top where the “jig rig (which includes the teaser) was attached to the running line. However at the bottom there is a big swivel. Ask the tackle shops about this!

· His rod was some sort of a Penn rod. All the black belt guys seemed to be fishing with long rods...maybe as long as 8 ft. They also seemed to have some flex in them which enabled the guys to get the jigs tossed away from his boat and gave a little spring for jigging. (Not sure about the spring part but definitely long rods.)

· Miscellaneous note. Captain said the haddock have soft mouths and not to horse them in or you could pull the hook out.

Please comment and share your thoughts on this tackle and technique for cod fishing.

Captain Mead's Catch

2008-06-26T20:12:00.000-04:00

Captain Mead Sommers proudly displays his striped bass caught off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in June 2008. Way to go Captain!

2008-06-26T12:08:00.003-04:00

Captain Mead Sommers' Striper

Bill's Catch

2008-06-24T20:22:00.000-04:00

Bill caught a few fish this time...love those umbrella rigs!

Mario's Striper

2008-06-22T12:08:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of Mario's catch on the Enterprise III. Way to go Mario!