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The spring began much like the typical May: the wind blew and the rain came as one spring cold front after another hammer Boston. When the weather improved later in May, the Harbor fishing broke wide open. Despite a limited spring run of mackerel, bass continued to move into the Harbor's bays and rivers throughout June attracted to schools of herring that were making their way to their spawning grounds in the Harbor's rivers. Light tackle anglers and fly fishers had good luck in terms of numbers and size of fish during the month. The memories from years past of trophy bluefishing in June were just that…memories. Again this year, the large schools of blues that Harbor fishermen had counted on for years in the Outer Harbor and along the off-shore ledges during early June never happened. Fortunately, bass continue to provide excellent angling opportunities throughout the month until the third week in June when once again the weather kicked us in the head.

A very large Nor'Easter arrived and sat off the Massachusetts coast for almost a week. While the weather during early June was unseasonably cold and at times blustery, Captain Bill managed to fish through it! On many trips guests got to test their rain gear, but the fishing had been good with the north wind blowing in new fish from off shore. But once the June 20th storm hit, it blew as hard as any old salt can remember…it was a full fledge NOR'EASTER! For those who live outside the state and followed the tales of the Draggin' Fly from their computer, it was hard to imagine gale force winds gusting to over 50 mph and a cold driven rain in late June! It took more than a week for the weather to clear out and fishing to return to normal.

After the herring spawned and what little mackerel there were moved off shore much of the Draggin' Fly's efforts in July was spent stalking bass in the shallow waters. Traditionally, this is the time that big bass move onto the Harbor's flats. Many clients booked trips during July in hopes of hunting skinny water and casting to trophy fish with light tackle and flies. These tides often sell out long before the beginning of the season. However, this year, July proved to be more challenging than any season in recent history. With fewer fish in the Inner Harbor, Captain Bill began to target the shallow flats to the North. Bass on these grass flats were more difficult to pick out than on the sandy bottoms that Captain Bill normally fishes during this time of the season, especially in low light conditions that the Skipper likes to fish. On many trips, anglers jumped big fish and had opportunities to cast to trophy bass in very shallow water. Yet, as any veteran shallow water angler can attest to, big bass in the shallows are among the most difficult to catch…they are very leery and are easily spooked. It takes skill, accurate casting, and a lot of patience. While many boats continued to troll the deep water, Captain Bill stuck with his strategy of fishing the shallows for selective bass throughout most of the month. And on most trips this paid off, as several anglers caught some very large bass during the month.

By early August, conditions changed quickly; there were plenty of juvenile herring and the Inner Harbor began to load up with bass that had been feasting on sand eels on Stellwagen Bank. Late in the summer of 2009, there were massive schools of pogies throughout the Harbor, but this year there far fewer. While Captain Bill agrees with many Harbor veterans that blamed the lack of pogies on the seiners that once again were working the Harbor, he feels this was only part of the problem. The Skipper cites the lack of peanut bunker as a major contributing factor. For the past two seasons and again this year, juvenile pogies, known as peanut bunker were found in ever diminishing numbers along the entire East Coast. Without new generations of fingerlings, the numbers of mature pogies will continue to decrease. The good news was with an absence of pogies, the bass were easier to target with soft plastic jerk baits. Captain Bill has pioneered the use of these lures and has had great success using them for almost two decades. Captain Bill believes soft baits allow anglers to best target color size, and action of available bait. Anglers caught several trophy bass over 40 inches on light tackle and flies throughout the month.

The weather was also challenging during much of the fall. It seemed as if it wasn't raining, it was extremely windy with winds often out of the northeast, which hampered fishing right through the end of the season in October. When the Draggin' Fly could get off dock, anglers got into some excellent fish from Boston, to Hingham, to Winthrop, to Revere. For most of the 2009 season, bluefish were hard to come by. September saw the return of jumbo blues to Harbor waters. While certainly not as numerous as in the past seasons, the ones that were boated in fall were among the biggest the Skipper has encountered in Boston since the 1990s. It was not uncommon to catch jumbo choppers over 3 feet and there was one that measured over 40 inches. Once the wind turned to the northwest and stayed in the direction for the first week in October, the fish began an early migration. It was time for Captain Bill to store tackle, clean the boat, and make plans for a winter season of skiing.

This past season was a complete sellout so be sure to book early for 2010. Don't miss out on what is sure to be another exciting season.

Wednesday afternoon Captain Bill was back on the water with Jennifer and Jim Healy of Jamaica Plain. The trip began with small bluefish tearing up the plastic baits that the skipper had rigger on the light tackle rods. These schools of blues were on the south side of the Long Island Bridge, where they often can be found throughout the fall. Switching to hard poppers Jennifer and Jim landed several small harbor blues before heading into the Inner Triangle to look for bass. On the way, Captain Bill spotted some birds working over a school of fish along the Sculpin Ledge Channel. The Skipper expected more blues but was surprised when Jennifer landed the first bass of the trip on a Yo-Zuri popper. For the next hour, Jennifer and Jim worked both poppers and soft jerk baits to catch bass up to 30 inches. At dusk, the Draggin' Fly started back to dock, only to find another bass blitz. This time the bass had bait trapped on Crow's Flats in Hingham. This bite lasted right until dark. The Healys left with great memories of Harbor fishing and some nice fish for the grill.

Thursday morning, Captain George found fewer fish on the North Shore, but he did tell of a good bite at Lower Middle. There was also a little action off of Castle Island.

Friday, Kevin Callahan and Frank Sannella, Draggin' Fly regulars form Scituate, met Captain Bill before dawn. The plans for the day were to hunt the shallow water at sunrise and then head North to catch the incoming water. Today was the full moon so the Skipper figured the fish might be most active at dawn. It didn't take long before the crew started seeing fish. Frank was the first to hook up on a bass in 4 feet of water. These fish were difficult to get a hook into…5 more were missed before Kevin landed the next. Just before the tide let go, bluefish made their presence known. The biggest bass that was landed was Frank's 20 pounder. At the turn of the tide, the fished moved off the flats so the Draggin' Fly headed North. According to another charter boat, this had been an early dawn bite so it was time to head back inshore. While the fleet was amassing off of the Inner Triangle, the crew aboard the Draggin' Fly returned to shallow water to hunt for fish. The catch was mostly big blues but it was here that Kevin landed a fat 42 inch bass. Once the wind turned to the East, this bite was over.

Team New England Tackle was on board Sunday to fish the Help Hook a Cure Derby. Each year, the president of this Hingham based tackle distributor, offers a trip aboard the Draggin' Fly for company employees. This trip was originally schedule when tropical storm Danny dumped 3 inches of rain on the area last weekend. Due to the holiday weekend, only Gordie MacFarland of Marshfield and Shawn Fagan of Duxbury were aboard…another Team member scheduled to fish was MIA. This tournament is the largest fund raiser for the Michael J. Fox foundation which is trying to find a cure for Parkinson's disease. The crew pushed off of dock well before sunrise and was soon stalking fish in shallow water. Shawn was the first to hook up, and almost immediately, Gordie was tight to a big fish. Unfortunately, both anglers lost their fish when their lines broke…or were cut because on the next cast Gordie's Bass Assassin was destroyed by a bluefish. Two big bass charged the lures, but both managed to miss the hook. The first spit the lure as she exhaled a huge mouthful of water that was taken in on the surface attract. Captain Bill explained that this is a compound problem when soft jerk baits are used: at times, the single hook does not have time to turn and penetrate the target. The second fish hit at the side of the boat, and Gordie just did not have enough room to work the lure. There is nothing as exciting as watching these monsters attack a lure in shallow water. Finally, the bluefish got so bad that Captain Bill had to change gear to wire leaders. Then, Gordie and Shawn were able to land fish. The catch was a few bass and several bluefish. But a fish big enough to weigh-in was not to be on this dawn bite. At the tide changed, some schools of bass were found in the Inner Triangle, between Castle Island and Spectacle Island. These fish were driving herring and were difficult to stay on…and the 25-30 boats chasing them did not help! Gordie and Shawn each landed a fish, before everyone agreed that the derby winning fish was not in this mix of bass. So it was time to head back to the skinny water. Today, the fish were much more difficult to find. However, Shawn and Gordie caught a mixture of school bass and big blues on the incoming tide. Shawn's 15 pound blue would be a contender in any derby, but the Fox Derby was for bass only!!

Sunday's strong North East caused the cancellation of a trip planned to entertain a relative visiting Boston.

Captain's Report
August 29, 2009

It was another week of weather challenges. Sunday was suppose to be a fun day on the water for the Benjamin family visiting Boston from Oklahoma but the weather forecast called for the remnants of Hurricane Bill to hit the area. Even the most avid fishers do not want to be on the water in the conditions that were forecasted, heavy rain and wind.

Monday, there was an all Connecticut crew of light tackle anglers. Tim Wern books his annual

Jake's Big Bluefish

Harbor trip to include some fishing and catch a Red Sox game. Joining Tim was his dad, Dave, his son, Jake and Joe Lebens Just after the Draggin' Fly arrived in the shallow waters of Quincy Bay, the fog rolled in and the crew knew that they were not going to be going far. But they didn't need to move..

Joe's Big Bluefish

Big bluefish had invaded the shallows. As these fish were sighted, the crew cast Bass Assassins and poppers to them. On the tide turn, a few big bass were jumped. One was so big that young Jake thought it must be a shark…it was a monster bass that the crew had several opportunities to target as the fish glided slowly across 3 feet of water. The fish never spooked but also never turned on baits that were offered. Although it was not a fish a cast as is the case when fish are hunted in shallow water, Jake, David, Tim and Jim kept Captain Bill very busy releasing large choppers for much of the morning. The Draggin' Fly had to run back to dock under full electronics, but with the commuter boats down for the morning, the traffic was less of a concern. At the game that night, the Wern family watched as a shaky Clay Buchholz, even with a 5 run lead couldn't go the five innings necessary to earn the win, but the Red Sox went on to beat the Chicago White Sox 12-8!

Gerry Feeley of Marshfield along with Jay Hound Dog Bourgeous of Beverly and Bill Sutherland of Waltham met Captain Bill at dawn on Tuesday. However, the start of today's trip was delayed for over two hours due to the thick fog which limited visibility to less than 100 feet. By seven o'clock, there was enough visibility to begin the trip. The Draggin' Fly made its way to the shallow waters of Quincy Bay to begin the hunt. Jay gets his nickname because of his self proclaimed ability to smell the fish. Now, Captain Bill knows that bluefish produce a unique order when feeding, but the jury is still out on Jay's ability to sniff out bass. Gerry was first to hook up, but this feisty bluefish managed to bite through the line before it could be subdued. As Capt. Bill changed to wire leaders, the crew continued to work soft jerk baits across the surface. The fish seem to have moved so it was time to search around the bay. Was it Jay's sniify that found the next pod of big fish as he claims. Well, the crew found these big fish in very skinny water. Bill's Bass Assassin was engulfed by a very large bass that Captain Bill saw charge from the side as he was standing up on the forward platform over the flat. The fish made a substantial first-run, heading right at another charter boat. Bill was able to turn this fish. Suddenly, Gerry hooked up on another fish off the bow. It soon became apparent that this fish was a decent bluefish. As Bill struggled to control his fish, Gerry's fish put on quite an aerial show. By now, the bluefish were close to the boatm, and as Gerry tried to keep his fish from tangling Bill's line, it happened. The bluefish bit through Bill's line...leaving the crew with a fish tale to be told many times again. After the tide turned, more bass were targeted, occasionally they would charge the lures, but most often they would just follow and put their noses behind the lures. Bill managed to land a nice bass and Gerry and Jay landed blues. Today, the fish won the battle, but Gerry will return later in the season looking for revenge!

It had been a few years since, Brian Stevens and his brother Jerry, experienced fly rodders from Maine fished with Captain Bill. They were hoping for as a good trip as their previous one, where Brian landed his all-time biggest bass which was just shy of 39 inches. Wednesday morning the bite was in the approach channel. The fish were already working bait when the Draggin' Fly arrived just after dawn. Casting large Gurglers on floating lines both anglers hooked up on bass up to 30 inches. At times both Brian and Jerry were hooked up at the same time. This bite continued for almost two hours. While the Skipper's friends headed North, the crew decided to try the shallows. The tide was right and there was little wind. The bass were in the skinny water and so were big blues. Brian and Jerry wanted to target the blues and both landed choppers up to 12 pounds, their person best.

Thursday, Ed Nowak, the Fishing Pole form Needham, best known for his writing in the Fisherman magazine and his weekly broadcasts on WATD, 95.9 FM was aboard for his annual trip. Joining Ed to help with the mating duties was Captain Frank Yallowchuk, skipper of One Step Closer. A snotty NW wind greeted the crew. Captain Bill explained that this is a difficult wind to get a surface bite and the shallow water would be too turned up to make for a success hunt. The Skipper decided to head North to Ed's old stomping grounds on the North Shore. There was less wind but very few fish. Just one bass was pulled out of the flats. On the way back, the crew worked a tide rip where Ed's Mirro Lure brought up fish. With the tide on the last stages of the ebb, the wind also let go. The last stop back inside provided excellent surface action for these light tackle enthusiasts. The bass had tinker mackerel pinned along the Fore River channel. Fish were caught on both soft baits and stick baits. Ed not only caught fish but managed to capture much of this action on film.

Friday, Bob Hennessey of Hanover invited fly fisher Jim Daly from New Hampshire to share a trip. Today, it was a North East wind, and by the time the Draggin' Fly headed out, the wind had already ripped up the water. Although there was much more wind than predicted, the wind was suppose to diminish over the morning. Looking to get out of the wind, Captain Bill headed North. There were scattered pods of bass in Broad Sound and along the beach. These fish were too difficult to stay on. Again the forecasters missed the call. The wind continue to build: it was time to head back to Boston. The wind had the water really confused and 5-6 waves were encountered off of Deer Island on the way home. Many spots proved to be unfishable. In Quincy, Bob landed a nice 32 inch bass and a bluefish. But there was little for Jim to target with his fly rod. The bite inside the Fore River never happened, and the bite in Hingham was short lived. Captain Bill invited Bob and Jim to return later in the season for the fall run…and maybe the weather will cooperate.

On Saturday another tropical storm hit eastern Massachusetts. Although the wind from Danny never reached the coast, there was rain all day. Today's trip with the crew at New England Tackle Company was pushed back a week.

It was another late start on Friday because of the big minus tide. Captain Bill told today's client Dr. Frank Farraye that he should let Team Rookies sleep in a little…but not much. It was a 6 AM start. Frank fishes with the Skipper throughout the season. Today, he was introducing three of his medical fellows to salt water fishing. During slack tide, Frank and Captain Bill showed the ladies, Hillary Tompkins, Ivonne Ramirez, and Aarti Kakkar how to cast and work soft plastic jerk baits. It was a slow start but once the bite got going, the new anglers found out why Dr. Frank is so passionate about his fishing. The first bite was in Quincy Bay. Here Hillary and Ivonne learned how to do the bass dance as their double header of fish took them around the boat. The interesting part about this story was that there were no other boats in the area because these fish did not attract many birds. But the major blitz was in the Inner Triangle. Throughout the morning, there were several doubles with all fish in the 26-28 inch range. Captain Bill told Team Rookies that they were his best students ever…these lady anglers, not only learned how to cast and work lures on their first fishing adventure, they landed many bright bass without damaging any equipment. Usually, the Skipper has to spend hours redoing tackle after a trip with newbees.

Paul Ponicherta of Hingham arranged Saturday's trip. Paul is an avid light tackle enthusiast and fishes with the Draggin' Fly several times a year. It was a full boat as Paul's son Eric of Scituate, Bruce Person of Sheffield and Colin Kearney of Scituate were along for this trip. Captain Bill was back on his normal pre-dawn schedule. The weather forecast called for building winds in front of the effects of Hurricane Bill to hit later this evening so the Skipper decided to begin hunting the shallows before the wind came up. This proved to be a very wise decision as the crew hit some big fish in very skinny water. Eric was casting a bubble gum colored Hoggy stick bait and brought up two big bass before sun-up. Eric finally got the hook into a smaller bass. Meanwhile, Dad's Bass Assassin was getting some attention, but once again, the strikes were short. Suddenly, Paul's line came tight and a fish exploded across the surface. At first, everyone thought that this was a bluefish, but Captain Bill explained how big bass often react like this in shallow water. Sure enough, when the fish was brought boat side, it was a 20 pound bass, a very nice fish on Paul's 10 pound tackle. Colin was the next to score; his fish was a 12 pound bluefish. Then small blues made their appearance known, and the crew had to add wire leaders. At slack water, Bruce hit a hot fish on his soft jerk bait which once again was all over the surface. Bruce's fish was a few inches longer and 5 pounds heavier than Paul's first fish, another great fish on light tackle. After the tide turned, this bite was over. The Draggin' Fly headed across the Bay and found no bass on Hospital Shoals, which had been loaded the day before. A call from a friend had the crew heading to Boston, but this surface bite in Lower Middle was short lived. The sonar showed plenty of big bass suspended in deep water in the channel. Eric hit a monster of a fish that almost rip the rod out of his hand. This bass took over 100 yards of line off the reel before it became obvious that the light Penn spinning reel's drag was not going to stop this fish. While the nearby boats watched, Captain Bill gave chase, and just when it seemed that Eric was gaining on the fish, the line parted. Wow…what a fish. The Skipper moved the boat and tried several areas that had held good numbers of fish in recent days. Not until the end of the trip was the crew able to jump another school. This time it was in Hingham. The fish were smaller but it was a fun way to end the day.

Monday, Melissa and Dave Bronder of Maine were aboard the Draggin' Fly. Also, aboard for this trip was Captain Bill's first mate and bride, Mary. Melissa had fished the previous year and caught a big bass. On that same trip with Captain Bill, another female angler landed a 50 pound bass. Melissa had set the bar high when she announced that today she too would catch a 50 pound bass. The first stop at the rip just off of Boston light produced a few fish on jigs. As the Sun came up, the crew headed outside to fish the approach channels. Today, there was a significant bite, which lasted for the next two hours. Although the fish were difficult to stay on, the crew managed to catch fish up to 30 inches on both jigs and surface baits. After this school broke up, Capt. Bill headed to Boston Light and on the way the crew saw a deer running along Brewster Spit, which was now dry as the tide had receded. Finally, the deer decided to jump in the water and swam to Lovell's Island! Captain Bill was able to get this on film. It was now time to head back inside to check the Inner Triangle. Again today, the fish held too deep to make the use of light tackle feasible. Melissa did get the attention of one big bass, which erupted on her Bass Assassins. Melissa and Dave caught several more bass before it was time return to dock with stories to tell about the Harbor fishing and more dreams of the 50 pounder. By the way, Captain Bill has guided several clients to fish over 50 pounds including three on the same day, but it took him 30 years to break the half-century mark himself…maybe next year, Melissa.

Tuesday, Brian McLaughlin and Dan Fallon of New Hampshire along with Guy Nichols of Chelmsford were aboard the Draggin' Fly for their annual light tackle trip. Each year, these anglers make friendly wages on the first fish and the biggest as well as the smallest fish. They also designated the Captain as the official referee. Today's first fish went to Guy who grabbed a nice bass on a jig in the rip at Boston Light just before dawn. Just after sunrise, the fish began to swirl on the surface and the crew picked a few off. But it took almost an hour before the bite got going. Soon it was diving birds and crashing fish, but…and it's a big but…these fish were so keyed into the bait that they were nearly impossible to hook. At slack water, Captain Bill headed to the Inner Triangle to check on the bass that have been holding in the deep water for days. And yes, they were there, but today the fish held too deep to be able to reach them with light tackle. A friend of the Skipper who uses wire line was putting a hurting on the fish. With the thunderstorms approaching, it was time to head back to dock and call it a day.

Wednesday was Day 1 of a two day charter with fly fishers, Damon Reed of Vermont and John Kieley of New Hampshire. Today these traveling anglers met Captain Bill at dawn for the start their two day charter. The skipper decided to check the Inner Triangle first…the fish were there…wire liners were catching them. The sonar showed that the fish were holding in deep water, and the crew knew that this was not going to be a fly fishing event so they headed off-shore. The north wind had kicked up the seas, and it was really snotty on the outside. The waves were too big for fly fisherman to handle. It is very difficult to fight a north wind, 4 foot rollers, and try to cast a fly rod even for these experienced anglers. So Captain Bill headed back to the Inner Triangle and found a decent bite along Spectacle. The Castle had a quick bite at end the tide just before the fog rolled in. This is a two day charter so Damon and John will be at it again tomorrow.

On Thursday- Day 2, the weather had turned ugly. When Captain Bill checked the weather before hitting the sack after a dinner with John and Damon, the night before, the forecast was for a northeast wind of 5-10 MPH with patchy fog and there was no mention of rain. This morning the crew was greeted by a stiff NE wind and rain. The crew knew that they were not going to get outside today. Captain Roger Brousseau of Midnight Charters was invited to come along for the morning. Captain Bill headed right to the Inner Triangle. The bass were once again off of the inner harbor searching for herring. On the first drift, Damon hit a nice bass on a Big Eye Deceiver, and Roger had another on a Vivif jig. A few more fish were missed. The fish just made a swipe at the fly. One lone bluefish was picked off in among all these bass on a soft jerk bait. Captain Bill decided to see what was happening by Spectacle and found some fish holding in shallower water. Roger took a nice bass on a jig but the fly fishers had no luck. When the crew returned to the Inner Harbor, bass erupted and Damon was hooked up. It was a light take, and he was surprised as the fish began to rip line against a tight drag. The fish fought deep making the rounds of the boat. John missed a big bass that crashed on his fly right next to the boat. Meanwhile, Captain Roger had a nice 31 inch bass on a Bass Assassin. With the wind building and the sky looking threatening, it was time to say good bye to these fish and head to dock.

Friday, Brian Barron and his son Brian…uh oh, too many Brians… met the skipper before dawn. Today the wind was looking much better. The fish in the Inner Triangle were holding deep, again. But today, they also had lock jaw so Captain Bill decided to try the rip at Boston Light. On the way, a small pod of bass was jumped. It was a quick bite. And the Brians had nothing to show for their efforts but a few chases. In the rip, young Brian hit the first bass of the trip on a jig. When the fish began to surface at the tail of the rip, Captain Bill changed to Bass Assassins and several fish gave chase…but once again they avoided the hook. A very large bass hit a jig and headed right to the rocks and broke off. After two days of heavy wind, the Draggin' Fly was able to move freely across the Outer Harbor, but today the bite in area was short lived. A few small bass were taken at Lower Middle and bigger ones were landed on Sculpin Ledge. It was another day when it seemed that the faster schoolies always managed to get to the lure first.

Brian's Bluefish

Brian Shura of Norfolk invited his friends Eric and Rich to share a light tackle trip on Saturday. Brian has been fishing with Captain Bill since he was in high school, and as usual, he had the crew waiting when Captain Bill arrived well before day break. The Skipper decided to check the shallow water in Quincy Bay before heading the Inner Triangle. There Eric landed the first fish of the morning, a small bluefish.

Eric's Bluefish

Just off the entrance to the Inner Harbor, Brian landed the first bass on a bucktail jig. Then Richie proved that these fish would rise for soft jerk baits bringing up several bass before he hooked his first fish. Each of the anglers banged bass on Bass Assassins and Hoggys before the surface bite ended as boat traffic began to move across the channel. At the next stop, Brian grabbed two nice bass on a jig in the rip at Boston Light. On Sculpin Ledge, Richie got himself a nice bass on a shad lure. Just before slack tide, Captain Bill decided to try the shallows again. This proved to be a wise move as the crew found that some big blues and bass. It was very exciting to sight these fish tailing in very skinny water. Both Brian and Eric caught double digit size bluefish up to 14 pounds, while Richie brought up several big bass. Most of the big bass would just follow the soft baits and turn away at boat side. It was another fun day of light tackle fishing for this seasoned crew.

In an upcoming article, Captain Bill will discussion different angling tactics to handle different types of fish. Not all bass fight in the same way! Like anglers they too have their own personalities... This week we had all three types of fish hooked on the Draggin' Fly. Some days we were successful…and other days, we had tales to tell…and adventures to relive!

I basically classify big bass by how they react to the hook set. The first, the Off-to-the-Races bass will take off like freight trains once the hook is set. These fish often run off 50-75 or more yards as they screech off on their initial run. Leaving you wondering if you will be able to turn them! Steady and even pressure is needed….and try not to overreact. Avoid the temptation to tighten down the drag. It is all about fighting the fish. The Racers often exert so much energy during the initial run that they are more easily beaten. In Captain Bill's experience, these are the fish most easily beaten when anglers use the tackle properly and maintain their cool.

The Prize Fighters are the ones that usually head off in search of some structure to foul the line. Their reaction is slow, steady, and powerful. Their movement is deliberate, and they react by shaking their heads violently and holding tight to the bottom. Prize Fighters are often the larger fish and know enough not to burn themselves on long fast runs. They are older and smarter. Prize Fighters will use their big tails to dig deep or slash the surface while rolling and shaking their heads. Again keep steady pressure on the fish. Be patient and work with the rod to control the fish.

The finally type of fish are the ones that go absolutely bonkers when they are hooked. For lack of a better descriptive, I will refer to these as the "Reck-loose". Many of the fish in this category are hooked close to the boat and are lost almost immediately during the initial commotion by either exerting too much pressure or just the opposite reaction, slack line. These fish are the hardest to land because it is impossible to anticipate their action. These fish tear off line and then will turn running at you even faster. Both a good tuned drag and a fast retrieve to take up the slack is required to defeat these fish. To land these crazy ones, keep constant drag pressure…and be steady in your nerves. Think like a fish.

Monday, Adrian Jackson of Lincoln invited Swapnil Shah to join him for a morning of fishing on Boston Harbor. They also brought along Adrian's 8 year old daughter Gabriella and Swapnil's daughter, Syona who is also 8. It was a later than normal start for the Draggin' Fly. The first stop in Quincy looked to be productive with bait and fish cruising the shallows. Numbers of bass were brought up and followed soft plastic jerk baits before Gabriella landed the first fish of the trip. Syona was next catching her bass on a Vivif jig. But as quickly as this action started, it was over. The school broke up and occasionally a bass would be jumped. Looking for a change of pace, Captain Bill decided to try around the airport. The Skipper had not fished this area in quite some time, but it proved to be a good move as Adrian and Gabriella landed a 31 inch bass. After a quick photo, Gabriella helped Captain Bill release this bass. Later in the trip Syona and Swapnil landed bass up to 27 inches. The crew was dropped off back in the North End in time for lunch.

Tuesday, Dave Deitz of Sharon and his son Andrew, both accomplished fly fishers met Captain Bill before dawn. Today the plan was to stalk bass in shallow water. Just after dawn some bass were jumped inside of Hull Gut. Unlike the previous mornings, there were no birds to indicate that the fish were there, but the crew saw the fish swirling on the surface. While David threw his Giant Gurgle, Andrew worked a small version of the same patent. David's version of the Gurgler will be featured in an article that Capt. Bill has been developing for a fall edition of
The Fishermen. The article will also provide tying instructions. Both David and Andrew brought up fish, but these fish proved to be difficult to get hooked. There were some birds working just to the east in the shallow water along Nantasket Roads. When the crew reached the area they saw some big bass crashing bait, but as quickly as it started the fish broke up. Unfortunately, this is what often happens when bass are working small pods of bait in shallow water. Capt. Bill decided to head North Shore to search around Broad Sound. From Nahant to Lynn to Revere, the crew searched but found no fish. Heading back inside to the Inner Triangle, the crew found fish spread out from Spectacle Island to the Sugar Bowl. However, at the bottom of the tide, bass erupted by Castle Island. Both David and Andrew caught several good sized bass before it was time to head in so that Andrew could make his afternoon sales calls. David will be out later this week.

Wednesday, Capt. Bill worked the cockpit of a client's boat for bluefin tuna…and has stories to be told, including a 100 inch fish!

Thursday, Rick Lucas of Pembroke invited some of his co-workers from the Hospital to experience Boston Harbor from the water. Joining this veteran angler were Carol, Mike, and Erin. Rick has been fishing with Captain Bill for many years and has earned the nickname No-Fish Rick…not because he cannot catch fish, but because Rick has been known to fish a popper without hooks into schools of marauding bluefish. Rick just loves to watch the fish keep attacking the lure, right to boat side. Although, not a technique that the Skipper would recommend for others, Captain Bill also enjoys watch Rick at his game. Rick and the Captain fished their way to Boston. By the time the rest of the crew was picked up in Boston, the fish off the Castle Island had broken up. The fish were now holding in over 40 feet of water, too deep for light tackle. The next stop at Lower Middle produced only one taker so Capt. Bill headed to the airport where Erin hooked a very large fish. After a quick show on the surface, this fish decided to head towards some nearby lobster gear. Hoping to stop this run, the Skipper turned the boat; Erin was able to keep the fish under control for awhile. All that it took was a little slack line and that fish came unbuttoned-and another fish tale to be told! It was a beautiful evening on Boston Harbor even though the fishing was slow.

Friday, Bob Davis had a surprise for his brother Troy who was visiting from Minnesota. Bob set up a big light tackle trip for Troy and his family. Joining Bob and Troy were Bob's eight-year-old niece Rebecca and 10-year-old nephew John. It was another late start as this crew had just flown in the night before. Captain Bill talked to Captain George who reported that the NW wind had made for difficult fishing at dawn. With little hope of a surface bite, tubes and worms were deployed. Several small fish were caught and released in the Inner Triangle. Moving to the outside, bigger fish were taken on Faun Bar. Surprisingly, Rebecca caught a sand shark, spiny dog fish, onto to tube. This is the first time that Captain Bill had witness such a feat. The Davis clan will return to Minnesota with some great memories of their afternoon on Boston Harbor and a shark story to tell to their friends back home.

Frank Farraye of Medfield invited Dave Deitz of Sharon and Mike O'Brien of Hingham to share a trip on Saturday. Frank and David are experienced anglers who have fished with the Skipper several times over the past few weeks. David fished this past Tuesday with his son, Andrew. The crew was greeted by a strong North West wind. Captain Bill explained that this is a very difficult wind to fish especially when looking for surface bite. With the disclaimer on the table, the crew pushed off the dock before dawn and headed out to Boston Light. On the first drift along rocks, David brought up a big bass on his Giant Gurgler, but this bass missed the hook. While David used his fly rod, Frank and Mike fished soft jerk baits casting right onto the shoreline. The crew could see some big bass working the tide rip at the edge of the island, but they were not interested in what the crew was offer. Nothing was hooked other than a black sea bass so it was time to explore. After talking to a few other boats that braved the wind, Captain Bill learned that there had been at a quick bite at dawn in the outer channel, but by the time the Draggin' Fly arrived the bite was over. The crew headed into the Inner Triangle, and the first fish of the morning was landed by Frank on a Bass Assassin. Another fish of equal size was also taken again on this same lure by the Castle Island pier. At the bottom of the tide, the crew cast into the rocks on the ledges just outside Castle Island. David connected with a nice bass which took his large Clouser. A few more fish were taken before Captain Bill decided to move on and look for bigger fish. On Sculpin Ledge, a large school of bass was found in 20 feet of water. At times, the fish looked like they were going to come up to the surface but never did. Several bass up to legal size were caught a bucktail jigs, Vivif jigs, and of course David's Clouser. The wind died on the tide changed so the crew headed into the shallow waters to search for bass. However, today it was small bluefish. Although there was no surface bite to speak about, the crew stalked fish at every stop and certainly caught more bass than the other boats. David and Frank will be fishing off shore next week East of Chatham but will be back to fish the Harbor in a few weeks.

Larger bass have moved into the Harbor producing explosive top-water action. These bass are covered with sea lice, a sure sign that these fish have just moved in from deeper offshore water. There have been some surface blitzes in this week. Some days the bite lasted for hours and other days it was quick. Then it was time to fish the many different types of structure that the Harbor offers. There are plenty of bait, herring, pogies, and silversides, throughout the numerous bays and rivers in the Harbor which will continue to attract bass. The surprise of the week was on Friday when the Draggin' Fly was fishing Nash Shoal by Boston Light and the bass attacked big pods of butterfish, an unusual bait in this area. More bluefish were caught this week than in any other week during this season: the ones taken on the outside have been large and inside they are quite small.

Monday, JT Rosnock of Milton and Rich Torelli of Newton were aboard. JT is an accomplished fly fisher and Rich favors light tackle. There were a few bass at the first stop in the shallows, but they proved difficult to hook. Heading to the Outer Harbor, the crew found a big school of bass. Rich used a soft jerk bait, and JT worked a Gurgler in crashing schools of bass. At times both JT and Rich were hooked up, keeping the Skipper busy. Most of these fish were in the 25-27 inch range. This mayhem lasted for almost two hours until the tide was lost. After the turn of the tide, Captain Bill headed back inside. However, the wind was building, making sight fishing in the shallows just wishful thinking. Rich and JT tried blind casting to the rocks. Rich landed a bluefish that attacked his Bass Assassin. The decision was made to head back to dock. JT will return in a few weeks to do battle again.

Tuesday's corporate trip had to be canceled when the guest were unable to fly in from the Mid-West due to weather there. It seems that Boston does not have a sole lease on difficult weather. Captain Frank Yallowchuk, skipper of One Step Closer jumped on board and an old friend of the Skipper, Tom LaLiberti of Duxbury was invited to try his hand at light tackle fishing in Boston Harbor. Pushing off of dock before dawn, the Draggin' Fly headed to the shallows to hunt the jumbo fish that Captain Bill had been on for the past few weeks. When the conditions are right, anglers can sight big bass cruising in very skinny water. However, it was much windier than predicted so sight casting was not in the cards for today's trip. There was no bite in the Harbor approach channels so it was time to explore the North Shore. A large school of bluefish was located off of Nahant. Frank and Tom caught several bluefish up to 10 pounds on light tackle. This was the first real bluefish blitz of the season. Captain Frank could be heard all the way from the boat to Nahant Point complaining that he missing many big blues because the Skipper removes the belly hook and replaces the tailing treble hook with a single hook.

Fly rod enthusiast, Jake Cooper arranged Wednesday's trip. Joining Jake were Jacob Bell and Quinn Davidson. All three anglers live in Utah and are working in the Boston area for the summer. The crew jumped fish at several locations in the Inner Harbor but had a difficult time getting the fish to eat. In an upcoming article, Captain Bill will discussion different angling tactics to handle different types of fish. Not all bass react in the same way! Like anglers fish also have their own personalities and attitudes. Today most of the fish reacted in the same way…with lock jaw, refusing to east. Captain Bill decided to head to Nahant and look for the schools of bluefish that terrorized the baitfish yesterday. Today, there were only scattered pockets of fish and the wind made it impossible to get close enough to cast to these fish. Pushing further north, the crew encountered a big school of bass. Jake and Quinn soon doubled up on nice sized bass. The crew managed a few more bass before this school broke up. Back in Quincy bay, the Utah boys had a chance to play with a few small blues. Some days are more successful…and other days, provide tales to be told…and adventures to relive! Jake, Jacob, and Quinn enjoyed their time on the Harbor.

David Deitz, an expert fly fisher from Sharon fishes with Captain Bill several times a year. Joining David on Thursday was Will Gaines who makes the annual pilgrimage to fish the Harba from his home in Texas. David loves to fish the surface and ties up very large Gurglers for just this reason. Today, Captain Bill decided to head outside and hunt for big bass in the shallow waters of Quincy Bay on the way home instead at dawn. This proved the correct decision. It didn't take long to locate a large school of bass actively driving bait along the tip of Long Island…the birds helped to locate these fish. While Will used a soft jerk bait to catch bass up to 26 inches, David's Gurgler was getting a real work out with equally sized bass. After numerous bass, David had to



make a change as this fly was destroyed. The fish quit with the tide. Before heading North, the crew moved back inside to fish an area known to hold bass on the going tide. And there were plenty of bass. David's Beastmaster was inhaled by a large bass that ran him deep into the backing before it could be turned. Will continued to use a Bass Assassin to hook his fish, but when Captain Bill noticed some bigger fish were holding on the deep water edge of the bar, he had Will switched to a Vivif jig. Within minutes, Will was tight to a big bass. This fish stretched the tape to 40 inches and was very fat. David switched to a weight fly line, and he too was into bigger fish. David's biggest was 38 inches. With the weather deteriorating, it was time to head back to dock. And the crew almost made it to dock before the rain began!

Friday, Frank Farraye another Draggin' Fly regular invited a close friend Irving Pike who was visiting from Maryland to join him for a morning fishing in the Harbor. Irving has his own Grady White that he fishes from in Chesapeake Bay. On the way to the Outer Harbor, Captain Bill found a school of nice bass working bait at the edge of Nantasket Roads. It was not long before a big bass was brought up on soft plastic jerk bait. These fish were difficult to hook, but both Frank and Irving managed a few before the school broke up completely. Once the fish were done, the anglers worked swimming jigs to stay on the bite. Looking for more top water action, the Draggin' Fly continued to search for fish. At the next stop, the crew caught a few more bass when Frank hit a very large fish in shallow water. Often when a fish of this size is hooked so close to the boat and in very shallow waters, they go absolutely bonkers when they are hooked. These fish are the hardest to land because it is impossible to anticipate their action. And this fish proved to have the moves of a Kamikaze. As the boat traffic intensified, it was time to explore. A mixture of larger school bass and big blues was located in Broad Sound. These fish were all bright and hungry. Frank and Irving finished the trip fishing the rocks in Quincy Bay catching a few more bass before heading back to dock…once again in front of a storm!

Wednesday was a busy day aboard the Draggin' Fly. Believing that sleep is for the young and old, Kevin Callahan and Frank Sannella of Scituate met Captain Bill well before dawn while most sane individuals were still asleep. Fishing can be a real addiction to some! The crew was going to try drifting eels on a piece of structure known to hold big bass. While the sonar confirmed the presence of the fish, they were not hungry so the decision was made to head offshore and try the area that had produced well the previous day. There were scattered pods of bass but they were very difficult to stay on. Both Kevin and Frank got their fish before Captain Bill had to head to Boston to drop off these Dawn Warriors and pick up the next crew.

For the second trip, Captain Bill put together the boats for the Skadden Office Tournament. Every year, this downtown law firm completes its summer intern program with a little Boston Harbor fishing event. This year, Captains Wayne Frieden, George Whitehead, Gene Kelly, and Tom Koerber joined the Draggin' Fly. After picking Kent Coit, Nathan Murphy and his wife Kristen up in Charlestown, the group headed out. At the first stop on Long Island, the boats found some small bass trapping bait along the shore. This bite did not last long-there were just too many boats in a small area, but each group of anglers managed to catch a few fish. On the outgoing tide, the Draggin' Fly headed back inside to fish the bars and ledges of Quincy Bay. This had produced extremely well during the same part of the tide the day before. Occasionally, a fish would explode on the lure, but there were no hook ups on the big bass. Captain Bill changed tactics and had two anglers cast bucktail jigs into the draining water. This proved to be the ticket to catching these bass. Kent, Kristin, and Nathan had a ball catching and releasing bass up to Nate's 38 inch fish. The other boats also did well fishing from the North Shore to the Inner Harbor. All the participants enjoyed their day on the water in Boston Harbor.

Thursday, David Deitz, an accomplished fly fisher from Sharon invited his son Matt to join him for a morning on the Harba. David and Matt met Captain Bill just before dawn and headed right offshore. It took some time to find the fish and then they proved difficult to hook. David got the first to take a Gurgler that he had tied extra large. Matt used Bass Assassins to catch his fish. As the sun came up and other boats descended on the fish, it became obvious that this bite was over, and it was time to explore other waters. Alongside of Boston Light the crew found lots of gulls flying high and occasionally fish would break the water. Drifting over a bar on the backside of the island produced several chases and a few fish, all on soft jerk baits. With the tide running out hard, the water became too shallow to continue the drifts. Captain Bill headed back inside and just off Long Island the crew encountered a full-fledged blitz. David switch to an 8 weight fly rod and took numerous bass on a large clouser. Matt did equally well on soft baits. This bite lasted for two hours and was still going on when the wind began to build; the crew knew that the front was about to settle over them. The approaching rain force the crew to retreat back to dock.

Friday, Draggin' Fly regular, Jay Hoffman of Marshfield was playing host to Jim Spinnale of Duxbury and Rodney Clark of Mattapoisett. Jay who has fished with Captain Bill for over a decade loves to cast soft jerk baits. This morning the wind was calm and the low light conditions made for perfect conditions to hunt the shallow waters. This is Captain Bill's favorite way of fishing, but conditions had not allowed for sight casting for almost a week. Just after dawn, the crew began to see numbers of big bass rolling on the surface. Again this morning, these fish were finicky, but the crew managed to turn some big ones. Meanwhile, Captain George had been working a massive school of bass that was massacring herring off of Deer Island. These fish had been on the bite since daybreak. Jay and friends were into some of the year's best top water action all on soft jerk baits. At times all three anglers were hooked up at the same time. This school was a mixture of schoolies and medium size fish. The next stop at the east end of Long Island was equally as good. A large school of bass had bait pinned tight to the shore. The interesting part was while there were 50 boats on the schools off of Deer Island, there were only a few other boats working these fish. It was time to head back to the shallows to hunt those big bass again! The fish had moved into even shallower water and proved once again to be difficult to fool. Jay, Rodney, and Jim each managed to land a nice fish before the bluefish got active and began to tear up gear at the bottom of the tide. It was another great day of surface action-surprisingly for mid-July.

The weather for Saturday called for heavy eastly winds and rain…not good for even the most seasoned anglers. The trip was cancelled and will be rebooked in August.

Captain Bill leaves today for Vegas where he will address a national conference of educators. He will be back on the water mid-week. Meanwhile, Captain George and Captain Frank will be guarding the fish. Boy, does the Captain hate to leave the fish!

The week of June 21st will certainly be remembered as the week of the weather. Fly fishers Damon Reed of Vermont and John Kieley of New Hampshire were schedule to arrive on Sunday for their first trip of the year, a three day charter. Damon and John have been fishing with Captain Bill for the past 10 years. The forecast was calling for a very large Nor'Easter to sit on the Massachusetts coast for several days. When Captain Bill made the decision to cancel these trips, even Damon who has fished with the Captain in challenging weather on many occasions over the years was not too surprised. The weather for the past several weeks has been unseasonably cold and at times blustery. On many trips guests got to test their rain gear, but the fishing had been good with the north wind blowing in new fish form off shore.

But once the storm hit late on Sunday, it blew as hard as any old salt can remember…it was just as predicted a full fledge NOR'EASTER! For those who live outside the state and follow the tales of The Draggin' Fly from their computer, it is had to imagine gale force winds gusting to over 50 mph and the cold driven rain in late June! You can take Captain's word for it, if he ventured out in the weather, he would need more than rain gear…more like a survival suit. The weather sure tested the captain's nerves as he scrambled to reschedule trips.

The Draggin' Fly was finally able to get out on Thursday. On board were three generations of Foleys- Bob Sr. of Connecticut, Dad Bob of Hopkinton, and thirteen year old David. The younger Foley landed the largest bluefish of the 2008 season caught on last summer and was eager to repeat. With no wind and flat seas, Captain Bill headed right to the shallows to hunt bass. There was a lot of weed brought in from the storm so it was time to make some adjustments to the plans. The crew headed to some rock piles and found pods of bass holding just off the bottom. David was the first to hook up and Grandpa was next. David's fish was just shy of the legal mark and Bob's was an inch or two shorter. Captain Bill had some big marks on his sonar, but these fish had lock jaw. Moving to the Castle Island, the crew found similar conditions-fish on the bottom which refused to eat. Fishing the shallow water inside the Deer Island riprap produced a hook up on a large bass for Bob Sr. that ran strong against the drag. Despite all efforts by Bob to stop the run, the bass got into some rocks and managed to gain its freedom. It seems that the fish God's were unhappy… after some great fishing prior to the storm, the fish would not cooperate today. It was time to change tactics and troll tubes and worms. This was the ticket to catching bass on this day. The Foley clan enjoyed catching and release several bass at most stops in the Inner Triangle.

Friday, fly fisher and Draggin' Fly regular, David Deitz of Sharon met Captain Bill at the dock for what would be the first day of a two charter. David agreed with Captain Bill's decision to hold on dock and allow a thunderstorm to pass over. It didn't take long for the weather to clear and despite a little drizzle, there was little wind. The first stop in the shallow water produced a few follows on David's gurgler, but these fish were fussy again today. David switched to a fast sinking line, and the Draggin' Fly headed to the Inner Triangle. At the Castle Ledges, the fish were stacked up on the bottom, and again today they had little interest in opening their mouths to eat. The fish did come up for a matter of seconds in the Lower Middle Channel, and a few were hooked by nearby boats casting soft plastic baits. Heading out to the outer islands, it seemed that the Cap missed a decent bite. At slack water, David worked the deep finger channels by the airport and took a few schoolies. Once the tide changed, it was time to hunt the shallows again. The wind picked up so David changed to the spinning rod and brought up several bass on soft jerk baits that he twitched slowly across the surface. Finally, a hot fish was hooked that burnt line off the reel. David worked the bass back to the boat trying to keep the rod low so that a nearby boat would not see what was happening. The fish was brought to boat side using this low rod technique, and Captain Bill grabbed a fat 32 inch bass without the other boat seeing what had happened. On the last drift, a bluefish attacked the bait and bite through the leader; the next blue bite the Bass Assassin in half. These were the first blues that the Cap had encounter in the shallows. With a bass for the grill, it was time to head home.

Saturday Frank Farraye of Medfield and Jim O'Neil of Bridgewater joined David for day 2. Frank fishes many times each season with Captain Bill and loves to sight fish for bass. Based on the conditions over the past few days, Captain Bill told Frank that this might not happen today. This morning, the fish were more cooperative, but most action was on structure. Normally, this time of the season there is a decent surface bite at dawn. For the last three days, there was almost none so Captain Bill had Frank and Jim work jigs. David was using a large Clouser and was the first to hook up with a nice bass. Jim soon followed with his first Harba striper, and Frank also released his first fish of the trip. David landed a few more on his fly while the spin fishermen had many short strikes. The crew decided to head offshore to fish the last part of the dropping tide and search for bigger fish. Fishing the white water and rip line caused by the water crashing over some submerged rocks by the Graves proved to be successful. David switched to a brighter Clouser to catch his fish and Frank and Jim worked Bass Assassins just in front curl of the rip to catch their fish. As the tide let go, these fish moved out to the nearby deeper water…too deep to work with fly tackle. The crew headed back inside to hunt the shallows on the coming tide. It did not take long to find nice pods of big bass. Several were brought up including one monster but missed all missed the hook, until Jim hooked up. It was exciting to sight these jumbo bass and try to get them to take the lure. Frank landed the first bluefish of the season. David landed the next blue. After a few more blues, the wind picked up and the fog rolled in. The fish became nearly impossible to stay on. Frank and David will fish again in a few weeks.

Sunday, Draggin' Fly regular, Frank Farraye of Medfield invited friends Brian and Josh to share a light tackle trip. The weatherman forecasted scattered light showers. However, the scattered showers were over the Draggin' Fly right from the get go and these were not light! Frank enjoys sighting and casting to bass in skinny water so Captain Bill headed to the shallow water in Quincy Bay that often holds bass. The crew found several bass, which proved very difficult to hook. The fish swirled at the soft jerk baits that the crew worked slowly across the water and quickly disappeared. Frank is an expert on working these surface baits and has caught several fish over 30 pounds on these lures. However, even he was getting frustrated with these fish. Brian was the first to get a hook into a nice bass, which he worked back to the boat and Captain Bill made the release. Just when the crew thought they had the bite figured out, the short strikes continued. It was time to look for more cooperative fish further in the Bay. The next stop proved to be much better. These fish were smaller but were more interested in eating. Just to keep things interesting, a few bigger fish were in the mixed, as Josh soon discovered when he broke one off by the boat. Heavy rain and an increased wind caused an early end to the morning. This is Frank's second rain shorten trip this season. He will return in two weeks looking for clearer skies.

Frank's trophy was released.

Frank Sannella and Blair Ridley of Scituate were on board for Monday's light tackle trip. If Frank had made a bet on the first fish, he would have won it within a minute. A fish broke just as The Draggin' Fly pushed off of dock. Grabbing a rod rigged with a soft jerk bait, Frank landed a cast right next to the break. After two twitches, the bass inhaled the lure. The crew played with a few fish in the shallow water, but had no takers. Moving closer to Rainsford Island, Captain Bill found more cooperative fish and both Frank and Blair caught several up to 30 inches on jerk baits.

Frank and Blair

Once these fish broke up, it was time to head to the North Shore to see if the NE wind had blow in any new fish from Massachusetts Bay…and yes the wind had done just this! For the next two hours, Frank and Ridley worked schools of bass that were driving tinker mackerel. The biggest was 35 inches. These fish was loaded with sea lice, a strong indication that there was a new rush of fresh fish. At low water, The Draggin' Fly headed back inside to check the airport flats. Along the channel edge, some bigger bass were located. Blair was the first to score on a nice 32 inch bass. Before the day was done, Frank had caught and released his trophy bass that weighed in at almost 40 pounds and stretched the tape to a little over 48 inches. Blair had the chance to experience Boston Harbor's legendary fishing, and Frank has a return trip planned for later this week.

Tuesday, Charley Fortier of East Bridgewater set up a trip for Kris Holmgren who was home on leave from Iraq. Also joining the crew was Kris's teenage son Konner, a recent high school graduate from Middleboro. The weather man missed today's forecast. The wind was much greater than the 5 to 10 MPH that was expected, and it was out of the NE. Charley is an expert fly fisher who can cast with the best of them. Kris said that a day of fishing was better than a day in Iraq. And Konner had never taken a striped bass on light tackle was eager to give it a try. With the crew bundled up in rain gear, The Draggin' Fly pushed off of dock. The areas in Quincy Bay that held a lot of bass just the day before were vacant. Charley managed to get a hook into a bluefish, which quickly bite through the leader. The ride to the North Shore was very rough, but Konner enjoy riding the 5 foot waves as he would any amusement park ride. The fish were here again today, but the wind and the waves made casting very difficult. Kris caught the first bass and Charley also landed one on a Clouser. With open water and no where to hide, Captain Bill decided it was too ugly to stay out. Captain Bill was truly amazed with how Charley managed to lay out 60 feet of line in the gusty winds while being bounced all over the bow platform. The ride back was better with the wind behind the crew. The wind was much lighter on Governor's flats and the fish were a little more cooperative. While no large bass were landed, the crew released several large schoolies.

Chris Sexton of Abington invited Carl Djusberg alos of Abington, and Bill Gallagher of Kingston to join him for a light tackle trip on Wednesday. All three anglers have their own boats from 20- 34 feet and fish for bass from Plymouth to the outer Cape…but they had never experienced the Harba bite. Captain Bill plans of heading right to the skinny water were quickly changed as a pod of bass were found working herring in the Fore River. Chris was the first to hook up on a bucktail jig. Then Carl landed and released the first legal sized bass. The crew worked them for about an hour. Most came on jigs with the biggest about 30 inches. Then a friend called from Nix's Mate, and the crew caught the tail end of the bite. On the way to the North Shore, Captain Bill got a message of a big bite off of Graves so the crew heading to the east. On the way a good school of bass was located and the crew worked these fish until the tide let go with no competition from other anglers. After the bite, Captain Bill search the shore line from Nahant to Revere but did not find the fish that he had been on for the past few days. On Governors Flats the crew caught a few more schoolies. At low water, the Draggin'Fly headed to the skinny water of Quincy Bay where they jumped several bass fish...including some really big ones. The other Bill did a nice job spotting bass for the Captain, but these fish were very fussy. At times these bass tracked on lures but refused to bite. With the slack water, the fish disappeared so it was time to call it a day.

Thursday, Frank Sannella of Scituate returned for his second trip of the week. Joining Frank was his regular fishing partner and neighbor, Kevin Callahan. Captain Bill explained that the approaching low front would bring in wind and rain so they had to catch their fish early. And that is exactly what they did. On the first predawn drift across some rock structure just off the mouth of the river, both Frank and Kevin were tight to big bass. The crew worked both bucktail jigs and Kalin shads just off the bottom. When the fish pushed herring to the surface, Bass Assassins were cast to these hungry fish and it only took a few twitches to get their attention. For the next hour and a half, Frank and Kevin continued to catch and release bass up to 36 inches. With the morning commute beginning, it was time to look for other fish. While the fleet chased birds and scattered fish in the Anchorage, Captain Bill decided to work the structure around Quincy Bay. Again most of the action was on jigs, but it was a steady pick. Today there were no fish in the approach channels, a sure sign that the NE wind had blown the fish inside the harbor. A building east wind made for difficult fishing in the shallow water so the crew called it a day…and what a morning it had been! The Draggin' Fly got to dock just ahead of the rain. Frank and Kevin have several more trips planned this season.

Friday was a wash out so Captain Bill headed to New Jersey earlier than planned to attend the wedding of his neice and aquick visit with Oliver, the new grandson.

Captain's Report
June 13, 2009

Sunday, Bernie Hamill, a veteran fly fisher from Quincy with his own boat just across the bay in the Town River chartered Captain Bill to learn some more areas to explore with the long rod. The first stop in Inner Triangle looked promising with birds hitting the water and the occasional crashing bass. These fish were chasing herring and did not seem too interested in what Bernie was offering. Only one fish was hooked and it pulled the hook. Captain Bill decided to take advantage of the light winds and ran to the North Shore to explore some ell grass flats. And yes, the fish were there. Many times this is sight fishing…requiring Captain Bill to look for bass moving in amongst the grass. Today, the work was a little easier as the terns were also working the flats, which helped to locate the fish. Bernie worked a Clouser on an intermediate line to catch his fish. After this bite ended, Captain Bill headed back inside to search the shallow flats by the airport. Bernie ended the day working White Head flats, but today there were very few fish holding in the shallows.

Tuesday's afternoon, Michelle Manchini and Bill Douglas of Nashua NH were waiting for Captain Bill at the dock, eager to get an early start to their afternoon trip. The weather had cleared enough to allow Captain Bill to push off of dock ahead of schedule. It was a slow start, but just as the commuter boats started their home bound trips, the bass erupted in the Inner Triangle. Action was fast and furious for almost two hours with bass pushing bait along Lower Middle to Castle Island. Michelle and Bill used Bass Assassins worked in amongst the schools of crashing bass. These fish were keyed into the herring that they were driving but the crew managed to catch several bass up to 31 inches. On the way home, another school of bass was jumped in Hingham Bay. Michelle put a nice 34 inch bass into the boat for a neighborhood cookout that she was planning on hosting this coming weekend.

Ashley and Troy Austin from Louisiana were in Boston to celebrate their recent wedding. They are avid fishers and Troy follows the Red Soxs so they combined a trip to Fenway Park with a fishing expedition. Back home, Ashley and Troy fish the backwaters for sea trout, red fish, and flounder. On the way to meet Captain Bill, the crew got a little lost (well maybe Big Time Lost), but the late start did not effect the bite. Within a few minutes of clearing the no wake zone, Troy was hooked up to his first ever striped bass. Ashley was not going to be left out as she caught and released a bigger bass. The surface bite in the Inner Triangle was over by the morning commute, but Ashley and Troy caught several more bass working plastic shads along the Castle Island ledges. These fish were in the 22-25 inch range so Captain Bill headed to the airport flats. Here the fish were a little larger, but the big ones avoided the hook today. Troy and Ashlet will return to Louisiana with memories of the Red Sox's victory over the Yankees and a great morning on the Harba.

It was a full boat as Draggin Fly regular, Paul Ponicherta of Hingham put together the crew for Saturday's light tackle trip. Joining Paul were Tom Aceravatti of Weymouth, Scott Lightfoot of Milton, and Jason Roberts fro Indianapolis. The crew got to the Inner Triangle before dawn and before any other boat. Just as the sun came up, bass erupted on herring. These fish were nearly impossible to stay on. They were running bait from Spectacle Island to the ledge right off of the Castle Island pier. And there was soon a large fleet of boats running with the birds and fish. Finally, Jason was the first to score with a nice bass. Captain Bill decided to head to the North Shore and search for bass on the grass flats. The crew found a few pockets of bass scattered along this flat. And even managed to raise a few but they avoided the hook. At slack tide it was time to head back and catch the tide turn in Boston. Lower Middle proved to be the crew's next frustration. The fish would grab the bait and make a run only to spit it out. The morning ended with the crew searching the shallows working soft jerk baits in 4- 6 feet of water. While a friend in a nearby boat took a number of bass up to 34 inches on a small yellow fly, the fish ignore the lures that our crew offered. Paul has several other trips booked to try and even the score!

Sunday, Draggin' Fly regular, Frank Farraye of Medfield invited friends Brian and Josh to share a light tackle trip. The weatherman forecasted scattered light showers. However, the scattered showers were over the Draggin' Fly right from the get go and these were not light! Frank enjoys sighting and casting to bass in skinny water so Captain Bill headed to the shallow water in Quincy Bay that often holds bass. The crew found several bass, which proved very difficult to hook. The fish swirled at the soft jerk baits that the crew worked slowly across the water and quickly disappeared. Frank is an expert on working these surface baits and has caught several fish over 30 pounds on these lures. However, even he was getting frustrated with these fish. Brian was the first to get a hook into a nice bass, which he worked back to the boat and Captain Bill made the release. Just when the crew thought they had the bite figured out, the short strikes continued. It was time to look for more cooperative fish further in the Bay. The next stop proved to be much better. These fish were smaller but were more interested in eating. Just to keep things interesting, a few bigger fish were in the mixed, as Josh soon discovered when he broke one off by the boat. Heavy rain and an increased wind caused an early end to the morning. This is Frank's second rain shorten trip this season. He will return in two weeks looking fro clearer skies.

Sunday Tom Lambert, a Draggin' Fly regular and veteran fly fisher invited his neighbor Roger Marwill, an avid light tackle enthusiast to join him on his first trip of the season. The first stop in Quincy Bay looked promising with birds hitting the water and the occasional crashing bass. The crew managed only a few chases on both flies and Bass Assassins so Captain Bill had Roger switch to a Kalin Shad on a half ounce jig head. Finally, Roger hooked the first bass of the trip swimming the jig. Captain Bill decided to take advantage of the light winds and ran outside hopping to find bass on the mackerel schools that were working the waters south of the Harbor. Today, the schools were no where to be found. The catch at Harding's Ledge was one cod and one sculpin so it was time to move back inside. A small pod of bass was located in shallow water in Hull that had produced well the day before. Again, these fish proved difficult to catch. The crew decided to try the airport flats and approach channel. This is when Tom's luck changed, and he hooked a big bass that ran hard against a tight drag. Tom was able to turn the fish and work the fish back to the boat. Then as quickly as the fight began, it was over…due to equipment failure-not to any operator errors. By now the wind was up so it was time to head back to dock. Tom took the last fish of the trip just off the Back River.

Draggin' Fly regular and experienced fly fisher David Deitz of Sharon invited his son, Andrew to join him in search of bass. The wind was much stronger than forecasted but with the prediction of diminishing winds, Captain Bill pushed off of dock. The crew headed right to Boston where the dawn patrol had reported action all week. The first stop in the Inner Triangle looked promising as bass were working herring along the main channel. The wind not only made it difficult to cast but it was very difficult to stay on these fish. David landed the first fish on a Clouser he had tied longer than normal. Captain Bill decided to head back inside and found more fishing pushing bait along Nantasket Roads. David and Andrew can cast with the best of them. However, these fly fishers faced three problems: the wind which was not laying down, fish keyed into the bait, and competition from several boats-most who were running and gunning! This school of bass proved as elusive as the earlier fish. With no sign of the wind letting go, Captain Bill headed back to dock at slack water. David managed to land another fish inside the Fore River before calling it a day. David and Andrew will be back in a few weeks seeking revenge.

Uncle Mike's fish for the grill!!

Saturday, Mike Callahan travel from Connecticut for the second weekend in a row to do battle with "Haba" bass. Joining Mike on this light tackle trip was his father, Francis from Methuen, his Uncle Mike from Weymouth and a friend, Tony from Easthampton. Captain Bill found scattered pods of bass throughout the Inner Triangle. The surface bite was quite limited as the bass worked herring to the surface and then disappeared. When the fish are driving bait like this, they can also drive anglers crazy. Finally, the bass settled in along the flats, but they refused to even take a jig worked right in among
them. Captain Bill put out the trolling gear and the crew began to have some action. Several fish in the 23-25 inch range were caught and released. Tony hooked a big fish, which gave him quite a fight before getting into the rocks. Seeking bigger fish the crew moved to the airport. Again, the crew found yo-yoing bass. And again, they proved nearly impossible to hook. Francis and Uncle Mike managed a few fish trolling the channel edges. After the tide turned, the fish became a little more cooperative. These bass were a little bigger, but the crew still did not have a griller. It was time to move back inside. Stops at Quincy Bay, Hull Bay, and Hingham Harbor were not productive. But at the last stop at the mouth of the Back River, Uncle Mike landed a fat 34 inch bass in amongst the rocks. The crew had a nice fish for the grill.

On Tuesday, Scott Dobson of Boston invited Barbara MacDonald in Boston to attend a medical conference to join him on a light tackle trip. Barbara has some experience with trout in her home waters of Colorado. After picking up in Boston, Captain Bill headed to Governor's flats where the morning crew had had a decent bite. On the way, a school of bass was encountered at Lower Middle. These fish were pushing bait along the channel. Scott landed the first bass of the trip on a Bass Assassin, a small schoolie. His next bass was just shy of 28 inches, and then Barbara got in on the action hooking a bass on a Vivif jig. The crew decided to move back inside of Quincy Bay to fish the end of the dropping tide. The crew found a few scattered schools of bass pushing bait in shallow water and these fish were a little more cooperative. Barbara used a Vivif jig to land fish up to 30 inches, and Scott used surface baits.

Wednesday, Captain Bill talked with Brian Tolland, who was traveling from Maine with his wife, Mary to fish the Harbor for the first time. He told Brian that the weather was not looking too promising. However, Brian decided to make his way to Boston and wait for Captain Bill's call later in the day. The heavy rain predicted for the evening did not materialize, but the wind was much stronger than what was forecasted, a sure sign that a cold front was approaching. Brian agreed with Captain Bill to take his wife to dinner in the North End and wait a day.

Thursday proved to be even worst than previous day so Brian and his wife headed home. They will be back later in July to do duel with summer time bass.

Saturday, Mike Callahan and Bob Quercia traveled to Boston from Connecticut to experience the "Lure of Boston Harbor". Mike fished with us a few years back. All his trips last season were scrubbed due to bad weather. After several days of poor weather, it looked like Captain Bill was going to catch a break today. The weather forecast was fro clear skies but building winds. However, soon after leaving dock the rain came and stayed over the Draggin' Fly for over an hour. The first stop in the Inner Triangle looked promising as bass were working herring where they had herring pinned tight to the rocks. These fish were very hard to stay on as they chased bait up and down the ledge that Captain Bill drifted across. A few fish were located along the airport approach channel but they proved as elusive as the earlier fish. Finally, Bob put a fat 33 inch bass into the boat, his biggest bass ever. Moving into the shallow water of Hull in search of more cooperative fish, it looked like the same scenario was going to play out… fish not interested in eating artificials. Mike soon began to get some attention on his Bass Assassins, the fish were small but they had stripes. Mike will be back next Saturday looking for revenge!!

Sunday, Tom Lambert, a Draggin' Fly regular and veteran fly fisher invited his neighbor Roger Marwill, an avid light tackle enthusiast to join him on his first trip of the season. The first stop in Quincy Bay looked promising with birds hitting the water and the occasional crashing bass. The crew managed only a few chases on both flies and Bass Assassins so Captain Bill had Roger switch to a Kalin Shad on a half ounce jig head. Finally, Roger hooked the first bass of the trip swimming the jig. Captain Bill decided to take advantage of the light winds and ran outside hopping to find bass on the mackerel schools that were working the waters south of the Harbor. Today, the schools were no where to be found. The catch at Harding's Ledge was one cod and one sculpin so it was time to move back inside. A small pod of bass was located in shallow water in Hull that had produced well the day before. Again, these fish proved difficult to catch. The crew decided to try the airport flats and approach channel. This is when Tom's luck changed, and he hooked a big bass that ran hard against a tight drag. Tom was able to turn the fish and work the fish back to the boat. Then as quickly as the fight began, it was over…due to equipment failure-not to any operator errors. By now the wind was up so it was time to head back to dock. Tom took the last fish of the trip just off the Back River.

Captain Bill fished the afternoon tides this past week. While the action was not as fast as that reported by those fishing the dawn patrol, there were plenty of fish to please our guests. Monday, fly fisher, Sal Medeiros of Taunton was picked up in Boston. Sal's partner had to bail at the last minute due to a work issue. Captain Bill found a small school of bass working the shallow edge of Sculpin Ledge and Sal caught a few before the fish moved to the north side of Long Island. Sal did well on a Big Eye Deceiver fished on an intermediate line. While most fish were in the 24-26 inch range, Sal managed to land one that broke the 30 inch mark when he switched to a Teeney sinking line to get deeper. Figuring that working below the schooling fish was the ticket to bigger fish, Sal continued to search the depths. However, this was the only taker on the deep line. Switching back to the intermediate line, Sal was back into fish.

Tuesday evening, Fred White and Susan Thompson from Kansas were staying in Boston after attending the weekend graduation of Fred's nephew. They decided to combine some sightseeing with their first experience in salt water fishing. Susan was hoping to take a fish by her namesake, Thompson's Island, where the morning crew caught same nice bass. But the fish were not there this afternoon. The start of the trip was slow, but just before dusk, the fish began to pop off of the North Channel. Action was fast and furious for almost two hours. Fred and Susan used Bass Assassins worked among the schools of crashing bass to catch a number of bass up to 32 inches. These visitors from the Sunflower State will remember their trip to Boston for several reasons…the graduation, the sights, and the Fishing!

On Thursday and Friday, Captain George had an excellent early morning bite in the Inner Triangle. Most of the action was on fly tackle with herring patterns working best. While Captain George was whacking bass by main channel, another big bite was going off between Hull Gut and Hospital Shoal. The action lasted until tide slackened.

The winds were light on Saturday morning when Frank Farraye of Medfield, David Deitz of Sharon, and Joe Verlicco of Quincy met Captain Bill at the dock. After several days of clear weather, the weather turned to the east, and there was a real nip in the air. With little tide moving, the first few stop in Quincy Bay did not look too promising, but the crew found a school of bass pushing up herring. For an hour, the crew worked these fish which proved difficult to catch. The fish were keyed in on herring and only occasionally gave chase to the crew's offerings. A few bass were taken on Bass Assassins and Clousers. After awhile, this school of bass broke up so it was time to explore new waters. Moving into the deeper water in search of more cooperative fish, it was the same scenario…the fish were not interested in eating. By now the wind was up, and it began to rain lightly. To make matters worse, the crew lost the fish! It was time to head in. Today, the fish pulled a complete disappearing act-none of the other boats did any better.

Captain's Report
May 10, 2009

First a Happy Mother's Day to all!

Captain Bill's off season was very busy, but he is getting ready for the fast approaching season. The shrink wrap is off the boat and the Draggin' Fly's electronics are being updated. As Captain Bill worked the consumer shows this past winter, there was plenty of interest in last season's excellent striper fishing in Boston Harbor. While many areas, experienced major declines in numbers of bass and the overall quality of fishing, the Harbor had one of the best season in recent history. The reason…bait and more bait. The Harbor has several herring runs which attack big numbers of these bait fish, and bass were right behind. Then it was time for mackerel to make their appearance, and due to the absence of bluefish, the Macks stayed around for weeks! Later in the summer, pogies invaded the Harbor and stayed right through the fall.

While Captain Bill has been busy getting the boat ready for her maiden voyage of the season next week, friends have been fishing local waters and down on the Cape. Captain Wayne took advantage of yesterday's light wind and found some excellent fishing in the Inner Harbor. On the last two hours of the incoming tide, he found a large school of bass with most in the 24-26 inch range. The biggest was a plump 30 inch striper taken on a fly. Action lasted until slack water when the fish scattered. Once the tide turned and started moving, the bass were on the feed again. Sammy McKay of Weymouth decided to take advantage of the full moon and found fish scattered around Hull Bay early Saturday evening. But he also said that they were feeding on a worm hatch and were difficult to catch. Meanwhile, Brian Shura of Norfolk, a Draggin' Fly regular, fished Buzzard's Bay and found some big bass up to over 36 inches that aggressively attacked poppers. There are also reports of mackerel in the outer Islands.

It looks like the season is upon us! Captain Bill has limited early season openings including Memorial Weekend.

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