capt'n avery

2011-06-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a first on board the goodship Gravy. The word for the day was not clouser or slug-go, but bait. Yes, b-a-i-t. Not the kind where you point at the water and say "look at all the bait" or the kind of bait that is attached to a swirling bait-ball. Nope, this was the kind of bait that was attached to a hook that was attached to a line that had a weight on it and that was slung into the deep to patiently await the bite. However, the bite did not require a lot of patience, in fact, the bait got bit pretty quickly! It was a whole new way of fishing...

So one might wonder how the bait got on the boat. Well it came as a bit of a surprise to me when that innocuous little cooler that was stashed in the locker with life jackets and warm clothing turned out to contain a "baggie" filled with sand eels. My clients for the day, Jim and his daughter Tory, had snuck on board none of the sand eel imitations that this fishing guide is so familiar with but instead the real thing. Yesterday, Jim had labored for 45 minutes in waste deep water collecting these little buggers for today's trip. Well, I'm glad that he did...

We had tried fishing Capt. Avery's way, tossing slug-gos into likely spots and following a couple of slightly active birds to an area where the fish were sporadically swirling but not in any relation to the sand eel imitations that we were offering. Jim calmly asked if we couldn't head back to "the channel" where we had witnessed a couple of boats "hooked up" as we passed. Recognizing that my plan wasn't working, I acquiesced to Jim's idea and to fish in the channel with bait. It worked great! In 4 or 5 drifts we caught 5 or 6 fish including 2 tautog! We also caught a crab and a starfish. The starfish was given short term accommodations inside of a 5 gallon bucket filled with sea water and kept Tory mesmerized for the rest of the morning.

Well, I don't think that I'm going take up fishing with bait as a regular practice, but I have to admit, it is tempting to keep some on board for those days when all of my old tricks are not working.

Oh, and of course there is the story of the "the one that got away"...

2010-11-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!

Yep, the summer is over and once again I'm a slacker when it comes to posting blogs. Suffice it to say that the heat had a negative impact on this season's fishing. Flowers showed up early, fish showed up on time, but they stopped by and headed northward. The flats fish were the spookiest I've ever experienced them. Perhaps it's fishing pressure, some say there is a decline in the striper fishery, maybe it's cyclical. The bottom line, it was a quiet summer for fishing. The "fall blitz" showed up in an "on and off" fashion. In fact there are probably a few fish still hanging around but it's mostly ducks that I see out on the harbor. Sometimes the gulls and gannets look like they are yoyo-ing above fish, but it's ducks that I see breaking the surface, a sure sign that fall is here. So turn back your clocks and enjoy the winter with its trips to places where the fish are still hungry.

MWFF Trip or How a fly fishing guide can break all the rules!

2010-06-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why anyone goes fishing with me, well that's not exactly true, but when days happen like my last two trips, I just gotta wonder...

Of course, the guide is not supposed to fish, unless of course they are invited, however, I don't think taking a few casts to unkink the fly line would be considered "invited", especially when, BAM -fish on (26 incher). To make matters worse, it was a very slow day of fishing with only a handful of juveniles landed.

Nevertheless, I think that MWFF Raffle winner Jess Wilke and her dad had a great day on the water. What an honor it is to take a father/daughter team fishing and witness how much both enjoyed being in each other's company. They knew each others routines, stories and (of course) so much more.

The next day MWFF board members Jan P. and Kechia show up for a day of flats fishing. Kechia had the touch that day hooking several schoolies and teasing many more.

Jan's cast was looking good, but I think it was her laughter that distracted her from really focusing on her game. I don't think that either of them could believe it when yours truly pulled out the double treble hooked pencil popper. Frankly, I couldn't believe it either but we'd left the flats for the blue water and discovered big fish lolling around just under the surface of the water and I was trying to figure how to entice them. Jan got a hit on her fly but no hook up.

Finally, as the day slipped away, the sluggo prevailed when the pesky guide couldn't resist tossing a sluggo (this is not a fly) into the fish that were just outside of fly casting range. BAM -fish on, a keeper which was released back into the sea.

Happy Client

2010-06-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

As much as I love a good day of sight-fishing, it's always promising when the weather report is for fog and wind and today it started with both with the wind eventually pushing the fog aside. Whatever happened, the fish were pretty happy, happy to eat that is...

The big ones are still around, although somewhat finicky at times, today they were less so. Saw some aggressive jumping and feeding fish. Also, the gannets were going crazy! Gannets love to hang in the harbor in June, especially on the gray and stormy days. The eider ducks have continued on northbound and the plovers are getting excited along the shore. The marsh grass is still short and light green and the weather unpredictable. A perfect day to catch some fish!

Let's go Fishing!

2010-05-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

It's full on fishing season here on the cape. The fish are on the flats, under the birds, and around some of their favorite structure. Yesterday I found schools of fish cruising over the flats but just under the surface. I can't say that they were the hungriest fish I've ever cast at but they certainly were some of the more curious fish. They'd come real close to the boat before scaring away. Perhaps they were in some sort of food coma...

Construction is in full swing at Barnstable Marina Bulkhead and this year there is very little public access or parking. Charters will be meeting at Dennis Public Ramp in Sesuit (if the winds are favorable) or another discreet location. The fun part about the Dennis Ramp is it situates us close to the Brewster flats, another great Cape Cod flats fishing location. The "discreet" location will remain exactly that -discreet.

2010-05-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

So it's striper season again! Spring is here and so are the fish.

Yesterday, I fished with MJ & Lauren, two women that I met at the International Women's Fly Fishers (IWFF) recent Charleston, South Carolina Festival. We found fish while blind casting amidst the flats and marshes, saw fish moving across the flat, and fish rolling under diving birds. I have to admit, they weren't the hungriest fish I've ever seen, but they were certainly performing their fish antics. It was a great day as Barnstable Harbor showed us its beautiful and clear water flats, as well its cape cod charm!

I'm looking forward to another good season of fishing, although I do anticipate some glitches resulting from construction at the Barnstable Marina that is sure to affect not only ramp access, but guest parking as well. In fact, I'm about to go repair my trailer lights because I'm thinking that it might be worth my while to utilize the state ramp in Sesuit Harbor which is a bit farther away than the usual short jaunt down the road to the Barnstable ramp. More on that as the season progresses.

OK, so I'm not a good blogger...

2009-10-27T03:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but when the season is in full swing, I'm just not thinking about blogging. It's not that I'm not paying attention to my computer, it's just that I'm not writing about, or more to the point, waiting for the fish. Instead, I'm living the fish!

Anyway, the fishing season is over for me (and the local fish), the boat is has been de-commissioned and instead I'm thinking about preparing for next season. That's kind of a lie, I'm really just thinking about how to get my canoe out on the pond. Last spring I bought a canoe, light enough for me to "lift" alone, but that's about all I can do with it "alone". Gotta find some people willing to help me lift the canoe onto the truck, off of the truck, and then paddle it around the pond! Any takers? Of course, after paddling the canoe has to lifted back onto the truck, off of the truck...

Addendum #1: 20 minutes after writing this I went down to the harbor and there were little fish jumping and birds-a-working, and not just on ducks! Perhaps the season hasn't totally wound down...

Addendum #2: Don't forget to mark your calendars for early May fishing. I think this picture simply says it all.

Around the Corner has arrived

2009-05-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

In many ways, this is my favorite time of year for fishing and today proved to me exactly why this is so. Here's a day of fishing in the early spring... Go into basement, grab rod, boots, pliers (if I actually remember to), add a layer of clothing ('cuz it's always colder on the water), drive down to the harbor, walk down to the water and take a few casts. True enough, sometimes this is just "practice" but once it "happens" it's the best and today it "happened". Noon-time, took a few casts -ZERO. 5pm, first cast -nothing, 2nd cast -BAM! 24" fish! Yeah! 10 more casts, 4 more fish, 3 of them 26" - 28". Twenty minutes, 6 fish and it was time to go home for dinner! The season has started!

Spring?

2009-03-23T09:08:00.001-07:00

So the thermometer reads 33 degrees, the wind is blowing 25-35 mph on the harbor and the local lobsterboat "Rosie K" is launched and loading her traps with fresh bait. I asked Bill, owner/operator of the "Rosie K" if it was time to start thinking about fishing and he said "no way, these traps won't be set until the end of the week!"

Next stop was Barnstable Marine Service to check-in on bottom paint status, Kate suggested bringing my boat "Gravy" by next week to begin the process of spring maintenance to the hull. Next stop, Brian's Outboards for the engine's spring massage and then home for the annual re-organization of all of the gear.

Today I'm also placing my equipment order with St. Croix Rods for some spankin' new Legend Elite fly & spinning rods. Also, I've been invited to join the Cortland Line Pro Program so I'll be sportin' some fresh Little Tunny (now they call it Clear Camo "All Water" Intermediate) fly lines.

Although spring still feels far away, I know that the early season striper fishing is really just around the corner! Can't wait!

Winter Fishing Fixes

2009-01-31T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, the time for fishing shows! What's the best way to scratch the "fishing itch" when the snow is flying? Head south to warmer climates is one answer, however, second best are the fishing and boat shows across New England. Three weeks ago, while the thermometer read in negative numbers, the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show was the place to be. I sat in the Massachusetts Women Fly Fishers booth tying flies and promoting MWFF, an on-line organization that provides women interested in fly fishing with opportunities for casting lessons, fly tying lessons, fishing excursions, and more.

Next weekend (Feb. 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th) is the Worcester Sportsmans Show/Eastern Fishing & Outdoor Exhibition @ the DCU Center in Worcester. This show is pretty cool as they have hunting dog exhibitions and my personal favorite "birds of prey" -a live exhibit of owls & hawks.

February 28th is the Bear's Den Annual Fishing Show. Visit www.bearsden.com for further details. Once again, I'll be sitting in the MWFF booth so be sure to stop by and say hello. This show we'll be raffling of some of Peggy Brenner's & Leslie Wrixon's flies.

April 3rd, 4th & 5th brings the Rhode Island Saltwater Fishing Show @ the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. I'll be at the St. Croix Fishing Rods booth all three days of that show so stop by and see what St. Croix has new for 2009!

In ain't fishing, but it's the next best thing! Hope to see you at the shows.

Wow, time flies when summer is in full swing!

2008-09-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

I had a busman's holiday this past weekend. MWFF's Jen Hall invited me to fish with she and Captain Rich Armstrong of Fishstix charters in Boston. It was great to be the client for a change, in fact as client I broke all of the rules and found myself "livelining pogies" on my fly rod. Actually, I was casting my fly rod and hooking pogies accidently and then watching as the blues and some large bass tore away at the pogies. It was really quite fascinating. However, it was my trusty Slug-go friend that hooked that nice fish you see me holding here in this picture. But enough about me...

I have pictures and stories from the past month, but I simply haven't had a moment to keep up on my fishing report. Busy with many things, and (literally) looking for fish would be one of those things. August was a tough month for stripers. Very late in the month the blues finally showed up and ate lots of flies and lures. However, betweeen tropical storm watches and generally windy weather, the fishing has been overall quite slow.

THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE. Last week I went albie fishing with the local St. Croix rep. He hooked some albies, and then some blues. It was a fun day on the southside, not my home waters but certainly a nice place to visit. Rumor has it that there are bluefin near, nearby, but check out John McMurray article in the most recent issue of Fly Fishing in Saltwaters magazine before you get too hasty about tuna fishing. I make no claims to being a tuna guide, but I do love to follow them and watch their magnificence. Here's the link to John's article: http://www.flyfishinsalt.com/species/conservation/the-bluefin-dilemma-1000064910.html

Anyway, judging by the terns, the bunker, and the albies, it's safe to say that the fall migration is in full swing which (hopefully) means the big fish are back.

If you don't hear from me for a while, that's a good sign that I'm off fishing again.

Family Charter 101

2008-08-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

So, the customer calls and says "we're a family, two kids aged 6 and 9" the guide responds "no problem, kids are fun to fish with" however, the guide thinks "ok, I'm gonna spend a lotta time untangling lines, ducking flying hooks and if I'm really lucky, the kids will be able to cast far enuf to catch a fish". Well yesterday's charter included untangling and ducking (as most charters do) but it also included two of the sweetest and funniest kids I've ever met. We'll call them S & R (need to protect their identities as I was recently enlightened to the high level of internet child stalking that exists). S & R were ready for fishing, in fact, I felt like they merely tolerated the boat ride as the tedious means to the goal of fishing. It's the dog days of August, no wind, outgoing tide and as always, I'm hoping that the fish feel like being cooperative. I take us to "the spot", everybody is still in the practicing their casts stage of the morning, when R says "I see a feather, maybe that's a sign". We laugh, feather -ha, you need to see the whole bird... when ka-pow, R is hooked up to a nice size striper. Who knew that feathers floating on the water were "a sign". Next we drove around on the bar hoping to find fish balls but only found a lot of skates and pods of sand eels. I succombed to my "follow the leader" fallback position and headed back to where I could see my "friends" casting over one of the "no fish" zones. We call them "no fish" zones because they are where many of the "tourists" fish and who wants to be seen in the tourist zone. Well, one of my fishing mentors was in the "no fish" zone, so I followed. We got some strikes and follows but no hook-ups. Nevertheless, this boat ride was the beginning of the 10, 9, 8... blast-off method of travel where 6 year old S would position himself in a ball underneath the "seat" next to the trash bucket and enjoy the wind-free, low center of gravity comfort of a very cramped space. I guess that S was a bit like a dog that feels safe in its crate. We spent the rest of morning following signs such as feathers, horseshoe crabs, cleaning up the harbor of another errant piece of re-bar (a vestige of the up harbor aqua-culture grants) and when the tide finally changed we found a nice pod of mostly stripers with a few blues mixed in where we completed the "family slam" with every family member catching at least one fish all by themselves. It was a great day, especially when I overheard S asking his mother as they walked away from the ramp, couldn't they please go fishing with the "lady fishing guide" tomorrow as well.

PS: There was a "family" guide trip lesson learned which is no orange-potato chips on the boat. They really do leave quite a mess, sticky and stainy.

PPS: Note to Michael -you see now that the "mommy" fish really aren't around right now. At least I'm finding the juniors. Some say wait til next year and those juniors may become "mommies". We'll see.

PPS: Note to Jay, there were no bikini clad any-bodies on the whale boat that day at the ramp, you were hallucinating. Thanks for all your help!

Sum Sum Summer Time

2008-07-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

So the it's mid-summer and it's mid-summer fishing. Middle of the day and the fish don't eat, unless off course it's cloudy or something. Yesterday the fish were hungry for flies, today while fishing with my nephew and his friend, the fish were loving the Hogies. The fish seem to be between 24-26". I don't know where the Mommy fish are hiding.

Timing is everything. This summer it's been good and not so good. It was good when my client hooked a 36" striper just at the moment that I was telling friends on another boat that they should come fish next to me as there were "big fish here" when BAM a big fish hit the lure as if I'd staged the whole thing.

It wasn't so good yesterday. I was on stage for the local whale watchers when, for reasons that are way too complicated to explain, I managed to drop my boat off the back of the trailer on to the ramp. It was awful, not only because it's tough on the boat, but why did it have to happen in front of a boat full of tourists? I can hear the announcer now "yes, that boat on the pavement belongs to local fishing guide Captain Ms. Salty Fly"... The boat suffered only a little damage, as for me, I'm still recovering.

2008-07-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

So today we traveled far only to find the first bluefish of the season. It was a flat calm morning and seemed like a good day to test out some of the farther reaches of the neighborhood. I saw the charter fleet trolling back and forth dragging their wire rigs and headed inshore looking for "grass patches". A couple of breaking fish alerted me and quickly my fishing companion and I were hooked up to some mid-sized bass. It seemed like the traveling was well worth it until the flies and lures started to disappear. Bluefish, Cape Cod Bay's sign of mid-season. The goodnews, the fish drought has mellowed. The bad news, these fish have teeth and not only pose a danger to my fingers, they can go thru tackle like you wouldn't believe. The lure companies refer to bluefish as their business partners. For me, all those tired, rusty flies that served their purpose this past spring and early summer, are re-vitalized and given a second chance. That's the news for today.

2008-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've gotten to my fishing report blog, in part as I just spent a week "off the grid". About a mile and a half (as the crow flies) from my house is an old fishing colony populated with small houses, most of which feature no running water or electricity. The world out there is about sand, birds, fish and (of course) good eating! Traditionally this is a week when I wake with the sun, fish most of the day and fill in the other time slots with eating. This year was a bit different with less time devoted to fishing and more time to the socialization part of eating. Nevertheless, there was good time on the water.

I Love My Backyard!

2008-06-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I could of just used my camera and it would have been as good as catching fish. 1-3 feet of water, even skinnier in some places, flat calm and good light. Oh, and TAILS! Just flopping around as the fish nuzzled the sand. We got out of the boat and stalked the fish like they were bonefish, in fact, it was like we were bonefishing only there so many more stripers than I have ever seen bonefish. Tailing, swimming around. Several times while I was wading, I looked next to me only to see hefty stripers swimming along beside me. But I was focused on the tailing fish. I tried different patterns, although it was clear that sand eels were the primary bait for most of these critters, but tailing fish signaled crabs, so I tied on one of the permit flies that I take to the tropics with me every year, and then move them to my striper fly collection, just in case. Well today was "just in case" POW, one cast with the crab fly and I was hooked up to a nice fish. Yes, the fish were largely in the "schoolies" category, still most of them were between 23-27". Fun on a fly rod, and plus they were swimming next to me as I caught them. My client, a local guy with a huge grin, commented that people travel a long way for this kind of fishing.

CFR One Fly Tournament

2008-06-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday, this lovely spring weather showed us once again its windy and rainy side. Because this type of weather is potentially quite fishy contestants in yesterday's CFR(Casting For Recovery)-Wareham One Fly Tournament began the day quite optimistically. Sadly, the wind made for some tricky casting situations and the fish were busy doing something other than showing interest in any of the three flies which tournament contestants were offering to them. I believe that only two fish were actually caught by the 25-30 contestants who fished from 8am - 4pm. There were two fish lost to pre-mature releases, and one of the kayak fishermen was rumored to have caught 2 fish, but there was some question as to whether or not he was in fact fishing within boundaries dictated by the tournament organizers. The tournament was won by a 21" striper caught by an IWFF member from NY Sam (I don't know Sam's last name) who deligently cast her spey rod from the beach not only through the lunch hour but also at least 1/2 hour past the 4pm finish of the tournament. MWFF was well represented at the contest by president Jan, vice president Candy, Brenda (CFR -Wareham leader and tournament organizer), CFR volunteers: Linda, Cindy, Jane, Evelyn, Karen and contestants: Katya and me. Honestly, I may have some of the contestants and the volunteers mixed up, I hope I didn't forget anyone (sorry if I did) and I don't know all of the last names, but anyway, there were a bunch of us there and I think I can speak for all of us and say that despite the weather and the not-so-great fishing we all had a good time. Lunch was delicious and whomever makes that amazing cole slaw, let's add that to the "recipes" section of MWFF. "Cook the Catch" may not the mantra of many of us catch and releasers, but we've all gotta eat and that cole slaw was dee-lish!

Thanks to all of you that help to make CFR the amazing organization that it is! For those of you who are not familiar with CFR, visit their website at http://www.castingforrecovery.org/

Sorry about the lack of pictures, but I forgot my camera.

Oh, and Hi again to the women that I ran into early Saturday morning at Barnstable General Store who were not part of the CFR event, but were off to do some fishing on their own aboard their sweet center console "Bird's Nest".

This one's for you Jen!

2008-05-21T12:37:00.001-07:00

The fish on the top is a 44" fish caught on a Hogy lure, the 30" fish on the bottom was caught on a clouser. Not a lot of fish to the boat, but quality fish! "Torpedo strip" is a great spring fishing spot. The weather was on our side and the season is in full swing!

Waves, rain & wind... it's spring in the northeast!

2008-05-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm just back from a 4 day boat trip to New York City. I was there to participate in a benefit "live release" fishing tournament, Fishermen's Conservation Association's (http://www.joinfca.org/) "Manhattan Cup". We departed Old Lyme, CT on Wednesday under clear skies, unfortunately, due to scheduling constraints of the boat's owner, we had no extra time to fish on the way to NYC. I spent the next two night and days bobbing up and down at Chelsea Piers (West 23rd St.) as the commuter ferry traffic kept the seas alive. Friday was Manhattan Cup day and the rain started just as 35 fishing craft made their way down the Hudson River to participate in a bluefish festival. Bluefish, bluefish, bluefish and rain, rain, rain. That about sums up the Manhattan Cup for me, that and another schedule dictated non-fishing boat ride back up Long Island Sound to Old Lyme.

So Sunday, I find myself on local waters -at last. Stripers abound, but they just aren't too hungry. I'm not sure if it was the tide, the moon, or perhaps even the weather, but the stripers were following, almost sniffing the fly and not really taking. In fact, the few that I hooked up seemed to grab the fly only after I had let the fly drop into the water to sink for a several seconds. Seems that as soon as I started to my retrieve, "fish on". Unfortunately, by 2:00, the wind was howling, the fish were very quiet so I stashed my rods and headed home only to discover that the 4-wheel drive system in truck still doesn't work properly and this is after 2 trips (already) to the Ford dealer. Thankfully, my charter was able to re-schedule for Wednesday, and we can sit out the predicted 20-35 mph winds of the next 24+ hours.

It's that time of year again.

2008-05-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air...

Several times a week late in the afternoon, I walk my dog nearby one of my favorite early spring fishing spots. All winter long, I watch the ducks hanging out around the harbor. As spring develops, I notice that the ducks disappear and the seagulls start to show up. About this time I start to wonder when the first striped bass will arrive. Today seemed like a good day to take some casts. After about 20 minutes of casting, I decided that it was still too early and that the fish were not yet here. "One more cast", really "one more cast" I thought to myself as I took "one more cast". BOOM, fish on! Not a small fish either... first fish of the season was a 30+ inch "keeper". Can't wait for tomorrow.

... and the fish are back!

Spring rears its welcome head here on Cape Cod

2008-03-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

It’s March 2nd, and although there are piles of snow around the northeast, and it’s cold out; the sun sets later, rises earlier, and the sprouts of the daffodils and the primrose are showing themselves. That is a sentence with a lot of punctuation…
Why bother to talk about spring, after all, aren’t we supposed to be living in the moment? Sure, OK, I can try to do that, but I’ve just unpacked from a weeklong bonefishing trip in the Bahamas. The trip was sponsored by Concord Outfitters, and on board from Mass Women Fly Fishers were Melissa Winstanley, Jen Hall, Erica Wheeler and me. It was a great trip with some bonefish, barracuda & lemon sharks. There was the biggest bonefish ever seen (was it really a bonefish?), a gigantic barracuda (or was it a bonefish?), shark attacks (kinda sorta), spooky fish, frolicking fish, popular guides, less popular guides, Melissa’s Flat (formerly Big Flat), leaky boats, skinny boats, broken push poles, self guided poling methods devised, and a big ring around the moon that has yet to be explained. But that was then.
Back here on the Cape, I enjoy seeing the signs of late winter and very early spring because it is these signs that foretell that the stripers might be heading this way again soon!

By the way, the beautiful flies in the picture are tied by Leslie Wrixon. This is a collection of her flies which she assembled specifically for Bahamas bonefish. Leslie's flies are available for sale individually or packaged for specific destinations. You can contact Leslie thru MWFF or thru me.