NOW LET’S SEE HOW DUMB WE REALLY ARE?
Just a couple of days ago, NOAA Fisheries released a proposed rule on the National Saltwater Angler Registry that requires anglers to be “registered” before fishing in 2009.   NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking comment on the proposed rule, which was a requirement of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Because states in the Northeast which already have statewide saltwater license couldn’t get it together, the Federal Government has had to step in and do this.   Here’s why:  The recreational fishing data collection system (Marine Recreational Fishing Static Survey- MRFSS) sucks.  Basically a bunch of contractors make cold-calls to random households to try and find people who fish.  I mean come on.  What are the odds they’ll find an angler?  There is a dockside survey also, but there are a ton of problems with that as well.  I’ve been fishing Jersey, NYC and Long Island Waters hard for about 15 years and I have never once been surveyed.    There are simply not enough folks surveyed.  And what about all those folks that fish estuaries or fish at night?  Nope, they aren’t even in the picture.  No survey exists for them.   And let’s be honest.  Lots of fishing mortality, particularly with bass, occurs at night.  Quite simply, MRFSS is a terrible system and it’s not even designed to do what it has been tasked to do. 

Here’s where the serious problem lies:  When managers don’t have complete and accurate data it can and often does result in overly restrictive measures, or much worse, it can result in continued overfishing.  In either case, we are the big losers.  It is undeniable that with a licensing or registry-system, fishery management numbers would be greatly enhanced.    “The national registry of saltwater anglers is the key to closing a major gap in information on recreational fishing,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “It will help us conduct surveys to get a more complete picture of how recreational fishing by an estimated 14 million people is affecting fish stocks. This will lead to better stock assessments and more effective regulations to rebuild and manage these valuable fish.”
Now here’s what sucks about this National Angler Registry when you compare to a regular state license.   While the registry will start out free in 2009, in 2010 anglers will be charged around $25.  While a state license can and will be used for restoration and fishery management in the state, by law, the registry fee taken by NOAA is to be used solely to offset the cost of issuing the registration. It can not be specifically directed to fisheries management.   And get this…   The money wouldn’t even go to NOAA, but rather directly into the black hole of the U.S. Treasury!

At this point it’s just stupid for all those bonehead states in the Northeast to continue to resist implementing a saltwater license.  Yet, with the exception of Connecticut, whose license bill failed this year, no such license bills exist as far as I know.  In my home state, there have been meetings and a lot of talk.  But any reasonable draw up of a palatable license proposal gets shot down by a handful of loudmouths in the recreational fishing industry.  That’s a huge bummer.  So much good could come out of a reasonably drawn up saltwater licensing system.  Money, clout, a louder voice etc…  And such systems have certainly been drawn up.

Yet, despite all the well-written articles describing the benefits of such a license out there, there are still a lot of false arguments flying around against a saltwater license.  E.g. the money will go into the general coffer and not be used for fisheries (even though there is a law in the books of every state that would prevent this, not to mention the federal Wallop Breau audits)… It would kill an already strained recreational fishing industry (yeah right…  Look at FL).  The list goes on and to cover it all would take more space than I have here.

Aside from all of these fallacies, the simple fact remains that if those non-saltwater-license sates in the Northeast don’t get their act together and implement a license we might as well be throwing that money away, when it could be benefiting those states recreational fisheries greatly.   Still, there seems to be no movement, and still, the same folks are voicing the same short-sighted opposition.  So, how stupid are we???

On to the Northeast Fishing Reports
Crazy good fishing pretty much across the board (except for the last two days in my neck of the woods…  Will get to that later).   New Jersey continues to have that sick run of menhaden right off of its beaches and each day blitzes have been going off right up on the beaches as bass pin the big bait up against jetties.  Inshore, their fishing slowed quite a bit with a big increase in water temp this week.  New York Harbor started the week out fishing pretty good.  Now?  It kinda sucks.  Unless of course you like bluefish. Lots of them around, but the bass are small and sparse.  Same in Jamaica Bay.  Some schoolies at dawn on poppers and small stuff being thrown up against the sod banks, but after that, nada.  The livelineing in both Raritan and Jamaica Bay is petering out quickly.  Still, some nice bass being caught early in the morning, but after that it’s all blues bighting your bunker in half.   As one moves east across Long Island, the fishing reports get better.  In central Long Island, there are some monster weakfish being caught in the Great South Bay.    On the North Shore there seems to still be plenty of schoolie action, but very few bigger fish.  Out east, well…  It’s “East” and as you might have imagined, it’s fishing pretty good.  Lots of big fish showing in the flats out there and I’m told there is an extraordinary number of sandeels.   On the ocean side, the regulars are taking some really good fish tossing plugs and flies along the usual structure.  In central and eastern Connecticut, I’m hearing that things just exploded this week with an influx of squid and big fish busting on them good.  Same deal with Rhode Island.  In Mass, the action got quite a bit better this week as well.
The water is warming quickly and so far we seem to be having an exceptionally good spring.  It’s not gonna last though.  Weather is pretty darn good this weekend.  Get out there!

NEW JERSEY FISHING REPORT
From the Southern New Jersey area, Capt. Bryan Delio from Iowa Fortune Guide Service checks in with this late-breaking report from the Ocean/Atlantic city backcountry:
Hey John just got off the water, hope its not too late to send you this and hopfully it makes sense I’ve been up since 2:30am it was typed very fast .Anyway things down here are really picking up despite the boiling hot water temperatures that are currently ranging from 73-78 degrees. This week has been all about the topwater action which rang in the next phase of the season. All week we had good size pods of Bass rolling, finning and tailing on some of the shallowest of flats all on the quest for a grass shrimp meal. The past new moon phase triggered a massive shrimp hatch and with all other bait nearly nonexistent in the backcountry this hatch is like ringing the dinner bell for the free seafood buffet. This recent batch of Bass finally has settled in to a very predictable Summer pattern making my clients as well as myself very happy. 80 % of the Bass this week were taken on topwater and ranged in size from 18′ - 29″ and very healthy and as it has been in the weeks prior there are still some real bruisers lurking around but unfortunately they still refuse to have their photos taken. I expect that things are going to just keep on getting better as the weeks progress as more Bass continue to push into the backcountry. Summertime sleep depriving topwater action is here so its time to stock up on the coffee because from here on it’s all about 1st light last light and the mystical allnighters. Until next week….

Wow…  Things are crazy good in Central Jersey…  Check out Capt. Gene Quigley from Shore Catch Guide Service’s report:
John, Massive bass blitzes taking place here along the jersey Shore. It has been all out every evening on the bunker schools. Funny thing is it is the only time the bass are eating. All morning the fish are inactive with bunker flipping everywhere, then at 3 PM all hell breaks loose. Just got in from a slaughter, my sports must have caught and released over 20 fish from 23 to 44 LBS!!! Here is young Hunter. This kid is an amazing fisherman. Got this 33 lber on a top water Pajama Plug.  The time is now to be fishing in Jersey. This should last well into July.

NEW YORK FISHING REPORT

Captain Chris Hessert from Manhattan Fly checks in with a report of the action thus far.  Check it out:

Hey John, I am always excited in early May to get the rig in the water, all the gear in order and get my charters lined up only to discover (as usual) that the rain/wind blows out my runs for a good portion of the month…this has been a consistent factor every spring. That being said…you would think I would learn to wait for the bass on my favorite areas. May in the Lower NY Bay brought the bluefish and they were not bad this spring, upwards of 10 pounds and about 100 bucks in trashed lures, had one put a 90 degree be in a Hopkins # 6 hook…pit bulls. Some record weak fish taken in Raritan Bay and massive bass with the live liners in J-Bay. First week of June the after burners really kicked in hard! with the best bass action to date! Had Mike Carissimo out at the start of the month and he scored huge with a 20+ pounder on the fly, handled it like a real pro. Chuan Wong hit the bragging board with a real good looking bass…light tackle (my new 4 150  Van Staals on light rods) using six inch storm shads, sinking to the bottom and slow jig  back up, slammed ‘em! However the epic day out, Thursday, the 5th, was with Sheridan Reilly and Lonnie in from Austria. Getting out there at 4:45 AM was the plan, then getting a read on increasing air pressure, incoming tide and a breeze from the East…I thought for sure some one would put the switch in the off position…I could not be more friggin wrong! IT WENT OFF!! by 10:00 Actually complaining about sore fore arms ! HA! how awesome is that? These fish were 25 to 36 inches with full bellies and still piggin! I few fish that Lonnie hooked into were 2 handed haul outs..I mean, a soft ball could fit in their mouths. Really great stuff… Sure hope this is an indication for the balance of the month…getting stoked for some awesome albie, skippy, bonito and potential blue fin tuna…last season set the bar.

REPORT 2nd week of June: The crushing heat wave we experienced over the week end sure slowed things down a bit. I saw water temps at the beginning of the month go from 46  up to 63, spiking in the last few days, not much cloud cover either ( those good bass days always have plenty of cover). This week it was all blue fish (with only a couple of 32 inch bass). The bass have  not left, they have just gone deep. Those wire line trolling guys and live liners were still doing well. I think that some cloud cover and getting the temps back to normal will show some improvement, we sure made due with what we had! watching those big blues trashing surface plugs and fly poppers is awesome! Been watching a huge warm water eddie that has been spinning in this general direction for a few days now, this thing is BIG! Last July when the bonito came in,  I saw something  like this. (see attached)  Also attached is a photo of a huge 40+ pound bass that John McMurray  found floating belly up, reaches over and hauls this beast up to find a large flounder caught in its throat!, this thing choked to death! thats crazy…More to report next week…-Capt. Chris

Also checking in from the Lower New York Harbor/Jamaica Bay area is Capt. David Azar from One More Cast Charters/Live to Fish Charters:
Friday, June 6th I was able to put it all together with Slowbad (aka: Dr. Steve Slobotski) & Infamous (akaanny Harari) onboard.  First it was outside in the fog for a bunch of bass from 25″ to 29″ on light tackle.  Slowbad was deposited back at the dock at 9:00 after which Infamous & I headed to the airport for a little live-lining.  The action there was “sick” with a constant bass bite for 2 more hours.  The smallest fish went 10 pounds and the biggest 23 pounds.  Oh yeah, and during all the lulls in the action we caught all the small bluefish you could ask for, OR NOT!
Sunday, June 8th, I served as first mate aboard Dr. Ron Mizrahi’s 28 GradyWhite,  the “Sarah’s Lament”, and led Ron and his sons Isaac & Jack to a great catch of striped bass and big bluefish in the Breezy Point area.  Isaac was high hook for the day including the biggest bass and blue.  We left them biting after several hours of non-stop action. -Capt. Dave Azar

From the North Shore, Captain Robin Calitri from Long Island Fly Fishing  sends us this report:
This was quite a wonderful week for fishing on the North Shore with Csicagain Charters. Charlie Weiner and Ron Hooey joined me for a great evening on Friday.  It was a tough bite but we took bass to 26 inches around Huntington Harbor and Sand City.  Small, dark clousers were the key.  They also had a ball with shad which jumped like tarpon on a  seven weight fly rod. On Tuesday, my regular scouting crew of Mitch Bernstein and Emory Butts had a glory time hitting various points west of Cold Spring Harbor.  We found bass, blues and best of all, Weakfish on light tackle. There was a red tide but it was exciting to see the hole that the fish made in the red tide when they came up for bait or a fly. Mitch and I took bass and blues to 28 inches but it was Emory who landed and released two beautiful, large weakfish on rattletraps. Captain Robin Calitri

And…  From out East, Montauk Way, Capt. Jim Hull from Light Tackle Challenge is catching some very large bass.  Check it out:
Clear skies and gin clear water have presented a challenge tricking the cows to commit to an artificial but a faster retieve and lighter tippet has brought some success here at beautiful Montauk Point. Our top 3 this week have been a 40,41 and 44 with others, some appearing larger lost. The one you loose is ALWAYS bigger,LOL. On Sunday, a 48″ Tarpon came cruising by the bow. Several attempts to coax a take were close but no cigar. Ocean waves over rocks should make for a great season on big bass and hopefully the show of BFT over the next week or so. There are some prime tide-moon days open in early August. Pump up and reel down.  -Jim

In the East Hampton area, Capt. David Blinken from North Flats Guiding reports that the action continues to be quite good on the flats.
There are large fish, bass and blues, streaming into the area every day with huge amounts of sand eels.
Some of the sand eels are as big as 3+ inches long, bass are also eating crabs and when available squid.
The heat wave has affected the fishing marginally at the low end of the tides when the water heats up otherwise the bite is strong. A cooling trend is coming later this week to make things easier on the fish and anglers. The first photo Is Rich Epstein enjoying the moment of truth in a creek during a stupendous morning of incoming tide fishing.  The second is the grip and grin with Rich R prior to the release.
The third photo is Mike Kahn of Albright Tackle with a 38 inch 20 LB bass caught in 1.5 ft of water on Shelter Island. This fish showed us many yards of backing.
Tight lines, David

Last and definitely not least, Salty Flyrodder Joel Filner checks in with a report from the Salty Flyrodders of New York annual Conclave.
This is a catching report not a fishing report. The Salty Flyrodders 41st Annual Conclave was as good a fishing weekend as any we have had over the last 15 years. From Friday Morning when the Kayakers started in the rain at 7 AM  paddling about the bays on the north fork, and the early birds fished the outgoing on the Sound side at 3 AM, hooking and releasing 30 fish in two hours, the days were filled with stripers. Not giant fish but constant sized, 18 to 26 inches, with the champion fish at 29 inches, the nights on the beach were filled with flashes from cameras.  Patricia Dee Kelly won the tournament with that fish, at 10 pm Friday on the Sound beaches. The group of serious fishers spent time with Alan Caolo, who reported on sight fishing for bass on the flats using boat, shore and wading techniques. Alan did a tieing exhibition and on Saturday afternoon walked the beaches with the group and pointed out techniques even to old salts. The novice fly fishers got a lesson one on one for casting, retrieving the fly, accuracy, and what techniques to use for wading and directing the casts. Most importantly how to handle the fish and get him back to the water. A total of 160 fish, mostly stripers, including 15 blues, and a porgy were caught during the official time, from 5 PM Friday to 9 AM Sunday with everyone at least hooking up. The experts fished all the Secret spots.. and everyone else worked the water. More importantly the group was able to fish with the speaker, and showing all the secret spots and tides, giving something back to Alan for the program and learning opportunity. The Sound View Inn did their usual super job on arranging rooms, excellent food, and help when we needed to move out to fish. We are very lucky to be able to access the beaches for our sport as well  in such a vital fishery on long island, maximizing efforts in conservation initiatives, including game fish status for Stripers.

CONNECTICUT FISHING REPORTS
Capt. Mike Warecke from Southeastern Connecticut Fishing Charters checks in with this eastern Connecticut report.  Check it out:
The eastern Connecticut shore turned on over the past week. Stripers and blues are here in big numbers. We have been catching bass in the teens to mid 20 lbers on every outing. White sluggo’s seem to be the ticket, even at night. 10″ herring patterns have been producing most of the fly rod catches. With fishing like this, all my customers leave very happy. The choppers showed up this past week with fish in the lower teens. These fish are spotty and mixed in with the bass. A client caught a blue and during the fight was spitting up chucks of bait, when we landed the fish, one more chuck came up and to my surprise, the chuck was a striped bass in the 20″ range. With the full moon tides this weekend, the bite should continue. - Capt. Mike

Also reporting from Eastern Connecticut is Capt. Mike Duclos from Tiderunner Charters.
What a difference a weeks can make; after several weeks of searching and wondering why fishing was so slow suddenly there are fish everywhere. The last few trips have been very rewarding with bluefish to 10# and stripers taking squid flies with reckless abandon on one tide then changing over to jiggies, clouser and deceivers on the next. Most of the fish are in the 24″ to 30″ class with an occasional 36″ linesidder to spice things up. There are not a lot of boats on the fish yet so the fishing is very civilized without the runners and gunners that can make any day interesting. The Race and Race Rock has fish as well as the south side of Fishers, early morning at the Duplings has been good as well as several small rips allong the Connecticut shore, if you put your time in there are fish to find. Have a great week. -Capt. Mike Duclos

Working the same region, Capt. Sandy Noyes from Rumrunner Guide Service reports great action as well.  Check it out: The water temps are rising, the bait is coming and the fish are following. The heat wave this past week has really warmed things up in more ways than one. I had a couple of days off this week so my wife and I decided to beat the heat  by staying on the water. We found bass in places that you normally don’t see them on a particular tide. We had one Reef all to ourselves at 2:30 in the afternoon. The fish were on top until the tide quit around five that evening. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and they stayed on top pretty much the whole time. I saw a large patch of brown go by that was twice the size of my boat. When it hit the rip the patch turned white when the bass found them. Then I realized that it was a school of squid. Tuesday  saw schools of silversides arriving and if your fly wasn’t a close imitation the bass weren’t interested. The sizes have been good with most fish in the 6 to 8 lb. range with some going to the high teens. So far the bluefish haven’t shown up yet. - Sandy

RHODE ISLAND FISHING REPORTS
Capt. Greg Snow from Snowfly Charters checks in with this Block Island report.
This second week of June has been explosive like so many before it.  I am fortunate enough to spend the bulk of my season on Block Island where I have put in many early morning hours with both clients and fishing friends in the past couple of days. It’s been a scouting and feeling out adventure for the most part. .  It’s on fire right now!  Giggling like school girls at the constant triples.  Flies are murdered and soft plastics inhaled on a regular basis with cookie cutter 15 pound fish and lots of tweens spoiling there fun more than frequently.  Snake flies and light colored flatwings have produced some really serious fish .  Fish when you need to and not when you want to, and now is that time.

The guys at the Saltwater Edge fishing shop put out a very comprehensive report.  Check it out:
It’s been a mixed bag of reports over the past couple of weeks. Some good, some bad, and some stretches where almost everyone was wondering where the fish were. Over the past few days or so though the reports improved dramatically in many popular areas such as Newport and Narragansett Bay. The Canal, while still productive, has fallen off a bit from an incredible peak now a little ways back.

The Newport suds as well as the shorelines to the East and West of us have become active, which the guys at the shop of course love since it’s just a short drive from the SWE. There’s been very nice surf the past few days and some decent catches. Nothing real big but good bass between 20 and 30 pounds and some schoolies mixed in around the edges. Big Pencils in the early morning and evening and eels and metal lip swimmers at night have been responsible for the nicer catches. Most of the catches were surrounded by not a lot of catching, so don’t expect any sort of constant action. A few anglers did have almost every cast action at a few spots, but they were the minority overall. It was also hard to get a repeat performance from the surf; where there were fish one night there just weren’t any next. Bluefish are making life miserable for eel and Sluggo fisherman, but that is of course part of the game.

For those fishing in the Bay, something to always keep in mind especially with big and mobile baitfish such as adult bunker, is that where the fish are is a very dynamic thing. “Make reports, don’t chase them” as we like to say around the shop. Sometimes you just have to take your best guesstimate as to where you should be, and then go from there. It never hurts to keep moving. When you get ready to call it a wrap, check out just one more spot. When live lining bunker remember that some schools of bunker will have minimal or no stripers near them. Try going elsewhere and fish around likely structure after snagging your bait. A few nights ago a friend of mine decided to hit just ONE more spot at the time I called it quits. I was kicking myself not an hour later when he called on the phone after pulling a 44 inch, 25 pound bass on to rocks.

To date, overall, people are feeling a little let down after last year’s bunker season in Narragansett Bay. It almost reminds me of the year after the infamous schoolie bluefin invasion, we all had high hopes for a repeat or better. What we had then (and also this year for bass) was actually a very good follow up year. But compared to what happened prior, it’s tough for some fisherman not to feel a little disappointed.

The annual Spring Surf Fishing Challenge which took place this past weekend was a good indication of the fishing taking place, with many anglers fishing hard in a variety of ways over many different parts of the state. There were a few who caught well, some who only caught one but it was big, and others who struggled to find a fish. Almost everyone I talked to that caught well on the first night couldn’t repeat it in any way on the 2nd night. Teams that spread out and covered a lot of ground seemed to eventually catch. On the first night everyone noticed that the bite didn’t really start until 2am as the tide got low and started to slack. All across Newport and the East Bay where we had scattered our team anglers started hooking up at that time after struggling prior. As always there’s no substitute for putting your time in. Sometimes you just have to be there.

For those looking to get out on the water we still have plenty of charter openings in the upcoming months for bass, bluefin, and eventually albies and bonito. We also offer offshore trips for sharks, yellowfin, and more. Fly, spin, light tackle, and trolling we have captains that specialize in any manner you might want to fish. Give us call at the shop at 866.793.6733 or send us an email at guidetrips@saltwateredge.com if you want to get in on the action.

MASSACHUSETTS FISHING REPORT
From the Boston area, Capt. Mendelson Boston Fishstix Guides reports a great week despite the heat:It feels like the dog days of summer around here with temps reaching well into the 90’s over the past few days but the fish dont know it. We have been chartering a lot over the past few days and finding good fish all over the inner harbor. Both incoming and outgoing tides have been producing though the bigger fish have eaten better on the low incoming. Saturday we took a number of large fish on really light gear with the largest going just over 40″ and 32lbs. The fish have been a bit picky the past day or so as they feed on smaller bait and the hot sun beats down. That said, there was a good feed again today and my client Bernie took this 36″/2olb fish on the fly, his largest of the year so far! We will be out most days this week. Check in often for updated reports. Cheers, Capt. John Mendelson

Out on the Vineyard, Capt. Tom Rapone of Highly Migratory Fishing reports that the Vineyard is all out at the moment.  Check it out.  It’s been an awesome week of striper fishing (and weather) on Martha’s Vineyard. A decent number of squid are filling into various rips in Vineyard Sound, and the bass are right behind them. On the Oceanside, it’s been slick calm conditions and bass ranging from 24-inches to 40-pounds blitzing on sandeels and juvenile herring almost all week long. The estuaries are still holding plenty of fish, but at the rate pond water temps have gone up in the last week, it’s bound to turn into an outside-only game before long.  North, west, east or south of the Island– pick a direction and it’s hard to go wrong at the moment. -Capt. Tom Rapone

We also hear from Capt. Dave Rimmer this week:
Gloucester to Salisbury:  The past week was fantastic striped bass fish along the north coast of Massachusetts with excellent ebbing tides at daybreak. Big striped bass were caught across our region, but primarily in the rivers and estuaries. Bait was abundant and large. Schools of pogies were seen in numerous places like off the mouth of the Annisquam River and herring were in the Merrimack and Parker Rivers. One friend of mine caught 6 bass between 36-42 inches in the Parker River and just about everyday on my charters we were able to find and catch fish from 15-25 pounds, with some of the best action coming on the dropping tide a mile or so upstream from the mouth of the Merrimack River, where deep cut marsh banks hold bait and bass consistently this time of year. Joppa Flats also was smoking hot last Monday, with numerous 40+ inch fish being landed on flies. Tides in the next week are incoming at daybreak but still should be very productive. Joppa Flats should continue to produce. Grab your biggest flies and strip like a madman. Night time might be the best time now too….less crowded and fish are more active.

Out in the Cape. Terry Nugent from Riptide Charters reports that the bluefin are in!  Check it out.
Today was a HALF DAY BASS CHARTER with Brian, Brian Sr., Ted and Ted Sr. We splashed in Sandwich at 0530 and headed out to the same areas we’ve been hitting the bass. We got on site in the FAC water and found nice bass rolling on the glassy water. The guys went to work with the light rods and 5″ Yo Zuri’s. The bass were picky but the guys did a nice job of teasing them to bite.  After a couple hours of doubles and triples the bite slowed and the boat traffic went through the roof. We tried to get away from the traffic but there were too many boats. We decided to run a ways to get on a bite that Capt Jeff Smith was on and was nice enough to share with me. But as is my luck we got there just as it died off. While I was planning the next move with only an hour and a half left in the trip I got a call from a buddy on the VHF. It was Capt Nat Moody from First Light Anglers up on the North Shore. Capt Nat told me that the “other” fish were GOING OFF!!!! Well Capt Nat is on top of his game and when he says it’s hot its HOT! I looked at the crew and asked if they were willing to bag the rest of the trip looking for bass and see if we could get a shot at a tuna. They had landed a ton of bass and blues so they all agreed it was worth a shot. We had a LONG way to go but the water was still FAC and the big Contender can stretch her legs like a racehorse when the need arises.

I plugged in the numbers and we were off. I got about half way to Capt Nat and I hit him up on the VHF to make sure it was still worth the long ride. His response “GET HERE NOW!!!!” I know that tone so I pushed the throttles to the pins and now we were screaming towards Nat at 50 KNOTS!  As we got closer we began to smell the bait, then we saw some birds, then IT WAS ON!!!! The tuna were blowing up EVERYWHERE!!!! I mean it was lights out, full on blitz in every direction. My sports had never seen anything like this and they were just blown away. ……let me backtrack a second. We were on a bass trip, that means no tuna gear on the boat. So I had to improvise. I grabbed a St Croix Premier Tuna Spinning rod we were using to snag pogies with, mated it to the biggest spinning reel I had, a Penn 560 Liveliner. I dug out a spare spool for the reel with a 250 yards of braid on it from my rigging bag, tied in some 50# flouro and tied on some special tin. The other two rods we put into action were the Penn 975 Leverdrags on the St Croix Musky Sticks with 50# braid.  We were clearly outgunned for the 75-300# tuna that were crashing the surface. I adjusted the drags to the highest smooth setting I could get and told the guys were were definatly going to have to chase most any fish we hooked. With that I began to set the guys up on the breaking masses of fish. We had several dozen casts into the fish without a sniff. Then finally the right cast in the right spot and Ted Sr. yells “I’m IN!!! I’m IN!!!” The St Croix is doubled over and the poor little 560 Penn is giving up line like there is no tommorow!! I fire up the Verados and start to turn the boat.  As I’m turning the boat the guys on the bow are yelling “WE”RE GETTING SPOOLED!” I hear that allot and on the 950 Penn’s it’s never really happening, while on the little 560 it was and it was happening FAST! I told the guys to hang on and I told Te to crank like crazy. I pushed the throttles up and gave chase. Ted yelled back that we were STILL lossing line and we didn’t have much left. I got a glimps of the spool and it was THIN! JUST ANOTHER REASON TO NEVER USE BACKING TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR BRAID, you never know when you might need EVERY last yard. We finally gained back some line and the fish was making shorted runs. After about 25 minutes Ted Sr let Ted Jr take the rod to feel the power of the fish. With a fresh angler we got on the fish as hard as we could. Since the fish was done with it’s big runs I gave the reel a bit more drag to keep Ted from having to palm the spool and with no long runs in the future the drag could handle a little extra presure without sticking. The fish began to tire and Ted put everything the little combo could give on the fish. At the 35 minute mark I saw the leader. Of course being on a bass trip, NO TUNA GAFF. All I had was my trusty Top Shot Lip Gaff. As the fish came past the gunnel I lunged over the side and grabbed the leader. Not seeing any way to handle this fish to get a clean lip shot I swung the lipped into the fishes side as hard as I could and burried it to the hilt. The fish went nuts and ripped the gaff out of my hand. The gaffs safety leash around my wrist was being pulled to its limit. I pulled at the fish with the leash and the guys helped by hanging on to me. I got the fish against the gunnel and we gave it a heave ho and dragged it over the gunnel where it hit the deack with a mighty thud!  Everyone was out of their minds excited. I was SO happy that we landed the fish. It’s my earliest tuna ever and a damn nice one at that. This was the guys first every tuna on spinning gear and they did it with one arm tied behind their back. After high 5’s and a ton of pictures we cleaned and preped the fish and stowed it in the fishbox for the long ride home. Final tally a ton of nice bass, a few big blues and one stud of a tuna on the lightest combo you’d ever want to tangle with one on. The rod we used for the tuna was my regular tuna stick a St Croix SW Premier 20-40# with a Penn 560 Liveliner reel.  Overall it was just the most incredble day OTW. A half day bass charter that ran long and ended in fantastic fashion. All of the thanks has to go to one person and one person only Capt Nat Moody and the guys at First Light Anglers in Rowley. Capt Nat and I share info and have done a bunch of seminars and talks together. He and his crew at First Light at CLASS ACTS! They are great to work with and they ALWAYS think to call when they are on the bite. It’s this kind of give and take information sharing that is so hard to find and so valuable when you do find it. Nat my sports and I truely appreciate the call you are the BEST! Capt. Terry Nugent

MAINE FISHING REPORT
Captain Eric Wallace of Coastal Fly Angler Guide Service reports: From the Piscataqua River on the New Hampshire border  north to the Kennebec the word on the water for weeks has been bait, It’s just crazy how much food we have this year, and finally we can talk about good size fish in numbers, showing up to feed. All of Maine has some kind of bait from Silversides to sand eels and Herring to Adult Pogies, But it’s a different story on where the Bass are showing,  Portland South is seeing catches of 40 fish or so on six hour trip mixed in are fish in the mid 30’s reported by local shops.
I’ve guided the last six days on the lower western parts of Casco Bay and today was by far the best morning I’ve had we boated some fish near 30 and found a small worm swarm or hatch on the flats first thing and just had a blast, The Tides are  setting  up for some good fishing next week where we have great tides to the fish over worms in ultra skinny water and I’m glad we have the fish to key in on them unlike areas  north  where the word is ton of Macs on small juvie herring as reported by Sweet Action Charters of Boothbay I’ve heard  reports of some action even farther north while the Kennebec is off to a slow start once again, but that should change real soon.
Looking ahead to next week I’ll check in with Capt Doug Jowett as reports of big blue fish have made in into the New Meadows river and eastern Casco Bay.
Wow!  On that note, I’m gonna sign off.  See ya on the water…

Capt. John McMurray
Tidal Fish Northeast Fishing Correspondent

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