BIG BLACK-DRUM AND BIG DUMMIES
Those black drum are pretty darn cool.  As I wrote a couple of weeks ago here, there have been big schools of 50 to 80 pound fish fining on the surface off of New Jersey and Long Island.  It’s unusual to say the least to have them in such concentrations this far north.   More than likely, it’s an anomaly and we probably won’t see them again.    So, just witnessing the phenomena was worth the price of admission for me.  But these fish are eating flies and plugs as well.  A mixed blessing I think, and I’ll explain why in a second.  At any rate, we caught and released a handful of them before they decided to head south again.

Last weekend I got a call from a friend that they were off of Northern New Jersey.  He knew this because some idiot came in with 6 dead black-drum asking everyone at the marina if he could eat them.   Of course, you can eat anything, but it’s widely known that the eating quality of a black drum is terrible.  In fact I’ve never even heard of anyone eating them.  So I have to wonder…  Why on earth would someone kill approximately 300-pounds of fish when they didn’t even know if it was edible?  I mean, I guess I could understand one fish, but 6 big-ass fish!?

Perhaps I’m being too hard on such people, but at the very least, it is kinda stupid don’t ya thing?  I’m fairly certain those fish ended up in a dumpster.   I don’t get it really…  I guess it’s a cultural thing.  Kill first ask questions later.  I suppose the thinking here is that the life of those fish might have been worth the beating-of-chests/bragging rights back at the marina…   I certainly don’t see it that way.

During my upbringing up I was taught in no uncertain terms that killing things, whether fish or animals, just to kill them, is unethical and in most cases downright immoral.  And I was also taught that if you kill something, you better damn well eat it.  That was a hard lesson learned when I came back from the Potomac River one day at 9-years old with 6 dead large-mouth.  After the “what are you stupid” lecture from my father, I was eating mushy disgusting fish fillets for the entire week.  Every last fish till it was gone.   And I don’t want to rehash the squirrel incident…  Too painful.  But I’m darn glad that these were lessons ingrained at an early age.

Indeed, the black drum stock is healthy: They are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring.  One could make the case that their relative abundance is illustrated by their expansion northward.  I think you can reasonably attribute such numbers of the species to the fact that they aren’t considered a table fish.  But their abundance certainly doesn’t make killing such impressive animals just to kill them any more acceptable.  Shame on that guy!

Again, I suppose I could write off killing one fish or maybe even two to ignorance.  I mean I suppose these guys just didn’t know any better.  But killing 6…  Come on man!  Are you out of your freaking mind! That kind of shit really rubs me the wrong way.  I try not to let it bother me, but it does.  Am I alone out here?  Would love to hear from the readers.  Shoot me an email and tell me what you think: johnmcmurray@optonline.net.

Fishing Reports
Same kind of bass action in central and New Jersey as we had last week.  Lots of big stripers under bunker schools down there and folks live-lining them are doing a number on’em.  Inshore, the action is slow as the water temp is beginning to get up there.  Still, lots of schoolie bass blitzing under birds off of Breezy and the Rockaways.  There are scattered pods of bunker just east of Breezy, but there doesn’t appear to be much on them at the moment.  Hopefully that will change.  The sand flats on the backside of the point are really beginning to work well.  Lots of sandeels up on them and plenty of cruisers.  Very technical and difficult fishing though.  If you don’t have you’re A-game, don’t expect to catch fish.  Believe it or not, Jamaica Bay fished really well this week.  Lots of schoolie bass and big-ass bluefish along the sod banks.  We’ve been catching the shit out of them this week on poppers and sliders.  Nice to not have to burn all that gas!  Across the island it’s been a similar situation with the schoolie bass.  The fish only seem to be in or around the inlets though.  On the north shore there’s been some pretty good schoolie action in the early mornings, and there were a bunch of reports of some really good cinder-worm hatches going off this week and last.  Out east there are some really big bass on the South Side.  The flats fishing on the inside is standard for this time of the year.   A pretty good amount of bait, but mostly schoolies.  There are some big bluefish as well, which make for great fun in the skinny stuff.  On the Connecticut side, it’s schoolies to the west and big bass to the east.  Someone took a fish in the high 60 pound range last week at orient point.  In Rhode Island the fishing has been very consistent.  Plenty of fish in the 20-pound range eating plugs and flies.  Block Island is just sick right now.  If you can manage, get out there!  There are some quality bass being taken from the shore as well as by boat.  And, the bluefin are beginning to fill in, and anglers are getting some legitimate shots.  On the Cape, there have been major bass blitzes off or Race Point and other such rips.  Some of these blitzes are composed of fish north of 20-pounds.   The tuna fishing has been slow though.  Still some fish popping here and there but very difficult to catch.  No official reports from the Boston area, but unofficially, there appears to still be plenty of schoolies around.  Not much in the way of big fish.  Unless of course you’re a bait guy.  The Merrimack/Joppa area is relatively slow as well.  Increasing water temps are undoubtedly having an effect.  In Main, they continue to have the worst bass season in recent memory.  It’s an enigma really, but it’s not a good sign.  Still, the aces were able to pull some nice fish off the flats.

New Jersey Fishing Report
From Shore Catch Charters, Capt. Gene Quigley reports:
John, We still have insane bass fishing down here. In fact the last few days have been the best of the season, with over 60 fish in the boat over 30 lbs in two days!! They are eating bunker, pencil poppers, and big wooden swimmers right now. Today i had out Ron Crisco and his pal Jim from PA and they have fish to 46 lbs on top water. Offshore the tuna bite is also on fire in the Canyons, and I make my first run this weekend and will be switched over from bass to offshore this week. The inshore bluefin bite has been very slow for us however yet in Cape may it is on fire. Hopefully these fish will push up to our inshore lumps soon.
New York Fishing Report
Capt. David Azar from One More Cast Charters checks in with this report from the Lower New York Harbor area:
July 4th,  I have been getting several reports of spectacular striper fishing at the Breezy Point jetty.  But Last Friday things were slow out there, so with Al, Ron and Zach aboard I headed into Jamaica Bay to see what was happening and the guys were not disappointed.  Our first stop was loaded with cocktail blues busting all around the boat.  We landed about 20 to break the ice before that action quieted down.  We moved further back in the bay, near JFK, to see if there was any bunker action going on.  Instead we found some more top water action, but this time it was chopper blues.  Blues from 6 to 10 pounds were pouncing on small bait, and several fish were leaping out of the water higher than I have ever seen, some had to be six feet in the air…fortunately they were doing the same thing to our popping plugs.  the guys hooked up with these big fish for over an hour, Al picked up the fly rod and managed to hook 3 of the bruisers on a white crease fly, but they got the best of him every time.  Back at the Atlantic Highlands Marina another boat pulled up to the boat ramp with a report of catching several black drum…probably the same fish several guides reported seeing and catching over at Breezy the week before.  I took some photos including one of the lucky angler holding up what had to be a 70 pound specimen, pretty ugly, but very cool all the same.

Checking in from the North Shore is Captain Robin Calitri from Long Island Fly Fishing:
Each morning on the Sound, I check various spots to see if the Bonito have arrived.  There is a little fished, but wonderful, fly and light tackle fishery for these tunoids on long Island Sound.  They are taken with small flies, Deadly dicks and 4 inch Fin-S-Fish.  They are not easy to get to bite but a 50 yard run and a wonderful fight will follow a wrenching strike.  It is best to fish a rip where the Bonito set up and wait for them rather than running and gunning which makes the fish even more wary.  Light, fluoro carbon leaders work for most of the guides.  No Bonito as of 7-10-08, but they will be here soon. For now, the blues are thick along the whole North Shore.  Laurie Moldower had an eye popping experience with many blues to 4 pounds on light tackle on Friday abord C Sic Again.  The area hot was from Eatons Neck to the Nissequoge River.  On Wednesday, Kathy and Erick  Feildstadt, of Long Island Bassmaster fame, slew the blues on the sluggoes left over from the pre senko days of  bass fishing.  One schoolie striper was in the mix.  The sluggoes are fished on a 5/0 hook with no weight.   Each sluggoes is good for about 20 seconds but they are fun and effective. Why  wouldn’t you enjoy this fishing.

Also from the North Shore, Bob Giordano reports:
Hey John…  Short outing yesterday morning had schoolie bass off the hook. tarted off on a slope right in Huntington Harbor and had schoolies on my first six casts. In real shallow with most fish falling between 18-22″. Moved up harbor and found another pod with similar results all on Chartreuse Clousers. Made way out to the bay and off some rock piles took two better fish around 26″ on my first few casts . Another spot yielded three micros and I packed it in for the morning with around eighteen fish.  Overall size seems to have dropped a bit with the warmer water. Have to say for some reason all fish today really put a nice lean into my moderate action 8wt. regardless of size. Feisty. Made it out around 3:15 AM the night before the new moon last week but didn’t come across any worm hatches in Huntington Harbor. I did hear first hand reports that it did come off pretty good around Lloyd right off the moon. Not to many large pods of bunker around in the backwater and with that, we’re missing some of the large blues that usually are on them at first light and carry the month of July.

From the East Hampton flats, Capt. David Blinken from North Flats Guiding reports:
Windy,Windy,Windy,Cloudy,Cloudy,Cloudy,Fish,Fish,Fish.  The fishing is good when the weather cooperates and a bit challenging when it does not. The resident bass have been fun to catch with 7 & 8 wt rods and there are large blues to challenge your tackle. There are some Spanish mackerel around to mix things up a bit. Tight lines and release those bass to enjoy them another day.

Capt. Ken Rafferty from Fishing East Hampton reports:
 JUNE 24th…Morning…Ted Collins…Fly-fishing.
This morning brought three small Stripers (5 to 7 lbs.) and about a half dozen big Bluefish (10 to 15 lbs.)
JUNE 25th…Morning.
Although it was a little windy, Ted Collins was back on board for some more action. On this day only one Striper was landed…it weighed on at 14 lbs. and only two big Blues fish in the 10 lb. class. He did land about twenty small Bluefish on Spin Tackle.
JUNE 26th…NO SHOW!
JUNE 27th…Morning…Todd Ricter…Fly-fishing.
Todd managed one Striper and six Bluefish…it was slow.
JUNE 28th…Morning… Arik and Gabby…Spin Tackle.
Plenty of Bluefish were landed and gabby hooked-up and landed one 16 lb. Striper.
JUNE 28th…Afternoon…Artie Bowman…Spin Tackle.
Lots and lots of 6 lb. Bluefish and three Stripers…8, 10 and 11 lbs.
JUNE 29th…Morning…Linda Peller…Fly-fishing.
This was Linda’s second time Fly-fishing. I gave her a few suggestions and she was casting about sixty feet. She did manage to land one Striper of about 6 lbs. on the flats and about 10 Bluefish in the 5 to 7 lb. class. She lost many more due to the leader being cut off by other Blues.
JUNE 30th…Full-day…Larry Winston and Mike McConnell…Fly and Spin.
Larry hooked up and landed three Stripers while Mike landed two. Both anglers landed Bluefish. We did some sight fishing on the flats but couldn’t hook-up as the fish were just to skiddish.
JULY 1st…Morning John DeMeritt…Spin Tackle.
Only two fish were landed on this morning….one was a 8 lb. blue and the other was a 30 lb. Striper, nice catch!
JULY 2nd…Morning…David and Adam…Spin Tackle.
This was another slow morning with David landing the only two fish, one 26 inch Striper and a 6 lb. Blue. Adam just had no luck.
JULY 2nd…Late day…Paul Scharfer, his son Jessie and Michael Davis…Spin Tackle.
The wind had picked up just as we arrived at my spot but it wasn’t bad. I brought live Eels along to feed the Bluefish….LOLOL. As it turned out Michael had the first hook-up and just a minute later Paul was hooked up. I boated Michael’s Striper and it weighed in at 15 lbs. Five minutes later I had Paul’s Striper in the boat, it weighed in at 25 lbs. No Bluefish.
JULY 3rd…25 to 30 mph winds…No Fishing.
JULY 4th…Morning…Doug Murphy, Don and Dylan.
Not very productive….Doug and Don were skunked as the Bluefish kept missing their lures…at least we thought they were Bluefish. As one of these fish followed the lure right up to the boat, Dylan noticed that these were Stripers and on his next cast he slowed up the retrieve a little and landed a 29 inch Striper.
Dylan also landed one Bluefish of about 8 lbs. and then these fish were gone.
JULY 4th…Afternoon…Mark Mitchnick and his son Mac. Mark was very content to stay with a fly-rod even though we had a little wind and he was just a beginner. His son Mac fished with Spin Tackle and managed about a dozen Bluefish of different sizes.
JULY 5th… The forecast was for thunderstorms and lighting so we canceled the charter.
JULY 6th…Late day…Paul Scharfer, Brad and his son Jake. Paul could only manage a 12 lb. Bluefish while Brad hooked up and landed a nice 12 lb. Striper and an 8 lb. Bluefish. Jake got skunked.
JULY 7th…Morning…Tim Ring and his son Michael.
We fished with live Eels and Tim hooked up and landed two nice Stripers, 12 and 10 lbs. Michael hooked up and landed two Bluefish that weighed in at 12 and 8 lbs.
JULY 8th…Early morning…Jed Laskowitz and his dad John…Fly and Spin. Jed landed a 12 lb. Striper while John landed a 7 lb. Striper and one 8 lb. Bluefish. Both anglers lost some Bluefish due to cutting through the lines. We did some sight fishing and had a couple of shots but these fish were very spooky.
JULY 9th…windy…no fishing.

Connecticut Fishing Report
From Eastern Connecticut, Capt. Sandy Noyes from Rumrunner charters reports:
This week was pretty much like last week. We had plenty of fog but that didn’t seem to bother the fish. As long as the tide was moving the fish would co-operate. The time of day didn’t seem to matter all that much. We had some better afternoons than we did early mornings, The bait is still holding up and the bluefish are getting a little larger. Most were in the six to ten pound range. We did a little fluke fishing off the RI beaches. It was great one day and the next it was just the opposite.

Also from Eastern Connecticut, Capt. Mike Duclos from Tidrunner Charters reports:
Why do we love the ocean so much? Must have something to do with the fact that we never know what the next day will turn up. This past week went from bluefish at the end of each tide slamming anything that they could get their teeth on, to stripers exploding on everything from squid and small bunker flies to 9″ sluggo’s as they were being jerked over 25′ of water. Fished the Watch hill area and managed fish to 30″ on squid flies in 4″ tan and brown patterns while ignoring larger 6″ patterns.The light tackle lure of the week has been a 4″ gray over white split tail on a 1/4 ounce white jig head, the bass have been eating it up better than anything else that we have used, sometimes simple is better. Lots of fish right at 28″with some larger to 38″ when you get the right depth under and behind the main school of fish. Looking forward to the latest clear, dry weather forecast, good luck and have a nice week. Capt.

Rhode Island Fishing Report
Capt. Greg Snow from Snowfly Charters reports from Block Island:
July 7, 2008.  Game On Kids!   Block Island is now seeing some of the best striper fishing it has seen in the past decade.  Heavy fog has kept the boat traffic to almost nothing while square miles of sand eels siphon in some absolutely remarkable numbers of striped bass.  Lots of legitimate shots of fish tickling  40pds have been a common occurrence on the fly with cookie cutter 20 pound fish being the norm.  Hot southerly breezes are pushing in the fog and swell which churns up a sand eel cocktail that bass and surprisingly few bluefish are stuffing there faces on daily.  The  BFT action is quiet only because the fog and quality bass fishing has left most fisherman staying tight to BI.  I can tell you however that with these sand eels getting chewed on every day and night that Charlie is sniffing them out and they are not far from the island.  I will be looking for fast fish on Friday with a hardcore client that understands the difficulty in trying to find these fish.

Ray Stachelek from Cast-a-Fly Charters checks in this week from Block Island, he reported:
BLOCK – Buster on the 4th of July
Since the start of the striper season back in early May, all of our angling has been in upper Narragansett Bay. And why not! There was some good striper fishing here in our own back yard.  There was no reason to leave. There were plenty of double digit stripers following the silversides and bunker when they cooperated. But every day was different. The striper fishery lacked the consistency of last year. Still there was no reason to complain. Sure, gas prices were higher this year, but nothing compared to the record fuel prices we would see in July. Fishing was hit or miss but you didn’t have to run far.    June’s weather pushed us further south toward Jamestown and cooler waters. Providence still had its flotilla of bait dunkers and the place continued to fish well. We never got the boat north of Gaspee Point. It was just too stress to enjoy the experience in a war zone of boats.  Fast forward, the summertime has changed the fishing season once again. We splashed the boat for the first time on the ocean front on Fourth of July weekend. The weather/winds were favorable as we made the break through the West Wall gap. We pointed our bow toward Block Island. The seas were calm as we headed into the fog of Block Island Sound. Today we had two extra pairs of young eyes on watch. Jeff Paul and his friend Steve were college friends at Boston University, somehow landed work together in New York City. It took Jeff awhile to get acquainted with our GPS system. He kept saying TOM… TOM, not Garmin. We don’t use that stuff out here! That’s only for street wise people.  After a 14 mile run we started working the high cliffs on the western side of the island. Steve had no experience whatsoever with a fly rod but did have some knowledge with spinning tackle. He talked about his many adventures on Martha’s Vineyard casting plugs into the surf. Our drifts were slow. We started to cover more ground by trolling small tubes on mono. It is a good method of locating a few stripers rather quickly in calm waters.  It wasn’t long before Steve’s rod was bent over fighting a feisty striper.  After a few stripers on the tube we felt we had found them. Steve switched to casting plugs while Jeff started to fly fish. Jeff landed some nice fish in the next two hours. The action curtailed.  The captain gave the orders for all lines in. As you would have guessed, the last cast before moving produced an experience Jeff would never forget. Jeff has been tying a few flies for several years now. He’s finally getting deeper into all aspects of the game. He decided to tie on a very large deceiver type of green and yellow he dreamed up during the winter months. Jeff has worked to be an excellent caster. Soon that large bulky fly flew through the air 90 feet. After a short pause to let it sink and a few strips, the line went tight like never before. This is Jeff’s best catch to date on a fly especially noted that he created and tied the pattern. Oh’ what a feeling! Jeff Paul is tired but all smiles after a lengthy fight with a 19 lbs Block Island striper.  He released the brute unharmed on Independence Day giving her its freedom.   Steve enjoyed the day casting plugs into the clear waters. He is now contemplating taking up fly fishing after watching his friend enjoy the experience.
The 4th was a Blockbuster for sure.

Massachusetts Fishing Report
From the Vineyard, Capt. Tom Rapone from Highly Migratory Guide Service reports:
It’s been a busy and productive couple of weeks here on Martha’s Vineyard.  True summer fishing patterns are beginning to persist now, and as water temps climb steadily, those willing to get out on the water EARLY in the AM are getting the best shots at quality fish on fly and light tackle. We’ve had numerous fly rod fish topping 20-pounds in last couple of weeks, but low light combined with fast-moving water has definitely been key. Predominant baits have been squid, sandeels and ocean herring.
The summer bluefish are now in full swing, and some of the east-end shoals are holding a mind-boggling amount of 4 to 10-pound choppers. In addition, sandeels are absolutely stacked up in the oceanside rips; at the rate the water has been warming, the first bonito of the season should be just around the corner.

Capt. John Mendelson from Boston Fishstix Guide Service reports:
The fishing has slowed some overall but we are still catching good numbers most trips. Things were on the slow side over the 4th of July holiday weekend with the boat traffic but have rebounded since. We are finding bass feeding on a combination of small mackeral, pogies, and young herring. This morning the Ocean Lure Sand Eel lure did a good job imitating the juvy herring.  Still not many bluefish in the harbor which is unusual for this time of year. The tuna fishing has been on the slow side too, though the fish are here, just not feeding hard. We will be running a mix of bass/bluefish trips and tuna trips over the next few weeks. Even though the fishing is not red hot, get out while you can. You never know what you’re going to find!

Maine Fishing Report
Capt. Eric Wallace from Coastal Fly Angler reports:
Reports coast wide have been improving on a daily bases, more fish are moving in and  we had a good week of stable weather witch prove to provide some fun fishing. We are still behind in the numbers of fish we should have around but we do have some very nice fish on the flats in Casco Bay and lower Kennebec River, the bite has a very short A.M window. The outer ledges have fish on them but the water temp has been cool, Capt John Ford was running out looking for tuna and said the water outside was 62 got near the outer islands of Casco Bay hit 56 then back to 64 near the flats. More reports of schoolies and slot size fish state wise and today we got our first fish bluefish of the year in Casco bay and reports of blues in small schools north to south, Looking forward to next weeks tides and warm weather and the continue push of fresh fish, things are improving up here for sure.

Capt. John Ford from Maine Saltwater Fly Fishing reported:
Stripers still spotty… great weather though.  Water inside : 63-68 degrees water outside : 58-61 degrees.  Striper fishing remains spotty. Fly fishing has actually produced the most fish for us as of late working areas real hard and slow. Picking up a handful of stripers early morning and seeing a few big fish, we got one yesterday but broke it off as the guy tried to stop the fish on the initial run. After the early morning its been real tough fishing. The water temps are finally up on the outer islands and we saw a few fish out there today later morning but still not a lot of fish holding in places. I expect we will see more fish out there anyday now. And when the bluefish show it should be gangbusters as we have tons of big bunker around.  Bait is still thick in places now we just need more predators to turn it on.  I’m hearing a few reports of tuna around and I’m hoping to get some time to go out scouting here soon… still a bit early for numbers but soon.

Wow!  On that note, I’m gonna sign off.  See ya on the water…

Capt. John McMurray
Northeast Fishing Correspondent

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