The wind was already blowing when Captain Bill pushed off a dock on Tuesday to pick up Chris Baker of South Boston and his guest, Jim Goff of Pembroke in Boston. Once the crew was aboard, the Draggin’ Fly headed to the outer islands because the gusty southwest wind whipped Quincy Bay to off-limits. Just off of Ram’s Head, the crew saw a good feed; there were plenty of birds and acres of breaking fish. This was the first time that Jim had witnessed a blitz of fish. The wind made it very difficult to work surface lures so this would be a jigging kind of day. Jim was the first to hook up on a nice 30 inch bass. His next fish came on a pogy chunk that the Skipper was drifting in the deep rod. It took Chris a few drifts before he was into his first fish. Captain George arrived and offloaded some tinker mackerel. The bass moved into the North Channel and continued to drive bait. When the fish were on the surface, Chris and Jim banged them on jigs. When they sounded, mackerel was put down. Chris and Jim were back to dock in time for them to go to work with great memories of an exciting morning of Boston Harbor and some nice fish fro the grill. Jim had such a great time that he booked another trip aboard the Draggin’ Fly next month.

Since it was early, Captain Bill decided to fish his way home. The fish were still very active in the North Channel, and he caught several nice fish on Bass Assassins, keeping one for the grill.

Tuesday, old friend, Rick “No Catchem” Lucus of Pembroke arrange a light tackle trip for his brother-in-law Mike Connell and his friend John “Getch” Getchell. The forecast was for some wind so Captain Bill didn’t really know what to expect and how it would affect the fishing. On the way to dock, Rick and Captain Bill saw a lot of lightning. A check of the weather radar on the Skipper’s Iphone confirmed that once again the weatherman had blown another call. John and Mike were waiting for Captain Bill at the dock. It was decided to hang tight and leave after the storms pass. They would miss the dawn bite, but they would be dry and safe. By 6 am, the skies were clear and the Draggin’ Fly was on her way. As expected, the first stop showed no signs of fish… obviously, it was a dawn bite. But a mile away the crew found plenty of fish. On the first drift, all three anglers hooked up at the same time on nice sized bass. This bite lasted for almost an hour, and then it was time to explore. Just off Deer Island, the Skipper found another bite. Mike was the first to hook up swimming one of Captain Bill’s custom jigs, and then Getch made it a double on a Bass Assassin. On the next drift, Rick was tight to a nice bass on a Zoom jerk bait that he was twitching in the feeding frenzy. Once this school broke up, Captain Bill headed back to Quincy Bay to catch the tide turn. Almost like clockwork, the fish exploded on the surface. Once again it was Michael who scored first.Then John and Rick got into action. The crew spent the rest of the trip jigging for sea bass. Since Captain Bill did not have his Berkley Gulp strips, John cut up mackerel to use as trailers on the jigs. The crew caught black sea bass up to almost 20 inches. Amazingly, Rick hit a really powerful fish while jigging for sea bass. This monster inhaled the jig and then was off to the races. After several powerful runs and fighting the strong current, Rick was able to stop the fish. “No Catchem” Lucas worked the cow bass back to the boat, where he released the fish. Rick could tell everyone that he had his 50 inch fish but not too many would believe “No Catchem’s” story. It was quite a morning of Harba fishing.

Wednesday, Damon Reed made a five hour trip from Vermont, leaving at midnight to meet Captain Bill at dawn. Damon is an expert fly fish and an innovative fly tie. He has been fishing with the Skipper since the 90s. The forecast was for brisk North West wind, but when Damon and Captain Bill got to the dock, it was more like a gale. This was not going to be a fly fishing day. Damon was fine making the switch to light tackle. The first stop produced a quick flurry of action that last lasted long enough for Damon to land a fat 34 inch right. There was no way to get offshore so Captain Bill decided to hunt inside. Every time that the Draggin’ Fly found some surface action, it seemed to quit before it really got started. The fish finally came up on the tide turn, and Damon got some nice bass on a rod that he had custom built 20 years ago. This rod had not seen any action since Damon moved to Vermont several years ago. Damon lived on the North River and caught lots of stripers from the banks using this rod. Damon and the Skipper decided to finish the trip doing some sea bassing. The biggest was a 20 inch grill. Despite the ugly wind, it was the another successful trip… worth Damon’s 5 hour drive.

Thursday, Jay Hoffman of Marshfield invited Joel Peterson of West Roxbury to share a light tackle trip. Today’s forecast was for light winds, but the weathermen were talking about late morning storms. So the crew would have to get their fish early. Just after dawn, the crew jumped the first school. It was “Hawk Eye” Jay who found the fish rolling on the surface. Joel hit a big fish on a Zoom jerk, but after a great surface fight the fish finally pulled the hook. The fish came up a few more times and the crew had some shots at them but nothing connected. After this bite, the Skipper headed offshore to look for mackerel, but today there just weren’t any. Back inside, Joel hit another bass swimming a jig. Inside Hull Gut, some bluefish were working. One grabbed Joel’s jig, and he was able to put it on the boat before it bit through the monofilament leader. Joel landed a black sea bass on the next drift, earning him the first Boston Harbor Slam of the season, three different game fish on the same trip. Jay will be out next week looking for some revenge.

Friday, Matt Pimental had to pull out of his charter because of a worked commitment at the last moment… you have to hate work but not Captain Bill who gets to see the sun rise every day over Boston Light. Matt arranged for Captain Bill to pick up his guest, Bob Hennessy of Plymouth at dawn. Bob also brought along his friend Frank Sannella. The plans were to hunt Quincy Bay first ,and then head to the Inner Triangle. The crew did not find any fish in Quincy Bay but jumped some big bass in Southie. Bob was the first to hook up on a Zoom jerk bait. Frank was swimming one of the Skipper’s custom jigs, and he had another 30 inch bass. This is how the morning went… when the fish were on the surface, Bob and Frank banged them on soft jerk baits. When they went down, Berkely Jerkshads rigged on jig heads were deployed. This strategy worked well, Bob and Frank were on fish for much of the morning. These experienced anglers released all stripers…the biggest was 37 inches. The Skipper decided to finish this trip fishing for black sea bass, something that neither Bob nor Frank had done before. And they put “hurtin” on them catching a bunch up to 20 inches. Black sea bass are among the best eating fish in our local waters. Bob became only the second angler of the season to catch the Boston Slam, three different game fish on the same trip. Before the end of the trip, Frank also earned the Harbor Slam.

Saturday Max Cavallaro of Everett met Captain Bill before dawn. Joining Max were his friend Eric Anderson, and Eric’s girlfriend, Jennifer Moran. The Skipper headed right to the Inner Triangle and found a school of hungry bass just off of Governors Flats. At first, Captain Bill did the casting for Jennifer who had never fished before. And it was Jennifer who hit the first fish, and she handled it like an “olde salt”, releasing a 30 inch bass…not bad for a first fish. Eric was swimming a jig and hooked up next. Max was fishing a Half’ N Half on his fly rod and hooked a nice fish. Once the tide let go, the fish disappeared. But Captain Bill found another school, and this time all three anglers hooked up at the same time. Jen’s fish hit a Zoom jerk bait fished on the surface. Eric hit his fish swimming a jig. And Max’s fly was stuck into another 30 inch fish. These fish were all loaded with sea lice, an indication of bright fish right from the ocean. Jen was a fast learner and had taken over casting her on lures. She had another nice bass in the jig before the school broke up. The Draggin’ Fly headed offshore, but the fog rolled in limiting visibility to a few hundred feet. Once back inside, Captain Bill decided to finish this trip jigging for sea bass. Jen was the first to connect to a black sea bass and put it into the boat. Max caught one that pushed 3 pounds. The crew kept 6 big sea bass for the grill and release all of the stripers, including Eric’s 37 inches. It was a cool and foggy morning, but Max and his guests enjoyed a great trip.
Sunday was Captain Bill’s first day off since the 4th of July. Unlike June, the weather cooperated and the Skipper ran 24 straight days. He will be back on the water on Monday with another full schedule, booked solid for the next two weeks.