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2005 & 2006 SEASON
2006 SEASON RECAP
Since losing fishing reports from 2005 & 2006 I will try to recap some of the highlights from those seasons in a short but sweet way. My typical year begins in April and May fishing and guiding for trout in CT mostly on the Farmington River with the help of longtime buddy and fly-fisherman Fred Jeans from the Selective Angler. Most fishing in early spring we use nymphs and fish subsurface for some really nice browns and rainbows primarily in the catch and release section of the river. By May there are some great Mayfly hatches such as Hendricksens which give us some of the best top water action of the season. A couple nice shots above and below of typical CT caught brownies. Jolly joined the 20/20 club catching a 20" brown on a fly smaller than size 20. Actually it was a size 26 blue-wing olive on a 3 wt. Thanks Fred Season #1 Worm Spawn and Herring Run Stripers with Jolly Seabassin' with Capt Bob By mid-May the worm spawn begins in many of the tidal ponds near my home on Cape Cod. This marks Season #1 for Jolly Roger Charters and gets out the cobwebs for many of my sports to wet a line and catch some nice Stripers on fly rods and light spinning gear simulating the cinder worm. Most action is on the surface and rises are visible and very exciting. The action can be fast and furious with some really big fish being caught as they migrate into these back bays to chow down and rest up a bit from their long journeys. An added bonus is that these fish also gorge themselves on herring which are spawning in some of there spring fed ponds. Big flies and baits are used to match this hatch. Check photos of Curt and Rob Jessup with nice worm spawn fish as well as a 36" striper posing in the grass for a quick photo before release Of course the season opener with Captain Bob of Lemke-Ann Charters has us first going to CC Bay jigging up mackerel for his chum which is used later in the year. We also have a number of Seabass trips and joint charters for early season stripers which are plentiful near the west end of the canal. Dr. Ryan McNevin caught a bunch (photos below) Season #2-Flats Fishing at Barnstable Harbor and The Jolly Too and Fluke fishing aboard Lemke-Ann Typically the flats at Barnstable Harbor catch on fire in June. Sightcasting to Stripers both schoolie size and the occasional cow hit sandeel patterns on the fly rod while jigs and plastics for the spinning guys. Although my 20' Hewes flats boat was sold in '06, I continued to fish from the Jolly Too as well as getting out a number of times with Captain Curt Jessup on his Action Craft. Many fish taken for our sports as evidenced by pics as well as some really nice fly rod caught 15-20 pounders like Joe Rioff's with a 39" fish on a sinking line with a Mongoose Clouser above. While Flats fishing is one of my favorite forms of fishing for Stripers, I also chase large fish during the Squid bite around the rips near Middleground off the Vineyard. Huge Stripers gorge themselves on big squids as they swim in and out of the fast moving waters of these rips. It makes for some great video as most of the action is on top and very visible. We generally fish with sinking lines and bigger fly rods like 12 weights with fighting butts to get the fly down fast but also to fight big fish in this fast moving water. The spinning guys through white jigs and even top water poppers and have a blast with some really nice fish Jolly and Lou Tabory did a TV shoot in 2005 at Barnstable Harbor for On The Water's TV show Fishing New England. This show aired on FSN and was one of a number of shoots I have done with the magazine. I plan to have some videoclips of them all. Coming soon..... While I am racking up the fish at Barnstable for my clients, Capt. Bob is putting some fillets on the table for his sports. Fluke fishing explodes at the west end of the canal and is even better at Lucas Shoal. I share some charters with Bob as well as serve as first mate for many trips. I also get to enjoy one of the tastiest fish one can catch on the Cape
SEASON #3: FUNNY FISHING-ALBIES, BONITO, SPANISH MACKS WITH JOLLY ROGER CHUMMIN' & CHUNKIN' WITH CAPT. BOB 2005 & '06 were very different seasons for fishing for Atlantic Speedsters like false albacore, bonito and Spanish macks. While in '05 there were a bunch of Spanish macks and Albies around Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound and areas around Waquoit Bay,the trend was completely opposite in '06 with very few of the former while a horde of bonito showed for a few days in Buzzards Bay and aggressively chased small baits and flies. One day The Jolly Too hooked up 13, 3-5 pounders on the fly while being the only boat chasing them. That was until I called a couple buddies like Curt Jessup who hooked 5 fish in a 1/2 hour's time. Then as quickly as they appeared they were gone and slowly the Albie bite began with very few fish reported. These fish however were huge with a couple pushing the scales to 12-13 pounds. Areas around Lake Tashmoo fished well even though hordes of boats chased a couple schools around with only the occasional fisherman acting crazy and cutting us off or racing to the spot (this is why we call it funny fishing-the fishermen act nuts!!!) The past 2 seasons Jolly has spent a fair amount of time fishing the Falmouth beaches, Waquoit bay, Centerville and many of the shoals around these parts. Some days were great, others poor. But that is the way this funny fishing goes. I also have been extending my range of fishing for these Speedsters along with buddy Capt.Curt Jessup fishing around Noman's Land, the back side of the Vineyard and areas towards Westport with the added bonus of Schoolie Bluefin Tuna pop up around August. This has become a bit of an addiction for many of our charters (as well as for us). More about that in season #4. Chummin' & Chunkin' has been unique way of fishing for Capt. Bob and his sports on Lemke-Ann Charters. Every year we take out my daughter Carrie and a group of her Taft buddies whom she keeps in contact with even though miles keep them apart most of the year. They generally catch a mixed bag of Stripers, Blues, Bonito and even some Fluke and then prepare a feast along with friends who are gourmet cooks. I am not sure who enjoys it more the kids or the Captains. This fishing can be fast and furious when Bob puts out the mackerel chum and begins chunking with butterfish anchored up along the areas off of Gayhead Lighthouse. The current sets up a nice flow for the sports to free-spool chunk baits and it is anyone's guess what species will hit. We had a very memorable day with my other daughter Kate's friends in '05. Pictures above prove that "this is a tough job, but somebody has to do it". Bob also was featured on TV doing this very thing Season #4: The Last Blast: Tuna Chasing and large fall migration Stripers with Roger Tautog fishing with Bob The last 3 years has been a tremendous learning experience for me especially chasing and casting to Schoolie Bluefin Tuna. My primary spot has been in CC Bay although the need to push the boundaries to areas around Stellwagen and Peeked Hill and the back side of P-Town have given me and my clients more chances for topwater action with both spinning rods and fly fishing. I began chasing these elusive, tackle busters with Capt. Bob and his good friend Tony Gola. 4 years ago we hooked 6 fish in the 50-70# class while landing 1/2 the hookups. Since then I have been obsessed with chasing these fish with the fly rod. I was fortunate to have a pretty good teacher Lou Tabory who took both myself and Curt Jessup to Point Judith on his boat and although we had intense fog for most of the morning I was able to hook 6 fish and land 3 with an orange mushmouths tied by Dave Skok and fishing 2 Albright rods, a 10wt and a 12wt. Pic above shows Jolly with a couple 30 pound fish Since that time both Curt and I have dedicated countless hours chasing this species all over the Vineyard, Westport RI to CC Bay and beyond. Our success rate has been fair but we continue to learn and refine our skills. What a fish!!! I also had the pleasure of fishing with Terry Nugent form Riptide Charters in Oct. '06 during which time Jay Baver from On The Water TV show Fishing New England shot us hooking some bluefins on spinning gear and then your truly trying with the longrod. Instead of me giving away the story I'll wait until it airs in 2007 on FSN Prior to the start of the 2007 season, I had a chance to fish in the New Orleans area for redfish with a wonderful guide Chas Marsh. He not only guides there but also spends a couple months in the summer drifting the Snake River for trout in Wyoming. The day I fished with him was exactly what the DR. ordered after a long winter. We had temps in the low 70's, calm seas and a bunch of cooperative Redfish from 6-12 pounds taking a crab pattern on a Sage 6 weight. Doesn't get much better. Check the above photos and as a bonus I hooked and landed 2 Black Drum the bigger one was 38#. Now I am ready to start the 2007 season in much the same manner as previously mentioned-stalking Farmington River trout for April and May and doing weekends on the Cape waiting for the linesiders to appear See you in 2007 Jolly Roger
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