2014 fishing journal

2014 FISHING JOURNAL
November 12, 2014 - Charlestown, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 5:00 a.m. -- Low	Wind: NW - 5 mph
	Start time: 6:15 a.m.	Total time: 4 hours
	That's it for me this year. Seems like the migration passed through the RI shore in the first couple weeks of October and then ended earlier than usual. With the mild fall, and mild water temps, would have thought it would be a longer season. Often the first week of November is still good in South County, but not this year. Today was a perfect fishing day with a warm drizzle and a morning incoming tide. But there was nary a bird or fish to be seen. I rinsed off my gear and put it away for the winter. My season started slowly - I went out only once in May, once in June and a couple times in July. Then I went out over 30 times in August/September/October. I really only fished four spots: Block Island, Cape Cod Canal, the back shore in Gloucester and South County, RI. I caught way fewer Bluefish than I normally do - maybe half a dozen. But I was pretty lucky with good-sized bass. If the 39" Striper that I caught on BI on July 17th had been an inch longer, I would have caught at least one 40"+ Striper at all four areas where I fished. My biggest fish, 44", and several more over 40", were caught at the Canal. My favorite fish was caught on the back shore in front of the Elks Lodge. In the 11 years since I moved to Boston from Southern California (I grew up on Long Island), the regulation has been two fish and 28". It's more than time to make it much more conservative. Let's hope the new regulation for 2015 allows for only one fish and something tougher than 28". See you in May.
November 5, 2014 - Quonochontaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:30 a.m. -- High	Wind: SSW - 10 mph
	Start time: 6:30 a.m.	Total time: 4 hours
	Paul and I fished the usual spots between Quonnie and Watch Hill. We started at Weekapaug casting into fishy looking water. Then Watch Hill Light. Then Quonnie. We made lots of casts at all three spots and Paul tried a great variety of plugs. No fish. I had a one on for a few seconds at Quonnie and that was it. Didn't see any birds working anywhere. It looked and felt like the end of the season, but there still should be a couple weeks left. I may go out one more time. Pretty sunrise on west beach.
October 31, 2014 - Quonochontaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 8:21 a.m. -- Low	Wind: NW - 10 mph
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 4 hours
	It was cold this morning. My fingers hurt. I started on the rocks east of the Quonnie breachway. Again, I fished for an hour in the dark and didn't get a bump. I moved to Weekapaug Pt and then all the usual spots. The only place where I saw birds coming near shore was the stretch of beaches south of Misquamicut. The buggies were chasing the birds up and down the beach. I only caught one schoolie. I checked the light house and it was quiet and I quit for the day. Pretty sunrise on the RI shore.
October 28, 2014 - South County, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 5:00 a.m. -- Low	Wind: SW - 10 mph
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	Pretty uneventful morning of fishing. I fished an hour in the dark at Quonnie in really gentle conditions, but the fish weren't there. At first light, I could hear birds near the breachway, but a big feed had formed to my left and I was waiting for it. They never came, so I walked to the breachway and a big school of small bass had bait pinned in the corner on the west side of the breachway. I caught a half dozen schoolies from the jetty. After that, I drove a lot between Weekapaug Pt. and Watch Hill, but didn't catch any more fish. You could see big feeds well out of casting range, but I never found them near shore. The lighthouse was dead which surprised me. I haven't cought the big Bluefish there that I normally catch this time of year. A lone surfacster east of the Quonnie breachway.
October 24, 2014 - Weekapaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 9:12 a.m. -- High	Wind: NW - 12 mph
	Start time: 6:30 a.m.	Total time: 5 hours
	I started at Quonnie. I tried to wade out to a rock, but the water was very high from the new moon. I slipped and lost my footing and went in the water up to my neck - I had only been fishing 5 minutes. I gave up and trudged out to the breachway. After a few casts with a needlefish, I put on a blue Gibbs casting swimmer. First cast and I hook a big bass that flops on the surface and starts a run. Then I made a mistake. I didn't feel like trying to land it on the jetty, so I made my way to the tiny sandy beach to my left and the big girl took advantage and went down and wrapped me around the rocks. I tried all my tricks, but couldn't get her free and I had to brake off. Imagine the bad words. After that, just a couple schoolies. At Weekapaug, there were three big feeds off shore. I ran a long way to the right and sat on a rock to put on my three-seasons-old korkers and the main strap broke. That's already three bad things this morning. I went out to a rock with one korker. I caught more than a dozen stripers between 25 and 29" in about an hour. A guy in a boat came right into the spot where I was casting and then yelled at me when I placed a cast 10 feet to his left - "hey can't you see the boat?". I replied with two words. I moved to the Weekapaug Breachway jetty where there was only one fisherman. A fly fisherman. Wtf is a fly fisherman doing on a jetty? When I casted, he gave me a dirty look and told me that he was going to cross my line when he whips the line behind him to cast. Does he want the whole jetty? What's he going to do if he hooks a 25 lb bass with that silly fly rod? Why can't everyone chill out - it's a big shore line and big ocean? I went back to the Point and got a couple more schoolies and then tried Quonnie again on the drop. It looked great but no luck. Went home. What a weird morning. Fall migration - birds working off Weekapaug Pt. After three seasons, only 1/3 of studs left.
October 21, 2014 - Charlestown, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 7:30 a.m. -- High	Wind: SSW - 5-10 mph
	Start time: 6:30 a.m.	Total time: 5 hours
	Paul and I drove down to the RI shore on a drizzly morning with great promise. I often start at Quonnie, but with high water I decided to start at Weekapaug. Not many fisherman. We fished Weekapaug Pt. for an hour and Paul dropped a small bass. I had no action. We looked at the beaches as we made our way to Watch Hill. Only a couple bait fisherman at the lighthouse. There were birds working quite a ways out where the boats are. We fished there for an hour and it was dead. We made our way north to Quonnie and, of course, we learned that there had been feeds there all morning. Schoolie bass, but lots of them. They got close enough that I got a couple. After another hour or more, we tried the lighthouse again but it was quiet there. That was it - off to lunch at a Chinese place. Paul casting a plug near the Quonnie Breachway.
October 17, 2014 - Charlestown, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:07 a.m. -- High	Wind: SE - 5 mph
	Start time: 6:15 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	Back to south county. I started at Quonnie and tried to get out to my rocks, but the surf was pretty brutal and, after I got washed off my rock twice, I went back to the beach. I caught a schoolie. I tried Weekapaug Pt. and all the beach spots and there weren't any fish showing. I headed to the lighthouse. Great looking water but no birds. I caught another schoolie. I worked my way back to Quonnie, but still no action. I went home. A pretty scene in Misquamicut, at the end of Atlantic Ave.
October 13, 2014 - Block Island, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:30 p.m. -- Low	Wind: SSW - 10 mph
	Start time: 8:30 p.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	I went out to BI with my family for the Columbus Day weekend. Didn't do a lot of fishing, but I did go out with some eels on Monday night. I went to my spot north of Grove Pt., and I fished pretty hard, switcing between the eels and a needlefish, for almost three hours. With the tide out, I had to wade out quite a ways and the little waves beat the shit out of me. In any case, I had one take on an eel the whole night and I didn't hook up. That was it. Not a great night of fishing.
October 10, 2014 - Quonochontaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:00 a.m. -- Low	Wind: SW - 5 mph
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 6 hours
	I was planning to fish the Canal on Friday morning, but a tip from a Narragansett fisherman had me driving back to South County. I went to a favorite spot near the Quonnie Breachway and I got there early enough to fish in the dark for almost an hour. I waded out to a group of rocks where I've had past success and began throwing a black needlefish. Nothing for 15 minutes and then a big bass grabbed the needle only 20 feet in front of me and started making jerky runs out to sea. This is a tough landing spot and I have had some bad experiences over the years, so I was cool and patient and eventually used a couple little waves to get the 30 lb. fish on the rocks. There were some big slurps on the surface right where the fish had hit, and I missed another good one a few casts later. I switched to a black bomber swimmer and had one more hard hit. When there was light, I put on a white popper and caught a nice Bluefish and dropped another decent fish. Next I tried Weekapaug Pt. and a feed was just out of casting range. I looked at some of the beaches and there were small schools of Albies up and down the beaches mostly out of casting range. I tried for a while with no success. On to the light house. There were a dozen boats chasing schools of Albies off of Watch Hill Light. Periodically, they would come into casting range. For a while, no no one had any luck, but then a few guys from Portland, Maine started hooking up. They were all using something that looked like a crippled herring with a green stripe - it was a Yo-Zuri L-Jack. With my collection Kastmasters and Deadly Dicks, I never got a hit, while these three guys from Maine each hooked up 3-4 times and landed several nice Albies. I don't like that. After almost 3 hours of lame casting, I finally quit without the triple of a big bass, a nice blue and an albie. Time for a trip to the tackle store. A nice October Striper near the Quonnie Breachway.
October 8, 2014 - Weekapaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 8:30 a.m. -- High	Wind: SSW - 15 mph
	Start time: 6:45 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	The big surf and the thunderstorms may have shut down the big feeds this morning. The only place I found that was really fishable was the Watch Hill Light. I tried there twice. It looked very fishy but I only hooked up once and I dropped that fish. I thought it would be overcast all morning, but the sun came out at about 8:30. Kind of a waste of gas. Very fishy looking water at Watch Hill Light.
October 6, 2014 - Weekapaug, RI
Moon phase:	Tide: 7:00 a.m. -- High	Wind: SW - 5 mph
	Start time: 6:15 a.m.	Total time: 4 hours
	The blanket of leaves on my driveway told me that it was time to fish South County, RI. Lots of Rhody fisherman out on this Monday morning. I started near the Quonnie Breachway. With the high tide, I couldn't get out to my favorite spot. I caught a schoolie in about an hour of casting. Next was Weekapaug Pt. I could see some birds as I drove up. I hustled to a spot in the rocks where there were half a dozen fisherman trying to reach the splashes. I was too late. Apparently they had caught very big Bluefish for 45 minutes at first light. I moved to the beaches between Weekapaug and Watch Hill. Lots of pods of birds working and big splashes along the beaches. A couple times they came close enough, but they wouldn't hit my popper. Someone told me that they were Albies. I put on a Deadly Dick, but I still never hooked up. I finished at Watch Hill Light, but it looked like I was too late there as well. Still fun to see all those birds and splashes. Will return Wednesday. Looking north from Watch Hill Light.
October 1, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 9:00 a.m. -- low & slack	Wind: NE - 10 mph
	Start time: 7:00 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	Back to the east end on a very rainy first day of October. The fish just never came through the Canal this morning. There were plenty of guys going from spot to spot, but I never saw anyone hook-up and I never had a splash. For more than an hour, birds were working on the east end but on the south side of the canal, way out of casting range. It was wet, miserable and cold. I should have stayed in bed. The weather was dreary and so was the fishing.
September 30, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 8:00 a.m. -- low & slack	Wind: NE - 10-15 mph
	Start time: 7:15 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	I fished the east end of the Canal. I went late because the current turn was at 8:00 and it was very overcast. After making a few casts at one spot, I drove to the mouth of the Canal and I could see some birds working. I got a schoolie and a 30" bass, then the feed moved away. After that, all I got was one more schoolie in three hours of trying several different spots. Last day of September on the east end of the Canal.
September 27, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:00 a.m. -- low & slack	Wind: Calm
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	It must have been a stellar week at the Canal, because on Saturday morning there were 1,000 fisherman behind the ice rink. The most I've seen there. Took a long walk just to find a spot. A small pod of fish would come by once in while, usually out of casting range. I caught a schoolie and a 33" striper and I missed 3 or 4 more, and dropped a couple that I had hooked. I only saw a few guys hook up. However, when I walked back towards my car, I saw quite a few big fish that had been caught - I had been outfished on this morning. I decided to make a few more casts and found a new spot. There were some big fish splashes just out of casting range and I finally hooked up with a real big fish. I had it for about a minute and it spit out the plug. Figures. That was the end of my morning.
September 25, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:40 a.m. -- low & slack	Wind: Calm
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 6 hours
	Had much better luck at the Canal. In the morning, behind the ice rink, Jamie got a 31" bass and I caught only a Bluefish. The big fish never showed. After breakfast at Leo's, Jamie and I shook hands and each headed home in our own car. However, with a heavily overcast sky, I decided to give the east end a try. When, I arrived there, Jamie's car was already there. The fish showed up about a half hour later at a spot that I think the old timers call murderers row. Birds were working and fish were busting. We were catching 26-30" fish, but at the Canal there are always some bigger ones mixed in and I got lucky and caught a 42" striper. When it died down, I gave Jamie a ride to his car and said goodbye again. Except, I walked out to the pier at Scusset to take one more look. The birds were now working in front of the dock and a couple guys couldn't reach them with their bucktails. I took a couple steps running start and made by best heave with a mackerel pattern popper and I landed a few yards short of the feed. Wham - I was on a really good fish. Long fight and this one was about 43" and took a long time to revive. By the time I was ready to cast again, the fish were on the other side of the Canal. That was my last fish on a nice long morning. Late September, with a new moon, an overcast sky, and a turn of the current is an awfully good time to be fishing on the Canal.
September 23, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 5:17 a.m. -- low	Wind: 5-10 mph SW
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 1 hour
	Don't know why I keep going back. I guess I'm hoping to catch that magic day when the back shore lights up. There was no action at all again this morning. The active surf didn't help the fishing on a pretty morning on the back shore.
September 21, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 10:09 a.m. -- high	Wind: 10 mph SSW
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	Finally got a warm, overcast morning with a south wind. I fished the back shore really hard. Tried three spots and fished from 6:00 to 9:00. I never even caught a schoolie. And to make matters worse, I had a nasty fall on the rocks to the left of Lynch's cove. My legs look like I dumped my bike. Will I ever learn not to jump onto a black rock? Maybe when I'm 70. Oh well. Will try the Canal this coming week. The photo is what some bait fisherman had left behind at a spot we call "the pulpit." They had been there earlier the same morning. Isn't it depressing? Considering that they get to enjoy the beauty of the back shore, and that they hope to catch fish in Cape Ann's pristine waters, how can they leave all that shit on the rocks? I don't get it. It's sort of like pissing in your own swimming pool, or in the sink of a public rest room. And, yes, in case you're wondering, I picked it all up and carried it out.
September 19, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 8:44 a.m. -- high	Wind: 15 mph NNE
	Start time: 6:00 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	Went to a favorite spot on the back shore on a chilly September morning with a stiff northerly wind and some decent surf. The water looked great, and I kept expecting that violent attack on my pencil popper, but all I managed was two 22" and one 26" bass. Better than nothing, but still very dissapointing. Looking north towards "Elks" on the back shore.
September 17, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:44 a.m. -- high	Wind: 5 mph SW
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	Other than me, only a single bait fisherman on the whole back shore this morning. That tells you something about how poor the fishing has been. Nice water, nice incoming tide - completely dead. Absolutely no sign of fish. I tried three spots. Never got a splash. Unusual clouds on the horizon at sunrise.
September 15, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:41 a.m. -- high	Wind: 5 mph NW
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	Fish can't be there every day. Fished in front of the Elks and had no action at all. Also didn't see any birds or any fish breaking. Pretty sunrise on the back shore.
September 13, 2014 - Gloucester
Moon phase:	Tide: 2:49 a.m. -- high	Wind: 10-15 mph NE
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 4 hours
	Almost every season I catch one fish that I remember all through the long winter. It's not necessarily the biggest fish of the season - but it's usually a big fish with a violent take and a memorable fight and landing. I'm pretty sure I caught that fish this morning. I fished the back shore and I wasn't dressed for the first fall chill and a brisk NE wind. With the surf up and me shivering, I decided to sit in the car for 20 minutes until there was more light. And when I finally got out on the rocks, still cold, the wind was blowing right into my casts. It didn't seem like it was going to be a fun morning of fishing. About 10 minutes after I finally caught a schoolie, I had big hit on my white pencil popper and I hooked up and landed a nice 35" bass. After another 25" bass, there was nothing for quite a while. At about 6:45, with the sun well above the horizon, a great big striper busted out of the water, the whole fish, and missed my plug. I let out a loud expletive - startled by the size and thinking I had missed this fish. But it came back and missed again and then swallowed the mackerel pattern popper on the 3rd try. Then she just ran out to sea. After fishing in the strong current of the Canal, it was such a pleasure to fight a fish in open ocean water and to just let it run. The sweet sound of the drag. I hopped off my boulder and found a better spot to land. The fish was a little over 40 inches and fat as can be. Took a few minutes to revive and she swam off. After breakfast, I ran into Grigoriy, Steve and Robbie and we fished another spot on the back shore. Then, we took a ride to Manchester by the Sea and Steve showed me a beautiful spot, north of Singing Beach, that I'd never fished before. We found some schoolies chasing bait there.
September 11, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 5:27 a.m. -- slack current	Wind: 10 mph NE
	Start time: 5:45 a.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	Of course I went back to the Canal the next day to see if the big fish would come through again. So do lots of other fisherman. At first light, I caught a small bass and a decent bluefish. At about 7:00, I could see whet looked like some big fish breaking water to the west. As they moved with the current, on fisherman after another hooked up. When it was my turn, I made a long cast and I hooked up as well. By the time I landed and unhooked a 33" striper, it was over. Only 5 minutes of blitz this morning. Oh well.
September 10, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:39 a.m. -- slack current	Wind: 10 mph NE
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	I ended up catching about 10 fish - the biggest were a 44" Striper and a 32" Bluefish. Grigoriy also caught about 10 fish. We probably caught close to 400 lbs of Striped Bass. The morning started slowly. When it was dark, you could see and hear a lot of bait being chased, but you rarely catch a big fish at the Canal while it's still dark. When there was some light, I tried a mackerel pattern swimmer and I caught a couple 26" bass. When there was more light, I put a popper on and caught a small keeper. I thought it was going to be a mediocre morning with a few small bass. Then I hooked a much bigger fish that took some line and then got off. I figured that was the one good fish of the morning. But, not so. Over the next 45 minutes, I caught half a dozen Stripers between 36 and 44" - mostly around 40" - and two big Bluefish. I would hook-up with a big fish on pretty much every cast and then have to fight it in strong west-to-east current. My arms got tired. A big guy on my left was doing just as well as I was, and I would learn afterwards that is was Grigoriy. We went to Leo's for breakfast in a very good mood.
September 8, 2014 - Gloucester Back Shore
Moon phase:	Tide: 4:41 a.m. -- low tide	Wind: 10 mph NE
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	I fished the back shore again. It was low tide, with a full moon, so I went to a spot that fishes easily when there is little water. Only problem was there still weren't any fish. I did manage one 20" Striper. Based on later conversations with other fisherman, that might have been the best fish caught this morning.
September 6, 2014 - Gloucester Back Shore
Moon phase:	Tide: 9:00 a.m. -- high tide	Wind: 10-15 mph SW
	Start time: 5:15 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	A guy named Rich had caught some fish on the backshore on Friday, so there were several fisherman out this morning - hoping the fish would be there again. Nothing doing. With the full moon, the water was very low. Robbie and Steve were there and so was John Kelsey. I even met Rich, who was a nice guy and he likes to fish Block Island. But no one caught a fish this morning. I wish I had been there on Friday.
September 3, 2014 - Gloucester Back Shore
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:00 a.m. -- high tide	Wind: 10-15 mph NW
	Start time: 5:30 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	Took my first 2014 ride to Cape Ann to fish sunrise on the Backshore. No one was on the rocks except for tourists with coffee watching the sun rise. Reports are that it's been worse than slow. Really nice water and a 6:00 high tide. I threw a half dozen different plugs and never got a follow or a splash. No sign of fish migrating either. Even the birds seemed to be looking around for the migration. Pretty sad. Went and had coffee with Robbie and Steve. Fishing has been awful. Drove to Lynch's Cove and made some casts and it was dead. Had breakfast. Made some more casts in front of the Elks. It was dead. Met my wife at Good Harbor Beach and enjoyed a nice few hours at a beautiful beach.
August 30, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 7:00 a.m. -- slack current/low tide	Wind: none
	Start time: 6:30 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	I met Jamie, his father Al and Grigoriy at the Canal on the holiday weekend. Lots of guys fishing. The sun was up at the magic time when the current turned and the big fish never really showed. Jamie and Grigoriy each got one Striper. I got skunked.
August 28, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 5:55 a.m. -- slack current/low tide	Wind: none
	Start time: 5:45 a.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	I could see about a dozen fisherman from my spot behind the ice rink on the Canal, including the lucky ones on the north side where the best action was on this morning. The fish never really showed on our side, but they were flopping all over the place across the canal. But there was some action starting about a half hour after slack current. I caught three stripers between 26 and 29". Most of the fish were that size. Right about the time everything died, Ron Arra, on my left, caught a the only big fish I saw caught - maybe 38". Must have been that long cast :)
August 22, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:40 p.m. -- high tide	Wind: 10-15 mph ENE
	Start time: 7:00 p.m.	Total time: 1.5 hours
	Nico and I went over to Dories to fish the sunset. We worked our way to the rocky area on the far left and found a mix of bass and blues there. Nico was using a yellow Gibbs pencil with red head and I was throwing a Mackerel pattern Guppy pencil. We probably caught six or seven stripers and three blues. I caught most of the fish because casting distance was a big advantage on this night, but Nico caught the biggest fish - a nice 30" Striper. There was good action and it was really fun, comfortable (both of us in shorts and flip-flops) fishing. When we got home, Simona had made a great pasta with shrimp.
August 22, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:00 a.m. -- high tide	Wind: 10-15 mph E
	Start time: 4:20 a.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	With a 6:00 am high tide, I decided to get out and early and fish my favorite spot in the dark for an hour, and then walk to Sandy Point to fish the sunrise. On my 2nd cast with a black needle, I hooked a nice bass but dropped it. After that, I had one very hard hit and a big splash about 10 feet in front of me, which is a little unnerving in the dark. But I landed no bass at the first spot. I walked out to Sandy Point at sunrise. It was a heavily overcast morning with a brisk ENE wind. The water west of the north rip was full of Bluefish. There were even birds working, which I haven't often seen on Block Island. I probably caught eight Bluefish - almost all 4-6 lbs. There was a guy from NJ fishing there with a 7 1/2 foot rod and he couldn't reach the Bluefish.
August 19, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 11:25 p.m. -- low tide	Wind: 5 mph sw
	Start time: 7:30 p.m.	Total time: 3 hours
	We did a picnic dinner at Dories Cove, which is walking distance from our place. Nico and I started casting at sunset. At the far left end of the beach, where the rocks start, I was getting some action and landed a 5 lb. Blue. All the action was Bluefish. Some were very small - on one cast I caught two 2 lb. Bluefish - one on each treble of my olive pencil popper. When it got dark, I went by myself to my spot north of Grove Point. With a dark sky, and calm water, I expected big things. But, alas, it was pretty dead. I got a couple hits and then, finally, at about 10:30, I caught a 33" Striper on a black SuperStrike needle, which will be tonight's dinner.
August 18, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 2:20 a.m. -- high tide	Wind: 5-10 mph sw
	Start time: 5:15 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	I'm with my family at the BI cottage for a week. I got out the first morning to Black Rock Pt. I got a small keeper on a white pencil before the sun came up. After sunrise, there were only Bluefish. You could see them occasionally breaking with a few birds working. I must have missed or dropped a dozen of them. I landed three and took one home for dinner. They were all about 5-7 lbs.. We hadn't eaten grilled Bluefish for a long time. It tasted good.
August 13, 2014 - Cape Cod Canal
Moon phase:	Tide: 6:10 a.m. -- slack current/low tide	Wind: none
	Start time: 6:15 a.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	I returned from three weeks in Europe to reports of lousy fishing on Cape Ann. So, with favorable conditions, I took a drive to the Canal and fished behind the ice rink. Only one other car there when I pulled in at about 6:00 am, so either the fishing had been terrible, or the forecast for heavy rain was keeping the fisherman away. Right on schedule, at about 6:30, the fish started to break water, but they weren't hitting my olive Guppy pencil. I switched to a mackerel pattern and had a nice fish miss like five times. A couple casts later, I hooked up with a fat, 38" striper and that would be the smallest of four big fish I'd catch in 45 minutes. The best was 43" - maybe 33-34 lbs. I also got a couple small keepers. There was only one other fisherman on my side of the canal, and he was getting his share of fish as well. Pretty lucky considering how few times I've been out.
July 17, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 11:55 p.m. -- High	Wind: 10-15 mph SW
	Start time: 8:30 p.m.	Total time: 2 hours
	High tide was about midnight and I got out to my favorite spot at about 8:30. I threw a big pencil until it got dark and I think I got one splash. As darkness set in, I put on a black/purple superstrike needle. No action for about 45 minutes until it was very dark. Then I started to get some bumps. And then I caught a couple 25" bass and then a couple small keepers. About 15 minutes before I planned to quit, I hooked a nice fish. This one saved most of its energy for the shallow waters and then fought like a bull. Might have been because it basically swallowed the whole plug - just an inch sticking out of its big mouth. Took forever to get the treble out of the lungs and by then the fish was all but dead. Made for some very nice skewers the following night. The fish was fat and 39" - close to 25 lbs.
June 17, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 11:18 p.m. -- High	Wind: 15 mph SW
	Start time: 10:00 p.m.	Total time: 1 hour
	Was on BI for two nights to prepare the west side cottage for summer rentals. On the 2nd night, there was a nice SW wind and an 11:00 pm high tide so, after dinner at the Poor People's Pub, I headed out to my favorite spot on the NE side of the island. I was throwing a blk & purple SuperStrike needle. The water was flat - the conditions were ideal for that spot - maybe it could have been a little darker. On my 3rd cast, I caight my first fish of 2014 - a game 18" bass. About 10 minutes later I hooked a nice fish. It made three impressive runs, took a while to turn around, and then fought like a bull in the shallow water. I thought it would be 25 lbs or more. It was a very fat 37 incher - over 20 lbs. Pretty good 2nd fish of the season. In the next half hour, I got a nice 33", a small keeper and a 22" fish. It was so great for my spot to fish the way it's supposed to. I made 10 more casts without a hit and called it a night.
May 27, 2014 - Block Island
Moon phase:	Tide: 7:15 p.m. -- High	Wind: 15 mph E
	Start time: 6:00 p.m.	Total time: 1 1/2 hours
	Finally got out for the first time this season. I was working for a few days on my BI properties and was mostly too tired to fish. But, on the last night, I decided to fish sunset. There was a 15 mph easterly wind, so I chose Charleston Beach. Perfect conditions. Clean water. Overcast. Nice chop on the water. There was even a new moon. It felt so nice to walk the long beach and cast with light tackle. I was throwing my beloved Yo-Zuri Hydro-Pencil in the ivory color and it was casting a mile. I thought I would get at least one fish. No such luck. No action at all. But it was a nice walk on the beach at sunset. Charleston Beach in late May.