So I know a few are still out there fishing! As Thanksgiving nears I was wondering.....what might the highlights of your season been? Personal Bests?? Great trips with friends?? Epic blitz situations??? Fresh water?? Salt water??? Boat, kayak or shore??? Tell us all of your great experiences this season!:uhuh:

As I was tied up working on the house much of this season and my time out was limited at best.....I did mange a few highlights! Tops on my list was after several trips taking my wife Angie to the canal trying to get her first canal striper the stars finally aligned and she hooked a great 17 pound fish on a pencil popper that she fought like a seasoned canal veteran! I could not have been more proud of her and she was about as excited as I have ever seen her! It was awesome!

That was a good day Larry, and she sure was smiling :btu: I remember that.

I had a few highlights i guess, maybe a few lowlights too

I Had a good time one late afternoon with Paul my first time on his boat fishing eels for cows, didn't catch many but they were all good size. Like Joe and Nightshift say, feed them meat, it's what they want.
I had a good time fishing one night with those two also. I also enjoyed a few nights from shore and many mornings at the canal.

I hope to get out 1 or 2 more times

Well my first and most memorable highlight is that I spent an entire season fishing with my son. My normal partner didn't fish a single day this year.....Jacob filled the void. It was awesome! Also, watching him catch his first striper was definitely a highlight.

Another is catching my personal best at the Canal. Got into a lot fish there this year but never had as many large bass as this year. This year I got several in the 30's, some high 30's and some in the 40's. With a PB at 43.7lbs. Although it didn't break my all time PB it is my largest at the Ditch.

My best fish was at Cutty in early June fishing the SE corner on the 1st night. I did not have a boga then but it was probably a 25 lb fish and I caught it on one of my dartahs.

Another highlight was fishing on my birthday at the canal with Andy on June 18th,.. i caught a nice ~ 38-40" racer fish and Andy took a great pic before I released it.

Another great highlight was fishing with Slip at the canal.. we were getting ready to call it a day but then we saw some big fish bustin mid canal and Slip made the perfect cast and landed a monster fish and I took a pic before he released it... good times for sure

nuff said

is that a Barbie with dark hair?

The infamous "Indian Bowfin"

Had a handful of days when 2 sons Leo & Matty had no baseball or football and were able to come out. Fishing was pretty good also with up to 40 lbs while I just sat at the helm smiling.
Matty got his biggest fish to date.

Put in a lot of time Trying to learn a new spot. Only caught a few small fish in the process but consider it a success. It's one of the parts of surf casting I really enjoy the most.
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Many high lights. Getting to fish with Sax more often at the ditch. Always good times.

Realizing Chunkah and I are bad influences on each other lol.

Getting to fish with and know the Tri state guys was fun. The fish might not be big all the time but you laugh like hell regardless.

As far as individual fishing days go? My favorites were the ones that were least expected. Showing up in a spot I never fished with no clue as to what had been going on and fish show up. Those days are the best.
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my first bass of 2012 was 41 lbs...yup, it was all downhill after that...

my 12 yr old son Garrett caught his first ever albie from shore last season, so he follows that up with his first bonito from shore this season...same pile of Rhody rocks...

Garrett and his 14 yr old brother Hunter both caught their first ever stripers and bluefish this season, along with several other species...

but the numero uno highlight was watching Garrett land a 23 lb, 41.5 inch bass on his 6-ft Ugly Stik lite rod and 8lb test mono while fishing for schoolies in Plymouth...

Best days this season was when I took the trip up to the ditch on June 18-19. Got to fish with Andy and Ty, Paul, Skippy, Soups and some guy named Chris? No big fish but plenty of them and just about all of them on my plugs! Had a great time.
btw, found this pic on my phone, I think it's that Chris guy.

I caught and released more 30# or larger fish during June this year than I have any other total season. Best morning was 9 fish 25# and up 3 over 30# and then my new PB 44# all on plugs. Had couple of 12-15 fish mornings but the fish were all under 25# so they were good just not great or unusual for that matter. Had just enough late season skunks to remind me I'm not that good...yet ;) Have to add went to RI for the first time and Purgatory kicked my ass. I had no idea what it was like down there. Next time it's the wetsuit not waders. Man that's tough fishin.
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2 bests.

took an very impromtu suicide run to montauk, only was gonna fish a few hours. caught more fish than i could count, including a 30

the best though was getting my personal best @ 41lbs on the mtk ss on a danny.

Without a doubt the cutty trip with where I met S-B crew and got my biggest fish this year. The food was awesome and company was great. Already looking forward to next year
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Great year for me. Probably my best year since 2000 both in the boat and in the surf.
Highlight was seeing my nephew Jake Morgan get a 30# bass in the Canal on a Penn 5500. That fish almost spooled him twice. This was his first year striper fishing and "he did good". He just took the test to become a RI State Trooper.

August 16, Kerry Elizabeth Bombardier was born

Sharing this moment with a grown son.

Loads of laughs with these losers

The lost and found plug(s) this year!

In the Karma Thread:
Fishing early in the spring during the first real good action, my buddy breaks off his diawa minnow on a nice fish, I cast hook up with a nice fish myself and lose it 10 ft in front of me, but his rig is attached to my bent out hooks. same fish? you be the judge. Give it back to him, and he catches fish on it the rest of the night.

Then last week during the canal's last gasp, I lose an expensive orca, get a call a few minutes later sayin that guy we passed down there caught your plug, trackin him down and say hi, ends up being chef chris! get my plug back. unbelievable!

Whats the saying? I'd rather be lucky than good :devil2:

October 8th, Drew Joseph Marshall was born.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab110/amar1293/320495_10151190984647299_424827513_.jpg

October 27th, First solo keeper tuna fish.

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab110/amar1293/tuna55.jpg

As i reflect on the season, it's hard to put a finger on a single high light.. I had 3 very large fish that were at or over the majic mark..i released all of them with out a measurement or weight... for me.. although I am a trophy hunter, the abundance of small and medium fish to about 12lbs gives me hope that fishing will be good until I'm too old to care.. at times.. they were a pain in the XXX!...the fishing was as dependable as I have ever seen it.. the boat only got skunked 3 times from May to mid October.. and on those nights, had i REALLY wanted to do something differant ( we fished plugs those nights I'm sure we could have come up with a fish or three).. and that's fishing a 30 hour week.. I'd have to go back to the mid 80's to find a time when I could find fish EVERY night that were willing to eat like we had this past season... ... the weather co-operted nicely until mid September when we had a stretch of rough seas and the majority of "nice" fish were on the ocean front... Once again slipnot made the voyage north... Myself, he and Nightshift spent a slinging eels laughing and catching a few fish..Nightshift and I had a great season...we laughed hard.. fished harder and even got to play a trick on a boat load of yahoo's that tried to follow us to our honey hole..so.. I got to fish with good friends, have a few laughs, no one got hurt and we made it home safe each night.. that i guess is the high light of the season.

Good gravy what a season it was this year. So many positives. Main hi lite was a health issue I encountered that came about in mid season which had me very worried for a few weeks but turned out positive in the end. Thank you. Probably fished as much this year as humanly possible for a mid 50 year old man:) Spring in tin boat was awesome, even got Numby out once. he takes me in his boat several times so it was a pleasure to get him out in my tinny. Maybe got him hooked for a few times next year. I had a blast fishing with him several times in his boat along the Elizabeth Is. again this year. I luv plugging and that has to be the nirvana of plug fishing on the whole East Coast. I have fished the canal for probably a good 25 plus years and this had to be in my top 3 seasons and I don't even fish jigs or bait. The plug fishing was truly awesome with many fish over 30 lbs and even a good mid 30 2 weeks ago. The Albie fishing was again fantastic to the point I got bored with it after 2 weeks. Biteme and I had some fantastic action and it was such a pleasure to enjoy all my hard work on my cottage last year to be just a mile from the boat ramp to fantastic albie fishing. While this was going on I got some info from Capt. Cupcake about a really great boat bite going on in CC Bay. Slip and I one nite had some fantastic big fish catching and next nite Biteme and I did it again all thanks to Rockfish and Nightshift's generous donation of eels to me a few weeks before. I just let the remaining dozen eels go this past weekend so the experiment of keeping eels in 5 gallon buckets in a fresh water pond worked flawlessly. My commercial season was decent, not Chatham decent , but way more enjoyable and relaxing. Had a couple skunking's from shore that were still fun with Biteme and Slip. I always have a good time no matter how slow the fishing is. Learned some stuff this year too. Was able to fish and socialize, U know how I luv to socialize:uhuh:with so many fantastic guys this year, way way too many to mention that I am truly one lucky guy. I also have to thank my family for allowing me to chase this crazy addiction without one complaint, till last week. I am one lucky guy. Look forward to seeing a lot of U this winter with the plug hobby and look forward to next year with hopefully a good elbow. Paul

This year was a bit of a bummer overall with a new position at work I could not fish nearly enough, but all seasons have highlights .

Catching my first two Albies was one of them. I now know why people go crazy over them . Next year I will be using a more appropriate outfit .

Another was a night in ct that I did not have high hopes for it was in August. I nailed. 14 lb bass when it was sunny then got a near 40 after dark . Not bad when the expectations were low .

I am sitting here in the lot to get off block right now . These fall trips are always highlights even if the fishing is a bit slow. All the keepers were taken on fresh squid that were jigged up in the harbor . We gave up after a half bucket since we figured we would be wasting them. Little did we know we would run out and be willing to buy them for 2 bucks a piece right now .
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Best days this season was when I took the trip up to the ditch on June 18-19. Got to fish with Andy and Ty, Paul, Skippy, Soups and some guy named Chris? No big fish but plenty of them and just about all of them on my plugs! Had a great time.
btw, found this pic on my phone, I think it's that Chris guy.

That was a great morning and an awesome breakfast as well.... here are 2 pics of some guy named Lou... and another guy (Andy Stevenson) who I think should be considered for "Fisherman of the Year"... he definitely puts in his time and helps a lot of guys including me with learning how to fish the ditch... plus he out catches just about everyone at the canal... except his son.. but that is a given...

In late June I had a day to fish and went by myself. Usually I bring a friend and usually I fish the Elizabeth Islands. The water warmed up pretty early this year so I decided to try CC Bay. I was fishing the normal spots, Scorton and B-stable harbor with nothing doing. I decided to fly up to Race Point. About 1/4 mile into my trip I look over and I see a little blip in the water, I don't slow down, but I continue to look and see another small splash (water was flat as glass that day) so I decide to turn and see whats up. I almost get to the spot when I realize that there are dozens of fins sticking out of the water. I slow down, make a cast and hook up to a beautiful 25 lb. fish. I continue to fish there for two hours and catch fish on almost every cast, most in the high teens. My arms were so sore, I took one more cast and bring in this 30 lb. fish. I left the fish there. I had them all to myself, no other boats, wish I had a buddy with me, but.....

This year was a bit of a bummer overall with a new position at work I could not fish nearly enough, but all seasons have highlights .

Catching my first two Albies was one of them. I now know why people go crazy over them . Next year I will be using a more appropriate outfit .

Another was a night in ct that I did not have high hopes for it was in August. I nailed. 14 lb bass when it was sunny then got a near 40 after dark . Not bad when the expectations were low .

I am sitting here in the lot to get off block right now . These fall trips are always highlights even if the fishing is a bit slow. All the keepers were taken on fresh squid that were jigged up in the harbor . We gave up after a half bucket since we figured we would be wasting them. Little did we know we would run out and be willing to buy them for 2 bucks a piece right now .
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So you guys did find fish?

Yeah we did they were coming through a few at a time. When they did most of us would ho up then a couple hours of nothing . Then repeat ...
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Good for you guys. Better than nothing for 3 days for Spence, Bryan and myself. I mean not even a bump in 3 days and nights.

I am afraid I am done with my late Fall Block trips. Haven't been great since the last year I drove down to SW Point. I think that was 1996.

That was a great morning and an awesome breakfast as well.... here are 2 pics of some guy named Lou... and another guy (Andy Stevenson) who I think should be considered for "Fisherman of the Year"... he definitely puts in his time and helps a lot of guys including me with learning how to fish the ditch... plus he out catches just about everyone at the canal... except his son.. but that is a given...

I remember that morning.

Great to have you Striper Coast Surfcasters join us at Tri-State. They are kicking butt already.

plus he out catches just about everyone at the canal.
Not even close Chris ! I put a ton more time in the surf this year and the canal. Only some of my highlights are : The Cutty trip with the SB crew, had a great time can't wait to go again. Finally breaking the curse of live eels..caught my first fish a nice 30# from the surf with an eel thanks to Soups (he has helped me with every aspect of fishing, nice to meet an old timer who is willing to teach us young guys) , really put a ton of time into jigging the ditch and figured out the consistency (after the mandatory $1,000,000.00 lead donation) again thanks to Soups. Got to fish with alot of guys from here the usual crew and met a bunch more. No matter what I put here I'll forget some and do someone injustice, so thanks everyone it's always great learning from or helping teach someone. The absolute best highlight for me was this Fathers Day, watching Tyler land his 28# bass by himself at the ditch, gave him the option to weigh it or release it, he chose release and said "I'll see it at 40# Dad". Nothing made me prouder than hearing that. I caught more fish than ever (and not just "easy" fish )and only 2 came home because they wouldn't make it.

nice 30# from the surf with an eel thanks to Soups (he has helped me with every aspect of fishing, nice to meet an old timer who is willing to teach us young guys) , again thanks to Soups.

:confused:

Great to have you Striper Coast Surfcasters join us at Tri-State. They are kicking butt already.

All in good fun and we enjoy every minute! Well maybe not the revenge of the Maine Burrito! Irish flu fueled by midnight burritos is never a good thing! Lol
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:confused:
Question?

I hope for your sake Andy he isn't reffering to the old timmer and young guy portion...It sneeks up on you fast....see you in the grumpy old farts forum ;-)
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highlight for me was taking the wife to cutty and seeing that she now understands. a bunch of great canal am's, mixed in with a few breakfasts at leo's, a few good soco trips, a salmon river trip with atg- very cold, fishing sucked but a great time no less.

I hope for your sake Andy he isn't reffering to the old timmer and young guy portion...It sneeks up on you fast....see you in the grumpy old farts forum ;-)
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Slip said at 40 I have an automatic acceptance , so I'm in already..

I started my season on a high note launching March 15th touring Stellwagon Bank with Niko/FishingFreak, we didn't catch a thing but started a season that only went upwards. My Spring bass season mostly in Boston Harbor landed many quality fish one tying my PB. Summer only got better: boating 2 rec blue fin tuna on my boat then connecting with RIR/Tautog1 for 2 canyon trips boating mahi, my first mako, and several albacore tuna one to 60lbs (met/fished with Nebe but didn't know whether to put that as a hi or low light?:rotf2:). Fall fishing just got better: bass live lining poagies, scup/BSB, false albies, my first bonito, record # of tog day for me, and likely finishing last weekend with an unbelievable pollack fishing trip on Fishbucket to Wildcat Knoll.

Most of these trips had my side kick O.D. but many of you had the chance to fish on the BeeReel, including some guy from Utah and a kid from Wisconsin!

I have a bunch of health issues, but only got out 3 times last year :cens: But this year was able to get out at least 1 time a week!!
Had a great time with friends, and my son, he still has work to do, but he manged he boat, and was able to back the trailer in the water!! :love:

Did not try as many things as I wanted to, and did not catch as many fish as I use to, but was able to get my 76 year old Dad out,and meet some people from here for the Togfest, and got to fish with some friends. All and all I had a great year!


Here is that we all get to do it again next year!! :cheers:

Had my best season ever. I had 6 bass over 30lbs from shore, all on plugs, with the first being on May 1st in the top of the bay. 3 of the 6 fish were on my own plugs including my new PB 38lbs at the ditch. Also got put on the Century Pro-staff this year. I'm pretty honored.

Every day I made it fishing was a highlight.........

PB striper....46" from the surf on 15 lb test
PB brown trout...24" in a smallish river on 4 lb test and a spoon.
Catching 3 steelhead on flies I tied so far this season.
Watching my friend and his 2 daughters each land a beautiful striper in the surf.
Losing 11 lbs.

For not getting out much this year I had a few highlights.

Ice Fishing with Joe (Rockfish9) and Brian (NightShift) was a good time

Getting my neice on a 12 lb. carp was fun. She thought she was fighting a monster :hihi:

Squidding this year was awesome. Never did it before and had a blast. Me and Ross (Nightfighter) were laughing our asses off catching them in Marblehead....

Caught a couple of Hickory Shad at Cuttyhunk this year. Never caught those before either.

Caught my 1st Fluke this year from the Yak. That was cool.

Got a PB Striper from the yak this past September....nothing huge but the biggest so far from the yak.

I had a few great trips out in the yak.....had keepers which was nice and got some great video of one of them! I posted it on Youtube but do not know how to post it here! Search under "Hobie Striper Fishing" if you are bored!

I had a few great trips out in the yak.....had keepers which was nice and got some great video of one of them! I posted it on Youtube but do not know how to post it here! Search under "Hobie Striper Fishing" if you are bored!

Post the youtube link here!

better appreciation for fish fishing this year, both fresh and saltwater. as opposed to the last 2 years when i'd be frurious about skunked outings or not producing larger fish.

had a few 30's but no epic outings or trips to brag about. got out when i could and didn't let it bother me. kids are getting old fast, hopefully at least one will like fishing and will want to get out with me in 10 years.

I'd say thankfully the most memorable day on the water for me this year was my last day out, unseaonably warm, light winds, one keeper tog after the other until we just were too tired to continue. It would have only been better if it were my son out with me instead of a client/friend.

Where do I begin, I think this may have been the best season ever for me, not in terms of numbers or lengths, but just great experiences all around.

Cuttyhunk: Getting lost on the way back home the first night out with Slip, of course it starts to rain on us, as were wondering where in the hell we were. Luckily and thankfully we hitch hiked a ride from some dude in a golf cart.
Mr.Stripers credit card reciept story :)
Catching my PB one early morning, my own pencil at sunrise, it was awesome, took a few pics then let her go.
Watching Blondterror get a nice one that afternoon as well, was great.. I really would like one of those red/yellow pencils :) (hint,hint). I met so many great people there, and shared a bunch of laughs, it's definitely a must do for next year.

Albie fishing with Biteme, this fall was awesome, a blast as always, yet he out caught me about 10 -3, even after his rod broke, and was reduced to using an ugly stick with missing guides.

But the best highlight of all this year was going to a local pond with my 3 year old and just casting out a bobber and worm and watching him land sunfish, just hanging out with him and my wife, really laid back. It was great.

had a really fun night in barnstable harbor right when i got home from colorado. was crushing fish every cast...they were decent size too.....good times

that has to be a lie as there has never ever been any fish in Barnstable Harbor

that has to be a lie as there has never ever been any fish in Barnstable Harbor

Not true. I heard from a guy who's cousin was at a bait shop on the cape and the cousin overheard another guy telling someone else he heard from a guy that his friends brother caught a fish in Barnstable Harbor 3 years ago. It seems pretty legit to me.

Good daytime bite on an open beach on the northshore right at the beginning of may. Fish to just under 20# on bucktails and 6" stick shadd. All by myself in the middle of the day, and really early in the year for fish that size up this way.

Cutty trip. Not a lot of fish, but a great time. I'll miss it next year.

A few good nights at a favorite mid summer spot, but not as many as the last few years.

Some really good fall nights at a spot that hasn't given up much the last couple years, including one hour stretch that was good enough to claim the Tourney for Chuck prize

Mine had to be getting Colin my 16yo out on Race pt for some daybreak bluefishing, even though it meant getting crapped on by him AND Jack Bass. It was great to unhook the first for him then just throw him the pliers for the rest.
THANKS MARK!

Cuttyhunk Trip was great for all .... 1st bass from Montauk ..

Highlights for me this year.

A 42 lb Snowy Grouper caught on the Viking fleet out of Montauk. Traveled 300 miles to the Virginia canyons.


Then a 30 lb Atlantic Halibut again on the Viking fleet this time off of Georges bank.

It's been a transitional year for me. I moved back to Mass after spending 3 years in San Francisco. While I learned how to trout fish and really concentrate on fly fishing while out west I also realized that we have it pretty good here in New England and I was so happy to come back. On my trip home I landed multiple large cutttroat trout in Yellowstone on dry flies and also float tubed the big horn river by myself catching lots of large browns and rainbows.

As far as bass. I ended up tying my PB fishing on the North Shore at a place I'd never been before. I had no intention of fishing too hard or at all that night hence the flip flops and sweat pants in the picture. I measured the fish at 43 inches with a 24 inch girth so prob a nudge over #30. Best part was releasing it back into the night. Over all a great year!

It was a great year. Got back into freshwater fishing this year for the first time since the late 1990's. Had largies to 6 pounds in local ponds near my house.

My first shore striper of 2012 was caught in early March and it weighed close to 15 pounds! I was not ready for that, neither was my freshwater rod, leader and snap!

Had a blast fishing with a friend from PA who jumped a huge part of the learning curve and is now definitely going to be a surfcasting monster! His PB before the day we fished together was 24#... he took a 26 a 33 and a 39 in about three hours time... all caught on plugs and ALL RELEASED!

Of course my biggest highlight was busting 50#, now I need one on a plug and I plan to release the next one (if I get one)--as long as she'll swim away.

I'm not nearly done for 2012 but I already can't wait for 2013

that right you got that 50 this year. Good for you.

Fishing Cutty with my two son's and the crew is always the highlight. No 2 AM bathers this year though...nuff said about that.

Didn't fish as much as I would have liked with the new job, but can't complain as it's nice to have the stability. Had a some good days including a personal best largemouth and what was probably a personal best striper that both went back swimming after a couple pictures. And had a bunch of great days plugging to top it off.

super nice LM Dan.

...highlight for me was fishing almost every early am before work...some mornings were memorable enough to keep me satisfied all winter and some were just perfect to start the day...
...the other big highlight for me was seeing massive blooms of krill being fed upon by endless big bass...truly a sight...
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I had a very memorable season. Finally got my motor in the hands of a real mechanic and had it running they way she was made to run. Most of my best outings where shared with my girl who is gaga for fishing and a pleasure to fish with. Other outings where shared with friends I rarely get to fish with...that made it special too. I didnt sling as many eels and the times I did where a big let down.
The sea bass/scup this spring was as good as I ever see it.
Put a beautiful 40# in the boat,, on live bait of course.
Got into a very nice fluke bite this summer.
Got adventurous and took a 25 mile trip out of Falmouth, through the hooter and had a blast catching my first (7)Bonita's...excellent table fair!!
The highlight of my year,, fish wise...after two years and many mile$ I finally caught my 1st bluefin tuna on one of my customs and a ronz.
Bones where fast and thick.
I really tried hard for a 10# plus tog this fall but fell short ,,had a blast stickin plenty other quality fish.

I was blessed.

Nice Tony,that fish looks bigger than when you tortured me with the cell pic.

A Charter out of Chatham in August with 5 friends. We landed a total of 163 Bass and Blues. Yee Ha

Usually don't start fishing until late October until the end of December.
Had 2 good trips with my 5 yr old Grandsons and then Sandy blew
me off for the rest of the season. :(
No matter, anytime I can be on the beach with them is a great time. :)
Maybe some hold overs in Jan, if I can get there.

fished more than ever with my kids this season and got to see them evolve their skills while managing to avoid any hooks lodged into either them or me, discovered the joys of kayak fishing and also got the little guy across the street hooked....found some squeteague after many years and big scup, shore albie on light tackle was a blast, fished with a couple of friends who landed personal best stripers and got to see the looks on their faces which is quite memorable...great season overall...probably got a few casts left in me...

I went on my annual fisihing trip with an old teammate from college. We have been friends for 29 years. This trip is always fun and we talk about old times and seem to always find fish. Last year we fished found blitzing stripers at the mouth of the Narrow River, they were up a down for 2 hours. Fish ran from 14-25 pounds.

This year we got out later in the season and went for seabass. We caught over 30 fish with 8 keepers. Throw in a dozens blues and assorted other stuff like a few togs and an ugly sea robin. We also came upon an ocean sunfish near Beavertail. The little guy was wrecked though had prop marks ripped down his side. These have been great trips with a good friend. I am thankful.

that right you got that 50 this year. Good for you.

Thanks Paul, still need to catch up to you as far as weight goes though...

Gotta fish more riggies that have been bitten in half by blues! :biglaugh:

Vacationing in Truro in June, took my 5 year-old on a charter out of Ptown on Fathers Day (Beth Ann Charters, Capt Rich was the nicest kid-friendly captain I have ever met). Got my son 2 keepers in a short time, he thinks it's always that easy. Kept the fish for the grill, he felt like a real hunter-gatherer, had the smile burned into his face for a month.

2 days later, did a lobster boat cruise, we had a blast watching the captain haul his pots and show us his diverse catch (lobsters, crabs, sand dollars, a few cod). My son wouldn't hold a lobster without heavy gloves.

fished more than ever with my kids this season and got to see them evolve their skills while managing to avoid any hooks lodged into either them or me, discovered the joys of kayak fishing and also got the little guy across the street hooked....found some squeteague after many years and big scup, shore albie on light tackle was a blast, fished with a couple of friends who landed personal best stripers and got to see the looks on their faces which is quite memorable...great season overall...probably got a few casts left in me...

Beautiful photos, and those are some nice teagues, ain't seen one in 5 years).

Proving my hunch about musky glide baits being effective on stripers.

First fish on one - 46".
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I was blessed with a great season. Was able to have many S-B members join me on my boat and share the local fishery we are blessed with here. Just a few I had join me include: Bob Huddy fished a tourney with me in a northeaster and we managed to find fish in an area I don't fish. We also ended up filleting what would have been the winning fish.:rotf2: Blondterror got a taste of why livelining is is my drug of choice! And took home three species for the table. (No blues, either) Squid fishing was a first for me this year and made for some productive inshore cod bait. Had a lot of laughs with TDF squidding on his maiden trip. Fall surf fishing with plugs was good. Some solid fish around and took a 35# on a darter I cloned from Joe B. Cuttyhunk trip is always a highlight, but this one included a spectacular dinner with the Conn crew and the Zeebass team. Good trip, but no skinny dippers and my knee was junk that weekend. Always good to see new guys on the trip. Their reaction to the island is priceless, and I rent out the entire club so it is like being back in a fraternity house! But the number one highlight had to be participating in Operation Neptune with Maddies Anglers. We were able to take out veterans from the Wounded Warriors Project for a day of fishing. That was a great day.....

my highlights would have to be not only the sheer amount of fish caught this summer, from micro to 38" but also seeing some cool sites night fishing in Gloucester. Schools of young squid in the thousands moving without a care in the world, broken up by massive fish hitting them out of no where, to a baby seal poking his head up 3 feet from me as I sat crossed legged on the state fish pier at 2am. What a great summer!!

My son wouldn't hold a lobster without heavy gloves.

One smart kid. Keep it up.

ronnie thats a fish he will never forget great picture

Being asked to cut fish for the P-town Vet fish and the Jimmy Fund Joe Cronin memorial tournament. Never felt so good to be so tired. It was an honor.

My season was probably one of my best ever.
To start with, I had the pleasure of ice fishing with TDF and a bass trip with Slipknot. Both trips were a blast! The ice fishing this year was incredible, the brookies were fat and the rainbows were tagged (and also fat), and the salmon fought like hell. My eyes were also opened to the wonderful world of custom plug building, and the satisfaction of actually fooling a fish with one of them. This year, I finaly accepted a standing invitation from a friend who is a hard core tuna fisherman. Before that day, I had never seen a whale breech, let alone watch one breech continuously for almost an hour. The last series left me speechless--it started directly towards us and about a quarter mile off of the starboard side and the last splash was a mere two boat lengths away. That last jump, the whale coming completely out of the water, it's white fins twisting around it's masive body, and feeling the thunder and the spray as it slammed back into the water will be etched in my mind forever. To top off the entire day, after several hits, a tuna was finnessed to the hook and I was fortunate to witness a tuna fight from start to finish. The fish was brought boatside green and dressed out at 240 pounds. Words cannot describe the controlled chaos (or the beating it gave me).
As for the bass, this year i saw some of the fattest (not neccessarily the heaviest) fish I have ever seen. For a solid 3 weeks, 1 pound per inch was the rule, and on several occasions it was surpassed. Three of my friends fished hard,as they always do, and landed fish 50 pounds or over this year. One guy in particular did it more than once, and it was an honor to be able to net them for him and share the exitement. Congrats to Joe, Gilles, and Angie, three of the hardest fishermen I know. As for me, I caught more than my fair share of fish in the lower to middle 40 pound range and a handfull between 46 and 48 pounds. The 48 pound fish ties my 5 year standing PB for the third time. This fish was the shortest at only 46 inches but made up for it in girth. And Joe, it must be illegal in at least a few states to laugh as much as we do when we fish. We have wayyyy too much fun, and it is an honor to be considered your friend.

BRING ON 2013!

Solid year for me up here on the N. Shore as well. Learned how to catch squid and used a fresh dead one to fool my PB fish. 48" but a skinny 37 pounds. Caught many fish on metal lipped swimmers which I had not had as much success on in the past. Fall was better than last year as the peanuts kept the bass close to shore for periods of time. Spent lots of time on the water with the local sharpies and thus learned quite a bit throughout the season. I pick up my new St Croix Avid and VS 150 next week(thanx Mass Lottery) so really looking to step things up next season. :jump1:

My highlight of the fishing season was on my first trip out in the boat. Was blind casting bucktails near a bunch of charter boat guys. It was to much work to keep an eye on what everyone one was doing so I motored away to a couple birds diving bombing some bait.

As I launched a BT near the birds, just before the BT hit the water the water erupted with small keep size Tuna. Before I could get "holy s!@t" out of my mouth a tuna grabs the BT and decides to head for RI. I was using an uglystick tiger and a Cabo50 spinning set up. I have never heard line come off that reel like this before. It was unreal!

I was steering, using the throttle, reeling, and pumping the rod for over an hour, trying to keep boat over the fish. Spooled 3 times and at one point I was making almost ten knots trying to keep up with the fish. I was a sweaty blob of goo.

Got the fish along side, we both stared at each other for a couple seconds until fish decided to bug out. Line parted.

The tuna bug is very real. I hope to get another chance to do battle again some day.