Salem, Massachusetts

Often, the most brutal heartaches have great comeback stories. This past Saturday was just that. Earlier in the week, my buddy Scott finally had all the stars align to get us out fishing for Giant Bluefin Tuna. All the gear was ready on his 30-foot center console, and the the fish reports finally showed some life of Giant Bluefin in familiar tuna waters — so we were primed for our first tuna adventure of 2025. Four of us packed his boat 90% of the way the night before… And at 4:30 AM the following morning, we met at the dock to load the remaining rods and reels - and headed out before day break. We got about two minutes off the dock before the unthinkable — he lost his bearings in the dark that precipitated an underwater rock skim that broke props and shafts on BOTH his motors … causing $19,000 of damage … and obviously killed our day of tuna fishing. He was devastated - we all were. After a few days to let it settle in, all I wanted to do was take him out on my boat and put him on a good Striper - to get the “stank” off. Mission accomplished. #don’tcallitacomeback! As a boat Captain, there is no greater thrill than putting friends and family on big fish. Tight lines !

Shark bite? …. Or Boat Prop? We have lots of sharks in our waters - sand sharks, dusky sharks, blue sharks, thresher, mako — even Great White Sharks. The bite pattern would suggest a small juvenile shark. I actually saw a 12-foot Great White fully breach out of the water just a hundred yards from shore last year while feeding on schools of bait and Striper. Notice the dorsal fin is also severely damaged - and healed over in jagged fashion. Alternatively, I could see some fisherman releasing her in years past with their motors still running … or perhaps in a valiant fight, the line got wrapped around the propeller and tore the flesh off this former beauty queen. Either way - this fish is a survivor - whatever happened. She was a spectacular fish … big, fat and healthy now - she fought like a champ and nearly snapped my line on several runs — especially around the boat and near my motors. Props were off! I was honored to catch her - and even more honored to release her to fight 🤜 💥 🤛 another day! 22 lbs and 37” … 1 of 3 tanks of the same size I landed yesterday - full post coming. Tight lines folks! 🎣 💪 🤙

Spent the morning wrestling with some serious brutes in one of my best fishing days of the year. 10 fish landed in 3 hours of fishing … three fish over 20 pounds with the largest over 37” and 23 pounds. There won’t be many more days like this. 🙏 🎣 Tight lines folks 👍

Nice little pre-Labor day morning session. Started early … bait was a little harder to find - but got the livewell filled and immediately honed in on the birds and blitzing stripers feeding on the surface. Got a double hook-up before 6:30 am amidst about 40 boats all chasing the same school … landed 6 midsize steipers (all in the 30”s) before the tide changed and fish went deep to digest their kill. I then turned my sights to the cod population and got 3 small ones. Cod season doesn’t open until next week - Sep 1st - then game time. All fish release unharmed. Giant Bluefin Tuna fishing also begins for us so these Striper outings will be thinned down. Tight lines folks.

Very windy on the water today that kept a lot of anglers off the water. Got out early… snagged some pogeys (bunker, menhaden) and immediately live-lined them with some unbelievable marks on the water. The 4 footers remain elusive but I am content getting up close and personal with these mid-size stripers — all in the 30’s (inches)…. All in, I managed to land 7 Stripers. I will take it ! 👍 💪 🎣 🤙

Honestly, I would love to catch a 40 pound or 40 inch fish but the small guys make my day they fight just as good as a big fish good times