Windy Days and Breezy Nites

Sounds like a line from a country western hit but it is what we have been dealing with lately here on the Cape. It is the norm as I have come to find out living here but damned we need to get out and get back on the fish before it's all said and done. I still have many trips lined up for the next 2 weeks so am hopeful the weather will be on our sides.
My good pal Jeffrey Cardenas and his friend John Aplanalp are scheduled to fish with me in a week as well....Poor Jeffrey has the fevah BAD it appears and I for one certainly understand it. There is something special and serene and one with nature hooking these magnificent fish on the flyrod. I can't explain it but those who have accomplished this feat surely understand what I'm talking about.
I got some good reports from some of the commercials with the 40' boats who were able to get out and they were seeing alot of the size of fish we are after on the sounder and sporadic feeds on top. For those of you that are hoping to get out the next few weeks I would be at church praying for good weather every chance i got until you get here.
I have about two more weeks of chartering lined up then it's off to upstate NY for a short trip to see Doc and family as well as pick up a few cases of that good Canandaigua Valley red wine. Apple and pumpkin picking with my girls will be the agenda. Thoughts of crashing tuna and greased flylines coming tight will race through my mind but seeing my little girl stroll through a pumpkin patch with a smile and dirty kneepants will bring me back to one of the few things I love more than fishing and that is my family....I've got the best of both worlds and am thankful for that!
Feather trip 2morrow....stay tuned....

Busmans Holiday

Capt Gil Berke and I had a busmans and put the little stick to work as well as get some great shots of the whales...

Update

Well it was a great September. We pretty much exclusively fished for bluefin tuna and had some pretty great outings. I apologize for not keeping up to date on the blog but it gets extremely hard when you just eat, sleep, fish!

The weather the past few days threw everybody for a loop and it ended up being two of the nicest days on the water this past month. Except for the rain the wind was under 5 knots yesterday when it was predicted to be blowin 35kts...Today was similar....We had a great day yesterday hooking 7 bluefin with the boys from KY and not seeing anybody else on the water...Hard to beat that.

As we move into Oct my schedule is very open. The fishing is still strong and very few boats OTW....If you would like to get out before this season is up now is the time to go...

Here are a few pics from the last couple weeks...

I had a long winded short story typed up but lost it due to a computer re-start while talking to my buddy doug baz on the phone...*just another reason to hate you doug* , so here is the short version.I had Jeffrey Cardenas onboard monday and tuesday looking to break the 8kg world record for fly caught tuna...Well we hooked him but as I suspected broke the class tippet after 10 or so minutes...I had an awesome time fishing with Jeffrey and am pretty sure we are friends for life. He is an immensely talented, worded, and successful individual who I am proud to be introduced to years ago *thanks Steve L* We hooked two and landed none but had alot of shots...The two days with Jeffrey reminded me why I do what I do...I am insanely addicted to big fish on the fly as is Jeffrey and he considers these Cape Cod bluefin the ultimate saltwater flyfishing challenge. I couldn't agree more and if your getting tired of catching, gaffing these fish on hardware then you might consider trying to get one of these fish on feathers. There aint *NOTHING* else like it.. Here are a few pics from the outing...*thanks Jaydreamin*!

Updates from the last few outings...

Well it was a good time to be sick I guess cuz it sure blewwwwwwwwwwww from the north and then from the SW.....My first day back otw was a hard one physically since I had very little stamina from being so sick....We still got it done and got a 60" fish in on the spinner and had several other hookups that came unbuttoned.
Yesterday was a mirror of the day before except that all fish came unbuttoned in one way or form.....Fishing has been fair to good to excellent on somedays but the weather is the biggest factor right now....
I have this weekend off with the storm for company then fishing with Jeffrey Cardenas on Monday and Tuesday......Praying the weather is going to be doable!!....
Sorry for lack of pics.....Time and energy is a hard thing to come by these days.....

More ramblings!

Well here it is Saturday and I am still sick....Geeeeeeeeeeeeze Louise! I have taken antibiotics and gotten rest when I can but I still have not been able to shake this bug. We have struggled the past week to make it happen but have still hooked up many times on both sides of the cape.
Last week I had John Marchefka and friend and we went 0 for 4 and had several other blowups. These fish are almost too big for the current tackle I have and I plan to respool everything today with 65lb braid and use 80lb leaders from now on....Chaffing 60lb is a common thing the last week.
Yesterday I was east oc Chatham with Eugene White and Tyler Cronin and we struggled to find the bite. The conditions were sloppy at best and the weed was terrible that we eventually shut down and tried to do some butterfly jigging. Got a call from Paulie who said there was some good life back where we started earlier so we picked up and ran back a mile and found the tuna on top....We had a chinese fire drill and got a squid bar in the prop and I eventually had to strip down and go over and cut it free which was no easy task in bobbing 3-4' seas.
We eventually hooked up twice on topwater but didn't land the fish. That bite died so we ran way north and found many schools of slurping tuna in the 30-50lb range *a good thing to see* and for the life of us could not get them to eat....It was getting late so we finally headed to the barn afgter 11 hours on the water....Laying low today.....;)
Good luck out there...

FinAddiction Ramblings

It's been a good week fishing wise for tuna. Went back out with Lloyd and his brother in law and nephew. A slower day but we hooked up twice and eventually landed the second one. Lloyds a great fisherman....Wish I could say the same for the bro in law and nephew! Always a pleasure Lloyd..;-)
Next day we went east of chatham with Tyler and the boys.....This is a yearly event and we went 4 for 4 on large butterballs. Just truly beautiful fish. We stayed way clear of the fleet and it paid off well.
Yesterday I had John Fletcher onboard and we went 0 for 2 up north on light tackle....We hooked up early and John fought the fish and good hour and twenty plus minutes before he chaffed us off on 60lb leader. We got a look at him several times and he appeared to be mid 60 inch class. We hooked up again and could not move this fish at all....After 15 minutes he shook the hook. We called it early due to the fact I was coming down under the weather and had to take today off as well to deal with being sick....*uugh*....
Hopefully back at it 2morrow!