July 2002 Daily Fishing Reports

Steve Murphy was back for his final trip over his vacation, this time with his brother Brian and good friend Ron Quain. Even if the fishing is slow, these guys have a blast together and today the action was anything but slow. Robinson's and Quick's were both hopping, but the best part of the day was surfing in front of Southwest Bluff and the Old Bass Club. There were some good rollers coming in that made boat handling a bit tricky, but the size of the fish we caught made it worthwhile. At one point, Steve hooked up with a real cow that reacted to the pressure of the hook by tracing a path behind a boulder and parting the line - another testament to why they become so big. But Steve was rewarded with the final couple of fish of the day and Quick's, making for a more than pleasant ride home.

Steve Murphy was back for his final trip over his vacation, this time with his brother Brian and good friend Ron Quain. Even if the fishing is slow, these guys have a blast together and today the action was anything but slow. Robinson's and Quick's were both hopping, but the best part of the day was surfing in front of Southwest Bluff and the Old Bass Club. There were some good rollers coming in that made boat handling a bit tricky, but the size of the fish we caught made it worthwhile. At one point, Steve hooked up with a real cow that reacted to the pressure of the hook by tracing a path behind a boulder and parting the line - another testament to why they become so big. But Steve was rewarded with the final couple of fish of the day and Quick's, making for a more than pleasant ride home.

It's not often that I get to fish at night with a client, but Bill Frank wanted to give it a try and I had high hopes given the daytime action we had enjoyed recently. Sure enough, the bass were in their usual haunts and willing to inhale eels as greedily as they were in the daylight. There is just something magical about the Elizabeths at night, as well as making the trip through Woods Hole Passage. It is a bass fisherman's delight and a trip back in time to when bass clubs and stands ruled the islands.

Last season Carl Lindeborg made an albie trip with me along the southside, during which he landed his first little tunny and experienced some incredible bluefish action. This time he brought along his teenage son John and we hit the Elizabeths for some classic eel slinging. Overall, it was a good trip, with Carl in particular figuring out the swing of that eeling thing, with Naushon and Pasque very productive, as was Cuttyhunk. Frankly, this July has been shaping up as the best eeling action I've seen around our local archipelago in a while - and I can only hope it holds up.

Rob Tartaglia is a fine flyrodder from the Boston area who fishes Boston Harbor and its surroundings, but on this occasion took the time to search out some bass in Woods Hole and the Elizabeths. Woods Hole was honking a little too much for effective presentations, so we poked around Naushon for some schoolies until we made a series of drifts along one of my favorite points. A number of really nice fish followed the fly and one of the better ones inhaled Rob's offering. Rob got to see his backing and did a fine job bringing his fish to the boat. As nice as that fish was, there were some bigger ones in the mix, a clear indication that even in bright sunshine the islands can be very productive.

Even though he now resides in Minnesota, Steve Murphy is still a born and bred New Englander and that means he loves his stripers, no matter how many walleyes and pike he might catch. Jay Barker was back with Steve on Tuesday to try and repeat his performance from last year, although Murph turned the tables and hooked up first. The action was hot around Naushon and both anglers managed fish between 36 and 40 inches on live eels. Wednesday was my introduction to another of Murph's friends, Mike Monty, and the action was as good as yesterday; actually, it might have been better. Live eels were the trick again and this time we found a pod of fish in Robinson's that competed for the snakes, with sometimes more than one fish following a meal up from deeper water. All in all, it just showed that Murph hasn't lost any of his magic.