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Need info on guide service in the Boston area

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Widowwood 
#1 ·
Hi guys

This is not really a speyfishing question, but I hope that someone amongst you could help me out here.

I'm planning a family trip (July) to the East Coast of the States and have secured some "dadtime".

I would like to try the fly fishing for stripers in the Boston area. As I don't have a lot of days to scout the water and chase the fish, I've decided to use a guide service. Preferably with a boat.

Do any of you guys have first hand knowledge of guides, that they can recommend for a beginner (at this sort of fishing), please let me know either here or on PM's.

I'll be willing to drive about an hour or so from Boston to get to the fishing, so it doesn't have to be right around Boston.

Info on the fishing and "secret weapons" would much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Widowwood
 
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#2 ·
That can be an interesting time of year for fly fishing for stripers. But one area to check, would sight casting for striped bass on Monomoy Island. Randy Jones from yankee angler is one of many good guides in that area. Are you opposed to any other types of fishing? Would you consider going for Tuna fishing, instead? I know a few guys that can target them of the fly, however you might have to fish with a spinning rod, or even conventional rod depending on the fish.
 
#4 ·
Boston out to the Cape to fish Brewster or Monomoy Flats is going to be about an hour and a half, assuming no traffic. Monomoy requires a ferry boat to reach (http://monomoyislandferry.com/) as its an island. You need to book this ferry well in advance as it will sell out oftentimes (not just fishermen - bird watchers, shell collectors, photographers, and everyone else will use it to get out there).

Also, should you be interested in this, you should check the tidal chart for the day before you commit. The ferry run, maybe, 8am drop-off and 3pm pickup, or something like that (cant remember, been a while). High tide in the morning/middle of the day is not going to be good. Low tide morning, mid afternoon will be better. The real estate for fishing is rather limited when the tide is in.

Also, be careful when the tide is coming in. That shallow cut you crossed to what looked like dry land might require a swim in an hour, not to mention that dry land may be under water in two. Ive done some (unintentional) swimming on account of losing track of time/tides, and let me tell you its a bit nerve racking going for a swim, especially when there are seals all around them, and , with them, Mr. Great White lurking not too far away (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/spotlight/white_shark_2009.htm#gallery).

Its a cool area, neat place to fish. I know there are abundant guide outfits out on the Cape, though I have no recommendations. Im sure you can find something if you look, or someone else can recommend someone.
 
#5 ·
Lars -

A few options in addition to the great recommendations above...

In Boston, you can have a charter pick you up at a waterfront dock and fish the off hours without ruffling any feathers. I can vouch for Capt. Tom Koerber, although you can google up several others I'm sure.

Dave Skok lives in Winthrop, and he's a great resource for wading and fishing the harbor islands and general area. Creative fly-tyer, and great guy to fish with. No boat.

To the south, you can get as far as Plymouth in that time frame, Baymen, B-fast, are a couple that come to mind. I don't fish that area too often because it's so close to the cape...

If you decide to go ahead to the cape as others mentioned, you'd be in the striper mecca but a good 90-120 minutes en route without traffic depending on location and on weekdays you'd have to wait until 10-10:30 before trying to re-enter Boston or it could take 3 hours easy. Countless options down there, but I would start with Capt. Art Sawayer.

To the north there are several captains around Essex/Ipswich/Rowley/Plum Island. In either case you'd have the same commute problem as you would coming back from the Cape until 10/10:30.

The harbor can be good then, and the dockside pickup is hard to beat.

Another option I would highly recommend is to treat the family to a day down the cape. Have her drop you at Sesuit to meet the captain, and they could spend a few hours at Mayflower for the tide change, followed by lobster rolls at the marina afterwards and ice cream at the Sundae school for the kids.
 
#6 ·
Where in Boston will you be staying, and will you have access to a car?

What dates are you thinking? You have a ton of options. Is there anything you were looking to do particular, or anything you were against?

There is some great fishing right from Boston Harbor, if it were me I tried to get out of the city a little and start from there.
 
#7 ·
Thanks guys

Hi Guys

Sorry that I haven't responded sooner, but I've had some problems with my internet supplier. A technical update at the supplier that f.*. my setup and mailsystem.

@ Heero. Thanks for the info. I'm looking for a guide service with boat, as I don't want to chance it spending a lot of time wading in the wrong areas looking for fish and then running the risk of ending up like Capt. Quinn. I really have respect for tidal movements after having been "caught" on a sandbar for nearly 9 hours. The fishing was great though, but it teached me a valuable lesson.

@ Juro. Thanks for the info on the different guide services. A trip (bringing the whole family) to Cape Cod sounds great, but may be impossible due fact that my wife isn't too keen on driving in unfamiliar areas.

@ FF. I'll probably be staying at a hotel in downtown Boston, so for the moment a charter from somewhere close to Boston would be preferred to minimize the time spent in a car and maximize the fishing time. There's nothing really I'm against, but in order to reduce the amount of tackle I've decided to target primarily stribers. Should there be a chance to hook a blue as well I'll take it, but my timeframe (2-3 days and one day of fishing) really reduce the time I have available.

Once more thanks for your info, guys - much appreciated.

If others have any info please feel free to comment. That goes for flies and tackle recommendations as well.

Tight lines

Widowwood
 
#8 ·
Feedback on trip

Hi guys and especially Juro

Just back from the States, I just wanted to give some feedback.

As I stated in an earlier post my timeframe didn't allow to much searching and probing, so I chose the "guideversion" and contaced Tom Koerber and hired him for a morning trip.

We had a great day on the water, caught some nice fish and I can really recommend Tom. He runs a very tight ship. Clean boat, excellent outfits in the boat if you don't want to bring your own and he really did put a lot of effort into getting into some fish under very difficult conditions.

The cold front that hit Boston prior to my trip, had scattered the fish, so they were very hard to find. That said I managed to catch a nice 30 inch'er, so the trip was (in my book) a succes no small thanks to Tom and his efforts.

Besides running a tight ship, he's a very nice and fun guy to hang out with, so I can only give him my highest recommendations, if you're in Boston and want to try the fishing for striped bass.

Thanks Juro for pointing me in his direction.

Tight lines

Lars
 
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