06-29-2001, 12:05 AM
BOSTON HARBOR & SOUTH SHORE- Stripers 6/28/01<br><br>This week the harbor was as good as it gets. Early morning out-going tide, droves of herring and silversides and numbers of aggressive “keeper” bass on the feed resulted in surface action from first-light until about 9 am each morning. The surface blitz occurred throughout the harbor including Hingham Bay, Quincy Bay and the airport flats. Two or more keepers “on the fly” up to 38 inches were the rule this week.<br><br>On Roger Thuot’s (Princeton, MA) first trip of the season, two keeper bass to 30 inches took gray and white Half & Half sub-surface presentations on 400 grain DepthCharge line. On Tuesday, Great Lakes charter Capt. Rudy Ford from Ogdensburg, NY had similar results in the Quincy Bay and Govenor’s Island flats using chartreuse Half & Halfs, taking keepers in the low 30” range. <br><br>White Gartside’s gurglers in size 2/0 were particularly effective for Bobby Clark and his significant other (Philadelphia, PA) when fished with a staccato retrieve to bass popping herring to the surface. A cast to a rise, with two quick pulls on the gurgler followed by an extended pause brought explosive surface strikes. Donna Clark’s first fish was a 30” keeper taken off the Quarantine Rocks on a 7 wgt. Trident TL. Not to be up-staged, Bobby hooked his 32 “ lineside minutes latter, providing twins for the Kodak moment.<br><br>N.E. Fisherman Magazine’s Editor, Charlie Levine and the”Fishin’ Pole” photographer/scribe/reporter Ed Nowak were treated to the same early morning feeding blitz on Thursday off Long Island in the Harbor. From the get-go, Charlie was into the stripers on the long-rod while Ed worked the Nikon. Once again, White gurgler surface presentations and Half & half or large herring patterns fished sub-surface worked well on fly tackle. Switching to light-spinning gear using ½ oz jig-heads with 4 and 6 inch Fin-S rubber-baits proved to be equally effective. Ed managed to catch a few bass between photo shots. With each of his hook-ups, the“Fishin’ Pole” would run a series expletives from some strange dialect of unknown origin resulting in an immediate long-line release. Before the morning was out, Charlie would bring a 35” and 30” keeper to net weighing 16 pounds and 10 pounds respectively.<br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com