Northeast saltwater fishing, for me, has always been about the camaraderie, the crew and the energy of it all. I grew up in Rhode Island and for as long as I can remember I always had a “crew” of fishing friends. Whether we were running and chasing fish down miles of beaches, riding rusted out bicycles to hot fishing spots or taking out our tiny barely running beat up hand-me-down boats to rips and reefs that we had no business being at; I always had a crew. So much time has passed since the earliest memories and crews and the methods of fishing and crews and names and faces have changed many times over. But, regardless of whether the crew was a bunch of kids with duct taped surf rods on rusted bicycles, ex-cons and other types of castaways on off-shore commercial long-liners or fly rod wielding albie addicts … the fundamental fishing energy and sense of camaraderie remains unchanged. There are many forms of more relaxing and mellow saltwater fly fishing of which I love to do. You know, hunting and sight fishing to a solo striper or bonefish or whatever eating crabs or shrimp in skinny water. I love the hunting and visual aspects of saltwater fly fishing and the energy of the sea and being surrounded by its many life forms. The more life and energy, the better! So, amongst many Northeast saltwater fisherman, there seems to be a somewhat generally understood never ending quest for more life and more energy! Sure, many times the goal is one nice fish from a difficult environment or one big fish measured in inches or pounds but many times the goals and respective measurements are inherently different. The hunt and the visual dynamics remain the same but everything else is super magnified. Anyone who has spent time fishing in Northeast saltwater has seen or spent time looking for the epic “Blitz.” It usually involves covering many miles of relatively lifeless water by foot, boat, bicycle or car looking for the inevitable signs of massive volumes of life. This could include but is not limited to hundreds if not thousands of birds, seals, porpoises, dolphins, whales, stripers, bluefish, albies, bonito, bluefin tuna and millions upon millions of helpless baitfish. It is not as easy as one might think to find a “Blitz.” Infact, it can often be just as difficult as finding a tailing bonefish. But the signs of a “Blitz” are almost always consistent with birds dive bombing into the baitfish and all sorts of fish smashing and crashing through the bait causing the water to appear as though it is boiling. It is very difficult to effectively describe the energy and life, as it is something that can only be felt. And, regardless of the actual crew and its names and faces, that same feeling is felt by everyone. And, not only does the sea come to life during a “Blitz” but the entire crew comes to life. It is almost as though we are part of the “Blitz” itself and the crew feeds off the energy surrounding us. I suppose that non-fisherman would feel nothing at all and some fisherman would not feel the same electric energy of the blitz. And, that’s cool … just as long as they are not part of our crew! So, when my friend Greg Snow called me and said, “Dude, wanna make a run to Montauk? I heard there was an almost epic blitz today?” I said, “Of course, can Alex and Boz come?” There was a moment of silence and he then politely said, “Dude, those guys are like brothers but 4 fly rods fishing at once? Whatever, let’s do it.” So, we ditched my boat on Block Island and all jumped in Greg’s boat. I had one of the best days of my life and it was epic with literally miles of albies surrounding us in every direction. Our crew was part of the blitz from the time we arrived until the time we left. And, somehow the four of us managed to fish and maneuver around the boat as an almost single entity casting four fly rods and chasing and hooking countless albies without a single tangle or issue. Oh ya, except for the last cast of the day when I drilled Alex in the back with an epoxy fly (see very last sequence of the video). But, I think I was just subconsciously getting him back for when he cracked me on the head with his fly reel a couple years ago during another albie blitz. I tried to put this video and tune together in a way that tries to capture the energy and essence of the blitz. But, ultimately … a “Blitz” can never truly be described with video or words or whatever; it can only be felt.
Book
- Alaska
- Guide & Fisherman
- Guiding: Choosing Your Guide And Choosing Your Customer
- Guiding: Do It Yourself With A Guide
- Guiding: Evolution Of A Guide
- Guiding: Freshwater, More Than Meets The Eye
- Guiding: Friends For Life
- Guiding: Know Where You Are
- Guiding: More Than Just A Fisherman
- Guiding: Mystery Of The Fisherman
- Guiding: Payment
- Guiding: Saltwater, A Different World
- Rough Fish
- Fly Fishing For Rough Fish: Why Do It?
- Introduced Rough Fish: The Carps & Other Invasive Species
- Methodology: Gear & Tactics For Pursuing Roughfish On A Fly
- More Roughfish: Bullheads, Whitefish, Goldeye, Burbot & Drum
- Rough Fish Environments: Where To Look For Rough Fish?
- Rough Fish Species: The Suckers
- Rough fish: A Lifetime Of Learning
- Rough Fish: Fishing For Dinosaurs (Gars & Bowfin)
- Rough Fish: What Are They?
- The Hook: Some Common Rough Fish Fly Patterns
- Spey
- Spey: Applications, Where Can You Do It?
- Spey: Atlantic Salmon, A Significant Fish
- Spey: Defined And Demystified
- Spey: Gear, The Nuts And Bolts
- Spey: Lines, They Are That Important
- Spey: Steelhead, New Traditions & A Modern Movement
- Spey: The Energy
- Spey: The Flies
- Spey: The Swing
- Spey: Two Critical Casts
- Striped Bass
- Striped Bass: Fishing Rocky Shorelines
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Beaches
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Flats
- Striped Bass: Fishing The Reefs
- Striped Bass: Fishing Tidal Rivers
- Striped Bass: Flatwing Swing
- Striped Bass: Fly Line Options & Choices
- Striped Bass: Gear, The Nuts & Bolts
- Striped Bass: Migration Patterns
- Striped Bass: What They Eat
- The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: A Natural Drug
- Fly Fishing: A Validation Of Freedom
- Fly Fishing: Don’t Fight The Current
- Fly Fishing: It Is What It Is
- Fly Fishing: Socialization For Asocial Individuals
- Fly Fishing: The Allure Of The Fish
- Fly Fishing: The Art Of Escape
- Fly Fishing: The Simplicity Of It All
- Fly Fishing: Time Flies
- Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget
Wow. That is some sick action!
One day you will go to cast and I’ll be there to shove you!!!! Great scene of total chaos! I guess you could say this is an action packed 4 minutes that is memorable and deserves a short cut on my desk top screen for winter veiwing. The weather makes it more fun if you have a strong stomach. Great treatment of the video, makes the ticker pump!
ya .. well .. you better come and get in on it!!! .. how bout a little salt to kick of your big east coast steelhead trip! .. just head a little more east for a day or 2 — get to new york city or wherever kory lives … i’ll pick you guys up via boat (only 16 miles or whatever from rhode isalnd via water) … think about it …… albies in the salt for a day or two then we’ll chase the fresh water albies (steelhead) for a couple days upstate ny …. lookin’ forward to seein’ and fishin’ with ya either way! … it’s already startin to feel pretty steely here on the east coast!
Wow, lotsa machine gun fire going on there. really got the blood pumping, everything happens so fast out there and you did a supper job capturing that feel with this video. grade A fishing and filming, excellent.
Killer video….. I could have used some Dramamine while watching it. Haha.
One word……Hardcore!!
That was excellent, getting excited for some salt water myself.
Loved it. I have never experienced this type of fishing and it looks like a killer time. Definately hard core. Nice song too jer, I dig.
Thanks, Joey.
Ps. You would dig it .. just like steelheading, just more water. But same deal essentially. Migratory fish ya know … always on the move and always burning ya .. but when ya find them and all the stars align, its electric. And just like steelhead you can try, but can’t really figure them out entirely. A spot that was on fire one day could be totally void of life the next day or for the rest of the year or forever for that matter. We gotta do an albie trip sometime together and hit it right …. we’d have a blast and .. no doubt .. you would fit right in with ‘the crew’ … lookin’ forward to steelheadin’ with ya this year!
Awesome. You captured it well. It’s why I spent hours cruising around in the rain yesterday just on the hopes of finding one blitz, passing up rips and structure and shoreline where I knew I could get fish blind casting. This time of year, it’s what you live for.
Ya pete! exactly “This time of year, it’s what you live for.” ….
PS. Working on another “blitz” type video from our trip together with tom, enrico, alex, rhodyflyguy, capt. mike, your brother … a few good bonito blitzes, some killer striper blitzes on the reef .. and a couple shark “blitzes” with capt. mike just for good measure! .. gonna be killer can’t wait for “the crew” of that trip to see it ….. stay tuned.
PPS.. would be killer to meet up and fish again one more time this year .. montauk maybe? i’ll run my boat from RI (on a “calm” day .. you run yours from long island) .. and we’ll meet up …. i think the “blitzes” are gonna go on right into mid november this year .. hope it works out so we fish together again ..
That looks killer! Awesome place and great fish
Looks like an absolute ton of fun, I’m sure the heart was pounding and your hands were a trembling. Great Work!
Ya, Montauk is an “awesome place.” Legendary, really .. in the sense of its roll and history of Northeast saltwater fishing. It’s pretty cool to be there with that lighthouse in plain view and fishing to the “same” fish that so many guys have been fishing to for a very long time … It is definately an awesome place. Some guys say “it’s a zoo .. and so many boats and fisherman etc…” but, not always! and even when it is .. it’s kinda just part of the game there and for the most part; part of the fun (even if a few guys crowd fish and put the fish down or whatever) on good days there can be such epic numbers of fish, that there is plenty for all … it’s just a really cool place to fish at least once … just to see it and say you have .. not to mention the name “montauk” just sounds cool…
Hell yeah. I have the boat through the end of October so hopefully we can get a trip in.
Right on. It’s weird to be fishing a bust and have someone shout behind you “Watch your backcast” but there are so many fish there at times, it’s insane.
Nice work J! I’m always suprised at how killer your vids come out. That was a real sick albie bloodbath we had. It was great having you, Boz and Alex out to fish “The End” via Block Island. Raging Albies for hours never sucks!! Triple and even quadripple hook ups on the fly is something to be proud of with not even ONE crossed line. I’ll be out on BI untill the 15th so we’ll maybe get out again. I have an all day charter over there on Tue so I’ll give you a full report.
Tight lines & Strong tides dude. Capt. Greg Snow http://www.snowflycharters.com
muy buena pesca Alex!!1 felicitaciones , la verdad da envidia verlos disfrutar tanto , aca ya falta poco , solo 1 mes , espero que sigan pescando bien , les mando un abrazo gigante desde Bariloche y hasta pronto .
excelente trabajo
Miguel-Bariloche-Argentina
Jeremy… Sick video.
Actionpacked !
I really liked it, liked the way you used the different formats as well.
I have to try some of that Albie fishing out some day 🙂
btw, what editing software are you using for this vid ? I like the double frame stuff..
thanks greg .. glad you dig the vid! Dude! Love your username “snowmobile” .. i’m tellin’ ya .. i’m glad we were in “the snowmobile” that day and not my little boat .. “the snowmobile” is a sick ride. as you say, “the 23′ seacraft is built for those seas and runs better in seas like that .. anyway, i am so psyched that it all came together like that for us … it really was an awesome day and a great crew .. it helped that there were virtually unlimited albies too!
ps.. if anyone out there ever finds themselves on block island or rhode island and looking for a guide .. consider greg. he is a great captain, great fisherman and great freind. block island is where he keeps his boat and fishes in the summer .. and providence ri area in spring/fall .. from block, it’s a pretty quick shot to montauk .. but many times block is the place to be .. especially for monster stripers in crystal clear water, bonito, bluefin tuna, albies etc.. .. check out greg’s website ..
Nic — ya, that was the effect i was going for … i know there is alot going on in the video at once and kind of all over the place .. but, many times during the heat of albie fishing with 4 guys casting and trying to get their fly into the mix … the video is what it feels like .. hope i didn’t make people too dizzy .. it was fun putting it together in kind of a controlled chaotic format .. much like albie fishing! .. glad you dug it.
PS – i used adobe premiere for that .. you can get “adobe premier elements” which is the boiled down version of that software and it will enable you to do multiple tracks of video .. actually, to be honest .. adobe premier elements has virtually all the same stuff as the full version … do a google for “adobe premier elements” i think you can download a free 30 day trial .. don’t know what you use now for video editing but this will give you video editing features that the most basic softwares such as movie makeer or whatever won’t give you (multiple tracks, layers, cropping, etc…)
What a day…… Jer the video is just simply intense portraying the the controlled chaos and madness of the fall New England blitz… I love the song man and I am still wasted on the high of the Albies screaming backing off all of our reels. Snowman and Boz it was so great to catch up with you guys this year and thanks so much for getting us into the game….cheers Alex
nos vemos pronto hermano
un abrazo grande
That is some sick albie action! I don’t know exactly what i would have done if i was on the bow of the snowmobile at the time, but i know for sure i would be tangling lines, casting too short and mising the fish, etc…a job well done by all of the blitz crew on this trip! seems as though the stars truely aligned, and the perfect crew and perfect fish finally came together! great song, story, and of course outrageous shots and video editing! Way to rock and roll guys!
absolute carnage and mayhem. love it
Cool, thanx Jeremy.
– and again .. Nice vid…
Wow , wish we had albies over here in Europe…
What jeremy says about the “crew” is a thing i know al to wel… ( like the sea-bass crew here in holland..)
nice video !
Seabass