I know, summer doesn’t officially end until September 21st and – trust me – I’m not trying to hurry summer out the door. But for me, a fishing editor, summer ended back in July when I put my August issue to bed. In fact, I’m writing this in late-July and I’m already thinking about the fall run, albies and tautog. I’m planning October and November right now, it’s one of the things I kind of dislike about my job, it forces me to live in the future and because deadlines never stop, I never really get that perfect silence that comes with living in the moment.
But today, I was thinking back over the last three months and feeling proud of the work I have done on the local portion of our summer issues and the collective work Jim Hutchinson, Jr. Matt Broderick and I, along with our amazing production team have done on these issues. Looking back, I think they represent some of the strongest offerings we’ve put out since I took over in April of 2021. The following are a few highlights that I feel are worth a second read or making sure you didn’t miss them the first time through. In the interest of space, I’m only going to highlight stories from the local section…
June:
My favorite article from the June issue was Max Finch’s “Mastering the Flutter Spoon.” Max is the real deal when it comes to fishing and he’s one heck of a great guy too. The story was his second-ever article and I took great pride in seeing his progress as a writer. Flutter spoons have taken the striper world by storm over the past couple years and his story makes getting into the game super easy. My second favorite story was Rowan Lytle’s “Mullberry Madness” this project was a year in the making and I think Rowan, another master angler in his own right, crushed it. Lastly, Capt. Pete Henderson’s “Top Five For Cape Bluefin” was an awesome story that covered a complicated fishery in short order and offered five ways to score.
July:
My favorite article in the July issue is an easy one, Capt. Coral Aiello’s “Chunking Structure”. This was Coral’s fourth or fifth article and it marked a turning point in her writing career. The imagery of the catch with the music playing in the background, really made for a clear picture of a memorable moment and the info in the story was rock solid. Coral was raised on a charter boat and is a licensed captain herself, she can hang with the best of them. My second favorite is Capt. Connor Macleod’s “Tuna South of Block”. His enthusiasm for this fishery bleeds through in his words and his awesome photos really made his words come alive. And I also felt that there were many valuable insights in Rowan Lytle’s “Stripers by Sight,” if you didn’t read that one, you should.
August:
My top pick for the August issue comes courtesy of our Connecticut Field Editor, Aaron Swanson. His “Pumpkin Spice Albies” story packs a ton of info in with some lighthearted humor and provides a heat map for starting off the albie season in New England. My second pick is Dave Pickering’s “The Peanut Invasion”. This awesome story touches upon something I have observed and believed in for a long time; that the fall run begins in August and peanut bunker are the accelerant for getting the run underway. Next was Matt Broderick’s “The Amazing Race” I always love a story that focuses on a well-known area and gets into a deep breakdown, as this one does. Finally, I really enjoyed Greg Vespe’s “Five Underappreciated Species” – it highlights five species I wouldn’t have thought to target, and I love any story where the writer’s enthusiasm is apparent in the text, and this story has all that and more.
An Honorable Mention:
In the July issue there was a story by Alex Friedman, “Interpreting Whale Behavior”. Anyone that fishes offshore should read this story. Alex has been a commercial tuna fisherman for a long time and he reveals many of the old-time secrets of reading whales and it will definitely lead to you catching more tuna.
