Matt McGilvery
My nephew and I spend a lot of time fishing together. However, it’s been a pretty slow season for the two of us.
We’ve had successful trips on the boat with Capt. Cullen, but haven’t be able to consistently find fish from shore.
However, the date of September 2nd looked quite promising due to the new moon. Keep in mind the next new moon is this weekend, Sunday October 1st.
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My nephew and I figured the new moon would be a great opportunity to get on some fish from shore. As usual we made a trip to Canal Bait and Tackle to stock up on gear, and braced ourselves for an early outing the next day.
We woke up around 2:30AM, and managed to get down to the canal’s east end by 3:30AM. Without the light of the moon, it was pitch black. There were only two or three other anglers around, so we had plenty of room to fish.
We had nothing to show for the first hour of fishing. I was determined to put my nephew on some fish, and we ended up spending a half hour determining where we would fish next.
After some serious contemplation, we decided to head down to the herring run. I’ve had success fishing the herring run before, so I figured this was a good bet.
After about a half hour of fishing, we landed our first fish. It was no monster, but a fish nonetheless!
On the next cast, we had another fish. Things were certainly starting to pick up.
The next two hours of fishing proved to be phenomenal. We landed fish after fish, even getting bass on every cast at some points. However, my nephew was absolutely out-fishing me.
We were both hooking up almost continuously, but I was landing small bass while my nephew was pulling fish well into the 20 pound class.
He even got up-close-and-personal with a bass clearly in the 30 pound range, but the hook popped as he went to land it.
The stick shad he was using was distinctly out producing my magic swimmer. I clipped my stick shad on, and broke it off on the first cast!
Now we only had one stick shad between us, but the fishing was so hot it didn’t matter. These large fish were crushing the stick shad non-stop. My nephew and I shared his rod, and took turns landing big fish after big fish.
Our first fish was caught at 5:30AM, and the last was at 7:42AM. This big fish blitz lasted for over two hours, and was a truly unforgettable experience to share with my nephew.
As we caught these great fish, I felt as though I was watching him become a man. He was growing up before my eyes!
Additionally, my sister recently passed away. On this morning I had planned to spread my sister’s ashes down by the canal at sunrise.
I was also thinking of my uncle, who passed away on 9/11. He taught me essentially everything I know about fishing, so all in all this was a very emotional experience for me.
Later on we would learn that my nephew got the starting quarterback position on his high school football team! This capped off what was truly a memorable week.
We’ll have a new moon within the next few days, and new moon tides can produce some excellent fishing, as they did this trip. If you’re looking to get in on some fall run action, the next few days are very promising.
Get out there and catch ‘em up!
Matt​
Thanks for sharing this great experience Matt. Nice size fish too.
It was a pleasure meeting you and your nephew during the spring Cutty fishing trip.
Awesome hope to experience that. Just moved to the Cape. Inspiring story. Fished the East side of the Canal for the first time. Lost alot of tackle and no fish……sigh.
Nice job Matt. He is turning into an all star kid …. You have allot to do with that. Keep up the good work. EJ.
Thanks alot doing what I can they are both awesome kids Kaylee will be in the next one :)!
Fishing brings people together. Thanks Matt.
What a special day! Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed meeting the two of you at Cuttyhunk this Spring. Good luck during the next new moon!
Thanks Dex fishing is somthing we will always have together Thanks again
Great story Matt! I had the pleasure of meeting Matt and his nephew at cutty this spring. They are good dudes and dedicated fishermen
Hey Thanks Ryan means alot pretty good dude yourself That was a trip we won’t forget either
Great story Matt! I had the pleasure of meeting Matt and his nephew at cutty this spring. They are good dudes and dedicated fisherman.
Thanks alot Jim real good fishing these days!! I have to give a big thanks to Andrew Burke MFCC intern who put my words to paper awesome job man really captured the moment thanks again that’s the kinda day that gets me thru the cold months
Anytime Matt! It was an inspiring story to listen to. Hope you’re still catching ’em up!
Thanks again Andrew My nephew inspires me in life
Great job Matt and Andrew. Both you guys are helping to grow MFCC thru your efforts! Really appreciate it guys.
Thanks alot Ryan I couldn’t be happier wish I could do more you started something really special.This
experience helped to bond me an my nephew in a way that nothing else could of Im just glad we could be a part of it Thanks again everyone
Great story, Matt! Very inspiring stuff.