Hi Families!
I’m writing to you from the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod! A lot has happened since our last update — lots of fish caught, big smiles, and memories made. The guys are really coming together and becoming a close, tight-knit group. It’s been incredible watching them build lasting bonds!
Before we headed out to the Cape, we spent two days camping on the Farmington River in northwest Connecticut. As we mentioned in the previous update, the "Farmy" is a world-class trout fishery, and over our two days there, it truly showed us how it earned that reputation. Despite being a technical fishery, the boys worked hard and found a good number of fish on nymphs. In the evening, they got to experience fantastic dry fly fishing. It was awesome to see the bugs out and the fishing productive on top, with several fish in the 18–20" range landed on dries. One fish was among the largest our guide, Leo Sperry, has ever seen caught on a dry fly there on his home river. After our fishing sessions, the guys returned to camp to enjoy excellent steak burritos and celebrated both Wills’ birthdays with a pizza party and ice cream. We were even lucky enough to be visited by the campsite’s resident black bears, whom we observed from afar.
The next morning, we enjoyed a hearty pancake breakfast and hit the road — salt or bust. We arrived at the Cape in the afternoon and took care of some laundry and housekeeping, then dug into a bacon cheeseburger feast. That night, we taught the crew about constellations, satellites, shooting stars, and how to navigate by the night sky. The stars over the ocean are truly remarkable and a real treat for all of us each evening.
Monday morning, we headed out onto the flats to chase ultra-spooky and difficult-to-catch striped bass in skinny water. While day one brought excellent conditions and plenty of fish sightings, the striper gods weren’t in our favor. So we switched things up and headed to some of our guides’ old secret childhood spots to see if we could get into a few bass for day two. The new location proved productive, and we managed to sight-fish a few nice stripers along the beautiful white sand surf lines. That afternoon, we hit the beach for some well-deserved downtime and a swim in the ocean to escape the heatwave. We built an awesome sandcastle and had a competitive game of touch football in the sand (Sean and Leo’s team definitely won).
Finally, we woke up with the sunrise this morning to see if we could find a few fish in the surf at first light — and it proved productive again. With fish caught, others hooked, and hundreds (if not thousands) seen in the crystal-clear North Atlantic waters, it’s safe to say it was a pretty awesome morning. Now we’re off to the ice cream shop for a quick treat before our evening session on the water!
Tomorrow, we head to the North Shore and our final camp near Salem, Massachusetts, where we’ll stay on the hunt for striped bass and hop on the charter boats in search of giants.
This has been such an awesome trip with a great group of kids, and we’re sad to see the days winding down. Until then, we’re going to do everything we can to make the end of the trip the best part yet!
We’ll talk to you soon!
Best,
Sean, Gavin, Leo, and the salty boys of the BTB Expedition
