Hi Families!
It’s with a heavy heart that I write the final update of the Berkshire to Beaches Expedition! This has been an unbelievable trip with such an awesome group of guys, and the other guides and I can’t thank y’all enough for sending your kids on this expedition with us.
Since our last update, we’ve moved our camp to the North Shore of Massachusetts near the city of Salem—a region known for quaint coastal towns, beautiful beaches, and delicious seafood. This area is rich in history as well, and we’ve had fun teaching the guys about the stories of seafaring men from days gone by, whose footsteps they’ve been walking in for the past few days.
When we set up camp at Winter Island on Thursday, we changed our approach and bought some frozen squid in hopes of catching Black Sea Bass for dinner off the rocks. Unfortunately, the tides were against us, and the fish were in deeper water than we could access. We settled for brats and salad and reminisced about some of our favorite memories from the trip so far. The night proved to be a blast.
The next day, we headed to Crane Beach near Ipswich, MA, in search of more striped bass on the flats. In my opinion, Crane is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen—with perfect white sand, crystal-clear water, small crowds, and some of the biggest fish on the Massachusetts coast, it’s truly a sight to behold. While the fishing again proved difficult, the beauty of the beach and the great weather made the trip more than worth it. We finished with a fun game of beach baseball and headed back to camp to make some chicken Alfredo—one of the best meals of the trip. We played a few rounds of The Word Game before hitting an early bedtime in anticipation of our charter day Saturday morning.
As dawn broke on Saturday, we woke the fellas up with a quick breakfast to meet the charter captains at first light. Some of the crew shoved off straight from camp, while others left from a different marina about 30 minutes north in Ipswich. While the guys were out, the guides and I eagerly awaited their return and the report on the morning bite. When the groups got back to the dock, everyone was all smiles. Each boat caught fish using a variety of methods, including flies, plugs, and bait. Everyone landed a nice striper, and some lucky anglers even landed true trophies over 40 inches. A 40-inch bass on any tackle is a life goal for many fishermen, and to have the opportunity at such a fish at their age is something they’ll treasure for a lifetime.
Saturday afternoon, we did laundry, completed our beach cleanup service project, and tied up our final housekeeping before heading to banquet dinner. This year, we took the guys to Woodman’s of Essex—an iconic fish shack that’s been nestled on the shoreline of Essex, MA, for 111 years. The boys feasted on fried seafood, clam chowder, burgers, and hot dogs, and had a blast soaking in the experience of such a historic (and delicious) restaurant. We then returned to camp to recap the trip, start packing up, and have some final fun before saying goodbye in the morning.
Again, this trip was such a blast with an awesome group of young men, anglers, and future stewards of wild places like the ones we’ve enjoyed these past few weeks. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to teach them, learn from them, and have a lot of fun along the way.
We hope to see them all again on an LFFE trip next season.
Until next time,
Sean, Leo, Gavin, and the Merry Band of Marauders on the BTB Expedition
