Costa Behind The Guides: Jaime Boyle

We are excited to launch a new original blog series presented by Costa Sunglasses. We will be highlighting some badass guides from around the country and bringing you exclusive interviews through the flylords blog. The first guide we will be talking with is a guy by the name of Jaime Boyle, who has been a New England fishing guide for over 25 years. Last weekend we had a chance to meet with Jamie, and spend a day on the water with him and Costa Fly fishing manager Peter Vandergrift. 
Flylords: Who is Jamie Boyle?
Jaime: I’m a professional fishing guide on Martha’s Vineyard.Flylords: How long have you been guiding out here for?
Jaime: This will be my 25th season from the boat, and I did a few years of beach guiding before I got my Captain’s license.Flylords: What’s your favorite part of guiding out here on the vineyard?
Jaime: The variety of fish we have from season to season is great, and all the interesting people you get on the boat. From families who are just looking to go out for fun, to the hardcore anglers who are looking for that trophy fish, I love the diversity. Flylords: Tell us a little about the different species you target out here on the Vineyard?
Jaime: In the springtime, we get our striped bass and bluefish, then in the summer we get our bonito and false albacore. In the fall we target all four of those from inshore, and bottom fish for flounder and seabass. In the summer we can also go offshore and target bluefin tuna and white marlin, sometimes mahi if we’re lucky! Flylords: What is the most difficult part of guiding on Martha’s Vineyard?
Jaime: Probably the location. Just living on the island itself makes it a little difficult. It’s tough logistically for people to make it out here, and it’s not an inexpensive place to live. So most of our clients have to travel quite a bit to make it out. Flylords: What makes it such a unique destination for people to drive all the way out here?
Jaime: I think it’s the beauty of the island itself, it’s not overbuilt, it’s still kinda, the way it was, you know? And where we are on the island, we can stay away from a lot of the crowds that you get on the cape side. Flylords: You said you’ve been fishing out here for almost 30 years, so how have you seen the fishery change in that amount of time?
Jaime: I’ve seen the Bass fishing go from nothing to incredible and then back down a few years later. Right now it’s definitely working its way back up again. A lot of the big fish have kinda moved out of our neighborhood and you hope that they will be back again soon. Over the past few years, they have changed the regulations on the number of fish you can take and the size of fish you can take, and that’s definitely helping the recovery of these fish. A lot of things have changed though, Climate Change, actually water temperature’s come up a few degrees every year, and you know, things have just continued to change and it takes a toll on the fish population. Flylords: Could you tell us a little about the gear you use as a captain and guide?
Jaime: I’ve got two boats. I’ve got the Silver Hawk 24, which is a center console and then I’ve got a 16-foot BoneFisher Hewes flats boat for the in-shore stuff, so we can sight fish during the summer for the bass.  I’m using Thomas and Thomas rods, Nautilus reels and SA lines. We run anything from eight to twelve weights. We run Intermediate floating lines inshore and then we also run some heavy big sinking lines and big flies when we are looking for the bigger bass down deep. Flylords: What Costa Sunglasses do you rock when you are working?
Jaime: For my in-shore stuff, I’m always running the copper lenses. Offshore, I do the blue mirror lenses. On foggy, overcast days I absolutely love the Sunrise Silver lenses. The Corbinas and the Caballitos are probably my two favorite frames.

Flylords: For somebody who wants to come out and fish with you, what’s something they can prepare for before they come out?
Jaime: Line management actually is more important than anything. Learning to control the line when you’re casting is huge. Not stepping on your line. Strip setting would also be a good one. We get a lot of trout anglers who love to trout set on striped bass.

Flylords: How big is a trophy bass?
Jaime: Anything over 40 inches…

Flylords: How many of those do you land a year?
Jaime: Lately, not many. Years ago, back in the late 90s, early 2000s, a lot. I wasn’t happy if I wasn’t catching 20 pounders.

Flylords: Besides the climate change do you think there are any other causes for the fish decline?
Jaime: Overfishing was definitely a problem, and the regulations were allowing too many fish to be killed. Throw in a couple bad spawning years and it will just knock the population down quick. Flylords: Have the regulations improved since then?
Jaime: Yeah they went back to how they used to be. Most states went from two fish at 28 inches, to one fish at 28. Flylords: Ok, last question before we get back to the fishing. If people wanted to come fish with you when is the best time to book a trip?
Jaime: Well my favorite way to fish for bass is on the squid run. Which is exciting visual fishing! A ton of poppers and topwater stuff. It’s awesome. You would have to make it up here end of May, early June into early July.

We would like to thank Costa Sunglasses for making this interview possible. If you are interested in booking a trip with Capt. Jaime Boyle, you can reach him on his website. http://boylermaker.com/