{"id":111,"date":"2024-04-09T02:34:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T02:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2024-04-09T03:01:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T03:01:25","slug":"boyles-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/?p=111","title":{"rendered":"Boyle’s Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
A former sailboat racer, Boyle has spent thousands of hours dialing in his home waters. Photos by Rex Messing.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following is from the Angler’s Journal Article titled – Boyle’s Law<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crisp air around the salt pond is autumnal. Jaime Boyle stands silhouetted against the first flecks of the rising sun tending to the 1992 Hewes skiff that\u2019s been outfitted for his use in the briny waters around Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He\u2019s not a tall or imposing man, but his shoulder-length blond hair and broad smile break through any pretense that one might bring to this fishery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWish the wind was better and it wasn\u2019t so cold,\u201d he says as we load the skiff and back it down an \u201cunimproved\u201d island ramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMight warm up this week,\u201d I say, trying to make a good impression. He nods and shrugs, and I realize that it\u2019s all right with him either way. The day has started, and there\u2019s a breathy feeling of ease around me. The long drive, the lack of sleep, the problems I left in New Jersey don\u2019t exist now. But I would come to realize that this is how most people feel around Boyle. And in my head, I recall freshman chemistry class and the laws of gases. Pressure is inversely proportional to volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jaime
Jaime Boyle has a way of making people around him feel at ease, whether casting or ruminating.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pressure: that stuff that eats away at our better selves; those twinges of doubt that ruin good fishing trips; the self-imposed exile from the moments in which we find ourselves. While not a chemist, Boyle has certainly harnessed the particles around him. My interpretation of Jaime Boyle\u2019s Law clearly states that on his boat, while he\u2019s at the helm, pressure and volume don\u2019t exist; there can only be the shared time and the fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the first rays of light hit the pond, Boyle moves his skiff through the winding coves and channels in the skinny water. I had only ever waded the pond, but Boyle, at 52, has spent thousands of hours in and around his home waters and can pinpoint rocks, channels and bars from rote memory. \u201cLet\u2019s try a few casts here,\u201d he says, taking the push pole up to the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There should be fish in the area despite the cold, and he tells me about the ebbs and flows of the pond and how stripers find their way in and out as the migration moves up and down the coast. This pond offers perfect access to the hungry fish that might move in to chase sand eels or bunker, and Boyle recounts that it had a spectacular herring run years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"boyle5\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boyle,
Boyle, who sits on the board of the American Saltwater Guides Association, is concerned about the striped bass fishery.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t question his generosity, and before I can strip out line, he\u2019s back on the platform moving us farther along the flat. \u201cSo Thompson and I worked out a trade,\u201d he says, resuming his story. \u201cI\u2019d give him sailing lessons, and he taught me the fly rod. I think I was like 19, and from there I never looked back. I had a 13-foot Whaler and started fishing every chance I could.\u201d The Boston Whaler is still in his driveway. He\u2019s given it to his 5-year old son. Now it\u2019s Tyler\u2019s boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s new-moon dark on a stretch of beach up-island about 30 years ago. A young Boyle stands alongside Bob Popovics and Cooper Gilkes, and they\u2019re listening to what Popovics describes as \u201cbowling balls hitting the water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyle works for Gilkes at his tackle shop in Edgartown and is a few years into his guiding career, having given Tulane University a chance but deciding that his mind and heart belong to the sea surrounding the Vineyard. Countless nights spent reading the water have given Boyle the edge here, and he\u2019s brought Gilkes and Popovics to a place he\u2019s dialed in. Even Gilkes is astounded at the sight. The three men look at each other, wondering who\u2019ll cast first. Boyle fires and hooks into a 20-pound fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was our first trip to the Vineyard,\u201d Popovics recalls, \u201cand Jaime couldn\u2019t have been much older than 20-something. We\u2019re with Coop, and we watch Boyle hook into these monster fish. But that\u2019s how the night went. He found a spot where they were feeding on squid. The squid were feeding on little sand eels, and it was just a melee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"boyle2\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-inch fish are caught and released with elation throughout the night. Boyle is proud of himself. Time and effort have paid off. Those nights without sleep culminated with putting Popovics on a night he would never forget. As the fury of fish-fighting wears, the men hear a \u201croar coming down the beach,\u201d as Popovics tells it. They hold their casts, and Popovics sees and hears \u201cfish flying through the air and landing on the water. It could\u2019ve only been a shark that was rushing underneath these giant bass,\u201d he says. The action doesn\u2019t cease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilkes thinks his young shop attendant is going to ask for the morning off, but instead Boyle says, \u201cCoop, look at that. There must be a fire on the Cape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilkes turns and sees the fire-red glow coming from Cape Cod. \u201cYeah, you\u2019re right,\u201d he says as both men stare. A former firefighter, Gilkes wonders whether they\u2019ve called in multiple departments. The blaze looks intense. They gaze for a long while, mesmerized. Finally, Gilkes puts his hand on Boyle\u2019s shoulder. The young man turns for a shined pearl of wisdom from the older man about the frailty and finality of life, but instead Gilkes smiles wide. \u201cJaime, that\u2019s the damn sunrise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJaime Boyle is a fisherman\u2019s fisherman,\u201d Popovics tells me. I had known Boyle\u2019s boat in and around the Vineyard primarily because any time I\u2019d arrive on a spot, Boyle would already be there or be on his way out. His clients are privy to an encyclopedic knowledge of the
waters around Cape Cod and Martha\u2019s Vineyard. The man has put time and energy into knowing exactly where to be and for how long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we continue to pole across the pond, the pale light of morning fills the air. Fish are active, and we trade time with the rod. He keeps his trolling motor going, so I don\u2019t have to pole, for which I\u2019m secretly thankful. Boyle casts with long, arching loops that land on the water as if he were placing Catskill dries instead of Vineyard hollows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"boyle7\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTell me about the ASGA. How did you get involved?\u201d I ask, referring to Boyle\u2019s membership on the board of the American Saltwater Guides Association, one of the most successful lobbying and advocacy groups for striped bass conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, I didn\u2019t even know I was on it until [Tony] Friedrich and [John] McMurray sent me the first meeting invite,\u201d Boyle says. \u201cBut once I heard what it was about, I knew I had to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the past three years, the ASGA has successfully rallied anglers from Maine to Washington, D.C., around the cause of protecting the striped bass and bluefish coastal fisheries. Friedrich, a gravel-voiced Marylander and vice president and policy director with the group, tells me later that \u201cJaime\u2019s made for this work, not for an office.\u201d Friedrich extols Boyle\u2019s virtue as a captain and a man. \u201cAll of us, including Jaime, are doing this for our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ASGA is doing it for the right reasons,\u201d Boyle says as he brings in a schoolie. He\u2019s careful to barely lift the fish from the water before sending it back swimming. He pauses at the gunwale and rinses his hands. I see in his face a real fear and concern for the fishery. But he doesn\u2019t preach or wax poetic about how great it \u201cused to be.\u201d It seems he\u2019s projecting some far off time and place when a morning full of feisty schoolies was a day that wouldn\u2019t even make a logbook entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Friedrich puts it, \u201c[A lot us feel] like we\u2019re just going out to remember things, and if we don\u2019t do something now, it\u2019s going to be too late.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe things are looking up. There\u2019s been good news recently,\u201d I say, referring to the success ASGA had in reshaping Amendment 7 of the Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyle shakes his hands dry. \u201cI\u2019ve got a buddy of mine who\u2019s a commercial fisherman in Menemsha,\u201d he says quietly and calmly. \u201cHe said to me the other day there should be a moratorium again.\u201d I nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s best interest to ease the pressure on the fish, it\u2019s frustrating for those who care about opportunities wasted and squandered. This is the closest to angry I see Boyle get. No hellfire and brimstone, just stiff logic and quiet care. Boyle seems to be thinking of 5-year old Tyler and the notion that perhaps he won\u2019t see days like today, when schoolies are plenty, or days when 40-inch fish were the norm for an evening under the island\u2019s dark skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the thing, Jamie? What makes you keep coming back every day?\u201d I ask as a light drizzle falls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He casts and strips quickly. \u201cEvery day\u2019s different, you know?\u201d he says \u201cAnd just the people I get to meet. I like the variety of people. I\u2019ve got some guys that have been with me for 25-plus years. They brought their kids and now their kids bring kids. Guys that were little \u2026\u201d \u2014 he strip-strikes and turns to smile at me as the rod bends \u2014 \u201c\u2026 now they show up driving.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The schoolie he brings in could be on its first migration. \u201cEven the little ones like the Hollow,\u201d Boyle says, removing the white Hollow Deceiver from the fish\u2019s jaw. The fly was far too big for its mouth, yet it was devoured nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever thrown a fly in a rip or pond in the Northeast in June or August, chances are good that you were throwing a variation of Boyle\u2019s Red Can Squid or Bonito Bunny. The squid fly is derived from Popovics\u2019 Hollow Squid, but with the eyes superglued directly to the hook shank instead of Popovics\u2019 method of using heavy monofilament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bonito Bunny is a favorite false albacore fly, but it\u2019s really the only sure thing for the wily Atlantic bonito that prowl the rocky waters off the Elizabeth Islands in August and September. Boyle\u2019s 24-foot Silverhawk, aptly named Boylermaker,<\/em> is inevitably the first boat on a school of bonito. He\u2019s usually had his fill by the time other boats arrive because of the industry he\u2019s put in to understanding where and how the bonito school up and attack bait. Bonito, like false albacore, prefer the rocky inlets and coastline of the Elizabeths and can sometimes corral bait so tight to shore that fish get pushed up by the breakers onto the craggy coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Bunny just came together based on weight and wiggle,\u201d he says referring to the palmered cross-cut rabbit strip on the hook shank and the brass coneheads that most tie in for extra dive as the fly is stripped. Bonito have small teeth, though, and Boyle knew he needed a fast tie because the fly would inevitably be shredded after a few bites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bite turns off around midday. Boyle and I are chapped from the wind. The cold has found its way into every porous point on our layered selves. We set about hauling the skiff and talk about our respective sons. He tells me of Tyler\u2019s prowess in class, and I reciprocate with stories of Matthew and Nathan. We make plans for future bonito trips in warmer weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyle\u2019s Law, I learn, is a state of being, more so than anything tangible. I know his, like most of our lives, is imperfect and difficult. The last thing Boyle may have wanted to do this day was pole around a windswept salt pond with a less-than-perfect caster, yet his attitude and effort chasing fish is infectious. He exudes no pressure and puts forth the tranquility of someone content with the place, time and circumstance. It\u2019s the kind of thing that comes with knowing you put the time in to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I drive home early the next morning, I imagine Boyle has already come and gone on the water. He\u2019s never one to rest on laurels, and I know that even in places he\u2019s spent countless hours, he still searches and strives for more. I will call him again and often to talk fish, flies and life, and to hear about
Tyler\u2019s next accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.anglersjournal.com\/people\/jaime-boyle-fly-fishing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is from the Angler’s Journal Article titled – Boyle’s Law The crisp air around the salt pond is autumnal. Jaime Boyle stands silhouetted against the first flecks of the rising sun tending to the 1992 Hewes skiff that\u2019s been outfitted for his use in the briny waters around Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boylermaker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}