Eidolon Style
Embodying the Eidolon’s ghostly namesake, slipping in and out of the fog putting distance from the fleet and stretching out to spaces ignored, overlooked, and off the beaten path are where I call home. A fly and light tackle angler at heart, I am a fiercely competitive introvert who is quietly driven yet laid back to a fault. The perpetual child within is satisfied hunting offshore with conventional gear or sight casting sea robins with a fly rod. I was once bestowed the sage advice to “charter like you would as if fishing on your own” and that has evolved over the years to become my default approach. Leaving the dock with a plan is to be expected however success is defined by capitalizing on opportunity. Angling should be an experience that transcends the stresses of every day life, offering reward from accomplishment or joy from showing up to share a sunrise and learning something new.
Capt. Shaun Ruge
Through the 80’s and 90’s I came up as a fly and light tackle trout and warm water angler from the Hudson Valley Catskills area of upstate New York. In 2000 I traded my 5wt for a 9wt with a five year stint exploring the rips, rock piles, and sand bars in and around Boston Harbor, Rhode Island, North and South Shores while based out of Winthrop MA before planting two feet in the sand on Cape Cod, MA in 2006.
Prior to Eidolon, I served as mate and co-captain running a second boat with Riptide Charters from 2003 to 2019 fishing the Cape and Islands inshore, offshore, and everything in between from Scup and Squid to Tuna, Mahi, sharks, and Marlin.
I have contributed content, authored, or assisted with many of the industry’s fishing and boating TV, print, and digital media publications as well as engagements at some of the region’s more popular seminar series, clubs, and retail venues. A marine electronics industry veteran and USCG Master, I have guided five Massachusetts state catch and release pin fish and several club tournament wins.
2025 Latitude Tournament Boats - LTB 25
25’ LOA, 180 gal fuel capacity, Suzuki Power, Garmin Electronics, Dometic Optimus steering & adaptive trim.
A hand constructed 2020 Crystal River 16 cedar strip technical poling skiff designed by Smith Marine Design and built from plans by then novice and now far from master boat builder, yours truly.
The “Flatwing” is named after a favorite fly pattern and offers a very stable, intimate platform capable of gliding through backwaters, salt marshes, and sand flats. It is equally suited to pole over the Cape’s many shallow sand flats or slink around the marshy backwaters under the cover of darkness.
At a stealthy fifteen foot two inches in length it can accommodate up to two anglers.
The Flatwing is equipped with Garmin electronics including LiveScope sonar that can efficiently and accurately track individual fish within one hundred and twenty feet of the boat in any direction, a true force multiplier. While I prefer the timeless stealth of a 20’ Temple Fork push pole, a Garmin Kraken trolling motor and PowerPole micro aid with finer boat control to effortlessly overcome a variety of wind and current conditions.
