Cape Cod &

the Islands

May 22nd, 2003

Don't take a kid fishing

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It's Memorial Day weekend when the crazy season officially kicks off down here on Cape Cod. Driving to Hyannis for some new ammo from Sportsport -- Ballistic Missiles (my favorite name for a lure name other than the Swedish Pimple), wire, and poppers -- is an experience of near-misses, middle fingers, and vows never to return until Halloween. Or at least until fluke season when I need some fluke rigs and bank sinkers.

Here's last weekend's personal non-fishing report: Saturday was blowing like stink out of the east -- when the fish bite least, right? -- so it was time to break out the ladder and disc sander and attack the peeling porch and earn a yard pass for another day. Saw an awful lot of loaded rod racks roll by on Main Street and of course the reports came in that they were numbing them down at Oregon Beach. So Sunday -- with a wind out of the south and bluebird skies -- was the day to catch the first bluefish of the season. The wife went off to Hyannis to do her thing, but my kids had invited two friends over; the kind of kids that would burn the house down and torture the pets if I left them alone to go fishing by myself. There was no choice but to rig up a few spinning rods with the cheap tackle and bring everyone along for the ride.

Take a kid fishing? I rather take six tick-covered raccoons from the rabid side of the Canal.

But the first bluefish was calling so we went anyway, lifejackets granny-knotted around the not-so-little devils, with a bag of bar-b-que potato chips and a six pack of warm ginger ale to keep them quiet. Ten feet from the dock and immediately the complaints started flowing.

"I want the blue and white Ranger, not the orange one."

"Go faster. Floor it! There's no boat cops this time of year!"

"You're sitting in seagull poop."

There are a few rules when kids fish on my boat.
One: if you keep a fish you have to eat it. No bluefish fertilizer allowed. And yes, I'm sure your mom and dad don't want to eat one tonight.
Two: when casting, the hooks can't come into the boat. Keep the lure over the side, in the water and don't swing it back into your sister's face to cast it.
Three: only two people can fish at the same time and only from opposite ends of the boat.
Four: No one but me can take the fish off the hook, and when bluefishing, there's sometimes a lot of fish to take off the hook.

I get to the best early season bluefish spot off of Sub Rock and stop the boat and start casting. Twelve casts, around the clock, and not a swirl, not a follow. So we move to Oregon Beach. The jetties are lined with fishermen. Nine casts and a pair of skinny fish race up to the boat and peel off. What a great sight. The kids, without polarized sunglasses, don't see them and are too busy arguing about the merits of Clay versus Reuben, but I do and that's enough. A few more casts and I see the first smash and swirl. The kids are really squabbling now and don't see the hit, but they shut up for a second and watch for the next one. Two casts. Three casts. The fish are sure picky in May, kids. ... for a while at least, give them a week then they'll eat anything (including the amazing Ken Doll lure we once made with a 4/0 treble hook wired through Ken's crotch to a swivel that came out of his skull. Bluefish sure do a number on doll legs!). The kids lose interest and start playing scissors-paper-rock to see who fishes after I catch the first one. This is not going to be a big thing for them. This isn't a special father-child experience, like one's first sunfish on the old Zebco, this is bluefish, and they've caught plenty of them before.

Then I hook one. The first bluefish of 2003. Yeah baby. The rod bends. The drag rasps. The kids get psyched and temporarily the boat is properly focused on the act of fishing.

The fish spits after three solid seconds of bent rod. It's gone like air hissing out of a flat.

That was the closest the Churbucks came to a fish on Sunday. After ten minutes of further futile casting the bickering got to the point that there was nothing to do but admit defeat and dump the crew off at the Town Dock or go insane. The kids went home, had a hose fight, soaked the dog, and nearly had a disc sander accident while I put the boat on the mooring. My wife passed me coming up the hill, pulled into the driveway 30 seconds before me, and was waiting for me: "Why didn't you take them with you?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, like the bowtie guy on Channel 2: buy something from the Reel-Time store! It's viewers like you who help keep Sesame Street and the Cape & Islands FishWire on the air ....A full winter's worth of debate over a new logo, repeated requests from the fanatical fringe (the guys with more than 500 posts in the forums) for anything, something to wear with Reel-Time printed on it, and only forty of you can get off your butts to order something? Come on people! These are quality t-shirts we're talking about. I can't be the only jackass driving around with a Reel-Time bumper sticker. Driving a car with a R-T bumpersticker while wearing a R-T t-shirt makes you look really cool. Trust me. Chicks notice this stuff. And they love the smell of man who's been handling squid. Honk if you're wearing a Reel-Time thong.

Remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom this weekend and be safe while wading.

Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...

Tight Lines!

Dave Churbuck

Buzzards Bay

What's an extra 80,000 gallons of fuel oil here and there anyway when the U.S.A. recently cap... acquired big new reserves? We're swimming in oil! Well, at least the fish and the birds are.

We're still hearing good reports of schoolie action all over the shores of Buzzard's Bay and up in the Weweantic River. Some big fish are coming into the boats, but there haven't been a lot of boats fishing. That could change this weekend except the weather forecast calls for a miserable rain and drizzle out of the east on Saturday, Sunday and Monday under a nasty twenty knot breeze with gusts into the 30s, the most imperfect fishing conditions of all! But hey, it's a holiday weekend, what did you expect?

Captain Joe LeClair reports:

"Fishing in Buzzards Bay is now as good as it gets all year for Stripers and Blues on flies and light tackle. With the cool water temps. most of the
Stripers that are migrating through this area seem to be staying. I have also been able to find finning Bluefish in the warmer shallow coves and
estuaries throughout the entire bay. Monday was an epic day on the water with thousands of Stripers and Blues cruising in water less than ten feet of
depth all afternoon and little or no wind. This is probably the only time of year the fishing can be better in the middle of the day than it is in the
morning and evening in Buzzards Bay. We are still catching Stripers of all sizes and now the Blues are also mixing in size from 2-15 lbs. With the warm weather over the last couple days the topwater action for the big Blues should be awesome this next week."

Captain Bob Paccia sends in this report and useful tips on casting big flies:

A few warm sunny days have helped the water temperatures in Buzzards Bay creep above 52 degrees. This slight temperature rise has stimulated the larger bass to become more aggressive feeders. Some nice stripers are now being taken throughout Buzzards Bay, the adjoining estuaries and along the Cape Cod Canal. Bluefish too have shown up in increasing numbers. We expect the next few weeks to show constant improvement as more and more bait enter the Bay.

The main forage attraction for both of these predatory gamefish is the arrival of alewives and their smaller relatives, the blueback herring. Both of these species of large baitfish have been moving through our waters to reach their inland freshwater spawning grounds.

The adult stripers and bluefish that have entered our area have become pretty lean from traveling thousands of miles during their northern migration and need to feed heavily to regain their strength. Their bodies crave large portions of an oily, high protein food source. The number one bait on the menu right now is ..you guessed it; live-lined herring, fresh chunked-herring and large herring fly patterns (6-12 inches long) served on a fast sinking fly line with a short (5-7 foot) tapered leader ending with a 15 to 20 pound tippet. Don’t mess around with light-weight leaders, long leaders or undersized tippet materials. Remember, that you are trying to cast and turn over a very large fly and wimpy leaders just won’t do the trick.

The herring season is very short, but it is the best opportunity for live-liners, chunkers and especially shore and boat bound fly fishermen to get a crack at some trophy stripers and bluefish. So get out there and practice casting some big flies over the next couple of weeks. It’s well worth the effort.

Some tips on learning to cast big fly patterns:
You must be sure to load your rod on both the forecast and backcast.
Be sure that you have no slack in the line as you start your cast from the water. Using the resistance of the water to develop a drag on your line so you can get a good bend in your rod before you lift the line from the water.
Slow down your cast and watch your line roll out on both the forecast and most importantly the backcast. Visualize that you are trying to cast something that resembles a small chicken on your line and that it will take the line a bit more time to get it moving in both directions.
Be sure that your rod, reel, line and leader systems are correctly matched for casting large flies. For example, your line has to be heavy enough to load your rod. Sometimes this may require going up one or two sizes beyond what the rod manufacturer has rated the rod for. You’ll have to do some experimenting to find the best combination. Usually your local fly shop will let you cast different weight lines to accomplish this task.
Don’t get discouraged. Learning to cast large flies takes a while, but the effort is more than worthwhile

Captain Terry Nugent of Riptide Charters, emailed this detailed report of Tuesday's action:

"I met up with Bob Pink this morning to stow away on his boat for some bass action. When I met up with him he advised we would have a change of plans. Due to an overheated trailer wheel bearing we would be dunking at Bourne rather than tempt fate dragging down to Green Pond. The launch went smooth and by the time we cleared the marina we were into breaking bass and working terns. I broke out the new Redington DFR and on the second fish broke the rod. With very little strain the 9wt snapped clean 18" from the tip. So much for christening the new rod. We continued to work the pods of fish, moving from one to another looking for bigger fish. Most of what we found ranged from 12" to 18".

After almost an hour we had our fill of the little guys and headed out to the backwaters for some serious fishing. When we arrived things looked good. The wind was light and the sun was up, great sighting conditions. However the water was a little murky compared to other days. There was a ton of bait, both large and small. We began seeing fish, plenty of fish in the 30" range. There were a few really big fish mixed in with them. We cast and cast but the damn fish would swipe and boil at the flies and lures but would not take. We ran though a ton of different stuff but nothing really got them to bite. We would pick up the odd fish but nothing steady. It is so frustrating to have swarms of big fish all around and not be able to connect. We dropped off the shallows and worked the deeper holes with a little more success. We found a spot the gave us a steady pick of fish in the low 20's. I was finally able to connect with a decent fish on the fly. When I got it in the boat it weighed in at 12# even. That was more in line with the fish we were seeing.

About that time Capt. Joe and some friends showed up. They were throwing spinning gear and they also had a steady pick of teen and low 20" fish. By 1430 it was time to call it a day and head back to deal with the trailer issues. The lure of choice today was a fly. I found an Orvis herring pattern that really got the fish going. Bob ran though his vast assortment with little luck, he finally went with the Orvis fly and things immediately took a turn for the better. For some reason this fly had what they wanted. We fished mostly outgoing water with the last few hours of the day fishing the incoming. The water was warm, but the wind was a little higher than forecasted. Overall a decent day, we ended up with a ton of fish when we add in the little ones from early morning in Bourne. But it cost us a rod, a trailer bearing, getting stuck in the shallow water awaiting the tide and a lot of casting to get it done. It’s funny, in the morning you couldn’t NOT catch a fish, in the afternoon they would follow and swipe at the lures but it was darn near impossible to get them to take. We will manage to figure these fish out eventually."

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

Good action around the Elizabeths from Lackeys down to Cuttyhunk with birds working hard over something. The holes are especially productive if you can get your offering down deep.

Glennon reported on Sunday:

"Hit Woods Hole and picked up a couple 24" to 26" fish. Decided to run down the Vineyard side stopping at a few of my favorite locations. Every stop had a couple of fish. I then ran through Quicks into Buzzards. Saw a large scattered group of Terns working so I decided to make a few casts. One keeper after another. I don't think there was a single fish under 28" with the largest coming in at 17 pounds on the Boga. Ran back up the bay and didn't see any more activity till I got to the Wings Neck area. Picked up a couple of schoolies and called it a day."

He added he also found some bluefish as well during his travels.

New Reel-Timer Gerryg reports in his second posting ever:

 "Fished outside Great and Little Ponds Saturday evening and Sunday morning and picked up 5 between 20" and just shy of 30" a 20, 22, 26, 26, & 30. sparse chartreuse over white on Saturday and yellow on Sunday. Great start to the season let's hope it stays like this!!!"

The Cape Cod Canal

BobG reported the depressing news that the Bournedale Herring Run is the slowest it has been in years, with a good charge of herring for three or four days, then down to a trickle. Knowing the intense pressure that run has endured over the years, the news should come as no surprise. "I see that run being closed for years," he says.

And it's that time of year for the annual Cape Cod Canal Striped Bass Fishing Tournament. Things ought to be hectic around the Ditch this weekend.

Bill Downing reports:

"FWIW, here's a not very exciting Canal rpt. We fished the east tide Monday and didn't have a hit in any of the normally productive spots. However, I'm
hearing from more than one regular that the last of the west tide has been much more productive lately and it certainly was for me earlier this month,
so timing is everything. The bass are out there but with a ton of work this week I'm on the outside looking in for a change. Hope to remedy that with a
vengeance this weekend ;-)."

The South Side

The bass are still thick in the upper harbors but it's an on-and-off affair. Lots of people fishing the Narrows in Cotuit. One boat on Saturday was trolling tube-and-worms down the channel and pulled out a nice near-keeper in front of my very eyes. Even with the strong northeast wind the fish were very cooperative. I drifted down the channel, casting a deep sinking line cross-current over the channel. A ten-count sink, then a slow strip and it was a fish on every cast hitting the usual chartreuse and white Clouser. The shore waders were doing very well, with a cluster of six fly fishers artfully sharing a small space and pulling in fish after fish ....

An early report from the rip at Succonnesset on Monday was that nothing is going on, but that was on a bad tide. The bass are still closer to shore working on herring. There's no squid fleet in the Sound, but word is that there are squid out there, just no one is chasing them.

Bluefish are building in numbers along the south side. Reports from South Cape Beach in Mashpee have indicated some fish, but last Saturday saw a good day for the shore guys and our intrepid kayak team of Shaun Ruge and Sam Riley off of Oregon Beach in Cotuit. As I noted in my intro: Sunday saw some fish off of the flats, but they were picky, picky, picky, a sentiment shared by others. These fish are working deep, so don't be too popper focused.

Chucknduck9 reported early in the week from South Cape Beach:

"Tried the Slugs w/ ledheds - 3 or 4 twinkies and one 4# blue (lucky w/o leader). Still no topwater action-there were about 30 guys chuckin plugs and not one hooked up that I saw. The bait guys were doing a bit better with the blues. Saw one guy land a nice 34" stripe with chunk herring.
Guess is when the wind goes back SW this beach is going to go off. Still a ton of weed in the surf to about 10 yards out."

Big bass in the inlets at night for the spinning crowd. There's still a general bemoaning of the lack of bait in the water, with some people claiming the fish are working over itty-bitty shrimp-like krill, and others seeing the random school of sand eels.

Over Bass River way, our correspondent -- the appropriately named BassRiverFlyGuy -- reports:

"The fishing has been great, plenty of stripers getting bigger & bigger. Herring patterns and clousers seem to be working the best. Lots of rumors of Huge Fish taken on Live Herring."

Martha's Vineyard

Captain Leslie Smith of Backlash Charters, who has been with Reel-Time since the very beginning, files this report on Wedneday morning:

"Things are about to bust wide open around the Vineyard.  Shore fishermen have been hitting 'em hard, tho' most of the larger fish are still coming in on bait.  The Big Bridge on State Beach has been hot, with stripers coming in with the tide, slurping what may be juvenile sandeels or the first worm hatch of the spring.  The herring runs in Menemsha and the Lagoon have been very active.  Edgartown residents are excited at the prospect of restoring the run at the head of Katama Bay.  Squid are filling the harbors and after dark you can hear the bass crashing around.  South Beach has been producing on the early morning tide on whole squid baits.  For the boat guys, it's been a pick but West Chop has been the place to be with wire line.  I fished the rips off Wasque on Tuesday, but the surface action we all love has yet to happen.  There have been some blues right at the Point but no real concentrations as of yet.  Unfortunately the holiday weekend forecast won't be doing us any favors, with high Easterly winds coming in.  Hopefully the weather will continue to warm up and we will move into our summer pattern of southwesterlies."

Stripedbass44 fished Menemsha last weekend:

"Was down on the Vineyard this weekend and did get some fishing in even with the extreme north-east winds. Two of my friends and I went to Menemsha and fished the pond. We managed 7 stripers between the three of us. All were on spinning gear. They were all schoolies with the largest at 25 inches. It was such a good time though. I tried the long stick for about an hour but didn't manage any bites. I don't think that I was getting my fly far enough, but oh well. I really need to practive my casting and work on the double haul. It was a blast, and my first stripers of the season. I was glad to get one of my friends his first striper ever. It was all in all a great day of fishing. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. I just can't wait to get back down there for the summer in a couple of weeks, after graduation. it was sick!!!!"

Nantucket

Bill Pew reports from Bill Fisher Tackle:

"We're having reasonable success with small fish along the south shore in the Miacomet/Hummock Pond area around to Cisco. There are stories of some fish in Madaket Harbor proper, but no first hand catches to report. I saw a charter boat swimming herering at Brant Point, so he may be getting fish there. And squid jigs are going out the door, so they must be around. Seeing some spearing up in the northern end of the harbor and something is pushing them around. But all in all, we're waiting with "baited" breath for something to break open."

The Outer Beaches, Chatham & Monomoy

Finally, some reports from the outer reaches of our report zone!

Our man Ray reports from Chatham, that "quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem":

"Fished the backside of South Beach (won't use names, we all know them anyway) by kayak Sunday from 2 - 6. Tons of small fish with a few nice ones mixed in. Got around 25 fish (stopped counting). At 4:45 someone threw a switch b/c everything stopped. Fish were active over grass beds at high tide. All fish were taken on a white Sluggo or white deceiver. I'll be there all next weekend and am hoping for Blues."

DLWFKW (now figure out that user name!) also reports from Chatham:

"Fished the "bathtub" with family and friends on Saturday. Waded in and took several fish each. (The action was not as good as the previous three days according to my father in - law.) A few fish of keeper size on Saturday vs.mostly keepers mid week."

And Jazztime says:

"I also fished Sat & Sunday from the bottom of the steps at Monomoy NWR to Stage Harbor. Winds were tough to deal with on Sat. but fish were there in most all locations. Caught 30 + fish on each day. Nothing over 29". Sand eel pattern and clouser worked best although at some times it didn't make a difference as fish could be caught on almost every cast during several brief 20 minute feeding frenzies.

Also fished the salt pond in Eastham near the visitor center to escape the wind one evening during the last hour of light and caught too many to count. Good spot for a 5 weight or young
inexperienced kids getting into fly fishing.

Fished one night at Brewster flats on an outgoing. Tough conditions due to wind but if you could cast the distance into the rip the fishing was excellent. Several fish 29 + inches were landed by those fishing except me with my wimpy 8 weight that caught none."

Sagebrush posted this:

 "Did a little fishing on Friday in Pleasant Bay, from shore, end of the day bottom of the tide picked up a few stragglers, but it looked like something was going on at the mouth. Saw some breaking fish working back about an hour before dark, on the incoming, but had a prior engagement.

After putting in 3 hours this morning (Saturday), checking out the places less frequented, I was ready to head in early, seeing nothing. Passed this guy hooked up with a pretty good fish. There was nowhere to hide, he was right off the channel, so I pulled up right beside him, NOT.

Moved up a tidal river, a striper bypass and it looked like salmon holding the shoreline. Probably 50 to 60 fish holding this one spot, good sized but there was a definite mix. My first fish was a half starved 28 incher, looked a cross between a fresh fish and a holdover, lice but a little haggard.

Caught two more 27-28 which looked perfectly healthy, and a few smaller fish including an unhealthy looking one with a slice on his side. Still haven't found my rhythm yet should have caught a lot more. Ugly casting, not used to a 250 grain with a heavy fly. The wind was brisk and current was ripping.

There were a significant number of breaking fish but the bait was not visible. Terns were working the bait but it was too small to see. Lots of boats and fly fisherman out today. Imagine it was feeling a little crowded already.

Saw some scattered sand eels about 4 inches long in stage harbor. Not a lot of bait. It's still early."

 

Is the Pamet River in Truro a Northside spot or an Outer Beach spot? We'll call it Outer Beach this week. Schwilp reports:

 "Still too cold for the Pamet River - some micros shivering in the channel - no bait to speak of yet and the terns looked hungry. Water temp. was a chilly 47 deg. on Saturday outside the mouth. We're about 2 weeks behind schedule - but a few sunny calm days and it should get interesting."

The North Side

On Monday Paul Cheever filed one of the first successful reports of the season from East Sandwich:

"Another good day at the favorite spot along the bay. There was about a half dozen people fishing flyrodders and spin. Everyone was hooking up, with perfect weather and stripers .Can you ask for anything more? When the out flow was just about down to a trickle, I saw a fairly large school of 4-6 in. sand eels working their way back up stream."

 

 Skunkbuster filed:

"The bass have finally arrived in Cape Cod Bay on the north side of the cape, but the action is sometimes spotty and the fish generally on the small side. I caught two of the smallest stripers in the ocean Tuesday, I've had seaweed that put up more of a fight!

The good news is that the fish can be found pretty consistently anywhere there is a herring run; and once you find the fish, they'll hit just about anything. See Paul Cheever's (above) posts, he's been hooking up every morning at the famous "undisclosed location" where this season's healthy run of herring are starting to drop back. This area is fishing well at dusk too. Very little bait around otherwise, even the Terns are getting frustrated. The biggest fish I've heard about were landed by tube and worm guys fishing the deep drop-offs like Scorton Ledge. Bait dunkers are also taking some barely legal fish off the beaches down around Sandy Neck, especially with clams, as the high winds out of the north recently have churned up the bottom creating an attractive food source for the fish."

BobG, in his second report in this FishWire, reported:

"Lots of fun, but they're all babies! We hit the well know "undisclosed location" this evening. Beautiful May evening. 70*, no wind, like they say in down'east Maine, "she's flat cam". All you needed to do this evening was, make a long cast, strip 3-5 times, and hook your mini-bass. Color and pattern mattered little."

Anyone fished Barnstable Harbor yet?

Well that's all for this week. Remember, in the immortal words of Capt. Phil Schwind: "The best time to go fishing is whenever you can find the time to go fishing."

Keep those reports coming.