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Cape Cod &the Islands
September 12th, 2003 |
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| FishWire Coordinator: | Dave Churbuck |
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Bittersweet Days
Two Septembers ago, on 9/11, I was lucky enough to ride out of New York City on one of the first trains. I had flown out of Logan that same day, the same morning that the hijackers had boarded planes at Logan, and I wanted to get home. I looked for fish or bait in the tidal creeks and rivers along the Connecticut coast. I didn't see a single splash. Paramedics and families waited at every train station. Yesterday I was on another train out of New York wishing, because it was a gorgeous day, that I was back on the Cape and on the water. I ignored my book and looked out the window at the rivers and creeks. There were lots of fish in them. I didn't go fishing for five days after 9/11 until I had to get away from the television set. The first day I got on the water had another perfect sky. It was strange on the Sound out there that day without any planes and their contrails.
So I'm going fishing today. Reel-Time stuff: The odometer for postings rolled past 60,000 this week and on Tuesday, at 2 pm EST, we set a simultaneous user record in the forums with 703 Reel-Timers posting and reading. I still gape at the 200-pound tarpon on the home page. As one post said: that's a very big sardine. Deep thanks to all of you, especially our sponsors and guides, who have been submitting reports for this column via email, commenting on the weekly introduction, and posting your reports in the New England forum. This season's reports will probably wind up around Halloween, depending on how the action continues (for semi-sane people, not Eskimos).
This is a good time of year for gorilla bluefish to start fattening up in the harbors on pogies. You can hear them ripping things up out in the anchorages. It's hard to get them to see a fly at night when they're charging balls of bait, but I've had luck with chum flys tied to resemble falling chunks of slaughtered bunker. I've even, faith forfend, soaked big flys down with Capt. Milo's Menhaden Oil, but that is more mess than it's worth. Some very, very big bluefish have been caught at night -- especially around dawn. I use a 12 weight for the gators because they have to be stopped before they wrap themselves around a mooring. I think if someone were obsessed about a world record, they'd have a shot at it in Cotuit Bay. Till next week. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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I felt guilty to be so lucky. I knew at least one fisherman had looked out of their office windows that morning, down to the harbor, looking for birds and splashes, wishing they were out there with them.
Perfect time for a chance to teach snapper bluefishing to the kids. A light spinning rod with a clear, plastic casting float, a swivel with 18 inches of 12# leader to a Mickey Finn or any bright attractor, and a good time will be had by all. I've used a 5 wt. fly rod for snappers, but I'm sure a 2 wt. would be a heck of a lot more fun.Cape Cod Regions
| NEWS |
| Tuna is back on the menu. Get thee a guide and go north. Seriously. Mackerel in the Sound and around the Vineyard. Spanish and Kings. Annual Baitfish Massacre is underway in most precincts. Snapper Bluefish own the harbors. Fabian faded. Now keep an eye on Cat. 5 Isabel. |
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Captain Joe LeClair from North Eastern Anglers reports of a gigantic false albacore: |
Fishing this past week has been very cool. I have had the opportunity to fish with several different people with a wide range of interests and skill levels. This means that we have switched gears several times. I was also fortunate to have some clients with an open mind and we tried some new things and learned new tricks. If the weather has cooperated I have been fishing for small tunoids (skipjack, false albacore, and bonito). If the weather has been perfect we have been fishing for Bluefin Tuna, and last but not least we have also been catching Stripers and Blues. I was lucky enough to hook up with five bluefin this past week and land three. These fish are extremely difficult on the fly rod and light tackle and provide a great challenge for experienced anglers. This week we also found that they provide a great challenge for inexperienced anglers when the conditions are great. This being said the most impressive fish that I think we caught this week was a false albacore that eclipsed all the albies I have ever caught in the state of Massachusetts by four pounds. It was actually larger than one of the bluefin tuna that we caught, weighing in at approximately eighteen pounds. Throw in this fall weather and we are have a really great time on the water."
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Will update when a report emerges. |
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Anglin4Bass has an awesome picture of a striper's stomach contents in the forum. "Well got up early again to hit the water @ the Canal,went to the choice stompping grounds with some eels,it started off kinda slow.hopefully not as slow as yesterday morning!So I threw on some weight got-em down deep and the fun began.caught the first one at the end of the west tide @ 41" not too fat. |
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Cannonball reports on Thursday: |
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Captain Leslie Smith of Backlash Charters writes: "I must admit that with family commitments and having to travel off island lately, I haven't been out in the boat recently. I hear I haven't missed much, as the constant easterly winds have slowed things to a crawl lately. With the much anticipated start of the Derby this weekend, I think it's going to be tough going. Albies are around but in no great numbers and bonito seem to have become very scarce unless you can get over to Nantucket or the Hooter. Word has it that some big bass came out of the Sound last weekend, which is a strong indication that the fish are starting to migrate through. Let's hope that our cooling waters will make things pick up in the next week or so." Theibis posts in the forums: "Just returned from an extended weekend trip to the Vineyard. Fished hard every day at Edgartown Light, Menemsha and Big Bridge. Saw a rare and sporadic school of busting albies that were always out of range from shore, usually early in the morning. The rest of the days were spent searching the horizon for hours with nothing happening. Couldn't even see any birds working. A few bass were cruising around the jetty at Menemsha, but weren't interested in the flies I was offering. We're going back over in a couple of weeks and I hope we have better luck." |
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Captain Lynne Heyer at Cross Rip Outfitters reports: "Just a quick report the Bonito are still here. Spanky and friends were on the bar this morning catching some nice fish. Capt.Shawn was out bright and early caught some nice Blues but that was all. He did say there were millions of birds in Smith's Point opening. Capt. Jeff is out on the flats today and there are Bass to be had up there. He hasn't landed any as of last word. Just got a fresh report from Great Point also. Burt fished there this morning with no luck. He did see a Spanish Mackeral caught and landed. I have been told that Great Point yesterday fished well, Stripers mainly. I'm also hearing rumors of Stripers showing up in the harbor. Lots of oppurtunities abound. Get out and wet a line. " Bill Pew at Fisher’s “ |
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Jim Lukas emailed: Scorton Angler writes in the forum: "I was out on the East Sandwich beach area last night from sundown for the last of the incoming and slack tides. Baitfish were massed in tight to the shoreline and in such numbers that they were being washed ashore. I counted at least four different types of baitfish within the same few square feet area, stranded among the rocks: silversides (4-inch!), bunker, sandeels, and something that looked like either juvenile bluefish, shad, or herring, I couldn't tell which. Stripers were sipping--not slashing--through these baitfish within 10 feet of the waterline. Getting them to take an artificial was next to impossible." John Major was fishing the same Sandwich waters: "On Sunday just about sunrise saw birds working the shore, got over there in time to get a few casts in, could see tails and backs. Had a couple swirls, but never felt a fish, wonder if I might have had better luck with a clouser or deciever - tried crease fly and gurgler. Was thinking afterward that the fish might have been looking down, but they were in only a couple feet of water. Creek was loaded with bait, mostly silversides and some small peanut bunker. Later that morning, went for a paddle in the canoe and could see some schoolie sized stripers, though never saw them chase bait nor got any tugs when I beached the canoe and tried working the area. Sunday evening did hook up with a couple schoolies, but again, no sign of fish or nervous bait, just was working an area that I've had good luck in the past. Monday morning worked the mouth, no action (spent the rest of the day in a boat on the southside, got into some nice blues blitzes with success). Tuesday didn't spot any bait in the water, spent about 2 hrs at the mouth starting about 6 am, there was one couple of minute stretch when fish and birds worked at the mouth but beyond casting range, then all was quiet again. Sunrises and moonrises were great!" "After the 6 footers on the bay Tuesday I was skeptical about the forecast but decided to go anyway, hoping that the slop would flatten out after a calm night. The wind was predicted to turn SW 5-10kts by mid-day. We cleared the Gurnet at 9:00 and headed out into a light NE wind and light chop. Found a few pods near the fishing ledges but never got a quality cast. There were 10 or so boats milling around the same spot so it was kind of crowded. Looked around the SW corner and then the BE. Aside from a few whales and a hundred basking sharks (those things are huge) things were pretty quiet. Decided to go back to the ledges where we first saw action. By now the bay was flat calm. Water temps were in the 70 degree range. Found a pod right a way but again, they were up and down so quickly it was hard to get off a good cast. A friend radioed us that they were into a good school about two miles SE of Ptown Harbor. We scooted over to check things out. This time the tuna were staying on top for 30 seconds instead of 10. We managed some good casts but never hooked up. The bait that the tunas were chasing was so small we were having a hard time matching it. 1 1/4 inch, thin (not sure what they were) At 5:30 we headed for home. We were a little disappointed but all in all it was still a good day on the water." |