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Cape Cod &the Islands
July 3rd, 2004 |
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| FishWire Coordinator: | Dave Churbuck |
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Beginner's Luck
Every summer my favorite local fishing reporter -- Molly Benjamin at the Cape Cod Times -- reports at least once about the astonishing-against-all-odds catch of a monster fish by some visiting tourist who does everything wrong but manages to pull the fish of a lifetime out of the proverbial hat. This week’s news out of New Jersey about a 14-year old kid catching a 52-pound striped bass from a kayak is sort of one of those reports, the kind that make sleepless fish freaks gnash their teeth and swear that the piscatorial gods are cruel gods indeed.
I can just see the pieces of straw hanging out of their mouths when they walk into Sportsport and ask Karen to set them up with a rented rod and a box of sea worms. Off they go to some crowded public beach at high noon, the surf line yellow with toddler pee and sun block, they plop the worm in the water and -- with jetskis buzzing in the distance, the wrong tide, the wrong moon -- they haul out Moby Striper, the kind of fish we real anglers dream about hanging on their wall. Everyone had to be a beginner once. I was but I don’t have my beginner’s trophy fish to show for the trouble. My youngest son used to manage to out-fluke everyone with a drop line simply because he was too distracted to mess with it much and left it alone. Some suicidal fluke would attack it and be discovered only when it was time to go home. I took an Egyptian guy fishing once, a programmer of massively parallel systems, who reeled upside down, tried his level best to hook me in the face with every cast, and what did he do but luck into a Spanish mackerel which made me very jealous. My wife and other loved ones love to introduce me to strangers who moved to town in the past week and managed to catch a "keepah" all by their lonesome the second night in town. "Thurston here caught a keeper at Loop Beach on Tuesday night," is how the introduction generally goes. "It was the biggest fish he’s ever caught."
"Congratulations," I say magnanimously. "What pattern were you using?"
"That’s awesome. How long was it?" The hands stretch apart in the universal sign language of liar’s length. I see about two feet of air in between them. "Dave here is a fly fisherman. He doesn’t catch much though," my wife exacts her revenge for years of suffering matrimony to a fly fisherman. "Do you dear?" "Nah. I never catch much of anything," I say; wondering if Thurston knows a back cast from his back side. "How’d you eat it?" I bet on The Dreaded Italian Salad Dressing Recipe. "I marinated it in Kraft Italian Salad Dressing for a few hours and grilled it in foil. I need some help filleting though. It had a lot of bones. How do you cook em?" Time for the old line about stripers fighting like the Sunday Times and tasting about the same, but I keep smiling. If you’re looking for a fish of a lifetime, forget everything you know. Clear your mind and the fish will follow. Put down that fly rod, that intermediate line, that self-tied Mushy. Fish at noon. Fish with a cane pole and bobber and nightcrawlers. Hook And now for the reports. News of the week: well, there’s that dratted kid in the kayak in New Jersey who pulled a 50-plus-pound bass out of the ocean. Round these parts, it’s the Fourth of July (bet you didn’t know that) and that means things are going to get hot and heavy in terms of boat traffic, beach traffic, and elbow-to-elbow action at all those quiet spots you thought belong to you and you alone. There’s always offshore I suppose. Seriously, northside is lighting up with bass. Fluke inside the South Side bays. Too early for bonito by at least two weeks, so don’t bother there, but plenty of bluefish and bass to keep you occupied. My bet? Backside beaches and the Vineyard feel very fishy. Great moon and it’s always fun to fish in the rockets’ red glare. Have a safe and relaxing long weekend. Thanks to all of you who are emailing me your reports. Please keep them coming. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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I call this the "Old Man and the Sea" phenomenon. The protagonist needs to be pitiful in some way -- very old as in Hemingway’s Cuban case, or very young in the case of the New Jersey kayaker -- and needs to be surprised by the catch, as if they were targeting bluegills and instead wound up with a 1500-pound marlin. Molly’s protagonists seem to be the sort of clueless tourists that clogs Route 28 from the Fourth of July to Labor Day. The kind who still ride the HyLine tour past the Kennedy Compound, who seek out mini golf courses and Soft-Serv ice cream, and who fall for stuff like the Cape Cod Canal Tunnel.
Thurston looks at his feet and blushes. I think of some poor overgrown schoolie dragged to death on the sand with a rusty winch. 
"Pattern? I was using a Yozuri Bait Ball with sea worms and clams on 20 pound string. Man, you should have seen the fight. I thought for sure I was going to lose it. This old guy who was fishing down the beach came over and helped me land it. He said it was a cow."
yourself in the butt. Drool. Ask lots and lots of stupid questions because there are, in the end, no stupid questions, just beginner’s luck.Cape Cod Regions
| NEWS |
| It’s the Fourth of July (bet you didn’t know that) and that means things are going to get hot and heavy in terms of boat traffic, beach traffic, street traffic, and elbow-to-elbow action at all those quiet spots you thought belonged to you and you alone. There’s always offshore I suppose. Seriously, northside is lighting up with bass. Fluke inside the South Side bays. Too early for bonito by at least two weeks, so don’t bother there, but plenty of bluefish and bass to keep you occupied. My bet? Backside beaches and the Vineyard feel very fishy. Great moon and it’s always fun to fish in the rockets’ red glare. Have a safe and relaxing long weekend. |
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Captain Bob Paccia of Shoreline Guide service writes: "Moon tides, Thunderstorms and Small Flies. I know, I know, I’m always talking about casting big flies for big fish. Well, if you want to consistently catch fish, you better be ready to adapt to the prevailing conditions. Remember too, that I’m always stressing the importance of “matching the hatch”. A case in point; on one of the trips this week I was to fish with repeat and expert charter, John Wilson from Dallas, Texas, who specifically requested to fish the flats for “big fish” during a full moon tide. Our strategy was to catch the mid-point of the incoming tide around the Bird Island flats in Buzzards Bay. Our plans were quickly interrupted as an encroaching thunder and lightning storm was heading our way. Not wanting to take any chances, we headed for safe harbor in Marion. Fortunately, the storm stayed to the north of us and we made our way back to the flats just in time to see and hear hundreds of gulls and terns feverishly working the bait. We did several drifts casting 8-12 inch herring and half and half flies on full sink lines and although we spooked several very large fish, we didn’t get a hit. We switched over to 5-6” clousers of several different colors, but there were still no takers. This was particularly frustrating because of the combination of brisk wind and strong moon tide currents made seeing any bait impossible. The only actual baitfish that I had seen all morning was one tiny sand eel that a tern had in its beak. Wait a minute, is it possible that these large stripers that we estimated to be in the 20-30 pound class could be feeding on tiny two to two and a half inch sand eels? Possible, but unlikely, especially with the Bay full of plenty of big bait; including spent alewives, blueback herring, squid and mackerel. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We were well up on the tide by now and we would probably only have a handful of drifts left before the currents would go to slack. “What the hell”, I said to myself and I told John that I was going to change his fly. When he saw what I tied on to his tippet, he just laughed and said, ”You’ve got to be kidding!” as he gaped at the teeny 2” tan and white clouser dangling from the loop knot that I had tied in his tippet. John made a rather halfhearted cast which came back weed covered. His next cast was well placed, and on his second strip, WHAM, he was on the keeper of his life, a 46" striper that he gave a grateful pat on her head as he released her back into the Bay. It just goes to show you that sometimes smaller is better and you've got to go with the flow!!! Remember to always "match thehatch" even if it's thirty feet above your head. Thank you Mr. Tern. G. Maloney reports: "If last week B-Bay was HOT this week it was luke warm. Thought all the birds had left for the summer but finally spotted them by Cleveland Ledge Light on Thursday working over a large school of medium sized ( 2-5 pound) blue fish. Did not see nearly as much bait in the water the entire week so that was why the birds were absent. But the bass were still there. Saw numerous fish in the 30 - 40 inch range around Mashnee Island and finally took some on the tube and worm when I broke down and joined em' when I could no longer beat em'. Smaller fish would take surface lures and swimming baits but the cows would touch nothing. Saw them slurping the surface so a hatch of some type took place but of what I don't know. At first light and slack water saw a cormorant fly over the Mashnee Island rip and the water exploded from spooked fish covering more than an acre of water. Incredible sight to see and be taking so few fish at the same time. Took a few fish outside Monument Beach and Pocasset harbor but nothing of size. Mostly 14-16 inch fish. The flats near Mass Maritime Academy continued to be my bread and butter for consistent hookups. Plenty of fish to 24 inches both on the flat and along side the training ship when the chop would allow it. Also had some success on the adjacent Onset flats on the incoming tide." |
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Captain Joe LeClair reports: |
"This past week we had two really slow days of fishing. I don't know why the fishing was so slow or where they went, but they were not there or they were not hungry on Sunday and Monday. The rest of the week was totally nuts. We caught fish up to 40 lbs. on the fly and did it again on light tackle. South side of Cuttyhunk is holding it's usual monsters. Look for these fish to get really active when the wind swings around to the North East and it clouds over. I think then we will know how many cows are really hiding in the Sow and Pigs....
take large bass on the fly rod. I always enjoy fishing with people like Mark because I am always looking to learn and try new things. |
Bill Downing reports: "The only thing deader than the Canal last night was the Red Sox defense. I was all re-rigged up with new braid and hit the usual west tide spots in both the east and west end on the last half of the tide. Not a hit, although I did get a small lobster! Did see one small keeper caught but that was the only fish all night. Very little obvious bait and very few breaking fish. Hard to figure with these tides. "Meanwhile it seems last year's incidence of boat fishing in the Canal is getting an early start, with one boat obviously drift fishing from the east end jetties to the power plant. I guess this guy's practicing for the upcoming comm rod and reel season, no doubt soon to be joined by others. Any boat fishing in the Canal is illegal. If you see it and have a cell phone (I don't), call in the violation. Rumor has it they'll be enforcing it this year. We'll see. "Also saw two other small boats blasting down the middle of the Canal with NO lights" |
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Bob Parsons reports: "Started off looking for bluefish. They were scarce off New Seabury and found only one active school on Succonnesset shoals. The bait is still small sand eels and they were very focused on that. We had no hits on surface plugs. Sluggos worked but rubber and bluefish is tough on tackle. Deadly dicks would work. I'm sure sand eel patterns would have worked but was out of "bluefish flies". The bluefish dispersed and for the rest of the day the shoal appeared to be quiet. We did catch a bunch of fluke, nothing huge but alot just around the legal mark." |
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Captain Leslie Smith reports: "With the big holiday weekend upon us and a good weather forecast, I expect there will be more boats out there than we've seen in a while, all vying for those bass and blues that have been circling the Vineyard. Luckily, there should be more than enough fish around to keep everyone happy. Wireliners and bait fisherman have continued to do well at Mutton Shoal and even Tom Shoal still. The deeper holes along the north shore are holding big fish, and with reports of a renewed push of big fish, should continue to do well. The rips off Wasque have been a bit of a disappointment this year, never really getting going. There are fish there but mostly on the small side. Squibby should start heating up any time now. Bluefish are practically everywhere, mixed in with the bass, though most range in the two pound class. Fun for the kids, a pain in the neck when you're targeting the stripers. Tom Shoal is finally coughing up fluke, mostly either just legal or below. Larger flatties can be taken in the deep holes from Lucas Shoal to Beau Bell in the Sound, with smaller fish in the shallower depths." |
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Bwana reports: "The fishing off Nantucket in the sound is fantistic with loads of huge Bluefish everywhere. They really are big especilly for this early in the season -10lbs+.Great Pt is closed at the end due to nesting birds and there are still 50+ seals residing at the point as there is no one on the beach to bother them. If you have a boat give the Chord of the bay a try- you wont be disappointed." |
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"Day time "Outside" Surf sight fishing slowing down with only the occasional big guy rolling by from what I've seen. P-Town area has been "Hot". C.C. Bay fishing good over all. Keep a close eye on water temperature as this area tends to slow up during July. Some close to shore or inshore (Spring Spot's) slowing down on the Cape as water temperature rises also. Bass and Blues surround all of Cape Cod.|
Super Moderator Bob Parsons is keeping the local waters honest, fishing North Side, South Side and everything in between. He writes: "Got out to the flats to see not much a bird here and there, picked a spot and started blind casting. Soon I notice a small gathering of birds to the east. Moved the boat and was immedicately rewarded with a small bass. More and more groups of birds were becoming evident all over the flats as the bass began to feed on the thick schools of small sand eels. Fish would readible take any flie that passed for a sand eel and were averaging about 26 inches. By 8:30 the birds had left and the action died down. I moved to deeper water and started to dredge the area with llve eels. Nothing moved about a few different spots over the next couple of hours but the results were same." Then he wrote: "First with the tide being low and the fish most apt to be in the channels I started out with eels left over from last night. Bluefish fodder, bite the tail off and work up towards the head leaving just a few inches of eel left on the hook. "Gave that up and moved over to the flats that were starting to flood. Put the boat on one edge of the sand bar and walked to the opposite edge. Loads of fish in ankle deep water getting sand eels. Most effective way was to stand back on the sand bar and cast so that only the leader was in the water. Two strips, fish on and landed. The area stayed productive for quite some time as I eventually had to move back into the boat. |