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Cape Cod &the Islands
September 23rd, 2004 |
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| FishWire Coordinator: | Dave Churbuck |
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Hjaelp, jer er en fisk!
Why aren’t there better movies about fishing? I was thinking that over the weekend when I came upon my ten-year old watching Waterworld, an astonishing stinker of a movie starring Kevin Costner as a mutant mariner in a world submerged by the melting of the polar ice caps. Costner, who has evolved into a half-fish with gills behind his ears, drives around in a Hobie Cat straight out of the Road Warrior wearing a pair of natty striped pants. At one point, one of Kev’s passengers decides to do a little fishing because she and her daughter are hungry. She pulls out a Penn Jigmaster and sets to it. Kevin grabs the rod, throws it down, and demands to know "You want to see some fishing?" He hefts a bigharpoon-gun, ties a rope around his waist, jumps over the stern and proceeds to troll himself like a human Rapala. Along comes a mutant shark which swallows Kevin like Jonah. Cut to an underwater view of the side of the shark exploding as Kevin works his way out of the fish by blowing open its stomach with the harpoon gun. Cut to Kevin tossing a slab of fish meat onto the barby. Thank heavens for Tivo, for my son and I had the opportunity to watch this scene in slo-mo about six times, analyzing the mutant shark’s teeth (and wondering why Kevin didn’t get bitten), to the shark’s approach and attack on the swimming fish-man lure. If they made a movie about me fishing it would be as exciting as Andy Warhol’s epic Empire which consisted of a single camera fixed on the Empire State Building for eight hours and six minutes. I would title it "Fishing for a Clue" Here is my list of fishing movies you should see before you die: 1. Jaws. Very little actual angling goes in this firm save for a scene in which ol’ Quint sits in the fighting chair and listens to the clicker go off on a huge old Penn Senator big game reel. Every clicker on every reel since then has held very ominous possibilities for me. Oh, I almost forgot, and the meat chunkers who toss a rib roast off the dock with a chain on it. Now none of these are gripping as an entire weekend spent watching fishing shows on the boob tube, but none have commercials for Troy-Bilt Brush Whackers or impotence pills either. One of these week’s I’ll tackle television, but until then, send me some movie suggestions, I know there have to be some winners I’ve overlooked. News of the week: weather is nice. My local waters around Cotuit were pretty quiet when I fished. The forums are a bit quiet. No one really seems to be fishing hard or reporting often. But the elements are all in place. It is no longer summer. The night time temps are dropping. The fish have received the message from Fish Control that now is the time to start feeding and moving. Don’t fiddle and diddle. Catch ‘em while you can. Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...
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and does this swooshy back-cast thing that looks like Keith Lockhart conducting a fish orchestra. This is the movie that made fly fishing the must-do yuppie sport of the 1990s. Ebay is still moving the tackle out of the garages of America and into our hands. The tackle industry is reputedly looking for A River Runs Through II: Jason Meets Freddie to revive its flagging fortunes.
kids who drink a magic potion and turn into fish. Spellbinding. Not to be confused with the dirty German fish movie, Fickende Fische, the title of which loosely translates to "Fish Do It." Do what Mommy? What are you and Daddy doing? Is Daddy hurting you Mommy?Cape Cod Regions
| NEWS |
| Weather is nice. My local waters around Cotuit were pretty quiet when I fished. The forums are a bit quiet. No one really seems to be fishing hard or reporting often. But the elements are all in place. It is no longer summer. The night time temps are dropping. The fish have received the message from Fish Control that now is the time to start feeding and moving. That seems to be the story in the Canal. Albies from Monomoy to Chappy. Dogfish have taken over Cape Cod Bay. Don’t fiddle and diddle. Catch ‘em while you can. |
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Captain Bob Paccia reports: "Striper fishing continues to improve throughout Buzzards Bay. School after school of hungry stripers from 20" to just keeper size are feasting on silversides, baby bunker and juvenile blueback herring and alewives. Much larger bass are appearing with increasing frequency as the fall migration gets underway. We have had particularly good results on these big bass using large weighted crab patterns fished on the bottom. A prime location to use these crab look-alikes is along the sandy drop-off where the large bass patrol along the edges. If you can establish a drift that allows your fly to bounce (in crab fashion), you have a good chance to land a trophy-sized linesider. Bluefish continue to smack anything that moves above or below the surface. If you’re looking for some great topwater action, now’s the time to use a floating line or better yet an intermediate line with poppers, sliders or gurglers. The trick here is to be sure that you are using enough line to get your cast out to where you want it, but no more. The mistake that most novices make is to have too much loose line left over either in their stripping basket or on deck. You want to be able to start your first strip as soon as the fly hits the water. This is especially important when you are using an intermediate line, as it will start to pull the popper under if left unattended too long. Remember, these are fast moving saltwater fish, not freshwater largemouth bass, and you only have a few seconds to attract their attention. If you get a strike and they miss your popper, stop and start your abrupt strip again, as often times the wake caused by the approaching fish actually pushes the popper away and out of their reach. False albacore have been a here today and gone tomorrow type deal so far this year. Expert fly angler and good friend, Marc Feldman from Townsend, MA knows firsthand how frustrating these speedsters can be. Marc, as usual, booked a half dozen trips this year for stripers, bluefish, false albacore and bonito. He has caught all the stripers up to 30# that he has wanted, more bluefish than he’s wanted and has had dozens or so shots at false albacore, but has had only one false albacore hook-up. When I told Marc about Jill Gardener, from Peabody, Ma who on a recant trip took three false albacore on her maiden trip, which was the first time that she had ever fished with a flyrod! Marc just gave the headshake expression of the Aflac duck. I guess that why we all fish so hard for a fish that you can’t even eat. It’s the quest! |
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Captain Joe LeClair writes: |
"This past weekend I was taken off the water for a few days while my father (my fishing inspiration and buddy) underwent open heart surgery. I am relieved to say that he is now on his way to recovering and I am very appreciative for everyone's patience with me while I was thinking of other things and reworking my schedule."|
BobG reports that the Canal is filled with migrating fish: "Summer ended 10 minutes ago, fall is here, and so is the migration! "I just returned from checking my lobster traps on the canal. BEAUTIFUL day. No wind, no clouds, water was crystal clear. As My wife and I stood on the service road, we both spotted an endless parade a small bass (15-20"), 25 feet off the rocks, all headed ----->WEST! Bill Downing reports from the Canal. A lot of guys out there. Must have raced down to the rocks based on all these non reports I've been posting " Skunkbuster says: |
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Okay. I go fishing on Wednesday afternoon. Flat calm, gorgeous weather. All conditions were in place for fish. I get outside and 1) the terns are gone, always a sad day and 2) there are lot of dumb birds sitting around on the water, enough of them to make me think,hmm, bait? So I cast at some slickish looking water and get nothing. Nail a banded rudderfish from beneath a bell buoy on a bonito bunny, saw some non-bluefishy splashes east of the Wianno Cut, but a few casts yielded nothing. Ran down towards Hyannisport, more dumb birds floating on the surface.No visible action. Rode my bike to South Cape Beach for lunch today, rolled through the parking lot and inspected the waters for signs, nope.
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Captain Leslie Smith reports from MV: The Grudge rules, he posts this most-excellent Derby Report: "Had some time off and the thumbs up from the wife for a fishing trip so I set my sights on the Vineyard for a few days of derby fishing. Due to the hurricanes and last weekend’s conditions, I held off booking anything until this Sunday night. I really needed to do this trip on the cheap so I stayed at the youth hostel for a whopping $23 per night (more on that later). I had a few goals for the trip: catch an albie on the fly and catch one on my kayak. Anyhow, here's my trip: "9/20 - Took the first ferry on standby out Woods Hole and drove straight to Menemsha upon landing on the island. The usually busy jetty was practically empty. I was hoping it was due to it 1) being a Monday morning and 2) the 50 degree temp. I was wrong on both counts. It was that there were no fish. I casted for hours and put up a goose egg. It was like a Jason Varitek at-bat: ugly. Ate a lobster role at Larson's and tried again at dusk. Picked up a few schoolies in the back pond at dark so the day was not a total waste. Checked in @ the hostel which reminded me of a summer camp cabin. Not so bad cause I was the only person staying there that night. "9/21 - Checked out Tashmoo jetties in the morning. 2 or 3 albies were breaking here and there, but no steady action. Tried out the new Tidemaster with a 1 oz green Maria and hooked up pretty quickly - but lost the fish almost as quickly. Reeled in the lure and the treble hook looked like an umbrella blown inside out by the wind. A warning for anyone using these lures....Change the hooks! They are cheap and will not hold an albie. No other hits for the rest of the afternoon so I did some touristy stuff. Skipped the night fishing and drank beer @ the brewery in Oak Bluffs. "9/22 - Hit Edgartown at first light. Took the ferry to Chappy and launched the yak into the harbor. Fish were breaking within 50 yards of the Edgartown Lighthouse. People were hooking up from the dock on butterfish and squid. After a few casts I saw a splash and the Fireline started ripping off my reel. It was like lightning shot off my arm. I tightened the drag and started reeling in and then.....nothing. I thought I snapped up again, but the fish has turned towards me. He made another run and I quickly started to reel him again. Definitely the toughest fish I've ever landed by kayak, but it was worth it. My heart was pounding and I boated the little guy. Not big enough for a weigh-in but big enough to make me the happiest fisherman on the island. I was wiped out and headed back to the hostel. Apparently a youth group had reserved almost every bed in the place and it was packed. I passed out at around 10, but was welcomed to the sound of one of the kids puking into the waste basket at 1 am. I guess the Christian youth were on an all-night drinking binge. fun... "9/23 - Woke up this morning and was first in line at the Chappy ferry. All the reports were that East Beach was the place to be. Parked at the bridge at the reservation and walked down to the shire. There has to be 100 people with trucks fishing for miles down the shoreline. Rods were bent in all directions and the fish were cruising the shoreline. Broke out the long stick and threw a chartreuse surf candy fly. On my second cast I had a fish on within 10 feet from the shore. The albie took straight off and was well into my backing. Thrill of a lifetime. My right forearm is sore right now while I typing from the fight. The fish was beautiful. It was an epic morning on the beach for me. I had 10 hookups and caught 7 fish, 2 on the fly and 5 with the spinning rod. Both fly rod albies were caught on surf candy - the other 5 on 2 lures (1 oz black and silver Maria, 3/8 oz Need-Eel that was blue, but I peeled off the sticker). One fish was pretty big - probably 11 pounds or so, but no time to weigh in cvause I had to catch the ferry home. "All in all it was a perfect trip. Great weather on a beautiful island. I explored every inch and backroad that I could and met alot of interesting people (including a 60 yr old womern who caught about 5 albies on the fly at East beach). All nice people who love to fish. Sure my wife and friends think I'm freak for staying a hostel alone for 3 nights, but I got my funny fish and now I'll go back every year. "A few tips for anyone planning on going - buy your lures on the mainland. You'd have an easier time buying heroin than finding 1 oz green Maria lures. Menemsha/Gay Head is a waste of time for albies - stay around Chappy and Edgartown. Ask other people for help - they will steer you to the fish. Albies are around in force - didn't hear of anybody catching bonito on shore. Striper fishing was slow." |
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No report from Nantucket as of this writing. Capt. Lynne will come through. |
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"Fished the point the last 2 days. Loads of albies around. On tuesday they were all over the water for hours. what a blast on light tackle|
ScottNE reports from Dogfish .. Cape Cod Bay: "Left later figuring the tide was later and it would be no problem. Probably missed whatever morning bite there was today. Tons and tons of fish on top again today as many were reporting on the VHF...all dogs. There were some small blues and bass mixed in with the operative word small. We pulled a few 3-5 pound blues in between the dog patches. Ran down past Barnstable and found some nice fish up on the east bar. We didn't catch them but they were there visible both on the fishfinder and to the human eye in 12-15 feet of water swimming along. I imagine a well placed eel would have been a good offering but otherwise these fish wouldn't touch a thing. Figured we'd get back to where the fishing had been good for over a week...doh! Saw one 12 pounder taken, we lost one probably about that size and that was it...stinkfest. Reports of a ton of fish just off the canal and with Bob's report here I'm pretty convinced the big school of fish that was hanging off Sandy Neck two weeks ago, and more recently near the Canal turned in and is going south. Incidentally the tag from yesterday belonged to the USMF but specifically the Maryland office...so this school was up all the way from the Chesapeake. Aside of the one I kept we did get another with the same tag a few days ago in the same area. I'd like to think something caused the fish to move..wind change or whatever but it's late September and they've got a ton of ground to cover on their way south back home. What we had today was a classic "ride around day" as one of the commercial tuna guys called it. That's pretty much what everyone did I think. Report of BIG tuna on top near the CC buoy in the am. Did not see them but did see a pod of whales on the way out that may have been mistaken for tuna. Highlight of the day was a pesky giant basking shark that seemed to want to play with the boat as it kept ending up under the boat. Got a great video of it passing and will try to transfer some stills to post...it was at least as long as the boat so 24+. The bait was still there down deep but nothing was chasing it unlike yesterday. Total for the day was 3 bluefish, 4 bass and a dogfish that hit on top nothing over 10 pounds and most were real dinky fish. Water temperatures are up a good 2-3 degrees, back near 63-64 from the 60-61 of yesterday. Hopefully the next big school will be moving south shortly or moving down from Brewster etc...otherwise it may stink for several days." Earlier this week ScottNE reported: Firtst bass of the day was a plump midget about 25" that was quickly released. About an hour passed before anything else broke as we could never get on the school again. Next fish was a moose that I couldn't stop, turn or do much of anything with as the drag let go on the Penn mid-fight. Eventually the fish was gone sparing the line and terminal gear. Missed the next two nice fish between my boatsmate and I. Not sure what we were doing wrong really other than the fact that the fish were running so hard an overtight drag may have caused them to pry loose. Loosened the drag and had pretty good success the rest of the day. It was never non-stop action...it was a few solid fish an hour, sometimes double-ups. Biggest fish was 35 pounds today, with 6 or 7 between 30 and 35. Several around 15 including one I had to keep. I kept it because it was bleeding like a sieve from it's midsection....another tagged fish. Tag is from Anapolis, MD...I will call the 800# on it Wednesday to get it's history. The tag had worn a hole in the fish about 5" long and was covered in weed. I considered just cutting the tag but the wound was so bad I figured it was a good eater. Buddy did keep a nice 30 pounder as it appeared to have been bitten by a seal or shark near the tail but was in otherwise good shape. Other than that only two shorts all day today, and a few around 20 pounds. It really seems that out in CCB the fish are either 15-20... 25 pounds or 30+. There seems to be little/no fish between 25-30 and 20-25. Fish were never much closer than 15-25' below the surface but rarely deeper. I couldn't get them to hit anything with fur/feathers like bucktails etc, wouldn't touch metal or anything else which is odd as they were coughing up 2" pogies by the dozen. On the way in millions of blues and bass on top outside the canal but all were smallish, nothing big. No signs of other funnier type fish and with the water hovering between 59 and 60 I'm not expecting to see anything out there anytime soon. Water was near calm in the am...slight swell chop up until 11 and then it gradually went back to FAC. Pictures to follow of a few of the fish including the tagged fish." Keep those reports coming, |