Cape Cod &

the Islands

October 15th, 2004

All Good Things

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

Tight Lines!

Dave Churbuck

Buzzards Bay

Captain Bob Paccia reports:

"With the fall migration in full swing, it’s all a question of timing on the water. One minute you’d swear that there were no fish within Buzzards Bay, and then suddenly there are fish busting for as far as you can see. The secret then, is too be on the water all the time. If that’s not possible, as it is for most anglers, just get there as often as your schedule will allow. You never know when the next striper blitz will happen.

New schools of stripers are migrating right through our waters every day now. They are filling their bellies at every opportunity. Don’t get trapped in listening to fellow anglers who are telling you that it’s all over just because they had a bad day. A good example of this happened one day last week. We had come into the boat ramp around mid-day and as I was pulling the boat out, the skipper of the boat that had come in before us came over and started to tell us how poor the fishing was that morning. I think his initial statement was, “Boy, it really sucked out there this morning didn’t it!” He also started to tell my charter that the fall run was pretty much over and that this was going to be his last trip of the season. My client, William Parks from Ohio, who was on his maiden saltwater fly fishing trip, just looked at me with a perplexed grin on his face. He told the down-trodden skipper that we had a terrific morning. He told him that we had caught bluefish up to 8 pounds, twenty or more schoolies up to 26” and three keepers, the largest one at 33", which he kept for the table. The other skipper looked on with an incredulous gaze until William hoisted the fat 33” linesider. When William told him that he had caught them all on flies, I thought that he was going to faint. Guess who’ll be back on the water next week?

Another charter this week was with the father and son team of Dave and Joey Langan, who were staying in North Eastham, MA for a little saltwater fly-fishing. Dave had called me to see if I had any openings for a shore trip as his son Joey was very prone to motion sickness. I told him that the best opportunity for getting into some good fishing was from the boat. I also explained that we would be fishing from the small Florida flats-style boat that is always used in close to the shore and no one has ever been seasick on the Shoreline. After discussing it with his wife and Joey, they decided to give it a try.

Weather conditions that morning were not ideal as we had strong northeast winds, but both Joey and his dad said let’s give it a try. We found the birds working close to shore and Joey not only caught his first and many more stripers on a fly, but also gained the confidence to want to schedule another trip or two next year. His dad who is a great fisherman with excellent casting skills preferred to stay in the background and let this be his son’s day, as a dad should do. I bet that Dave and Joey will share a lot of great boating trips in their future. Congratulations to both, we had a great morning. "

Captain Terry Nugent of Riptide Charters reports:

" Today I had a charter with Chris and Anna Kirby. Chris is a repeat customer and Anna flew him up from MD for a spur of the moment surprise fishing trip (WHAT A WIFE!!!!)

The forecast was looking bad for us but Mother Nature held off just long enough for us to educate plenty of bass and a few blues.

WE launched out of Bourne around 0730. We didn't get 1/2 mile before we found birds working in one of the small bays. The fish had 4" herring pinned RIGHT AGAINST the shoreline. Chris and Annna tossed Storm shad and poppers to the bass and got bit on every cast. It's a great way to start a trip.

After an hour or so of non stop fish, we decided to push on and see if we could find bigger or better fish. We ran up to Woods Hole and tossed eels in the rocks for a while with no luck.

Then a trip to Tashmoo, Lackys, and Tarpaulin also yeiled nothing. Thats when the rain and wind came up. We beat feet back to Buzzards Bay and hid in several of the small harbors. In each one we found fish WAAAAY in back in super shallow water. They were all on the same 4" herring. Some spots were better than others, but all held fish.

When we were finally cold and damp enough we headed for Bourne Marina. Just before we turned to head into the channel for the marina, we saw TONS of birds working the mouth of the canal, by the MMA. Not willing to pass up that kind of action we spun the boat around and rna over to the birds.

The fish were all over the surface and were larger than what we had been getting thoughout the day. Nearly every cast got a fish. We working the area between the MMA tugs and the hayfields.

Before long the sight of the black hulled boat came hammering up to us. The guy from the Army Corp. politely made it clear that we were out of bounds and that any further infraction would not end our day with a smile. I appologised and thanked him as we pushed close to shore on the east side of the markers. We got a few more fish and decided rather than run the risk of getting in trouble we would call it a day.

We packed it in and headed to the marina and then grabbed a good meal at a local resturant.

Final tally around 75 fish mostly bass with a few blues mixed in. The fish were all 15" to 28". It seemed like fishing in May more than Oct. The water was 62*. Depth ranged from 18" deep in the harbors to 50+' near the canal. Lure of choice was 4" Storm shad and 4" Chug bugs.

Overall some great fishing for a day we thought would have to be cancelled. Bigger fish would have been nice, but any fish were a blessing when the forecast was for 20kt winds and rain. The weather held off for the most part and hiding in the harbors kept the wind a non-issue. As always fishing with Chris and his is a pleasure. They did a great job under the conditions and we all had a super time together.

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

Captain Joe LeClair reports:

"We have been fishing both inshore and offshore this past week. With Stripers on the move and schools of all size Stripers heading down the coast of Buzzards Bay and The Elizabeth Islands it has been easy to target them with the fly rod and light tackle. There have been large schools of bait moving south and the schools of bass and blues are in just about every harbor. We have also been fly fishing offshore for School Bluefin Tuna, False Albacore, and Bonito. As the water temps cool offshore we will see the fish move out and look for larger Bluefin to be chasing larger bait on the surface as they often do at this time of year.  

The Cape Cod Canal

Well, the Canal isn't as hot as it was in recent weeks, but there are fish for the fearless. BobG posted this dour report:

" The report is, there's nothing to report. The canal is just in this constant state of ...deadness (?such a word?). I pedaled, walked, and drove to a host of "use-to-be" hot spots, to simply find nothing. No bait, no fish, no sign of life.
Even my new favorite fish, the albies appear gone. Man, if they were available the entire summer, I'd never fish bass again.
I hate to keep beating the drum (and the dead horse) but something is drastically wrong with the inshore fishery. "

Albacized reports:

"You guys may be looking in the wrong end of the canal (not that i have anything hot and heavy to report). I did take one albie each day on saturday and sunday at bell rd (just before the water switched from west to east which was around 12:30 PM on sunday afternoon). i only fished these spots for 45 minutes or so until the water turned east. on saturday, a fly fisherman wading on the mudflats caught an albie at the same time i caught mine while on sunday, mine was the only one i saw caught (a few were breaking along the rocks but not in any real numbers). however, on sunday, the fly guys on the mudflats were into a few bass and the same guy i saw jigging on both days (up closer to the railroad bridge) was fairly consistantly into both bass and bluefish. i reiterate that i didn't see anything that fantastic. however, it was better than the doom and gloom i've been reading in this thead. btw, my albies were caught spin fishing using maria jigs on lighter gear despite the fact that i was fishing the canal. i attempted to flyfish on sunday after catching my fish and was skunked."

Squidly almost caught a Port-A-Potty:

" I fished the west end saturdya night from a friend's boat and it was dead. We drifted eels from 7:00-11:30. Had afew chomped up by blues and the one strike was when my buddy wsa putting on his coat. Murphy's law..... We had two cruise ships go through which I am sure didn't help. The strangest even of the night was I noticed a large wooden object floating in the middle of the shipping lane. When we approached to check it out and it tunred out to be an upside down port o let with a large wooden base. This thing was like an iceburg with jus the wooden base sticken out. Easily would have punched a huge hole in a hull. Called canal patrol and called it a night. Our fishfinder was out but the water seemed very warm. "

JimK reports:

" Fished the canal Saturday most of the day. Really looking for FA's but heck this is fall and everything I read states that fish should be feeding heavy all day long. Yeah right.
West end was dead with not much bait showing.
East end; I saw a couple FA by the marina and a small pod by powerplant. Very Very thin. Not much bait to hold them or bring more in. I managed one 15" schoolie "

The South Side

 Johnny P reports from Cotuit:

" Get to the water by 7:30 or so, incoming tide, dark, and raining, probably my favorite conditions. Anyhow, see bait poppin' right away. So we decided to take a few casts. First cast I get a schoolie (20") on an 3-4" all white deceiver. Got 3 more in the 18"-20" range within the next 45 min. or so and then the birds started goin' off down the beach. At this point my brother still hadn't gotten one, so as we're running down the beach I'm giving him a few tips on how to pull one out of the blitz...it must have been a funny site...we're tripping over our line, stripping baskets are falling below our waists, great stuff.

First cast into the blitz, I'm tight, and feeling pretty guilty about it actually, because I've caught plenty of fish this season and all I really care about is seeing my bro hooked up. So I look over at him w/ pitty, and he's tight!!! Mouth wide open, trying frantically to get it on the reel...made my season! That was the first of a hand full of doubles. Enjoyed consistant schoolie action for another 2 hours or so. He had something monsterous on that snapped my 9wt. St. Croix Legend Ultra like a twig! We have no idea how it happened, but the rod broke in the 1st section, just before the first ferrule?!?! I could care less, that's what warranties are for and nothing could've ruined that day...and to top it off we had the entire place to ourself, except for one gentlemen who took a hand full of casts and left.

All fish were in the 18-26" range and no keepers were had. Every fish was caught on 3-4" deceivers (white/white & chart./white). By the way, didn't see any albie action. Awesome way to bring a great season to a close. "

CarlL writes:

" Fished Cotuit from shore early Monday evening during the incoming. Lots of breaking fish inside and outside of Sampsons island. Couldn't buy a bass but bluefish were thick. Lot's of non-stop bird activity and breaking fish about a half mile off the beach right up untill dark. "

SueM had some albie success:

" Cruised from Popponesset to Woodshole yesterday (10-13-04) on a perfect day. Ran over probably 10 widely spread out albie mini-blitzes; Caught a nice one outside of Falmouth Harbor on a small pearl DD. They're still here, just fewer and more spread out."

Martha's Vineyard

Captain Leslie Smith signs off for the 2004 season with this missive:

"I must admit that I haven't been out much, as I have been moving into a new house, and it was absolutely killing me to be schlepping boxes around when the weather was so nice. Did go out this morning (Thursday) and was surprised that there were still so many albies around. And they seemed to be feeding up in ready for their migration to warmer climes. A very sparse white fly was working for me as well as a green Maria jig. Caught four and lost as many in two hours. With the lousy weather coming in, I've conceded that I won't win the Derby this year, again, but may try to get out a couple of days next week if the weather clears. Still looking for those fat late season bones to appear before the boat gets put away for the winter. This may be my last report for the season. Thanks to all those who stop me and tell me they read them religiously! Have a warm winter!"

Fellow Cotusion Don Schwinn reports in an email:

"Caught 3 albies and lost a couple of others of the windmill at Cape Poge on Oct 9 drifting and spin casting with Yozuri L-jack. One fish swam the line into a 20-lb hairball of weeds but we were able to land the weeds and the fish after a 30 minute gentle haul on 12-lb test."

Nantucket

Captain Lynne Heyer is back from victory in the Keys to report:

"Good Afternoon everyone. It’s raining outside this afternoon but the sun is still shining on my insides. Yup, I am a happy fisherman. Thought I would post a quick report. The fishing has been Okay the last few days. I just got a report of Blues at Great Point and still some Albies. Jeff was has been out the last few days and he reports the Bass as being spotty. He also said the Albies are still around too. I have been hearing of some big Bass being caught on bait at the usual spots, Brant Point being the hot spot. One of my customers today said the Vineyard was still fishing red hot with lots of bait in the water. Oh Well. I guess our friends over there deserve some good fishing too.

On a slightly different note, Jeff and I want to pass on some good news, Jeff’s brother Corey and Sister-in-law Donna just made us, Aunt Lynne and Uncle Jeff for the first time. Logan Brady Heyer has entered our world just the other day. I don’t think he is holding a fishing rod yet, but we will get him one soon.

One more tidbit of info, a couple of companie are discontinuing a couple of rod lines that we carry and we will be putting them on sale at 25% off at this time, that will be on in stock items only. We are also offering a couple reels spin and fly reduced. For a list go onto our on-line store or give me a call and I can fill you in. In the mean time try to get out and catch a few more fish before they head south.

Cross Rip Outfitters
http://www.crossrip.com"

Alan Pinto emailed this excellent report from his Nantucket adventure:

"Report from Nantucket October 5-10

The Outer Beaches, Chatham & Monomoy

Terry Nugent has the only report from the outer limits of our region:

" We launched around 0830 out of Chatham looking for bass and blues. We ran to a rip that has produced in the past and found the tide was running just right. We had plenty of eels and just about every other tool in the toolbox for these fish. The only problem we found was the damn dogfish were EVERYWHERE! We tossed eels and got nothing but dogs and a few blues. We went to jigs and trailers and got mostly blues and one decent bass. The dogs would eat the jigs if you moved tit too slowly, but for the most part we were able to avoid them by not fishing eels.

Final tally for the day around 50 fish (not counting the dozens of dogfish) most were blues in the 10# range. A few were bigger and a few smaller. The one bass was around 30” and was released after a photo. The lure of choice buck tails and trailers. With all the blues poppers were surprisingly not effective. Water was 59* and around 35’ deep. The water was pretty calm by Chatham standards and it was bright and sunny.

Overall Melissa did a great job of fighting nearly ALL the fish caught. She caught plenty herself, but she was delegated to fighting them ALL. She will be a tired puppy tomorrow that’s for sure. As always fishing with Mike and his kids is a blast. We always have fun and we always catch fish. A great day was had by all. "

The North Side

New England moderator Bob Parsons reports:

" After some indecision about where to go, launched in Barnstable. Bass all over the place sipping bait near the surface. Small green over white anything produce plenty of hits. After checking several spots and finding no bass over 20" headed out into ccb and ran the 20 depth down the beach. Conditions were FAC went up Mill creek at Sandwich old harbor, one swirl. Headed to the canal, couple boats fishing just inside the canal, one was definitily looking for albies but not seeing many. Decided to check the west end. A bit fustrating to have to ignore breaking fish as I passed several small groups in the canal. At the west end spoke with some boaters that were looking for albies and had not seen a thing all morning. Back to home port in time to see start of Pat's game. Most action in the canal was in the area between the fishing pier and the storage tanks. Some would have been within shore range if it was in an area on the tank side that was accessible. "

Tom LaLiberte writes:

" We fished Scorton's last evening (Friday)..no one home, so it was NOT our fly fishing abilities. About to run down to the Bay (Dux) and glass for birds from my car before deciding whether or not to fish. Still frustrated because we have changed leader lengths, depths, retrieve rates/styles, etc. It is possible, even though we have over 30 flies patterns, we may not have the correct styles. "