Cape Cod &

the Islands

August 2nd, 2002

Stripes or not...

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I had to admit that I was saddened by the recent mass strandings in Cape Cod Bay, I guess as much because we have no real clue why they occur as the fact that creatures, which clearly have a sense of dignity, died in such an ignominious way.
Then again, the strandings also got me thinking about changing attitudes and the inconsistencies that exist therein.
One of my favorite books is Cape Cod Fisherman by the late Phil Schwind in which he describes, in vivid and often regretful words, his participation in one of the forced beachings of pilot whales that allowed people to slaughter them for the "melons", the hump behind the head which contained the precious oil humans used in those days for watchmaking and special machine operations. As Captain Schwind admitted, "Even though the money was good, I wasn't sorry when my fishing took me another way."
Nowadays, of course, we have an entire network of experts and volunteers who work to save pilot whales and other sea creatures, including dolphins and turtles, which have a habit of stranding on the Cape. Frankly, this is a good change in attitudes, since there really isn't anything we can get from slaughtering whales, for example, since we don't need the oil and the meat that native Americans and early European settlers valued is of no use to us today here on the Cape.
But all of the whale news also got me thinking about the inconsistencies that exist in fishing attitudes even today. While much has been written about conserving bass and much wringing of hands occurs during commercial season when thousands of breeding size fish are brought to market at ridiculously low prices to the fishermen, I just can't help but shake my head at those who preach about bass but then go crazy about tuna.
It just seems that these same so-called "bass conservationists" have no problem going out and killing every tuna they can within the limit of the permit they own. I have very rarely heard the term "release" used, unless it has to do with tackle or angler failure. I often wonder how much tuna, or mahi, for that matter, anyone can use. Perhaps it's impossible to release tuna alive, although I recall having seen shows when it appears to have been done.
And while the tuna frenzy is one thing, the absolute slaughter of fish like bluefish is another. When someone reports on an Internet board that they have found small blues, then it becomes fair game on them and I have to wonder if the ten fish per angler limit is adhered to.
Dreamer that I am, I hope that someday fishermen, and not just those of us who use the fly rod, will have a consistent sense of conservation when it comes to all species of fish - whether they have stripes or not.

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

Tight Lines!

Dave Churbuck

Buzzards Bay

The word is that there is plenty of bait in the area, from herring fry to sand eels and silversides, but other than schoolies and small blues, things are pretty quiet. You can find the blues pretty much anywhere from Quisset right up to the west entrance; just look for the birds and you're in business.
Schoolies are still prevalent around Buttermilk Bay and Onset, with nothing really larger than the mid-20 inch range. Any larger fish in the area are being caught around Hog Island and Mashnee Island by folks using tubes and lead core or wire line, so that might give you an idea of how fast a sinking line you'll need.
In the morning and evening, poppers and gurglers will work just fine, especially if you work the edges of the marsh grass banks in places like West Falmouth.

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

The pattern seems to be small fish to the west and larger to the east, with the bigger bass still being a matter of using bait. The northerly winds of late last week did produce some action for folks using jigs and apparently blew some small bait in the Big Ditch, but pluggers are going quiet Folks fishing Bell Road are finding schoolies popping on silversides, but they can be tough with so much bait around. Reports have the herring run dry in places upstream from the Canal, which doesn't bode well for the fry being able to get out of the pond anytime soon.Little bluefish abound everywhere in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, especially early in the morning or in the evening. They have been especially thick off Woods Hole/Nobska and out around the shoals like L'Hommedieu, Hedge Fence, and Succonesset. Word has it that they have also been annoying anglers along the Elizabeths who are looking for bass.
The islands have definitely slowed, with bass sitting in deeper, cooler water. Clearly, nighttime would be the right time to fish the Elizabeths right now, or at least a very early morning departure is in order. At this point, the fish often move to the deeper edges and holes, calling for a fast sink line and a long count down. You can still raise them early in the morning on poppers and gurglers, but the best percentage bet is heading more to the Nashawena/Cuttyhunk stretch and looking for cooler pockets of water.
I've also run into bass from Woods Hole to the islands just rolling and sipping as they work the deadly crab hatch, krill convention, or whatever you want to call it. At this point, you can have huge bass just lounging all around the boat and unwilling to take anything other than the semi-microscopic stuff they are slurping.  Lot of fun to watch, but not necessarily fish; a suggestion would be to go with something different than what they are eating and let it sink to interest the fish below.
Beach fishing is very slow, with the only real action being bluefish in the early morning and again in the evening; pick a stretch from Nobska to Waquoit and you have a good chance at action. Menauhant has been particularly good, which makes sense will all the bait in Bourne's Pond. Inside Waquoit is a bathtub, but the rips off the jetties have had occasional mini-bursts of schoolie action.
For bonito, the place to be is still Hedge Fence, with trollers doing much better than casters at the moment, especially with bunny flies trolled deep and fast. There have been suspicious splashes here and there, but nothing to count on.

The Cape Cod Canal

The South Side

Snapper blues are the main action in the area, with schoolies around if you're willing to fish very early or very late. Joe Ritzo, who vacations up inside Cotuit around Point Isabella told me you can hear the schoolies just slapping on bait all night long. The same would probably hold true for up inside spots like Popponesset, the Centerville River, Bass River, etc. Much of this bait is silversides or mummichogs and they can be very small, so tie accordingly.
A boat trip that Joe and his kids took with me on Wednesday just avoided the skunk, but midday water temperatures were over 70 at the shoals and 80 inside the bay, which once again supports the notion that early bird will get the worm during the dog days of summer. It was so hot out, in fact, that being on the boat was uncomfortable.
Of all the action, fluke still seems to be the most consistent.

Martha's Vineyard

When it comes to keeping an eye and ear out for what is happening on the island, nobody is better than Captain Leslie Smith of Backlash Charters and this week she offers a report which features everybody's favorite, the Hooter:

The summer doldrums seem to be upon us, but that doesn't mean there aren't fish to catch.  It just means you have to know where to look.  The Hooter is producing plenty of bass, working the edges where the shoals end with bait.  Lots of blues mixed in and some bonito on the troll.  Hawes, Norton and Long Shoals have tons of small blues, if you don't care about quality, more about quantity.  All are great spots for plugging and fly fishing on light tackle.  Word has it that Bonito Bar is heating up over at our sister island.  Prepare to anchor up, leaving plenty of room for others.    Offshore is hit or miss, with bluefin and small yellowfin sporadic south of Noman's from the nor'east corner of the Dump and the Fingers.  With all the warm weather, things should improve out there.

Steve Purcell said that until the north wind kicked in last week, the tuna bite was very good but they have moved farther out to the Fingers and the Dump, whereas they had been just outside Noman's. Steve said they had one of the larger ones on for over two hours before it blew up a 14 weight and he was gearing up for another trip today. From shore, the bass fishing is slower, with most anglers walking long stretches of the north shore and Gay Head for a few fish. Squibnocket and the Hooter have had the most consistent action on bass, with some gator bluefish thereabouts as well. Inshore, the blues are mostly small around Cape Poge up to Vineyard Haven and the bonito have not showed up with any regularity in this stretch, with most anglers heading for Hedge Fence or Middle Ground. From the shore, some bones have been caught at Wasque and Menemsha, but again it's hit-or-miss. There are millions of sand eels around as well as other small bait which should bring the bonito in - at least that's the hope.

Nantucket

The word from Bill Pew at Bill Fisher Tackle is that folks are bellying up to the bar - the Bonito Bar, that is. In fact, our earnest moderator, Bob Parsons, heading there yesterday with Sam Riley and they managed a couple of bones, including Bob's first on the fly. Bill noted that they are taking small Deceivers as well as topwater offerings like gurglers and poppers. The bones are not only at the Bar, but they have also moved into the channel by Eel Point. Some bonito have also been caught at Great Point and one angler reported running into them at the opening to the Jetties. There are still some good bass to be taken from shore, like the 18 pounder that was caught at Cisco, albeit on a Bomber, and there are lots of little, and Bill means two pound, bluefish around. In the Harbor, there is nothing exciting going on, although folks are catching those small blues off Straight Wharf in the morning. In the Billfish Tournament, anglers on the A-1-A caught a white marlin and there were reports of a blue as well; otherwise, it's been a mix of bigeye, yellowfin, and longfin albacore.

The Outer Beaches, Chatham & Monomoy

Mike McCaskill had the word that the rips off Monomoy have been fishing very well for flyrodders using squid patterns and there are also school tuna east of Chatham, like the 65 pounder he caught earlier in the week seven miles out. Mike was using a 12 weight and what he called a "garbage fly, which is just a bunch of stuff tied on a hook" - as neat a description of a fly as I've heard. It took him 45 minutes to land and they also landed some fish on spinning rods. South Beach has been a little slow, but inside the mouth of Chatham Inlet there have been some nice bass caught. A tip also put a guide and his charge on some fish up inside Pleasant Bay near the golf course, with one nice bass and the rest schoolies. There have been reports of some bonito being caught off the tip on Monomoy while the water is clean off Hardings' Beach, where the bait anglers are doing well, but that doesn't mean a flyrodder who works this area can't do well with sand eel patterns.
You'll notice that I didn't mention the Monomoy flats, which apparently have fish around but have been absolutely tough with the fish displaying perfect midsummer lockjaw. A perfect crab fly presentation or sand eel imitation might work, but you are going to do a lot of casting for very little action.
The news from Joe McGrath up in Eastham is the mung gets thicker as you head up towards Provincetown, but if you find clear water there are fish. Coast Guard Beach in Eastham has been what Rob LaBranche calls "patchy", with some bass in the 15-pound class around eating sand eels. Nauset Inlet has blues just outside and some bass right in the shallows, but they are spooky. 
Finally, Jack up in Provincetown always gives me the straight scoop and he said things have slowed up quite a bit on the backside. Fluke are still the only consistent fish to be caught, with water too hot for blues and bass. The best action has been at Herring Cove at first light on bass, blues, and fluke, but once the sun rises, the action is done. There are also small blues around the harbor jetty, but next to that the best news is they opened another mile of the beach to the north, with six-tenths of it set aside for fishermen and the rest for self-contained vehicles.

The North Side

How long the action remains is anybody's guess, but the north winds of late last week into the weekend simply turned this place on.
Scorton Ledge to the Fingers has been red hot for folks trolling tubes and there are reports of a 50+ pound fish being weighed in yesterday. When you imagine the better commercials loading up on 40 fish a day for three to four days in a row with 800 pounds a trip not unheard of, is it any wonder that the commercial quota was filled so quickly? About a week ago, I had heard that it was half done, but apparently spots in the bay like Scorton and Billingsgate took care of the rest.
Anglers from the beach also joined in the bounty, with a 43 pounder caught off Sandy Neck and there are reports of tons of bait around the Sandwich creeks. Word has it that the Brewster Flats are fishing very well and Barnstable Harbor has been holding some really nice bass well up inside.
There are still some good bass being taken from Billingsgate, and there is a mix of bass and blues in the waters close in to Wellfleet, while the stretch from Pilgrim Heights to the Path has been running hot-and-cold on mostly bluefish.