June 16, 2006

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June 16, 2006

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Good weather returns

After last week's blow out, we're all glad to see the good weather return in times for Father's day fishing trips. Get out there if you can.

Bluefish have now arrived around the Cape. There are some very large fish in Nantucket Sound, and you can generally find them harassing big pogy schools near inlets. Large bass are around too, but they are more difficult ot find without using conventional tackle. If large bass are your target, consider using big flies and sinking lines and doing some dredging. Some of the best catches seem to be coming from the deeper waters to the east in Cape Cod Bay.

If you're not fixated on giants, there are many schools of 2 to 3 pound bluefish and smaller stripers popping up on the South side of the Capr from Falmouth East, as well as along the inside at the Vineyard and elsewhere.

Send me more reports next week!

NEWS

The South Side

Curt Jessup of Capt. Curt Jessup reports:

If you work areas outside major harbors and estuaries after high tide, your time will be rewarded with both decent bass and blues. We spent all day Wednesday hitting the south side and the islands and came up with very few bass. If you want to hit'em this time of year fish the rips and shoals with hairball and bucktail jigs with pork rinds. Although we picked up a few nice bass on the fly, we felt our time would have been better spent in Cape Cod Bay.

Martha's Vineyard

Larry's tackle reports some fish at the Wasque rips feeding on the surface, as well as the arrival of bluefish. For the most part though, wire liners and live bait fishermen have done better through the stretch of bad weather. Look for that to change quickly with the high pressure as stripers begin to target the smaller sand eels. Lobsterville and Dogfish bar should produce well at that time, as will some of the isolated flats near shore on the sound sides.

Nantucket

Lynne Heyer of Cross Rip Outfitters reports:

Monday, June 12: The Sun is shining and the fish are biting! Good morning, my spirits are soaring cause it's sunny and warm, hopefully it will last. James Kilmartin, my trusty helper, came in this morning with a smile. Seems he and my new helper, Nick Walker, fished Great Point late yesterday afternoon into the evening and landed many Blues and had shots at some Bass. Nick had a Bass on but lost it. I also have a report form the Jenny T/ the Hazard family; they fished the west end of the Island the other day in crappy weather and caught a load of Schoolies. Capt. Shawn also fished in some crappy weather the other day and he caught some bigger boys off the west end. Keep it up boys it all sounds good. Burt one of our beach guides fished with Mark Madoff Saturday and had pretty good luck too. They fished Polpis Harbor and Eel Point and landed both Blues and Bass. Nice going. Get out and enjoy!

Tuesday, June 13: Just a quick update. Spanky Kania landed a beautiful fish yesterday on fly. It was 27.5#'s and was 40+ inches. I saw it in the back of his truck. A nice fat fish. Congrats Spanky! I guess a few other folks also had good luck too. Jeff's first trip Andy Steketee and family landed 10 Stripers and a bunch of Blues. His second trip with Dave Abati landed one Bass and a bunch of good sized Blues. Congrats to all. On a sadder note or I should say the hard luck award for yesterday should go out to Dr. Will Sprague. Seems Will lost a big Bass because his backing knot failed. BUMMER!!! He said he had a nice fish on and fought him for a short time till the fly line just disappeared. He felt awful when he came in to buy a new line. I tied him a fresh Bimini Knot on his backing. Hopefully this knot won't fail. Just for the record I didn't tie the one that did. It's looking like another beautiful day out there, the fish are waiting.

Chatham, Monomoy and the Outer Beaches

Randy Jones - http://www.yankeeangler.com - Fishing Reports of Yankee Angler reports:

[This fish] Took a 6 inch white Squid fly while being held in the current without moving it at all. It was left fluttering in the current over the fish's travel lane. This fish came up to the surface and in slow motion sucked it in and slowly submerged itself and just keep swimming slowly along until it figured out something was wrong. What a battle. Congrats!!

This week we have slower tides. (Higher low's and lower high's) More water at the low for them to feel comfortable in, giving you more water to fish. Staying on the flats longer. Finding moving water will always increase your odds of finding more fish. Finding them eager to come to the surface. Used a big ol white squid pattern splashed on the surface initially to help get their attention, then moving it ever so slowly on the surface with viscous visual slam's and strikes with water spraying in all directions. I found myself setting by sight instead of waiting to feel the fish on. Lost a few this way because of all of the visual excitement. I would have done better if I had closed my eyes and only set when I felt the fish. :) Boy, I love anything visual. Gets my adrenaline pumping. If I can't sight fish then getting them on the surface is a close second.

This fellow was traveling at the high, in 1 foot of water, 5 feet off the dry sand behind me. I was actually not even in the water when I sight cast with the 2 handed fly rod. Other anglers out in front of me were mistakenly standing waist deep not realizing that the fish were all traveling behind them. No surprise, I used to do it as we were all new once upon a time.

North Side

Spent this past week hammering Cape Cod Bay for big blues finning on the surface and

chasing 35 -45 inch fish feeding on some of the biggest sand eels I can remember. I had a great angler on board for the better part of this week named Ian. Ian is a repeat customer who brings his own gear and is an excellent fly caster. The fish you see here were caught on a 9 weight rod and Skok's olive and white Mushmouth. Although the bite has slowed a bit in Cape Cod Bay, there are still many fish to be had by hitting the right tides and working areas where the water has warmed. The bay has fluctuated from 56 to 64 degrees depending on where you are. Off Provincetown, temps remained cool although big fish have pushed through the past three weeks feeding on large sand eels.

The flats continue to produce and with a little patience, good polarized glasses and a 50-70 foot cast you can land the fish of a lifetime in 2 feet of water. Any closer than 50 feet the big boys spook and frequently blow out the flat for 200 yards in either direction. At times we had schools of 100 to 200 fish coming at us we were able to easily hook up. Try to stick with a fluid fly pattern with natural movement. If you fish the heavy epoxies or big Clousers, odds are the fish are gonna spook and the chaos created by these heavier flies will blow fish out and greatly diminish your chances of hooking up in the shallows.

Fish light leader material and double checks knots!!!!! If you put your leader together the right way you should have no trouble landing big fish with light tippet material. Keep the butt section (the section coming off your fly line) of your leader stiff and short to effectively turn over larger flies. Get out and have some fun-----this time of year is fantastic and the odds of hooking into the fish of your dreams is a real possibility!!!!!!!!

Tight lines and fair winds,
Capt. Curt Jessup
www.capecodoutfitters.com
508-400-5627

Capt. Mike Mathews of Offshore Angler Charters 617-797-2233 has been finding fish

within a half hour run of Sesuit Harbor in Cape Cod Bay. Many of the fish have been of keeper size, and he has been able to take them with a squid fly at times. His technique for finding them often relies on the fishfinder, as these fish are often suspended in the water column in as much as 150 feet of water.