Cape Cod and the Islands
Region

June 22, 2007

Buzzards Bay

Bob Paccia of Shore-line Guide Service reports:

Often, I hear fly fishermen returning to the boat ramp complaining about all that they're catching are small schoolies. Saying, "All the big fish must have moved on." Usually, I'll ask them what fly were they using and what kind of line were they casting. In most cases the answer is that they tried a bunch of flies and that they were using either floating or intermediate fly lines.

Now, there's nothing wrong with trying a number of fly patterns to see what the fish are hitting that day. Also, both floating and intermediate fly lines certainly have their place, but in most cases in saltwater, if you want to consistently get into bigger fish, you're going to have to get the flies down deep and as quickly as possible. That means using heavy, full-sink fly lines and possibly weighted flies. How about sinking-tip fly lines? Yes, I know that they cast better, but they don't get the fly down fast enough. The intermediate running line keeps the sinking tip from reaching the desired depths. The intermediate running line also creates a drag, due to the current, and leaves a belly in the line. That belly means that you don't have full control of your line, leader or fly. Obviously, there will be a delay between when the fish strikes and when you feel the hit. Not a good thing…

As a case in point, while fishing large, weighted American Eel patterns this past week, my two clients, using their own equipment, were getting a bit frustrated because they weren't getting any "hits", even though we were marking a lot of good fish on the sonar. I asked them if they minded if I tried a cast with my rod set-up. They said, "Please do". First cast? You guessed it; I'm on with a decent fish…what made the difference? Their equipment was part of their problem. One client was using an intermediate line and the other was using a sink-tip line. My rod was set-up with a heavy full sinking line, a short 5' tapered leader and an 18" weighted eel pattern. This combination allowed me to quickly get my fly down deep into the 20+ feet mark; right where the fish-finder said they were holding.

It's not rocket science; it is more of a question of just connecting the dots. Remember, big fish got that way by being wary of anything that doesn't look natural. They have pretty much seen every artificial offering available. Your fly has to look, act and be at the proper depth that makes sense to them. It didn't take much coaching from me to get both of my charters to switch over to full sinking lines with larger and heavier flies. The inconvenience of casting these hefty lines and flies was a small price to pay for the rewards. They proceeded to catch nearly a dozen stripers in the 32" to 38" range, plus several good-sized bluefish. They both also plan to join my "Tying Large Striper Flies" course that I'll be teaching at "The Bears Den Fly Fishing Shop" in Taunton, MA this coming fall. Tight lines, but not too tight, Capt. Bob

Eastman's Tackle (508-548-6900) reports:

Guys are fishing mostly Bournes pond for small schoolies. Some people have fished Chappaquoy, on the west side, Old SIlver beach. As of this weekend, you can't get to the beaches, before 8 AM and after 5 PM.

Their web site elaborated (a few days older):

Striped Bass - Striped bass continue to roam L'Hommedieu and Halfway and many of the other shoals in the Sound. The deep holes are holding the biggest fish, which are being taken on jigs bounced along the bottom. Bass are beginning to set up off Wasque Point on the Vineyard, with smaller numbers showing up off Squinocket and Gay Head. The rocks along the Elizabeth Islands and the deep holes off Quick's and Robinson's also have fish.

Blue Fish - Blues invaded Buzzard's Bay this week, with most of the fish in the two to four-lb range. Schools of bigger blues continue to roam Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds. From shore, casting lures or soaking cut bait is still productive.

Falmouth & the Elizabeths

I fly fished the Elizabeth Islands from Canapisit down to Quick's on Father's Day, and saw a few other fathers out there too.  We were equipped with 10 and 12 weight rods, with fast sinking lines, and squid and bunker patterns.

We caught a few small fish around boulder fields, and in rips between islands, but nothing to write home about.  Since we were marking pretty many fish, I think the main culprit was that the tide was switching some time around when we arrived, so while the water was never slack (it never seems to be in the Elizabeth's) I don't think it was running very hard, and perhaps the fish were pausing in their feeding?

The most exciting development came when we happened upon a school of bunker on the southeast corner of Quick's.  We saw them shower once, and it was clear there was something working the school.  We circled to keep up with them, and soon after, my fishing partner Kim Mayer hooked a genuinely LARGE bass on a big bunker pattern.  The fish took most of the line, then with calm authority, began swimming along the coast through a boulder field.  Unfortunately, the FLY LINE parted from the pressure before we could see, ;et alone land, the fish.  It was, however, a powerful lesson about the presence of big bait!  I'm uncertain as to whether this could ever be a full blown strategy, as I rarely see schools of bunker out there?

The Cape Cod Canal

No fly fishing reports for this area this week.

The South Side

Gary Hydrusko reports:

Date: 6/15/07 AM
Place: Outside - Bass River
Method: Jigging Rip Lines - Drop Offs
Bait: Buck Tail

I normally fish Nantucket but took an opportunity to fish the south side out of Bass River with a good friend in South Yarmouth. This proved a wise decision where size is concerned.

Here is a Picture of a 41" - 24lb Striped Bass my Son Andrew caught and released while fishing rip lines & drop off's, off the Bass River with my friend Ed of South Yarmouth. The Bigger Fish are arriving without doubt!

My son and I could not duplicate this effort in 3 days of fishing on Nantucket where the Seals are on constant patrol all along the south shore. Nothing but shorts on the island and many very fat seals!

Martha's Vineyard

Captain Jaime Boyle of Fishing the Vineyard reports:

6.21.07: The weather has finally cleared, and the fish were right back where we left them before the blow. This week has been June fishing at its finest. From the boat, stripers from 10 to 30 pounds were a common sight for the fly rod and light tackle crew. Most days the action has been right on the surface, and if conditions are right, it can last all day. The most prevalent baits at the moment are squid as well as the thousands of immature (1") sandeels that have recently invaded the east side of the Island.

Bluefish action remains strong Island-wide. On a nice day, it's tough to take a boat ride from any point to another without running into a few breaking bluefish. From the beach, Lobsterville is starting to produce some consistent fishing. With dropping water starting to come around to the early evening in the coming week, Up-Island fly and plug fishing should be a good bet as long as the winds remain out of the West. Now's the time; June is slipping away. Get out there and catch some fish!
-www.fishingthevineyard.com

Capt. Phil Cronin wrote:

Following a persistent Northeast wind and unseasonably chilly air temperatures for the better part of a full week, the warm southwest winds have returned to bless us. Along with the more customary climate, the fish have started to turn back on and the bait we have all been looking for is starting to show all around the island. The last few days have been decent fishing while the last week had been miserable. Night bass fishing upisland is really heating up with an abundance of sand eels frolicking in the wash. Fluke fishing has been exceptional with doormats being caught in the deep holes along the north shore. Bluefish are everywhere again after disappearing for several days. Middleground has been the exception rather then the rule, seeming like a baron wasteland at times with no bait, no fish, and no birds. To the contrary, the shoals and rips on the south side have been holding good sized bass that will occasionally take surface plugs and flies. All in all the fishing is good now that the weather has moderated.

Nantucket

Capt. Bill Toelstedt of Nantucket Outfitters (917) 584-5270 reports:

Nantucket fishing report June 20, 2007: After last weeks wind and weather things were not looking so good the water temperature around the island dropped over 3 degrees and the fishing suffered a bit. However, this past weekend made up for all that cold and wind in a BIG way.we had warm weather and sunny skies, the surface temp climbed back up over 61 degrees AND THE BASS FOLLOWED!!

Fishing on Sunday morning (6/17) with Brandon and Ken … the west end lit up with large schools of bass to 36' chasing squid right to the surface!! The fish were definately not everywhere but if you found a good school then you were in for several hours of bent rods. Similar to last weeks show before the inclement weather it was a visual experience as the squid turned bright red with fear then turned the water black with their ink followed by hundreds of brown backs attacking from underneath!!

The action continued Monday and Tuesday as the bass and squid put on repeat performances on the west end. Several more fish were landed up to 36" and two 40+inch cows by Capt. Shawn’s group on Wednesday morning.

Fly rods were producing well those days on you guessed it -- squid patterns. However, as the sun got higher each day it proved to be a bit more difficult and swimming plugs kept the lines tight!

As far as bluefishing goes, it seems as if we are already in summer mode as the late afternoons trips have been hauling in large blues to 10+ lbs. and in great numbers.

We are having some grey skies, fog and rain today on the island but it has not seemed to affect the fishing this time around. The bite here is HOT! right now and should only get better for the next several weeks! Capt.Bill

Capt Lynne Heyer of Cross Rip Outfitters (508.228.4900) reports:

The weather has improved immensely and so has my spirits. Fishing has also picked up. Its amazing what the weather will do to the mind and soul.

Paul Flanagan just came in this morning and said he had great luck with Stripers on Eel Point over the weekend. Congrats to Paul. Capt Jeff had some good luck fishing this weekend. The Stripers in spots were finicky but he found some magic flies to get the job done. Capt Shawn and Capt Bill have also been successful this weekend. The Bigger boats have been fishing the rips off the West End of the Island and finding decent numbers of Bass and Blues. I had my first trip this weekend also. I guess I was not in the right spot at the right time cause we unfortunately didn't get but a nibble. Sometimes that's the way it goes. Get out an enjoy the fishing and the nice weather.

Chatham, Monomoy and the Outer Beaches

Randy Jones of Yankee Angler reports:

Flats - 6/17/07 Wade/Fly/Spin S.E. Cape Cod -- Week in review:
The fishing over this past week has been ok to incredible. Those faster tides certainly helped. We fished from the inside - outside from P-town, Turo all the way down and around the Cape to the Harwich - Barnstable area. Every place had fish, it was just a matter of how many.

Sometimes it was a fish on almost every cast and at others we had to work for them. Even in the few areas we had to work for them we still always had a presence of fish. A presence of fish to me means we have opportunity. A presence of fish means we either see them on the light colored sand flats, birds working with the occasional splash or swirl of a fish, seeing others hooked up, seeing a few keepers on another's stringer, seeing a fish follow our fly. etc...

Flats are LOADED with big, dumb, fresh, sea lice covered, Bass. Standing 100 feet in the wrong spot can mean water void of fish. Have seen it a million times unfortunately for the new flats angler. Some good quality July and August dates still open for the flats if you want to give it a shot, both fly and spin. My specialty! :) We easily got out of all of that N.E. wind this past week. I have lots of places to fish where that wind is blocked or we cast with it or across it. Simple :) Same with a S.W., Etc.... We never ever let Mother Nature intimidate us or tell us when, where we can or can not fish. We simply adjust (within reason of course :)

Fly - We picked them up on big white Deceivers to thin sparse white and olive sand lance imitations. Spin - Sluggo's, Fin-s, Storm, White Rubber Tube Squid for the surface and a few different hard body plastic surface and subsurface divers - swimmers - lures. All produced :) Blues - Bass

MkDeceiver posted this from last weekend:

The wind rolled early so we got a chance to fish the incoming Saturday morning with a SW wind. Large fish were rolling up on the flats in packs of 1, 2, 3 and even a few pods of 8. The fish were all over sand eels which ranged from 1 to 3 inches. It was a beautiful site to see those fish making bee lines through bait balls with their mouths wide open in 2 feet of water. Of course, this made for selective fish as the fish were so keyed in on the bait. Crabs were the ticket (as always) to getting these fish to eat artificials and most fish were 28-34 inches. I saw some 4 footers and also broke off a high thirty fish when I failed to clear line when he made his run. Sunday was a tougher day. That fog and annoying peek-a-boo sun in the morning made it difficult to see fish. There were some 7lb blues on the flats that were fun but that inevitably lead to frustration in the form of lost flies and a frayed leader that failed on a BIG BASS. Later in the day we went in hiding from the wind as the HIGH tide flooded the estuarine waters and were able to locate some nice mid 20's fish grubbing in the grass. All in all it was a nice weekend, there really isn't much that can compare to flats fishing on SW wind in June for Stripers in this area...

North Side

Terry Nugent of RipTide Charters reports:

The day was getting better and better and soon the wind died off, the tide turned and the fish came up to the surface and cruised by the boat in HUGE numbers. Since we could see the fish we were able to target the bass more effectively and the ratio of blues to bass dropped to about 3 to 1.

Brian is a flycaster and once the wind got below 15 kts he decided to throw the fly exclusively. Doug continued to hammer the fish with the spinning gear. Both guys had taken fish to 38" and it was a race to see who would reach my days goal of 40". I told them in the morning that was my goal and we needed to reach it.

Despite Doug catching more and larger fish with the spinning gear, Brian held firm to the flyrod. He tossed Leon's Special Riptide Pattern 100' at a time and the fish followed it in only to turn away right at the boat. Undetered he fished on. Then it happened! He dredged the fly a bit deeper than before and the 9wt doubled over. Brian worked an obviously big fish around the boat and around lobster pots. We couldn't see the fish, but the Tibor's drag let us know it was a solid fish. Finally I got my shot and I reached down and lipped Brian's biggest bass ever!!!! The fish was 40" long and 23.3# on my digital scale. Not only did Brian get the big fish of the day he got his biggest flyrod bass and his personal best bass ever to boot.

After several more fish we decided to head for the ramp. Thats when Capt Jeff Smith called and said he was tight with tuna number 2 nearby. We rushed over and got several shots at the tuna before they took off. We did not get tight, but we got to see Capt Jeff's sports land a nice tuna around 60#. Congrats to Capt Jeff and crew, and thanks for the call.

Final tally a bunch of nice bass from 34-40" and a TON of blues from 10-15#. The lures of choice, Yellow Salty's Needles and GOld Yo Zuri's. The fly of choice, Leon's Special Riptide patern. We fished water from 60-90' deep and it was in the mid 60's.

Capt. Terry Nugent
Riptide Charters
www.riptidecharters.com

Bob Clancy posted about the Cape Cod Bay flats:

I fished last Sat. from about 9:30-4:30. The 1st couple of hours were awesome in terms of opportunities, but not in terms of catching. There were a lot of sightfishing opportunities, with the usual wariness of the bass I encounter there. However, I've never seen so many big fish in one day. Most of them ignored, or worse yet, were horrified by my offerings. I did turn a couple, and on one very nice cast, I had one huge cow turn on the fly, get right on top of it, tip up, then swim off. When I checked the fly, I found that the tail flatwing feathers on my sand eel imitation had fouled. What bad luck. That fly never fouls on me, and that was the only cast of the day when it happened. In the afternoon, I stupidly hung out on flats that were too deep. I continued to see some large fish, but I wasn't seeing them early enough to get the fly down deep in front of them before they got too close to the boat. Final tally was 1 medium bass and a bunch of rejections w/ 1 big adrenaline rush from the huge cow. Undoubtedly, better tied flies or different flies or better eyesight or better technique would have produced better. I also should have started earlier. However, it was a great day on the water w/ quality sightfishing opportunities and very little boat traffic. Bob

Curt Jessup of Cape Cod Outfitters reports:

North side continues with bountiful fishing. So good in fact, I have seen several Boston based guides flogging the waters. Sand eels prevail and if you play the right tides you will be aptly rewarded. Take your pick of big solo fish cruising the flats or chase birds and fish banging the surface and cast away. If you want to catch your first striper on the fly or target thick backed bruisers, now is the time. Don't forget intermediate line for super skinny water and fast sinking with short leader for fast moving tidal flats and holes. Fish will hit mushmouths and other olive colored sandeel imitations. Keep flies sparse in clear skinny water and remember to vary your strip for life-like presentation. Lead big solo fish on clear flats once you have determined the direction they are moving. The biggest problem people make is to strip way too fast. Let the fish see the fly and take a jab at it. Get out there and have some fun.

My Best,

Capt. Curt Jessup
capecodoutfitters.com
508-400-5627

 

 

 

Todd Bernstein reports:

I caught these two fish during that horrible NE blow last week. We have been consistent through this point.