Tuna
07-14-2003, 05:54 AM
Visited DLC with friend Bob and got a chance to fish on Dave's new (to him) 25 foot Carolina Classic.
Friday morning, in fog and mist, we headed out of Falmouth towards Middleground. With rock and roll cranked up on the sound system and morning's early light clouded in fog, there was a sense of a fishing twist on a scene from Apocolpse Now.
Got to Middleground early and thought my foolish claims I would outfish my buddies might come through as I got the first hookup but lost it to the Orvis knot at the end of my new wonderline. However, after that, Dave and Bob out produced me what seemed like 3 to 1 for the next few hours. Bob landed the first bass, a nice 34 or 35 inch fish (to be our largest of the trip). Although we got more fish than last year (when we fished shoals around Monomoy), they were smaller, generally around 28 to 30 inches with a few on either side. I got 4 (I think) on sinking line and half and halfs while Dave and Bob lost count (I think about 20) on mystery bait.
When the water stopped moving on the shoal we looked elsewhere, but found no more bass that day, just some good fluking at another shoal.
Saturday morning it was out to Middleground again in even thicker fog along with my continuiing absurd claim I would outfish them on the fly. By this point, I was getting the hang of fishing from the bow and the structure of the shoal but I didn't take my first fish until after Dave and Bob got their first 10. Dave was in a zone that morning. As the tide slowed and the winds rose to a point where fishing the bow was not sane, I got my best fish of the trip, a nice 31 incher. Dave counted the morning at 18, 3 of which I got.
We tried some other shoals but the winds rose and positioning the boat on the rips became difficult so we called it a day.
As Bob and I only get a few chances to fish with Dave each year, the trips are as much about fishing as about non-stop exchange of fishing and other stories (Bob and Dave went to college together, and have more than a few adventures to relate). A typical scene would be us listening to NOAA and reminding each other the next report coming up was for our area, only to miss the report due to another story intervening. Dave is a deer bow hunter, and I always like to listen to these stories, trying to glean parallels to flats fishing (ever get buck fever and blow a cast to big cruising bass due to excitement? or spot a bass because you see a slight difference on a familiar area of the flat?).
Dave's boat is a beauty, and once he gets his mojo working offshore, he wants to take us out for tuna on our next visit. Sure hope I put him on some good albie pods at Montauk this fall in exchange for another weekend of great NE bass-ing and the promise of some future tuna searches.
Thanks again Dave - I still can't figure out how you guys out fished me - something about that mystery bait, maybe.
Friday morning, in fog and mist, we headed out of Falmouth towards Middleground. With rock and roll cranked up on the sound system and morning's early light clouded in fog, there was a sense of a fishing twist on a scene from Apocolpse Now.
Got to Middleground early and thought my foolish claims I would outfish my buddies might come through as I got the first hookup but lost it to the Orvis knot at the end of my new wonderline. However, after that, Dave and Bob out produced me what seemed like 3 to 1 for the next few hours. Bob landed the first bass, a nice 34 or 35 inch fish (to be our largest of the trip). Although we got more fish than last year (when we fished shoals around Monomoy), they were smaller, generally around 28 to 30 inches with a few on either side. I got 4 (I think) on sinking line and half and halfs while Dave and Bob lost count (I think about 20) on mystery bait.
When the water stopped moving on the shoal we looked elsewhere, but found no more bass that day, just some good fluking at another shoal.
Saturday morning it was out to Middleground again in even thicker fog along with my continuiing absurd claim I would outfish them on the fly. By this point, I was getting the hang of fishing from the bow and the structure of the shoal but I didn't take my first fish until after Dave and Bob got their first 10. Dave was in a zone that morning. As the tide slowed and the winds rose to a point where fishing the bow was not sane, I got my best fish of the trip, a nice 31 incher. Dave counted the morning at 18, 3 of which I got.
We tried some other shoals but the winds rose and positioning the boat on the rips became difficult so we called it a day.
As Bob and I only get a few chances to fish with Dave each year, the trips are as much about fishing as about non-stop exchange of fishing and other stories (Bob and Dave went to college together, and have more than a few adventures to relate). A typical scene would be us listening to NOAA and reminding each other the next report coming up was for our area, only to miss the report due to another story intervening. Dave is a deer bow hunter, and I always like to listen to these stories, trying to glean parallels to flats fishing (ever get buck fever and blow a cast to big cruising bass due to excitement? or spot a bass because you see a slight difference on a familiar area of the flat?).
Dave's boat is a beauty, and once he gets his mojo working offshore, he wants to take us out for tuna on our next visit. Sure hope I put him on some good albie pods at Montauk this fall in exchange for another weekend of great NE bass-ing and the promise of some future tuna searches.
Thanks again Dave - I still can't figure out how you guys out fished me - something about that mystery bait, maybe.