riptide
06-27-2000, 08:10 PM
Ran out of Barnstable Harbor yesterday @ 0630 with two parties on board. We were expecting the high winds that weather service had been forecasting. Both guys wanted to FF so we hit some of the hot spots around Barnstable and managed a dozen or so fish in the first hour. The wind wasn’t that bad early so I broke out my Wellfleet Flats Pass and ran across the bay to Billingsgate. When we got there boat traffic was light and the wind dropped off even more. We saw large schools of 20”-30” fish working the ultra shallow water. They are getting a little more particular than they have been in the past weeks. What I did notice was allot of the fish were turning on their sides to feed right on the bottom. It made sighting them a breeze. The silver/white flash stands out big time on the sand bottom. We caught another 25-30 on flies until around noon. Then when the tide was near dead low we tried some wading. The guy’s got allot of “firsts” on this trip, first striper and bluefish both on flies and first saltwater fish wading. With the temps near 90, the wading was a welcome relief. Then around 1300 hrs the temp dropped about 10 degrees in seconds and the wind began to crank up. We decided to head back over to Barnstable and hit some spots on the way. We ran into breaking fish off of Sesuit Harbor and worked them for almost an hour. Mostly bass in the mid 20”s. We got back to Barnstable around 1500 and the water was choppy w/ small whitecaps. The fish however didn’t seem to mind the wind. They were breaking here and there all around the flats. We got in out of the wind and began a steady pick of bas to 32”. I noticed a large black area on the bottom of the flat about 100 yards from where we were. I figured it was a weed patch or maybe even a large bait pod. It was about 100’ by 200’ and not moving much. I moved over to the “spot” and to my amazement it was a TON of bas packed tight together near the bottom. The bottom looked like it was painted black that’s how thick these fish were. They didn’t spook the just sat in the current and picked bait. We used the electric to move 40’ up current of the huge pod and began to hit fish every cast for over 3 hours. I kept the guys on the water until nearly 1900 hrs. By then everyone was completely exhausted. The fish were all 25”-30” and blonde and can be. The situation couldn’t have been better. The tide and wind worked against each other and held us almost still. I just had to use the electric to keep us angled towards the fish. They ware hitting most lures well, but a secret sand eel imitation I’ve discovered had them brawling over the lure. The guy’s on board said they have never seen anything like this in Oregon. They will be going back with a ton of stories and a bunch of great pictures.
Capt. Terry Nugent<BR>Riptide Charters<BR>www.riptidecharters.com
Capt. Terry Nugent<BR>Riptide Charters<BR>www.riptidecharters.com