Hi. I am a long-time lurker, from the very beginning really. In fact, I tried to finagle my schedule to get up to the first conclave and was unable to talk my boss and my wife into why I needed to get up to the Cape just four weeks after I was up there for two weeks. Good thing I'm not in sales.
I'm 39 years old and live in the Washington, DC area. Besides my real job, I'm also a fly fishing guide on several of the mid-Atlantic rivers (Potomac, Shenandoah, Susky) and we run tricked up 15' whitewater rafts that are configured for flyfishing. In addition, I get out on the Chesapeake as much as I can where we throw for stripers.
Every August my wife and I pile our two children in the car and head for the Cape. We usually stay in Orleans and I love fishing Nauslet Inlet. In 1995, I lost a fly rod striper that was estimated to be 45" by several other guides that I was fishing with that evening. I got her to the surf, where she rolled and promptly sliced the tipppet. I lunged for her, had my arms around her, yet she slithered right through them and disappeared. Truth be told, I had never seen a striper that big and her power simply overhwhelmed me. In 1996, again on an August night, I had a 40+" fish that I lost. I was simply sick. To this day, I dream about that fish. In 1997, my luck changed. I had one dusk where I was fishing with my daughter in our dory in protected water. The winds softened to a whisper, and stripers started coming up and leaving rings akin to brown trout....that night, my daughter and I landed an incredible six fish over 38". We rowed back in the dark and quiet trying to digest
what had just happened. The dory's bow dug into the soft sand, I walked the anchor out and dug it into the sand, and then helped my daughter out of the boat and placed her on shore. This six year old little girl gave me a huge hug and said, "Dad, this was the best day of my life." I hugged her back and said, "me too." And this is why I go to the Cape every August. In search of the "best day of my life."
In case anybody has an extra seat for an out of town angler, I'll be up on the Cape from 8-22 August. I have lots of flies and would love to learn a few new spots and would be more than happy to share with you mine.
Tight Lines,
Mark Frondorf