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Cape Cod - Same Ocean different planet

Cape Cod 2007

A Years a long time to wait to get back to the Cape. Once again we made the pilgrimage to Massachusetts to worship the Striped Bass, the Bluefish and of course the Clam Chowder. Colin and I had 17 Days of hard fishing ahead of us and were eager to get started.

Rhode Island
The first plan was to head south from Boston towards Rhode Island and visits a few special spots where the Stripers can be found feeding on Cinder Worms, this coincides with the new moon when Thousands of these strange creatures will hatch and spiral their way around helplessly. The Bass instinctively head to these locations in search of an easy meal. Saltwater fly fisherman also head toward these locations for obvious reasons. I had been led to believe that these worm hatches are equivalent of Duffers days when the fish drop their guard and will throw themselves at anything that came close to looking like a worm. Well it appears I was misled, we experienced that evening what many Trout fisherman must have to deal with from time to time where the fish are locked into a supply of food that you cant quite seem to match correctly , we were surrounded by fish boiling and sucking in worms from the surface. We managed to catch a few fish but on the whole the fishing was quite tough that night.

The following morning we fished a rather nice Channel that provided us with the first ’’Keeper’’ sized fish of the trip (That’s a fish over 28 ‘’ Long) we made the decision to head to the Cape that afternoon.

Fishing the Cinder worm Hatch under a New Moon

Onto The Cape
It was Thursday PM and we were the advance scouts and we had arranged to pick up four eager saltwatefly fishermen on Saturday Morning. The Friday morning we fished one of the better known marks on the Cape that had provided us with consistent sport last year and completely blanked. This was followed by an unmemorable PM session with a handful of small fish. On the Friday night we sat down together over a beer and wondered where the fish had gone! We agreed to split up the Following Dawn to cover as much water as possible. The Guys were now boarding the plane at Heathrow and we were yet to really get into the kind of fishing the Cape has to offer. I managed 7 fish to 28 ‘’ and Colin had 40 fish at a different location the Sun was shining and we had found some decent fishing at two different locations so were a little more relaxed. Four excited fishermen were picked up from Boston and taken to ‘’ The Lodge’’ to get rigged up and go fishing. We had a handful of fish on the first session; everyone had their first Striper with the exception of Dan. We had arranged to fish the Flats with our first shore guide Gary the next morning. We split into two groups of three. I fished with Dan and Philip and the Guide while Colin Chris and Alan went elsewhere.
We located a large number of fish on the flats and we were soon catching plenty that is with the exception of one of us! Dan was now starting to panic; he had blanked the night before , we now must have had 15 fish landed and not a sausage for him. He did not look too happy. I knew his duck would break sometime soon and his confidence along with his spirits would lift. I was soon right and check out the relieved smile on his face.

I think that everyone that joined us evolved and developed as fly fishermen that week and none more so than Dan. By the end of the week he was a Hardcore Specimen hunting Striper fisherman.
The following couple of days we fished various locations on the Cape and the fishing was good despite the very changeable weather.

My Story - Operation Desert Storm and the 40 ‘’
One highlight of the trip was the night fishing sessions I had arranged with our other Guide. Tony has been fishing for Striped Bass all of his life , Originally as a commercial rod and line fisherman and now as a recreational fishing guide specialising in the Wilder Ocean side of the Cape rather than the sheltered backwaters so often inhabited by fly fisherman. Tony was the holder of the Striped Bass world record with a Surf caught 73 lb Bass that took a Deceiver tied on as a dropper on his spinning outfit on November 3 rd 1981 . I had spoken to Tony several times on the phone prior to the trip and just had this gut feeling that something was going to come from meeting this man. The moment I shook his hand I knew that that night would be memorable, even had we blanked. Tony lives for the Surf Beaches and the Huge Bass that migrate into his world; he has a special attachment with these places and a burning passion that after many years and thousands of large Bass has not diminished.

Tony With a Cast Of ''Bertha ''

We all hoped into Tony’s faithful Chevy 4 Wd. This was as much a tackle box as a means of transport. The foot wells at the front were filled with plugs and flies and all manner of odds and ends. We were soon off road and heading out across the dunes into the rain with a heavy stormy sea alongside us for a view. The Surf spinning Rods and expensive Vaan Staal reels were all in the rack on the Bullbars ready for action.

We stopped at a little favourite spot of Tony’s and spread out and began to spin into surf. It was not long before I began to recognise the knocks as Stripers were bumping the large diving plug. Soon after the knock followed by a take resulted in a large surface explosion as my first of Seven that night made a mistake. This fish was 33 ‘’ and a fine start and proof that the larger fish are often patrolling the surf. Tony’s eyes lit up with excitement to see me land this fish, how lucky is this man to still be so excited after so many years.

A nice 33 '' Start to the session

Over the next couple of hours I had other smaller fish to 28 ‘’. As the tide progressed and dusk turned to night the action stopped. We hopped back in the truck and headed off to a special place with a great name, for some reason I can’t remember at this moment ! After a couple of knocks I hooked a fish in the darkness . Tony called out to me ‘’Any Size ?’’ My answer was ‘’ No , maybe six pounds’’ That confident was I of my highly tuned ability to weigh a fish without seeing or landing it. Then as I beached this tiddler it woke up or realised that something was wrong and the true fight began. I don’t know how long it took to land the fish . I remember laughing out loud every time the clutch screamed, it felt like a long fight. Eventually I managed to run the fish up the beach on the back of a wave. I turned on the head torch in the blackness and was overwhelmed to see a Cow of Bass glowing Silver below on the sand. In the excitement I managed to get into the worst tangle you could imagine with a windy night and braided line , we had to cut the lines to free my body from the mess and re rig later as the line was everywhere ! That was the last fish that night. She kicked and splashed my face as I returned her back into the darkness . It had been my night for sure , you get those times when you get it right you feel that something special will happen and it does.

Thanks Tony See you next year. They were right about you , you are ’’ A Legend’’ .

Holy Cow

Week 1 Pics

Dan and Phil ( Email me some pics please Phil thats a tiddler)

Nice Fat Keeper for Dan

As you can see the weather had really turned on us during the early stages of week one, we were still catching fish but our choice of location was sometimes driven by the wind direction rather than the best fishing spot. The wind had been blowing Strong South Westerly for a few days and Bait had been blown into the South Facing Beaches. As soon as the wind eased of to a manageable strength we returned to those areas.

A great Evening session
We had decided to return and fish the channel. The mark had not been that productive earlier in the week but these Southerlies would change that . We had a great session that evening with Shoaling Bunker being blitzed in front of us. Large Bluefish were present along with plenty of Keeper sized Bass. You could see the way that the year class Bass stay together. One Shoal would enter the arena at 24 ‘’ - 26 ‘’ another at 28 ‘’ - 30 ‘’. I suffered endless Bite offs from Blues that week while the other guys were landing them. It’s odd the way things work out, a week later the roles would be reversed. The sun was setting and we had great fishing. It was too good to stand around with a camera but I did get this great Picture of Dan playing and landing a nice Striper.

We returned the following morning as a full group. All six of us in a row fishing the Rip. The fishing was good but not to the same standard as the night before. Chris had a nice Bass and a couple of huge Blues chomped their way into and out of his life. I remember Chris’s hands shaking as he held this fish for the camera.

Worth the flight Chris?

Week 2

All too soon for Dan Chris and Philip it was time to depart. Alan stayed for a second week and Kevin Joined us. As we dropped the guys off at the Airport and picked up Kevin the weather changed . The wind shifted to North West closely followed by North easterly. During week 2 we found several new locations to fish. Our choices were governed by the wind Direction and as with week 1 Fishing during ebbing Tides were proving to be the most successful . We fished literally from the Top of the Cape around Provincetown down to the far South West of the Cape. The names of the spots elude me! The number of fish for week two would be less than we had on week one subsequently the number of Keeper sized fish dropped down. When you fish for Stripers you are chasing Keepers, you become a specimen hunter pretty quickly. The Bluefish were far more prevalent than last year. We witnessed nightly blitzes at one of the locations. These fish fight like demons. Unfortunately they also bite off flies like demons. Having tied enough for the next decade I was shocked to be tying more of the Go to pattern two days prior to my return home. We fished wire at times but this did seem to spook the Bass so flies were sacrificed to the Piranhas. Alan won the prize for catching the most unusual fish of the trip. In the final hour of the holiday He managed to catch two Flounder in almost as many casts on size 3/0 H 20 Slinky Fibre Baitfish pattern ! The proper name for this particular breed of fish is Fluke. A rather menacing toothy version of our Flounder. An ironic name for a fish in those circumstances. I had a couple of Hickory Shad during the trip. These are very attractive and beautifully coloured creatures.

Pics From week 2

Alans Fluked Fluke

Always time for one more

Kevin Plays the last Bass of the 2007 Trip

A Nice 33 Inch Bass on the fly

Hickory Shad

Accommodation

We were all very pleased with the accommodation it certainly met our needs and provided a perfect base for the group . The high Ceiling in the Living room provided us with a great feeling of space. The Drying area was really useful and the Showers were nice and Powerful. And the free Clams were divine. Thanks Guys !

See you next year

Austen

Base Camp

The Fly Tying Room

Tackle and flies

9 # Single Hander 350 Grain Lines - Intermediate Lines
Double Hander 500 - 600 Grain Lines
Tapered leaders 15 - 20 Lb Fluro Carbon Tippet

DNA Sparse Clouser or Bucktail Clouser 2 # Olive And White
Deep Eel 1/0 # Olive and White or Tan and White or Black
Decievers 2 - 2/0 Charteruse and White or All Black
Big Bunker Flies 4/0 + Olive White- Grey and White

You could take a load more gear but that’s what you will need 95 % of the time

A sandeels step ladder to heaven

The trip is booked for June 2008 want to join in ?

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