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APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER NOT MUCH HAPPENING ON THE OCEAN FRONT BUT FRESHWATER FISHING FOR TROUT AND BASS WAS GREAT. MA. DOES NOT HAVE A CLOSED SEASON FOR FRESHWATER FISHING AND HEAVILY STOCKS THE PONDS AND LAKES WITH TROUT AND SALMON (SOME PONDS). ALSO BASS FISHING IS GREAT THIS TIME OF YEAR-BOTH SMALLMOUTH AND LARGEMOUTHS). I LOVE TO FISH FROM PERSONAL WATERCRAFTS LIKE KAYAKS, WATER OTTERS, AND FLOAT TUBES. ON APRIL 19TH I HAD A GRAND SLAM-SMALLMOUTH, LARGEMOUTH, BROWN TROUT AND RAINBOW. MUCH FUN!!!! THERE IS A FRESHWATER POND FOR EVERYDAY OF THE YEAR ON THE CAPE. IN CT. WHERE MY LINKS WITH "THE SELECTIVE ANGLER" (FRED JEANS) AND THE HOUSATONIC ANGLER (ROB NICHOLAS), TROUT FISHING WAS FANTASTIC THIS MONTH AND WELL INTO MAY AND JUNE ON BOTH THE FARMINGTON RIVER AND THE HOUSATONIC AS WELL AS PRIVATE PONDS AND VARIOUS OTHER RIVER SYSTEMS. FLOATING THESE BODIES WITH DRIFTBOATS HAS BECOMED POPULAR AS ONE CAN COVER MORE WATER THAN BY FOOT. BOTH OF THESE GUIDES ARE TOP NOTCH AND EXPERT CASTING INSTRUCTORS. THEY ARE GUARANTEED TO TEACH YOU ALL YOU NEEED TO KNOW ABOUT FLYCASTING AND FISHING THESE WATERS. JOLLY ROGER ALSO GUIDES IN CT. ALTHOUGH HEADS UP TO THE CAPE FOR THE BEGINNING OF STRIPED BASS SEASON, WHICH GENERALLY STARTS IN, MAY.
I WAS FORTUNATE THIS YEAR TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FISH MYSELF MOST OF THIS MONTH AS A RESEARCH- TYPE PROJECT STUDYING THE "WORM HATCHES" THAT ARE PREVALENT ON MANY OF THE CAPE TIDAL PONDS. DURING THIS MONTH AND INTO JUNE. I WAS ALSO INSPIRED BY JUNE’S ARTICLES IN "ON THE WATER" MAGAZINE BY BOB SAMPSON REGARDING USING SPINNING GEAR AND "SLUGGOS" AND WORM BAITS TO CATCH STRIPERS THAT TURN ON TO THESE WORMS. IT IS MY CONTENTION THAT MANY OF THESE STRIPERS THAT MIGRATE FROM THE HUDSON RIVER SYSTEM AND CHESEPEAKE BAY FIRST MAKE RESIDENCE IN MANY OF THESE WARMER TIDAL PONDS AND GOURGE THEMSELVES WITH THESE SPAWNING WORMS PRIOR TO VENTURING BACK OUT INTO BIGGER WATERS WHERE THE HERRING RUNS OFFER BIGGER MEALS.
MANY OF MY ASSOCIATES ON THE CAPE FEEL DIFFERENTLY AND THINK THAT ONLY SMALLER SCHOOLIES RESIDE IN THESE PONDS. I WAS ABLE TO HOOK AND LAND 3 KEEPERS OF 30", 32" AND 36" ON FLIES DURING THIS MONTH. I ALSO HAVE LEARNED TO BRING THE CAMERA WITH YARD STICK AND BOCA GRIPS TO RECORD ALL MY CATCHES. ONE OF THE BELIEFS THAT I WAS RESEARCHING IS HOW THE MOON PHASES AFFECT THE WORM HATCH. BELOW IS MY JOURNAL FOR 3 WEEKS IN MAY. UNFORTUNATELY, MY STUDY WAS SHORTENED BY A FAMILY EMERGENCY IN WHICH I NEEDED TO GO TO FLORIDA AS MY DAD HAD SURGERY FOR COLON CANCER. HE IS WELL AT THIS WRITING. MAY 2. OUT WITH KAYAK PADDLING AND TROLLING A WHITE "JOLLY JIG" I CAUGHT MY FIRST STRIPERS OF THE SEASON. 3 FISH UP TO 26" IN ONE OF MY "SECRET" PONDS. ALL WHO KNOW ME AND WHERE I LIVE ON THE CAPE KNOW THAT THIS IS "NO SECRET" AS IS THE CASE WITH MOST FISHING SPOTS ON THE CAPE. MAY 3 . INCOMING TIDE, LIGHT SW BREEZE, WATER TEMP APPROACHING 60 DEGREES. FIRST DAY OF WORM HATCH.CAUGHT 12 FISH, SOME ON SOFT WORM BAITS AND OTHERS ON WORM FLIES IN PINK, ROOT BEER AND RED. THERE WERE VERY FEW WORMS AND THEY WERE SMALL ABOUT-(1-1 ½ "). FISH WERE GENERALLY NON SELECTIVE AND EASY TO CATCH IF THE WORM WAS PRESENTED NEXT TO A BOILING FISH. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS BOB SAMPSON PREFERS SPINNING GEAR BECAUSE YOU CAN QUICKLY GET YOUR PRESENTATION TO RISING STRIPERS VS. FLY FISHING AND FALSE CASTING. AN IMPORTANT NOTE IS THAT THE MOVEMENT OF SWIMMING AS RISING WORMS THAT SIMULATES THE SPAWNING WORM IS BEST IMITATED FROM A WATER CRAFT. MUCH LIKE THE "LEISERING LIFT" IN TROUT FISHING USING NYMPHS OR EMERGING PATTERNS, THESE IMITATIONS ARE BEST OFFERED BY ALLOWING THE WORM TO SINK AND THEN SLOWLY LIFTING IT IN FRONT OF THE FEEDING FISH. TAKES ARE OFTEN FAST AND FEROCIOUS. TODAY I LANDED A 32" FISH WITH A RED WORM FLY AFTER BEING TAKEN ON A NANTUCKET SLEIGH RIDE. THE FISH ALMOST FLIPPED THE KAYAK AS IT DOVE UNDER THE BOAT BEFORE CAPTURE. MAY 4. (NEW MOON) I PREPARED ALL DAY FOR THIS HATCH AND THE WORMS WERE PROLIFIC. HOWEVER, VERY FEW FISH WERE FEEDING???????? FISH BEGAN POPPING ON THE SURFACE AROUND 4 P.M. AND THEN THE TIDE SLACKENED AND BEGAN HER OUTGOING FLOW WHEN ALL OF THE SURFACE FEEDING STOPPED AROUND 7 PM. IT WAS RATHER WINDY AND COLDER. TODAY I CAUGHT THE BIG "0". MAY 5. SAME AS YESTERDAY. MANY WORMS, NO SURFACE ACTIVITY AND NO FISH CAUGHT EVEN ATTEMPTING TO GO BELOW THE SURFACE WITH BOTH JIGS AND SINKING FLIES AND LINES. MAY 6 NW BREEZE. FEW WORMS. WATER TEMP STILL AROUND 60. NO FISH AGAIN!!!!! MAY 7. BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE 70’S. SL. SW BREEZE. HIGH TIDE @ 12:30 IN W. FALMOUTH HARBOR. ASSESSING THE LAG TIME BACK TO PONDS AS CAN BE 2-3 HOUR DIFFERENCE. STILL, A FEW WORMS POPPING IN POND 1. NO FISH YET IN POND 2-OUTGOING TIDE EARLY EVENING. OBSERVED TODAY AND DIDN’T FISH. WATER TEMPS BOTH PONDS NEARING MID-60’S. MAY 8. MY JOURNAL FROM ’99 DESCRIBED A PROLIFIC HATCH IN POND 2. THIS IS ALSO WHERE AN ASSOCIATE AND FISHING BUDDY CURT JESSUP CAUGHT A 32’ STRIPER DURING THE WORM HATCH IN ’99. TO THE TEE, FEW WORMS, MANY FISH THAT WERE VERY COOPERATIVE. A BEAUTIFUL DAY @ 75-80. FISH BUSTING ALL OVER AT 5:30 P.M. WHEN I DROVE BY THE POND AND QUICKLY GRABBED THE KAYAK AND FLY GEAR. CAUGHT AND RELEASED 17 FISH ALL SCHOOLIES ABOUT 20-22’ OUTGOING TIDE. MOST FISH CAUGHT IN SHALLOWS WITH MUDDY BOTTOM IMPOSSIBLE TO WADE (ESPECIALLY BEING VERTICALLY CHALLENGED). FISHED 8 WT. WITH FLOATING LINE AND FISH PREFERRED A "LOU TABORY" FLOATING WORM PATTERN TODAY. WIND PICKED UP FROM N.E. AND THIS COUPLED WITH OUTGOING TIDE PRODUCED PERFECT DRAG-FREE FLOATING WORMS THAT THE STRIPERS LOVED. MAY 9 4 FISH TO WORM HATCH FROM 2ND POND. ONE FISH 28". FISH WERE LEADER- SHY TODAY WHICH NECESSITATED EXTENDING LEADER TO 12’ WITH 10# FLUOROCARBON. WATER TEMP 68,S.W.BREEZE.WORMS WERE MORE PINKISH AND SMALL. USED #2 SIZED HOOKS WITH PATTERNS TIED 1-1 1/2". NEIGHBOR AND BUILDER JOHN RODENHEIZER (JSR DESIGNS) CAME ALONG AND CAUGHT A COUPLE FISH WITH PINK JIG AND FLOAT SETUP. MAY 10 FISHED WITH FRIEND AND FELLOW GUIDE FROM THE SELECTIVE ANGLER (FRED JEANS) TODAY. USED WATER OTTERS AND KAYAKS TO GET AT FISH THAT WERE BUSTING FOR WORMS EVEN THOUGH THE WIND WAS GUSTING WITH INTERMITTENT RAIN. SOME BIG FISH CRUISING NORTHWEST END OF POND BUT ONLY MANAGED A COUPLE SMALL STRIPERS TODAY. May 11. Severe thunderstorms overnight with shutdown of hatching activity on both ponds. This was the first day since May 3 that that there were no worms hatching. Curt Jessup from THE SPORTING LIFE and brothers Rob and Jay caught a bunch of fish at Barnstable harbor that were busting up the surface near the outer flat before entering Cape Cod Bay. May 12/13. Weather lousy. Rainy,windy and cold around 40 degrees. Didn’t fish either day. May 14 (Mother’s Day). S.W. winds about 25 knots. Some herring entering pond #1. Reports of 6-7# blues @ Cotuit also starting to get some keeper stripers at herring run. Nothing happening until May 16.Worms @ pond 2. Scaled gear down to 6# fluorocarbon with small worms. Caught many fish largest 28". Got broken off following long hard run against drag of Orvis’ Vortex. Big fish over 30". Never did get to see fish Very few worms although stripers pretty easy to catch with single hand retrieve with pauses. Fish hit as worm dropped. Incoming tide,water temp.68, sunny day in the 60’s. May 17. Fished Barnstable Harbor with herring. Caught 8 fish up to 36". Got 1 fly rod fish of 32" using herring fly.
Fished night worm hatch as well. Tied some floating worms with freshwater hooks and deer hair died pink and red. Used #6 lb. Fluorocarbon tippet with monocore sly line. Dragged worms across surface catching numerous fish-nothing big. May 18. Full moon. 30 –35 mph winds from SW. No worms, no fish May 19. Fished W. Falmouth harbor/Wing’s Neck and Silver beach area.4 stripers and 2 blues (small). No worm hatch End of fishing for month of May as daughter Kate graduated and then I flew to Florida as my dad had emergency surgery for colon cancer.
Charter season began June 4 with Bill Frank, hospital administrator from Boston area. Caught a number of small stripers until right before dark. Bill landed a 29" fish just before last call. Fished with young Ryan MacNevin a medical student from Brown University who was treated to his first ever stripers coming from a local pond with incoming tide. Got 5 fish to 26" with black sluggos and black snake flies.
June 9, I assisted The Sporting Life owner Curt Jessup along with Capt. Bill Beardsley @ Barnstable Harbor. We hosted a group of investment bankers from the Boston area learning to fly cast and fish. It was a great day overall with great instructions, wonderful students, good eats and some cooperative fish. We won’t comment on who caught the biggest fish but SHE knows who she is. Eat your heart out boys!
June 10,11. Assisted Lou Tabory from Orvis along with Curt Jessup and staff of Sporting Life @ 2 day Orvis School. Met some wonderful people and all learned many things. I have been to many of Lou Tabory’s programs and I continue to learn many things from this author, superb casting instructor and all around wonderful person. He is a tribute to the sport. I fished a "secret spot" using Curt’s 6 wt. Orvis Trident and landed many schoolies mixed in with a 26" striper. Fun on that rod.
Chartered Frank Drinkwater and his buddy from Tampa Dr. Jim Nielsen (renowned eye surgeon and would be world record holder for Tarpon @188 lbs-released fish) Things started a little slow with outgoing tide as we managed a handful of fish to 24" with the "Jolly V" fly and deceivers and clousers. High density sinking lines were needed to get fly down to fish especially with speed of current at Barnstable. Both Jim and Frank have fished all over the world and were tickled to observe stripers moving onto the flats in large schools. I was even impressed by the number of fish swimming together and feeding actively. Some schools had 75- 100 fish in them or at least it seemed that way.
Jim wanted to get out of the boat and fish Bahamas’ style by sight casting to these "flats fish". He managed a number of fish until the water got too high and then we finished the day chasing these fish by boat. We did capture a few pictures of Jim hooking up, playing and landing a 26" fish as well as Frank hooking up to another fish by boat. I know by their enthusiasm that they were impressed with this fishery and by the number of fish as well as the few 30 plus pounders we saw swimming by us. Mr. Irving Weiztman, son and grandson came out to fish Buzzards Bay on a superb day weather-wise. As well, the blues and stripers were very cooperative. Fish were busting in a number of places and we were rewarded with many schoolies. Some bigger fish were landed near Woods Hole before the day ended. The strangest things happen when least expected, as was how my introduction to Jay Cashman occurred. I was having dinner at the Chappy Grill when this gentleman walked in wearing a three-piece suit and I in my fishing garb. We began talking and I soon learned that Jay and his Dad’s company hold many of the 40 contracts for the Big Dig. He was quite humble and asked me to take him out the next day, as he had never landed a striper before. I agreed to go and take he and his daughter from their boat. Within the first few casts both Jay and his daughter hooked, landed and released stripers and blues using spinning gear and plugs. Thanks goodness for the Yozuri Mag Bomber. It has become my go-to plug, as has the "diver"
Jeff Ladd, The St. Bernard’s Boy, (we played baseball against each other many, many moons ago) fished the long wand hooking up and landing a number of stripers and blues. We did lose a very good bass that sounded after showing herself and breaking off despite a very good effort by Jeff to hang on. All in all it was an excellent charter as Jeff writes in a letter to me that he has "broken the ice and is now hooking up fish regularly" since our day together. That is the stuff I love to hear. "Teach a man to fish" and you know the rest.
Mark C., son and father-in–law wanted to teach their 6 year old how to catch a big fish or at least compared to the bluegills and farm pond fish he had previously caught. We were soon into fish with poppers, diving plugs and swimming "Jolly Jigs". Picture includes grandpa and grandson and schoolie. The tears are for the insistence to "get that fish back in the water to his mother right now"!!! Many evenings were spent fishing from shore at various locations to find fish as well as to explore new areas. I was surrounded by local fisherman and expert casters like Gene Bourque from On The Water magazine, Jim Lowe (fishing enthusiast) as well as escorting people who" just want to learn the how to’s of fly casting". One of these future fly fishers’ is "Candy", a local real estate person who is brand new to fly fishing. We recently met and discovered we share the same enthusiasm for kayaking, fishing and the outdoors. Candy is beginning to get "The Cast" down well enough to hook a fish although none have been cooperative to date. I have officially named one of my flies "The Candy Striper" in her honor. Check the flies/lures selection on the website.
June was a super month for both blues and stripers. Many fish and some decent sized stripers were taken by both charters as well as on my own fishing. What else does a guide do on his day off? The first weekend in July, I again helped Curt Jessup at his 3rd year anniversary of The Sporting Life along with Lou Tabory who was on hand giving free casting lessons to any and all interested parties. I was most impressed with how many people showed and especially the number of women wanting to learn to fly fish. Kudos goes out to Kim who is an avid fisherperson even following a devastating injury that has left her wheelchair bound. This however doesn’t stop her from going out on her 4-wheeler or her small boat fishing many of the freshwater ponds and hooking up on record size largemouths. She also proved that she can throw out some fly line. I fished again with Mr. Cashman and party of three, slinging plugs and eels around the Buzzards Bay side of the Elizabeth's’. Although time was short we managed some blues and a couple stripers before the waves kicked up pretty good.
Sam Goodwin never hooked up a saltwater fish before although he has been trout fishing for a few years now. He attended the Orvis School and was casting good enough to catch some fish. The fans were churning pretty good on the Bay so his 40’ casts were shortened by the wind and the movement of the current made the connection to fly and fly rod difficult. We practiced the 2-hand strip, mending line as well as not allowing any slack line between the fly and the fisherman. Sam worked hard on this and hooked and landed a number of "harbor blues". The stripers were more difficult although Sam did have a good fish on late in the day as I observed the fish from my poling platform stalk and swallow Sam’s offering. It was a nice striper although the fight was short-lived and won this time by Mr. Striper. Sam is planning on coming back in September to try again. Watch out Mr. Striper.
Roger Fereii and guest "Cat" wanted to fish Barnstable Harbor. Roger is a self- taught fly caster and Cat had only fished a few times from her home in Louisiana. Both are graduate students at UCLA in Microbiology and were quite delightful to be around. Roger was soon into fish using a sinking line and sand eel patterns. Cat too landed a number of stripers on the deadly Yozuri Diver as my camera captured their enthusiasm. I must admit that I have a favorite little guy who has made this season most enjoyable for me. Five-year-old Oliver has been fishing half his life as grandpa Gill Wade (a.k.a. "ABOO" an indian word meaning grandfather) informs me. But charter boat captains need to teach and show their stuff so I proceeded to cast out the spinning line and plug a handful of times before hooking up and handing the rod to young Oliver. Unfortunately, the fish came off and I started to instruct the boy in how to play a fish. No sooner did I start my lessons than Oliver threw the plug out, hooked, played, landed and released a 26", 7-pound striper. Grandpa captured the fish on film but was reluctant to give it to me because he assures me that Oliver has a bigger one with his name on it. However, this fish was well over half the size of this little guy who as Aboo says is 45" tall. We caught a few more fish before the winds picked up and we decided to go inside the harbor and finish out the day. Oliver landed the twin sister of the pictured striper before putting the rod down for the golf clubs that he would be swinging later that day.
Randy Cavanese, M. D., a Veterinarian from the Boston area practices Holistic Medicine on dogs and cats. This was most interesting to me as my PhD. studies are in Alternative Therapies and Holistic Medicine. We certainly had much to talk about. He brought his brother in from D.C. to fish along with father-in-law who also attended a recent Orvis fly fishing school. Barnstable Harbor started out quite breezy as the east winds began the day off with the motto-"winds from the east, fishing is least. Winds from the West, fishing is best". Thank goodness the direction changed as the tide turned incoming. We managed about a dozen fish between the group. Fred Boyer, a sculpture from Montana has hunted and fished all over the world. This is how he gets his material for wildlife sculpturing. He had never caught a striper. A very proficient fly caster, Fred worked hard without taking a single break even for coffee, as he wanted to get some new material. He caught a bunch of schoolies and blues although we didn’t get that keeper which he would have enjoyed duplicating. We traveled all around Tarpaulin and French’s Watering Hole, up and down Buzzards Bay getting the most out of a half-day trip which was extended slightly due to Fred’s enthusiasm. I haven’t heard but I hope he didn’t miss his plane from Logan at three o’clock. We got off the water by noon. Certainly he had more than ample time to make the trip to Boston-on a good day. Oh well, us fishermen would rather miss a flight than to cut a fishing trip short. Right Fred? That afternoon, Chris Lauer and his friend Melissa wanted to spend half of a day learning to fly cast and to wade and fish some quiet waters by shore. I learned that they are both in Chiropractic school in Iowa and have a passion for hiking and the great outdoors. Again, we all had much to talk about since my background as a physical therapist constantly crosses paths with chiropractors. Chris casts well and with a few modifications was throwing 60 plus feet of line out even into a 20-25 mph wind. Melissa quickly picked up the casting stroke and learned the intricacies of knots, leaders, fly selection and wading very quickly. Although no fish were taken mainly because there weren’t any fish in the harbor, we all had a wonderful time as well as a reciprocal learning experience. Through mid-July that is all there is except for the fishing report from Ct. liaison and fellow guide Fred Jeans of THE SELECTIVE ANGLER. Fred writes that the freshwater scene had his clients hooking and releasing 2-17" rainbows and a small brown trout while on the saltwater stripers to 28" on Chart/White Clousers and black deceivers did the trick. An added bonus was a 4-pound weakfish. Fred says that the fish were hanging on the sand flat alongside a tidal creek and took a dragging fly on the outgoing flow. Flies needed to be retrieved slowly. Fished with Carlton S. and high school buddy Jeremy from Minnesota @ Barnstable Harbor. Both Carlton and Jeremy handled the long wand very well as was evidenced by the number of fish caught and released on sand eel patterns, clousers and deceivers.
Carlton also had a grand slam landing a fluke, a spider crab and a sea robin as well as other crustaceans from beneath. He also lost a good fish that broke off after a mighty run. Jeremy guides for smallmouths, steelhead and muskies in Minnesota and was very impressed with our Cape Cod fishery. Both were a pleasure to fish with as they were so thankful to be alive and a part of the scenery and beauty of Sandy Neck and the waters around Barnstable.
J. Cashman and his wife Chrissie had a number of her relatives up for vacation and everyone wanted to fish. Jay took his boat out and I guided three from the flats boat. The wind was churning but it didn't stop us from catching bass around Woods Hole. Jay's crew landed 2 keepers. I guess Jay will soon be taking over my guiding business. Joe Corbo and Dr. Dave Berstein wanted to see the Elizabeths' and sightsee in addition to slinging some lures around. We certainly saw a lot of sights around Martha's Vineyard and the Islands although the fish were very allusive. Joe did manage to hook a fish even though it was a "fluke". Joe will be fishing with me gain in August and I have guaranteed him a striper on the fly. Hope I am not premature on that one. Dr. John Kolb and friend Kevin from Ohio have fished extensively, John just coming back from a fly fishing trip to Elk Trout lodge in Colorado.He had taken few schoolies with the fly but nothing to write home about. As soon as we got out of the harbor fish were busting everywhere. As most people think, only little blues bust the surface like that. Well we were soon into stripers and blues mixed in amongst the feeding fish outside the
harbor. After catching a handful
of each we decided to go down to Woods Hole where I fished by myself on my
day off and was into many fish to 28". I felt that John was casting and stripping
in and connecting to the fly quickly enough to handle the conditions at
the Hole. We were greeted by hordes of stripers and doubles were frequent
with Kevin catching 2-1, plug to fly, using the Yozuri Mag Bomber. But
John was persistent even after getting broken off by a blue and a nice
striper he went to his own hand tied "gurgler". The fish loved
it and although he put it away after half a dozen 25" fish in the
current I am sure that he will not retire that fly any too soon. Although
the ride back to W. Falmouth Harbor was bouncy and quite exhausting we all
agreed that "it was worth the effort". Pictures of fish are to
follow.
J.D. Christiansen from Utah and his buddy Wayne from Vermont trout fish with the fly rod quite a bit. J.D. even has 2 drift boats and floats the San Juan River catching 20" trout regularly. He has caught a couple schoolies wading the Marsh behind his Wife's family's house in W. Falmouth but this was too inconsistent for him. So we decided to take the trip to the hole since fishing was so good down there as of late. But first we needed to travel there from the famous harbor. Right off the jetties fish were busting and it was fast and furious for a couple hours with both fisherman hooking up to stripers and an occasional blue. Just as quickly as it started the fishing died down so we began the trek to the Hole.
Sure enough fish were bustin' and birds were chirpin'. The Hole was hoppin' with 50' yachts and ferry boats and a driving current and oh yeah, rocks!!!! There was one infamous rock with my name on it and unfortunately she damaged the stainless steel prop and propeller shaft so that we had to leave the Hole before hooking up. Nevertheless we had an exciting day before calling it quits. Since the boat is in the mechanics hospital (THE BOAT GUY), and I will be without it for about a week, for my last trip in July, I captained Mr. Cashman and his buddy Curt down to the Hole once again. Jay ran his boat expertly about the rocks and we hooked up to a number of nice stripers including one 31". Good work for a novice, huh? That’s all for now. See you in August.
The Jolly Roger (boat-that is) is back from her repairs and is running well. Now if only the weather would cooperate. We did manage a few trips by mid month however. George Nugent and son Ryan fish very rarely only about once a year. We had a beautiful day on Barnstable Harbor and managed to run the boat to Brewster flats as well as the end of the canal even though very few fish were showing on the surface. Most fish were taken on the flats blind casting. Fishing was difficult for George as he was in a cast following a scooter incident while in Bermuda. All in all it was a great day, however, and a great learning experience for all. The following day Moira Howen
fly-casted without many breaks for 4 plus hours into a 15 mph wind at the
Harbor. She had taken some casting lessons from Lefty Kreh so I had to
straighten her out. Actually she was double hauling and shooting out
enough line to hook up. She recently returned from a trip to New Zealand
and caught some nice trout with her 4 wt. Sage. Even though this Grandma
didn't boat a fish she was casting 50' of line with clousers by the end of
the day. It was a joy fishing with her and kudos go out to her for
the efforts with flycasting. Stripers watch out for this newcomer to
flyfishing!!!
Reports of bonito were confirmed by the guys at Eastman's that weighed in 4 fish from Woods Hole and Lacky's Bay. Also Curt Jessup from The Sporting Life fished the Hole with a friend and caught a number of nice stripers and saw a huge fish that he thought was munching on baby bluefish. It wasn't interested in their 1/0 eel patterns although it had the potential of being a record on the fly. Hopefully this big guy will hang around for the Jolly Roger to tie an original Bluefish fly. That might be a first. The next 2 nights I fished shore charters at Black's Beach and both nights we were into well fed stripers that were marauding butterfish and sand eels while almost jumping onto shore to get them. We located these 8-12 pound fish with Swedish Pimples and then fly fished with white deceivers and white bunny flies well into dark. One fish straightened out a Mustad 94007 1/0 hook as I tightened the drag to force this fish in. Not too smart a move by the guide. Jolly will be off the next few
days working at a camp for handicapped children in Hebron Ct. doing his
other career of Physical Therapy. He will return in pursuit of bonito with
longtime buddy J. Snow right around the full moon.
Jeff Ladd returned this time to catch whatever since his visit with me in July and his desire to replace the picture of him on the website with something a bit bigger than this 15" schoolie. His fly casting was much improved since our first venture and he was catching some fish from West Island across the bay. He brought his son Thomas along for morale support. We were quickly into the excitement of chasing the speedsters as we left the harbor and were into schools of breaking fish. Jeff couldn't believe how quickly these fish swim and how quickly the fisherman has to get the fly to them and strip the line in. He didn't quite believe it until Thomas hooked up and held on for the ride of his life. He learned the "tuna two step" very nicely and landed this Albie. Dad was proud but wanted so badly to get his own that he practically jumped in after one. Albies were not in the cards for Jeff but we fished and caught nice sized blues for a good hour.
We used all the patterns and began doing research and development for a unique Jolly Roger fly- the Jolly Spook Fly. It was patterned after freshwater bassers' Zara Spook which is a top-water bait which popularized the Walking-The-Dog expression. Now us flyrodders can do the same.( More info on this is in the section about flies). Jeff landed many blues and is really hooked on the long wand. Good job you guys. Fishing the week of the 15th has been up and down primarily because of the weather and the Northwest blow. Fishing with Jack Snow lean as we bombed out @ Wood Neck beach at night after four consecutive days and knocking them out at dusk. Good size stripers to 12 pounds were taken feeding on sandeels, silversides and butterfish. Barnstable Harbor has slowed a bit as the water temp has increased decreasing the number of fishes coming onto the flats. We did manage a handful of fish to 24". We then fished Buzzards Bay and through the Hole to Lacky's where fellow guides like Jamie Boyle spoke of many bonito hookups the previous day in the blow from the NW. His clients hooked up as did most others who fished the 17th. They were around Tarpaulin, Lacky's and all around Martha's Vineyard. "You should've been here yesterday" was the chant of the many bonito chasers who waited for their return this day-it was very scanty the appearance of these Atlantic Speedsters although Jack had one hooked even though it was off as quickly as it hit his jig. We will be back nonetheless to chase them later in the season.
Lou Tabory was again at The Sporting Life with Curt Jessup and staff as well as On The Water doing yet another day of casting instructions and flyfishing lessons. The Cape is on fire this weekend with all The Road Race participants. We will return to chasing the "bones" on Monday. See you then!
Curt Jessup took me out fishing on both of our days off and we braved some pretty heavy winds but the fish were all over Buzzards Bay. We together got a Grand Slam with Curt hooking up the Spanish Mackerel and Jolly taking the other two. We won't mention the huge fish that finally broke off after about 10 minutes and taking out all my backing 4 times. She dove deep when at the boat and frayed the line. We speculated that it was a really large bonito maybe even one for the books. We hated to go in since the number of times we fish together are limited and I for one learn a great deal from Curt's knowledge of boating and the waters around the Cape and Islands. Thanks buddy!
My next charter was a first Albie for Jim and Chris party( Pictured above). It was exciting chasing these speedsters around and finally hooking, playing and landing a beauty. Jim caught a big New Zealand brown trout that was over 10 pounds but said that the Albie was many times more powerful and exciting to catch.
Josh MacNevin (hockey star and
boyfriend of number-one daughter Kate couldn't stop talking about all the
fish he caught on the boat until we shore- fished at Woodneck Beach. Fish
were busting at our feet and the action was nonstop well into dark. Josh
hooked and released his first legal bass as well as many others and a
handful of blues to boot. He did admit later that he was a little
concerned about those blues chomping away at his feet. After all he will
need his toes so he can skate when he turns pro this fall.
We then decided to chase the Albies and finally hooked up a large Spanish Mackerel that put his teeth into our 10 pound fluorocarbon although Mr. Webb had it on for a good while and fought it well. By the end of the day both father and son were casting great and were quite weary from casting and chasing. A fun time was had by all.
Evon Keith and fishing buddy Tom took a break from their investment planning work in Boston to fish. Windy conditions made fly fishing impossible. Tom hooked up with a nice Spanish Mackerel. They were scattered throughout the Bay and spotting them was hard. This was a typical day for these speedsters. I then fished with Dr. Bernie Oemcke a chiropractic physician whom I had worked cooperatively on a number of patients at my previous occupation as a physical therapist. Dr. Bernie was recently written up as the Renaissance Man by a Ct. health magazine for all his work in Holistic Medicine and for being a pioneer in alternative therapies. We had a lot of catching up to do about medicine although that was about all the catching we did that day as the speedsters were just that. Speeding away form our lines.
They alluded Dr. and his grandson Julian for our half day on the water. I did however thoroughly enjoy fishing with them as I learned much from both grandpa and grandson. Julian got my official "pirate's award" for being such a great seaman. Next year we will be a year older and wiser. Watch out fish!
Rick Rubin and his Dad bid at a church auction for a charter with me offered by The Sporting Life in Mashpee. We fished Buzzards Bay on a blustery day. We did have a number of chances to surfacing fish but these allusive "funny fish" went down as soon as we approached. Rick did manage this beauty and fought the fish magnificently. Good work Rick!! Paul Dauk booked me a couple months ago knowing that the fishing is great in September and especially around the full moon. Paul has been fishing over 40 years and fly fishing most of that time. He held a world record for bluefish until most recently and has fished for all the great sport-fishing species like tarpon, permit, bonefish, salmon and tuna. He especially loves striper fishing and even owns a house right on the salt in Ct. He wanted to try for albies because he loves the fight and compares them to bonefish on the fly. I definitely agree with him there. We fished long and hard chasing these fish up and down The Bay, through the Hole and well into Vineyard Sound. We even started up Nantucket Sound until I put the breaks on and said this is crazy, let's go where I know these fish will be and wait. So we headed up the other way towards the Western side of the canal. Albies were there all-right but were playing up to their games of cat and mouse. We had a number of tries but didn't hook up. Then we saw fish busting near Hog Island and caught a number of stripers before Paul wanted to return to the Albie chase. We ran back towards W. Falmouth harbor casting to every pod of breaking fish. Paul had a dinner engagement to get to so I decided to finish the day near homeport. We made a cast to a break just outside the harbor when both Paul and I looked up to see fish bustin' inside the harbor. Before we could sneak up to them another boat beat us to the punch and hooked up with spinning gear and a white sluggo to an albie. Now I was mad because I didn't get there first and Paul really deserved an albie for all the effort we both gave. We waited and had a few casts to some passer- bys before hooking up to a nice fish that took out most of Paul's backing 3 times before coming to the boat. I returned after dropping Paul off to finish what we started and landed 4 out of 5 fish that I hooked within 2 hours. Boats filled into the small harbor to see what the commotion was about, so close in fact that the one fish that broke off swam under a fellow's boat who asked what I was catching and got a bit too close. I kept my cool and the man was tickled by the hookup and playing out of the fish by Jolly that he booked a trip right there and then. Fishing really is fun!!!! Paul and I fished again a couple days later on the full moon. We decided to bag the Albies in favor of stripers. I heard that some fish were spotted around Scorton Ledge where a few 40 pounders were taken the previous week. I also heard that many fish were actively eating inside the Harbor at Barnstable. We weren't prepared for the action that occurred. Busting, breaking and feeding stripers everywhere that the eye could see for about 3 hours without a break. Paul and I caught 100 plus fish with the biggest 29". Most of the fish were averaging 25-26" and were like footballs-great fly rod fish. After the frenzy things quieted down a good deal although we managed a few more fish until finally deciding that we needed to savor the moment with a couple ice cold brews. It truly was one of those days that us fishermen dream about and very few actually experience. It was a pleasure fishing with Paul and witnessing a wonderful day on the water. Thanks Paul. Thanks fish. The fishing Gods were quiet over the next week as the weather deteriorated as did the fishing. I needed to find some fish for John Rockerd who catches stripers in Chesapeake Bay. I wanted him to feel at home as well as to show him some spots where he could fish from shore during his week on the Cape. I fished Monday traveling up and down Buzzard's Bay with very little activity. The Albies seemed to have disappeared following the cold weather of the last week in September. I started into my harbor and was greeted by swarms of baitfish and bass feeding on the baby Pogies. I had the fish to myself except for a number of pier fishermen who enjoyed the action of Jolly hooking up frequently to above average sized schoolies. I felt I had it figured out for the next day but heavy rains canceled our outing although we shore fished Bournes Pond which is where John was into fish the previous night. Not much there that night so we fished my homeport the next day and managed a couple handful of schoolies and one Albie that took John's fly and quickly spit it out before John could even react. It was exciting nevertheless. I fished with Walter Kopetsky Sr. and Jr. Saturday morning and traveled to the west end of the canal for a solo striper before being forced inside the harbor due to heavy winds. We fished hard for a good hour before finding hordes of schoolies sitting in a small depression which we drifted over many times catching fish every drift. We later named it Kopetsky Alley in their honor. Nothing big but a lot of fun.
The weather was beautiful for most of the month and the fish were cooperative. Typically, this month was portrayed by the day Paul Dauk and I had at the end of September @ Barnstable Harbor. It was the full moon and fish were everywhere feeding voraciously for 4 hours and we had truly a 100+ fish day between us. The biggest fish were just shy of legal but averaged in the mid-twenties-great flyrod stripers. The rest of the month proved much the same with many schoolies being taken following the large schools of baitfish especially baby bunkers with the incoming tides to many of the back bays, harbors and tidal estuaries. Generally the most productive times were right before dark although consistent action occurred throughout the incoming tide. I felt like I could do no wrong catching fish after fish with whatever patterns or plugs we threw. there were however some very productive flies such as the Velcro fly Doug Swisher popularized as well as Enrico Puglisi's peanut butter flies that simulate bunkers. Spinning plugs like the Yozuri diver and plastics that represented the fat-bodied bunkers were all good.
There were some glimpses of feeding blitzes that brought schools of 28"-32" fish inside but this was rare and only by spending time on the water were we rewarded by catching these larger fish that apparently turned on to fatten up for their excursion southward.. Bigger plugs and flies were the ticket and it seemed as if the more wind and waves the greater number of fish showed up. There were reports of larger fish about the Elisabeths' that were taking live eels-fish to 30 pounds. Although this is not my type of fishing I too checked out the action a couple of outings and did see some big fish that were not interested in plugs or flies. November 6th was the last day I fished to date and it was obvious to me that these schoolies left for warmer waters as not 1 fish was taken after weeks of many, many fish days. So like my colder blooded buddies, I will take their lead and head down to warmer temperatures for a look at what Florida has to offer for a flyfishing guy. Reports will follow during the offseason on the Cape but keep up on the website for new services and exciting plans for the 2001 season. I will be offering specialty fishing camps like Jolly's kids school and 4-women only as well as fishing the worm hatch, "funny fishing" and flat-out flats fishing to name a few programs. I will also offer lodging for my charters as well as combo packages during the camps and schools. These programs will be offered to limited numbers and generally will max out at 4 people per session so I can guarantee personalized sessions. We will focus all sessions on teaching all aspects of fishing, kayaking, personal watercrafts, shore-fishing, flatsboat trips and the majority of time will be on the water. In closing for the 2000 guided season I felt that a closing statement would be in order. Since this was my first year officially as a charter boat captain I personally wanted to thanks everyone whom I fished with for their support and hope that our paths will cross again soon. I reflected upon the season just the other day and realized a number of things. The first is that the majority of people fish for something much bigger and greater than simply catching. Rather as one of my clients told me that it is the companionship and connection one has with nature with friends and family as well as spending time going within and finding meaning and purpose for being here. Not only does fishing give me a chance to teach and to share with others but it also is one of the few things we can do as a society to relax from the frenetic pace of working, providing and driving so hard at doing-whatever it is we do. Fishing truly is Being and connecting to that inner self, that child within that really has all the answers for us no matter what our age, sex or beliefs. So......GO FISH.
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I fished Oliver and Grandpa Gill a second time a
week later but the fishing Gods were not quite as generous surrendering
only a bluefish or two. Conditions were more difficult and the fish had
gotten lockjaw or at least gone into their summer patterns of early
morning or nighttime feeding. I do however know that this is not the last
we’ve heard of Oliver.
