This is a guest report from David Benoit, who joined MFCC as a member back in June of 2012. Last week David and I encountered an incredible bite while fishing together in my boat. David's report below recaps the experience.
It was a typical Wednesday night, until my cell phone message indicator pinged. It was an email from My Fishing Cape Cod. It's nothing out of the ordinary to receive an email from Ryan Collins but this one was different.
This was not a typical email blast about his latest blog post or countless recaps of his ventures hunting striped bass. This was an invite to join Ryan for day of fishing.
More...
I jumped at the opportunity. I mean who wouldn’t right?
After reading so many stories of Ryan’s escapades and battles with my favorite man in stripes how could I say no. I had the time off from work anyway and after a few fish-less trips I was itching at the opportunity to put a bend in the rod.
So we agreed to meet at the harbor at 3:30am on Thursday of last week. I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep with the excitement and images of bass swimming around in my head, so I packed my plug bag and rods and hit the road Wednesday night.
I think the hardest part was picking what to bring. Like many a fisherman out there I’ve collected a large assortment of plugs, plastics, and wood.​
My bag consisted of a few Sebile Magic Swimmers 190s, Super Strike poppers, some Mag Darters, SP Minnows, bucktails, Ron z’s, and tins. I had all my bases covered for any type of bite.
However, nothing could have prepared me for the incredible outing that was about to unfold.​
A Terrific Start To The Morning
After getting a few hours of shut eye I headed to the harbor nice and early. Now I had never actually met Ryan in person but I could tell he was the type of guy I would get along with instantly.
Fortunately I was right in my thinking! Ryan has such a positive attitude which he brings on the boat, and I am amazed at the knowledge he has for this pastime we all love so much.
The ride out was as calm as anyone could have asked for. The morning had all the beginnings for a productive trip. The weather was on our side and we cruised to the spot in no time.
Ryan knew his game plan and had probably done the drill countless times. After surveying the scene it seemed everyone else fishing the area was doing the same thing. So Ryan decided to venture away from the fleet to do some recon.
Find the fish was the plan. We knew they were out there somewhere but where was the question. We decided to cover some water by starting a fast troll. Ryan set up the rods in a fashion I had never before thought of.
It didn’t take long before the rod bent over with fish number one!
This first fish of the day was definitely a good sized one. I was having a tough time turning her around!
Then suddently the line went limp and I knew the fish was off. The split ring had pulled right out of the plug. It’s a terrible feeling to lose a fish like that, but we would make up for it big time over the next few hours.
Hitting the "Mother Load"
After landing a few 20-25 pound bass on the troll, we stumbled upon what I could best describe as "the mother load." It seemed as if the bass had mysteriously just "shown up" from out of nowhere.
Birds were diving and fish would occasionally break the surface. Instead of trolling we decided to start casting plugs. I am not exaggerating when I say we enticed a bite on every other cast.
As fast as we could toss the plugs out, and speed reel them back to the boat, they would get smashed.
After a few hours my arms were sore from all the action!
All I can say is thank you Ryan for an epic day. By the end of the morning we had landed at least twenty fish in the 10 to 30 pound range.
This was certainly a day that I will never forget, and I have plenty of stories to tell my friends and family.
We even managed to see an ocean sunfish or "mola mola" on the ride back in.​
​Ocean sunfish are odd looking animals that can grow to weigh hundreds of pounds.
Despite their awkward appearance they can, believe it or not, propel themselves straight clear of the water.
We captured a lot of video during this trip and according to Ryan it will be published to MFCC sometime this week.
If you ever get the chance to fish with Ryan, I recommend taking it.​
Member Downloads
Click below for more information on the area fished
and techniques used
What do you think? Let me know by commenting below.
Great post David. Sounds like you had a banner day. I’ve never tried trolling sebielles either but certainly will now.
Nice write up David, and thanks again for coming along!
Hmmm….hmmm…oh well, if I have to fish from shore, I’ll fish from shore.
I had never thought to troll Magic Swimmers until reading your posts this year. I will definitely have to give it a try next time out on the boat. Good to see you are still getting into a lot of fish!
Nice report!
Ryan neither would I. We even had success using lead core to get the magic swimmers down 15-20′.