On Saturday September 26th, the wind was gusting near 50 mph. Rain came sideways. And I had about two hours.
Lauren was in Charleston with friends, I was solo-dadding our two-year-old, and every east or north facing beach on Cape Cod looked like a washing machine.
A lot of anglers would call that a reason to stay home. I call it a puzzle.
That puzzle had already paid off once. On day one of the storm, Monday, September 21, the birds led me to a daytime blitz on an empty beach, and the most epic surfcasting I've had in a long time. (MFCC members can read the full report here.) That session kicked off everything that follows.
The opening act: a 45-inch-plus striper from the day-one blitz. MFCC members can read that report here.
Over the next week, I had the opportunity to fish in the teeth of the nor'easter, as it faded, and in the calm that followed. Three sessions. Three completely different kinds of water. And a few important lessons learned that I look forward to sharing with you in this report.
Saturday 9/26: Find the Lee
Here's the beauty of Cape Cod: no matter which way the wind blows, there's almost always somewhere on this peninsula you can fish.
On Saturday, that somewhere was a stretch of shoreline in this area of Cape Cod that I first fished around age 15. My buddy Jason Mazzola and I "discovered" it back then. My dad was our ride. He mostly drove Jay and I around to different fishing spots, and watched. If you're reading this dad, then know I appreciate the chauffeur service you provided us back then.
Conditions were invigorating but fishable. And the stripers weren't being picky. They were chewing.
I rigged a 9" Super Snax weightless on a 7/0 twist-lock hook and worked it right along the surface at a medium pace, with some twitches. Several incredibly aggressive fish came cartwheeling out of the chop to attack the Super Snax.
A great choice for rocky areas with lots of snags: a 9" Super Snax, rigged weightless on a 7/0 twist-lock.
Airborne, with the Super Snax still pinned in the corner of its jaw.
They weren’t picky in these conditions. They were chewing, then flying!
Gray sky, white water, striped acrobat.
I didn't catch any big ones during this trip, but it didn't matter. It made me feel alive just to be out there in the rain and wind. Plus it was nice to encounter some smaller, younger fish.
Soaked, smiling, and right where I wanted to be!
Then it was back home to a moody two-year-old (the hero's welcome isn't guaranteed) and a plan to go stomp in puddles.
The lesson: A storm doesn't have to cancel fishing. But it can change the address. Find the shoreline the wind is blowing off of, and you can often find much calmer, fishable conditions.
Monday 9/28: Trusting a Hunch
By Monday the wind had died, but the surf hadn’t. I headed to a spot along this shoreline that I hadn’t fished in a year.
Part gut feeling. Part intel: a fellow member had posted a video in our forum of birds working bait off that beach a day or two earlier.
The water was coffee-colored and thick with sediment. Waves broke on an outer bar about 50 yards out, and a swift current ran through the trough inside it. I arrived about two hours after dead low, just as the flood starts rushing through the trough.
The storm was gone, but the surf hadn’t gotten the memo. Here you can see the outer bar breaking, trough running between the bar and the beach. I remember having a good feeling.
I tied on a 1oz white Joe Baggs Patriot Fish, and began swimming it beneath the chaos. Thirty minutes in: whack. Over the next half hour came three or four more, maybe one slot fish and the rest under.
Dirty water, white lure. Perhaps it made it easier for the bass to find. I’ll never know for sure, but I did try a few different lures this trip and this is the only one I got bites on.
Thirty minutes in and whack! Topwater bites will always be my favorite, but the solid thud of a bass hitting the Patriot Fish is a lot of fun too.
Then a striper went airborne.
My first thought was that a seal or shark was chasing the striper. But there were no fins, no flippers. Then another bass launched out of a wave. And another. I saw about half a dozen jump like tarpon, chasing bait I never saw.
Kneeling in the foam, wondering what had these fish jumping like tarpon. Whatever they were eating, they wanted it badly.
The lesson: Most anglers (myself included) would probably choose the outgoing tide as the most productive time to be fishing a trough like this one. However, the beginning of the incoming tide (which is what I fished during this trip) can fish well too.
Wednesday 9/30: The Fish That Said No Thanks
Wednesday was flat calm and the sun even broke through. After a weekend of sideways rain, it felt almost strange.
I spent the morning exploring two spots in this town I'd never fished from shore before. Google Earth and a little creativity got me to the water. Around 9am, early in the incoming tide, I put the drone up.
Big bass, flat calm, zero interest in eating.
The water was muddy, almost red. Gliding through it, glowing copper, were schools of a dozen to 30 striped bass. Most looked 34 to 40 inches. A few were bigger.
A school of big bass glowing copper through muddy, almost-red water.
Some milled. Some cruised. Some just looked lazy.
Cruising the edge, between clearer blue water and the muddy, red-stained water.
I threw swimmers, a Monomoy Tackle Specter, and long-distance pencil poppers. Most fish stayed out of reach, and I heard the boats struggled too. There had been good pogie blitzes the day before. My guess? They were digesting.
The bass were close enough to film with the drone, but most of them remained out of casting range.
When I was younger, that would have driven me nuts.
Now I was just happy to have found them. Your network, fresh intel, past experience, and a hunch: put them together to locate fish, and you've won half the battle. When it works, that feeling is its own reward!
Why the Storm Was the Story
I think surfcasting is a great escape for parents. Boat fishing is great don’t get me wrong, but with no trailering, no fuel dock, no full-day commitment, it’s easier to just grab a rod, steal an hour away in nature, and come home refreshed.
The nor’easter didn’t take my fishing away. It handed me three different stories.
So the next time the forecast looks ugly, don’t ask, “Can I fish?” Ask, “Where can I fish?”
The answer is that on Cape Cod, you can almost always find somewhere to safely wet a line. 🎣
Tight lines!
Ryan
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