Ryan Collins
On this very memorable late October morning, I woke up before sunrise to prepare for my first ever Cape Cod fly fishing trout trip.
I have caught striped bass and other saltwater species on the fly rod, but never have I fly fished for trout. So needless to say I was pretty excited!
The morning was fresh, cool and picturesque. The fall foliage was coming in nicely, providing a perfectly scenic backdrop to an already very beautiful and serene Cape Cod kettle pond.
Ryan Collins
Over the course of my 33 years on this planet I have observed and participated in the rapid rise of technology. With the advent of cellphones and the internet, life began to change in ways I never could of predicted. If you are my age or older, then I am sure you can relate!
I'm only going to write a sentence or two about the negative side of technology. For example, one of the most obvious negatives is that many of invest hours of our day staring at a pixelated screen.
Even if you spend just three hours per day staring at your cellphone, over the course of one average American lifetime, that would amount to a staggering nine years of your life spent staring at your cellphone!
Ryan Collins
Yesterday evening was as picturesque as it gets for November on Cape Cod. The weather was perfect, so Lauren and I decided to take our dog Rosie for a walk on the beach.
I encountered great November schoolie action during my previous beach walk with Rosie, so I made sure to once again bring my rod and reel, in hopes of encountering more striped bass along the beach.
This time of the year we don't encounter many people on the beach, which means its okay to let Rosie run free off the leash. The dog enjoys chasing sea gulls, snacking on crabs, and just being free.
Ryan Collins
Sure it's November, but you can still catch striped bass on Cape Cod! In this trip my dog Rosie and I found great action with schoolie stripers from the beach.
I was not really planning on doing much fishing - instead I was primarily taking the dog for a walk. However it can pay to always pack a rod and reel (especially during the fall) because you never know what might happen.
Once Rosie and I arrived at the beach it only took a few minutes for me (and the dog) to notice a flock of sea gulls dive bombing bait up against the shoreline. The dog and I both took off sprinting down the beach towards the action.
Ryan Collins
Nighttime fishing for striped bass on Cape Cod during late October can be a dark and cold experience, and there are no guarantees you will find fish. The bass can be here one day and gone the next as they migrate south.
However one of the most reliable late season spots for me are Cape Cod's numerous inlets. And without a doubt one of the most effective baits to use at these inlets are live eels.
In this video I'll teach you how to catch striped bass (stripers) by using live eels at inlets. This video was filmed this October in the middle of the night on Cape Cod. I will include more information about the location in the members download.
Ryan Collins
In this video I am freshwater largemouth bass fishing from shore on Cape Cod during October of 2018. I am with my rescue dog Rosie, who I am discovering does amazingly well during fishing trips.
She basically stays with me the entire time off the leash and doesn't wander off anywhere which is great.
The largemouth bass fishing was also great during this trip, with many small ones caught around submerged timber and especially lily pads (which are quickly dying off now that it's getting cold here on Cape Cod).
The lure used during this video is a broken-back Rapala that was passed down to me from a 75 year old fishing friend of mine. Please click play below to watch!
Ryan Collins
This weekend myself and members of My Fishing Cape Cod have found good numbers of striped bass from shore and from boat.
Early this morning I met up with my good friend and MFCC member Todd Baranowski at the un-Godly hour of 2am for a few hours of eel slinging.
We hooked into plenty of nice stripers as the stars shone above in the cool clear sky. As soon as the moon began to sink near the horizon the coyotes began howling and barking somewhere in the woods nearby, all while we were reeling in fish!
Ryan Collins
In this video I am fishing with the team from the Goose Hummock Shops in Orleans and Dennis. We are on Phil Howarth's 39 foot Contender fishing for "football" size bluefin tuna off Cape Cod.
The day started flat calm with beautiful conditions. About an hour in we were hailed on the VHF radio and needed to assist a boat in distress!
We towed the boat, passed them off to the Coast Guard, and then managed to catch 2 hard fighting bluefin tunas before a gale started blowing over Cape Cod. The ride home was rough, plowing through 6 foot seas into a 30knot wind.
Ryan Collins
This past Monday my day got off to an early start. My alarm sounded at 3:45am and I hopped out of bed without too much trouble.
There would be no "snoozing" the alarm today because I needed to hustle my way down the mid-Cape highway to Orleans where I would meet Phil Howarth of the Goose Hummock Shops and The Mighty Fish.
The plan was to take advantage of a brief weather window Monday morning, before an all out gale was predicted to hit Cape Cod in the afternoon. Also onboard for this "run and gun" tuna trip was videographer Tyler Adams and Viktar and Passah from Edged Up Fishing.
Ryan Collins
During this tautog fishing trip we filmed a new episode of My Fishing Cape Cod TV, and my wife Lauren ended up catching the biggest tautog of the day!
If you read this report from the weekend then you already know there are a lot of tautog (especially juvenile tautog) hanging out in the shallow water rock piles.
These fish are a ton of fun to catch. Tautog fight hard and a great eating. Plus the high numbers of small fish make for quick action, which is good when fishing with kids or in my case - my wife Lauren!
Ryan Collins
During the fall tautog (also called blackfish) invade shallow water rock piles in big numbers. These hard fighting fish are fun to catch and taste delicious!
Recently I decided it was time to break out the tog gear and try my luck at some rock piles. It had been months since my last tautog trip and I was itching to catch some more hard fighting blackfish.
At 6:30am on October 9th I arrived at the boat ramp and met up with longtime MFCC member Dick Glockner, who would be joining me on this tautog trip. Dick wasted no time as I launched the boat, catching two bluefish right from the dock!
Ryan Collins
These trips will be a great opportunity to target the most powerful fish in the sea, with captain Cullen Lundholm of Cape Star Charters and a 3 or 4 person crew from My Fishing Cape Cod.
During these trips, you may cast lures to breaking fish, drop jigs to tuna feeding below, or use live bait. You might fish Stellwagen Bank or east of Cape Cod. Captain Cullen goes wherever the tuna are biting best.
Tuna fishing is serious business. The fish are powerful and the weather can be less than ideal. Prior fishing experience and a level of comfort being on the water out of sight from shore is a must.
Ryan Collins
I invested the first few hours of this morning into casting yellow Danny plugs around enormous cottage-size boulders in hopes of catching my first striped bass of October.
It was a dark and grey morning. The air was warm and the water temperature was about 64 degrees. There was a moderate breeze from the south/southwest.
During this trip I had my neighbor Scott with me. I explained to Scott that this was a recon trip and I had no idea if we would catch anything. He was cool with the idea, and at 6:30AM this morning we found ourselves on the beach surrounded by huge boulders that were deposited by glaciers thousands of years ago.
Ryan Collins
During the summer of 2018 I stumbled across (and later untangled) a massive leatherback turtle that was entangled in a lobster pot line inside Cape Cod Bay.
It was early September and I was motoring along in my boat, when I noticed a lobster buoy that was getting pulled under. My initial thought was "Wow the current must be strong today!"
Yet upon closer inspection I saw a huge dark mass beneath the water. Moments later an enormous head appeared next to the colorful lobster buoy. It was a leatherback sea turtle, and a pretty big one at that!
Ryan Collins
Back during February of 2018 I had the honor of presenting at Surf Day, which is an event in New Jersey dedicated to surfcasters.
At the event I held a 54 minute long seminar, complete with photos and videos, highlighting 10 important tips for surfcasting Cape Cod (and Costa Rica).
Today I would like to share with you the full 54 minute video presentation, which covers a lot of strategies, equipment and other details I make sure to pay attention to when surfcasting the Cape for stripers, bluefish and other species.