Busting the Midday Myth
There's a common myth in fishing that in the heat of summer, you can't catch stripers from shore during the daytime on Cape Cod — especially in the mud-bottomed backwaters. But I left my house yesterday on July 24th with the goal of proving otherwise.
My tool of choice was my 8wt fly rod, paired with something I'd been trying to get good with: the crab fly. A small merkin-style green crab was the pattern I chose.
One of my own hand tied crabs I used during this trip.
I arrived at the estuary shown in the map below, and headed straight out to the bay, where the river dumps into some shallow, sandy water — a spot where I've had eats on the crab before, but never landed a fish.
I didn't spend much time there; the clear water showed no signs of life. So I made the call to walk back into the creek as the tide bottomed out, to fish the sandbars. Pure exploration — maybe a schoolie I thought, if I got lucky.
Fish One: Slot Surprise
The mid afternoon sun was getting hot as I trudged across the river to the sandbars bordering the deep pools. I started casting. A few minutes went by, and I began thinking maybe it was time to head home. But as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I got a very quick response. My line went tight and down to the reel faster than I've ever experienced, as the fish turned its body into the current. Stubborn, it refused to come in, making two runs that pulled the sinking head all the way back out before I finally saw color.
Then I decided to shorten the fight as much as I could with my light tippet, and I was able to power the fish back to the sand. I'd guess it was somewhere in the slot — already my biggest fish from this spot, and far bigger than anything I'd expected that day.
My day was made. A beautiful fish, released healthy after a quick photo. I threw my hands in the air like Coach Brooks at the end of Miracle, blown away that a slot fish would hit in this spot, at this stage of the tide, at this time of day and year. It was all backwards.
Fish Two: No Fluke
But it was no fluke. Just minutes later, a bit further down the creek, I kept casting and stripping the crab — digging through the mud, making noise, slow and steady. And I was tight again. This one was deceptive for its size; I didn't have to palm down to the reel until it realized it was hooked. Then it peeled line straight to the reel and kept running.
I palmed the reel and stopped him, using the reel's power to my advantage to turn his head. Pump, reel. Pump, reel. He made it to the muddy bank, where I landed him — bigger than the last one, shoulders like a linebacker, crab hooked right in the bottom lip, again my biggest fish at this spot after 5 years and countless trips. I'd won. But this fish was camera-shy, shaking himself free and heading back to the depths — or at least as deep as he could go — to fight another day.
The mud trapped my feet and covered my reel, but the fish swam away strong and healthy
The Gear
Here's a breakdown of my gear for the day:
- 9' 8wt TFO Blitz fly rod
- Hatch Iconic 7+ reel
- RIO Coastal Crabber Intermediate/5ips/7ips, 30lb backing
- RIO Flouroflex Salt leader, 16lb
- Scorton Fly Company #1 Green Crab
Heading Home
Time ticked away, the tide cranked back up, and the bite shut down. So I headed home, head held high after pulling off something I didn't know would work nearly as well as it did.
If there's one thing to take from this day: when you have a window to fish, fish it. If you see food in a spot, fish it. If you haven't seen someone else try something, try it yourself.
The beauty of fly fishing is that there's no such thing as perfection — everyone who puts in the time finds their own way to fish, their own patterns, their own bite. So go experiment. You never know what will produce.
Tight lines 🎣
Cooper
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Hi Cooper,
Same as Jeff and want to buy some crab flies.
Kevin
@CooperMark64 Your profile here on MFCC is currently not accepting DMs … tried to contact you about purchasing some flies. Hit me up with a message please
Have you tried these out on the Brewster Flats yet? I’m thinking of giving it a shot with spinning gear and a fly & casting egg rig … I’ve had success using just a teaser fly tied to a casting egg near Sesuit Harbor.
While distance isn’t everything, you just don’t have much mass to allow a decent cast without something like a casting egg. Salty’s makes decent 1 oz eggs that allow you to get a 50 plus yard cast easily … tie a 4 foot leader on and a fly at the end and you’re in business. Dave Pickering uses these heavily on the RI coast … uses a small (1/2 oz) bucktail jig. I like the smallest Ron-Z in white or silver … imitates rain bait very well.
I’ve always wondered about a motor-oil colored jig and pig, like you’d use for largemouth, teased and hopped across the sand.
I’ll second the vote for the jig hook. I like the Ahrex Salt Jig.
Also by way of updates regarding that trip and gear I won awhile back, the T&T 8wt rod finally arrived yesterday…super psyched!
Hey, Cooper, glad to hear you’re finding some success fishing crab flies on a sinking line. I first encountered that technique a few years ago, when I started showing up on the Morris Island flats, where a lot of fly anglers are doing it. I’m using a fly that owes a lot to the “Big Nasty Crab Fly Pattern.” The change I make is to use a saltwater jig hook and to tie in some lighter, brighter colors. The result is a gnarly, impressionistic fly with a lot of action that unfailingly rides point up. It’s also a pain to cast, but a sinking line helps carry it and turn it over, even on an 8-weight. Most of the time, I’m blind-casting to fish, but occasionally I have luck dropping it in front of a visible school cruising through shallow water. But I have to get a lot better at spotting cruising fish, Usually, I don’t see them until my fly is 70 feet in front of me and down on the bottom. By the time I can cast again, the fish are long gone.
Thanks Vince! Good luck next time you get out there!
Quality right up, Cooper! You give me hope!
Thank you Paul, glad to hear you enjoyed the write up. Definitely get out there and throw some crabs. The slower presentation down deep definitely helps to get them to chew it seems. Maybe we will cross paths out there!
Hi Cooper, Thank you for busting the Midday myth. I always assumed that if I didn’t start fishing before dawn then the only other time would be at dusk. Congratulations on your crab fly debut keep on tying your fly patterns. I would have liked to see your impersonation of Coach Brooks. Next time I’m at Scorton Creek in the middle of the day I hope to see you there.
Paul