Alex Rridgway

The past few weeks have provided excellent fishing for striped bass in the 25-32" range. However, the big fish are beginning to trickle in to the Cape Cod area.

After hearing reports of fish above the 20 pound mark, I decided to specifically target these larger bass from my Hobie kayak.

I met up with a friend in an estuary under the cover of nightfall. This is the time of year when night trips often begin out-producing the daylight hours, providing a better shot at large striped bass.

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Air temperatures in the mid-40's made for some cold hands and feet, but we remained hopeful as we quickly started marking fish on the sonar.

After wetting our lines we discovered that most of these fish were schoolies "barely legal" sized fish. We fished until 1AM, then opted to rest up and try for some larger bass early the next morning.

Boulder Field Bass

Instead of returning to the spot that held smaller fish the night before, my friend and I chose to make a long paddle to a sizable boulder field. We both had to be off the water by noon, so this was our "Hail Mary" location choice.

We started by working the shallow reaches of the boulder field, and eventually drifted into deeper water, fishing along the way. Our time on the water was running low, and the pressure of catching our prize began to set in.

With little time left, I tied on a Guppy Pencil Popper. After launching a hard cast into the wind, I focused on working the pencil popper from side to side across the surface of the water.

Miraculously, there was a massive explosion behind my plug. A second later my line went tight and I was hooked up!

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