This morning felt more like mid-August than late May. Believe me I am not complaining one bit. I will take flat calm conditions, sunny skies and 70 degrees at sunrise any day.
I decided to get out and do some exploring today. I'm really enjoying finding new areas throughout the Cape Cod region that I have never fished before. For me at least, it is a lot more fun than continually hitting the same old spots.
I grabbed my lucky combo of a medium iced coffee and a reduced fat blueberry muffin this morning around 4:15AM and made the 40 minute drive to the spot.
After parking I embarked down a nicely wooded trail that meandered through untouched Cape Cod woodlands. It was a unique experience and I really enjoyed the walk.
After 5-10 minutes of walking I could hear the waves lapping against the shoreline. I rounded a corner, passed by a few more bushes and was greeted by a glass calm ocean. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday morning.
I immediately noticed a few terns working the water and then, as if on cue, a bass broke the surface not more than 25 feet from shore.
I chucked my old reliable pencil popper right on the fish and was able to coax him into following the plug right up to my feet. My second cast produced an explosive top water strike from a bass in the 25-30 inch range.
My third cast produced a half-hearted swipe and my fourth another follow. It was quite the start!
As I looked up and down the beach I could see bass slurping bait off the surface in every direction.
There were stripers in tight to the beach and there were bass breaking a few hundred yards off shore. It was so calm that it was even easy to see the bait fish skimming the surface.
Despite the abundance of stripers I was having trouble getting a solid hook set. Most of the bass were on the smaller end of the spectrum so they were struggling to suck down the pencil popper. After around 10 hits and misses I decided it was time for a change.
The old reliable Red Gill teaser was given the nod. I quickly tied the Red Gill (which imitates a small sand eel) to a barrel swivel in front of the pencil popper. This allowed me to chuck the pencil popper and the Red Gill out to where the fish were feeding. When retrieved the pencil popper danced back and forth on the surface while the Red Gill swam a foot in front of it.
The rig looked real nice in the water and on my second cast I was hooked up! Sure enough the bass had sucked down the Red Gill and was firmly hooked right in the top of the mouth.
The bass were still feeding all over the surface. Fish were slurping down small bait to the left and to the right. The main bulk of bass was out of casting range, however there were enough in close to shore to keep me busy.
If I had a kayak or small boat at my disposal things would have been real interesting.
The pencil popper and Red Gill continued to produce good action as the sun rose in the sky. It was a ton of fun catching all of the bass on top, even though the majority of the bass were schoolies.
This area had a lot of really cool features to say the least. A rocky coastline chock full of car sized boulders extended as far as I could see to my right.
To my left was a rocky point and right in front of me was a sandy beach. Around the corner was a harbor. There was a lot going on as far as structure is concerned, which may of explained why there was so much bait and bass in the vicinity.
By 6:15AM I was satisfied. No keepers today but I did catch a bucket load of small guys and watched 20 or more bass crush the pencil popper/Red Gill rig right on the surface - which is always a ton of fun.
If you happen to be a big kayak fishermen I would highly recommend this area. There's a parking lot nearby and a harbor area that I imagine would be ideal for launching the yak. The whole area is rather protected from the wind, with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.
With the amount of bait and bass in the area this morning I would imagine these fish will be here tomorrow. Bass were breaking on the surface from the time I arrived until I left. All in all a great trip.
Tight lines and catch 'em up!
Ryan
