Last night and early this morning it was difficult to believe that hurricane force winds are expected for tonight and tomorrow. Cape Cod Bay looked more like a skating rink than anything else. Hard to imagine that 8 foot waves could very well be rolling through the Bay in less than 24 hours! Last night I may have seen one wave that reached a maximum height of 1 inch-maybe.
I had the pleasure of fishing with Andy, Mark and Matt-a bunch of nice guys who were looking to catch something other than small stripers, cod and haddock. We departed the Sandwich Marina at 6pm, headed out onto beautiful Cape Cod Bay, and ran along the beach eastward towards Scorton Creek.
Surprisingly I did not mark a thing in front of Horizons, Old Harbor or East Sandwich Beach. Nada in close in front of the Creek either. There was a bunch of bait in 25 feet closer to the Sandy Neck Parking Lot, but no bass on them as of yet. We turned around and headed for the Ledge.
Not seeing many solid marks at the Ledge either, I was about to have the guys pull the lines in when one of the rods went over. I could tell right away that this was definitely not a nice bass, and a few minutes later we had a perfect tuna bait-size bluefish in the boat. How come I can never find these 20 inch bluefish in Cape Cod Bay the day before a tuna trip!?
A friend of mine, Bob T., was on the water last evening and was nice enough to give us a bunch of his leftover sandworms. As we were making the sandworm exchange, a nice school of stripers swum right under both of our boats off the north edge of Scorton. What a nice brush of good luck!
It was now almost dark (making navigating through the minefield of Scorton's lobster pots a nightmare) however we put the tube and worm rigs in the water and trolled south. A minute or two later our lucky old white rod went down and line started screaming from the reel. Fish on!
Andy stepped up and did a nice job on this bass. A few minutes later and we had an awesome 27 pounder flopping around on the deck. The guys couldn't believe it! It was the biggest striped bass Andy had ever caught, and the biggest striper any of the guys had ever seen. Great start!
Once it got too dark to fish amongst the lobster pots I began cruising east down along the beach. Again nothing in tight, but as soon as I turned out towards deeper water we marked a huge schoool of fish. I swirled the boat around the had the guys pitch live eels off the port side.
We floated right through the entire school without a bump! I coudn't believe it. We cranked the lines back in with hopes that the big school would stay put.
The fish did stay put and we set up another perfect drift right through the middle. This time Andy had a hard take as well as Mark. They let the bass run for five seconds, flipped the bails, and we had doubles!
These two fish put up a hard fight on the light spinning reels. I think I heard the guys grunting a bit as they tried to lift the fish up from under the boat. Finally, after a great fight, I was able to boat Andy's bass, and then Mark's. Two very healthy 25-30 pounders. Nice!
This bass topped Mark's life-time best by quite a few pounds. These guys are rather photogenic as well-take a look as this pic. Nice work fellas.
The dogfish quickly moved in with authority so we put out a few dead eels rigged up with stinger hooks and started a troll through the area. I was marking bass here and there amongst all the doggies, and before we knew it, the starboard side clicker was going off. Fish on!
It was Matt's turn at a nice bass and he did a good job of getting this fish to the boat. Once boatside the bass headed straight for the bottom, peeling a few colors of leadcore from the reel. Matt also began grunting as he tried to lift this fish from the bottom. Finally we had the bass on the surface and I quickly brought him over the gunnel. Another cookie cutter 27 pounder on the deck. His biggest fish ever as well!
The bass then dispersed however we were able to find them again in 58 feet of water. Andy picked up another 20 plus pound beauty pitching an eel, and Mark landed the final keeper of the trip, taken on the troll.
Matt was rudely awoken from his beauty nap when we had a school of bass that must of numbered in the hundreds under the boat. This was a seriously enormous school of fish. Matt pitched an eel, had a take, and set up nicely on the bass. After a few "tuna-esque" line peeling runs, he had the fish within sight. The big bass rolled on his side, took one look at us, and spit the hook right in our faces! Not the ending we had planned but not a bad way to cap the night either.
We then headed back to Sandwich on flat calm seas with a cooler full of bass fillets. All in all a very fun evening with some good dudes, who all caught the biggest striped bass of the their lives.
Stay safe during the storm. I'm expecting the bass bite to heat up once Irene blows through!
Tight lines and good luck!
Ryan
