I met up with a good friend of mine yesterday to do some surf casting for striped bass. Garet is a young man from Cape Cod who loves to fish, watch Boston sports and eat at Old Country Buffet.
A few seasons ago Garet joined me on a live eel night fishing expedition. During that trip he boated 5 bass up to 32 pounds. That was one heck of a trip that neither I or Garet will be forgetting anytime soon.
Garet was born with spina bifida, so it's a little difficult for him to sometimes get around/walk long distances etc. We decided to hit up a spot that is easy to access and doesn't require long casts to catch a fish. We both had a good feeling about the trip which was great.
Luckily the rain subsided but the fog was the thickest I have seen it all year. The fog actually made for pretty cool and ideal shore fishing conditions.
We set up shop at a narrow in a local creek and got to work. We were banking on the incoming tide bringing in a fresh batch of fish from the open ocean.
I love fishing the back waters of creeks and tidal areas during the first part of the incoming tide. All sorts of marine life will ride the current up into the estuary. Opportunistic bass hop on the band wagon and are rewarded with a cornucopia of feeding opportunities.
In the past we have encountered some decent bass fishing utilizing this theory. I've never caught anything incredibly enormous fishing backwater tidal creeks, but fish in the 30 inch range are not terribly uncommon.
A bass like that is what I was hoping for last night.
Around 7PM the tide began flowing in at a decent clip. Once the current got moving the tidal pools and creek beds began to come alive. A few birds were diving here and there and we would occasionally catch a glimpse of a bass as it made its way back into the creek.
We cast for a long time with nothing to show until I felt the smallest, nearly undetectable "bump."
"Was that a hit?" I remember thinking to myself.
A couple casts later I felt the same little bump, leaned back to set the hook and hooked into the first fish of the night. After no more than 30 seconds I had the bass on the bank.
This guy might have measured 12 inches at most! Hands down one of the smallest fish of the past couple of years.
A few casts later I hooked up again. This fish might (emphasis on might!) have measured 8 inches. This particular bass definitely takes the cake as the smallest striper I have seen in person since I was probably 14 or 15 years old.
Although we didn't catch anything with any size we still had a great time. It's just nice to be able to fish in easily accessible areas where a 20 foot cast has the potential to produce a bass or two.
The fog on the drive home last night was absolutely unreal. At times I had to slow down to a near stop just to see a street sign or the painted lines separating the lanes. We've had some strange weather so far this week to say the least.
All in all a fun trip.
In other news I've been hearing great things about the Cape Cod Canal bite as of late. A 46 pound bass was taken yesterday with many others in the 20 and 30 pound range. Looks like this week's tides at the Canal could be productive.
I hope you are able to get out this week and find some fish. If I can help in any capacity please let me know - I am just an email away.
Thanks as always for checking out the blog and good luck!
Take care,
Ryan
