Last night was just spectacular.
After days of overcast skies the weather finally broke and we were provided with a gorgeous, crystal clear evening. The wind was dead calm and on top of all that we had a full moon.
After a little coaxing I convinced Lauren to tag along with me for another surf casting expedition. Lauren is an awesome sport and a rookie striped bass fisher-woman, so I chose an area where I figured we would have an excellent chance at some bass - no long casting required!
Actually, almost all of the bass I have caught this year have come on casts of less than 30 feet, which is pretty amazing if you think about it. That means that all of the stripers I have managed to catch so far this season have been in less than 5 feet of water (except for the Canal fish).
This is the ideal scenario for folks fishing with beginner striped bass anglers. I would never take Lauren down to the Cape Cod Canal, hand her an 11 foot surf casting rod and expect her to toss a plug 200 feet to a 35 pound bass in the middle of the land cut.
Same goes if you are fishing with a beginner or a little kid. There are certain areas on Cape Cod conducive to fishing with beginners. When just starting out I'd recommend concentrating on these areas, instead of taking a complete novice to more challenging spots like the Canal.
The month of May is prime time for novice striper anglers on Cape Cod. Right now there are plenty of nice fish roaming around extremely close to shore. This is the ideal time to catch a fish if you are just starting out, so if you can get to the beach ASAP!
We had a real nice steady pick of bass last night. Nothing huge but nice consistent action from the time we arrived right until we left.
The incoming tide fished really well as bass poured in from Cape Cod Bay and rode the tide up into the creek we were fishing. We actually watched as bass passed over a sand bar in 1-2 feet of water and cruised into the estuary.
The top water action on 12-24 inch fish was superb. An ideal scenario for Lauren and other beginner anglers.
The action only got better as the sun got lower in the sky. The best action pre-sunset was out around the mouth of the creek. I actually had a few nice surface strikes from bass in the 30-35 inch range out by the mouth of the creek. Unfortunately the bass completely missed the plug and the hook - oh well maybe I'll get them next time.
As the sun sank lower on the horizon and as the tide began to flow in, we retreated from the mouth of the creek back up into the estuary. This was when we noticed bass cruising over the shallows, riding the tide into the estuary.
We picked off these fish one at a time with needlefish lures and pencil poppers. Even small bass no more than 18 inches were smacking 6 inch long plugs. These bass were aggressive to say the least!
Once it got dark we were treated to an incredible moon rise. If you weren't able to scoot outside last night to check out the full moon I would highly recommend getting out tonight. If you are able to, get down to the ocean around 8pm and watch it rise over the horizon. The moon was so full and orange that it kind of looked the sun - absolutely incredible.
The saction only improved as night fell. We could hear bass slurping down bait left and right in the dark. Tail slaps and splashes could be heard all around us. Once the moon rose we could just barely make out the silhouettes of striper splashes and surface strikes.
The bass continued smacking our surface offerings however our hook up ratio plummeted once the sun set. Nevertheless the overall action only improved as the tide and darkness progressed.
