Ryan Collins
On Saturday December 1st the air was crisp and cool as I hopped out of my truck and prepared my tackle and equipment. I couldn't help but think of how winter is looming just on the horizon.
December is most certainly not a prime month for striped bass fishing on Cape Cod. 99% of stripers have migrated south for the winter.
Yet here I was, walking down a wooded path with leaves crunching beneath my boots, in search of the rare and elusive "winter striped bass."
Lauren Collins
I'd like to say I am very good at a lot of things, but most importantly, it would be shopping! I realize though that I am speaking to a "fisher people audience" who would probably prefer to never hear about nor speak about shopping.
But people, the holidays are coming. Tis the season to give gifts to friends and family, and there is nothing worse than being in a crowded mall and waiting in lines. You will encounter crying children and frazzled adults!
And then all of a sudden you realize you forgot to buy wrapping paper, so back out you go into the apocalypse that is holiday shopping. So this year, instead of hitting the mall and big box stores, lets shop online at the MFCC website!
Ryan Collins
My time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico has been terrific and I definitely recommend it as a travel and fishing destination. The town has great culture, restaurants, adventure activities, and of course fishing!
I had a wonderful time in PV with my wife Lauren, her mom Carol and dad Steve. Now I am back home, thousands of miles from PV, but I have tons of great memories and experiences from the trip.
Today I have one more video which I'd like to share with you. Last week while fishing from shore in Puerto Vallarta, shoals of sardines were attacked in the surf by jack crevalles, red snappers, and sierra mackerels. It was an all-out blitz that produced shoulder-to-shoulder fishing conditions!
When I first bought my lathe in 2008, the first thing I did was drive down to Cape Cod Tackle to load up on every supply and lure part I could get my hands on.
While browsing the overwhelming variety of metal lips, one stuck out to me in particular - the surfster lip. It's heavy lip and distinctive cup convinced me to add it to my bag of goodies.
When I got home, I decided that I would use the surfster lip to build my first ever saltwater lure. Even though the plug has a very traditional shape, I was excited to see the results of making modifications to this time-tested design.
Ryan Collins
Here in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, there is a 100 yard rock outcropping from which I can cast poppers into depths of more than 100 feet of turqoise water.
Being able to cast lures into water that deep is a really unique opportunity. For example on Cape Cod, most of the time when fishing from shore, I am casting lures into water of less than 10 feet.
There is no telling what species of fish one might encounter when fishing a spot surrounded by such deep water! In fact we caught mani mahi while fishing in a boat not far offshore from where this rock outcropping is located.
Ryan Collins
Mahi-mahi had suddenly moved in within just a mile or two of the beach here in Mexico, so Lauren and I decided to hire a panga boat and try our luck.
In this video we are fishing with local charter captain Juan Santana and his nephew Enrique, in the Los Arcos area of Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Incredibly, the water here next to shore drops off quickly to 500 feet. This brings the mahi (and other species like sailfish, marlin and yellowfin tuna) well within reach of small boats fishing just a mile or so off the beach.
Ryan Collins
48hrs ago the beach in front of our rental condo here in Mexico exploded with a big blitz of jack crevalles pushing baitfish right into the surf.
I first caught glimpse of the mayhem from atop our condo, where I had a birds eye view of the jacks chasing some sort of bait that closely resembled peanut bunker.
After watching the blitz I hustled down to our room to grab my fishing equipment. Within a few minutes I was on the beach amongst a crowd of locals who were reeling them in fast and furious. My wife Lauren would even end up reeling in a couple!
Ryan Collins
During the 2018 fishing season our members contributed more than 9,500 posts to our private Cape Cod fishing forum.
Many of these posts contain really valuable information for fishing techniques and locations. I myself have learned a lot by reading them!
Periodically throughout this coming fall, winter and spring, I will highlight some of what I feel are the most valuable forum posts of all and feature them here on the blog for members.
With so many posts going up so fast, it was easy this past summer to miss the best stuff. The rest of this blog will feature two very helpful and specific posts about fluke fishing the Monomoy area, submitted by MFCC members Capt. Robbie Briggs and Justin Demers.
Ryan Collins
On this very memorable late October morning, I woke up before sunrise to prepare for my first ever Cape Cod fly fishing trout trip.
I have caught striped bass and other saltwater species on the fly rod, but never have I fly fished for trout. So needless to say I was pretty excited!
The morning was fresh, cool and picturesque. The fall foliage was coming in nicely, providing a perfectly scenic backdrop to an already very beautiful and serene Cape Cod kettle pond.
Ryan Collins
Over the course of my 33 years on this planet I have observed and participated in the rapid rise of technology. With the advent of cellphones and the internet, life began to change in ways I never could of predicted. If you are my age or older, then I am sure you can relate!
I'm only going to write a sentence or two about the negative side of technology. For example, one of the most obvious negatives is that many of invest hours of our day staring at a pixelated screen.
Even if you spend just three hours per day staring at your cellphone, over the course of one average American lifetime, that would amount to a staggering nine years of your life spent staring at your cellphone!
