Hey MFCC, Garet Suomala here again with another fishy story. This story is about my latest day of trout fishing from the row boat, back on April 24th.
The day started of like any other day. I worked until 11am at T.J. Maxx, got the bus home, then at a little past noon Ryan picked me up for another fishing adventure.
We did not get right to fishing that day, and instead had to stop at the Goose Hummuck in Orleans first to get some gear. This was the first time I met Ian Bragdon of Team Goose!
My Fishing Cape Codders are consistently catching schoolie striped bass from Nantucket Sound, all the way north to Duxbury, MA.
The best action is coming from the bays, harbors and inlets of Buzzard's Bay and the Sounds, but schoolie stripers are now even feeding and being caught along the beaches of Cape Cod Bay.
I haven't personally been able to do much fishing the past few days, but I have been following the posts here on MFCC from our members inside our private forum.
The rest of this post will provide a recap of what our members have been catching and encountering.
The cut off date for our spring apparel pre-sale will be Sunday, May 5th, so now is your chance to stock up on some new MFCC gear for the summer!
Orders are expected to ship on or before Memorial Day weekend.
Members should make sure to use their discount code at checkout to receive 20% all items. There are camo hats, men's and women's short and long sleeve tees and sweatshirts, women's fleece vests and men's baseball tees available.
For the past few years we've run a striped bass derby here on My Fishing Cape Cod. The derby has been a lot of fun!
However, for the 2019 season I have a new idea for a fishing competition that I think will be even more exciting and fun than the derby.
"MFCC Challenges" will be a new type of fishing competition for members of My Fishing Cape Cod. At least once per month I will post a new challenge, and the first member of My Fishing Cape Cod to complete the challenge will win whatever prize is up for grabs.
The rest of this blog post will explain more about MFCC Challenges, how they will work, who can win, and what prizes are up for grabs.
Whew that's a big recipe name, huh? Well let me tell you, tautog with creamy tomatoes and cornmeal fried okra will be your new best friend this spring.
If you are a fisherman yourself or you're married to one like I am, you know that this is tautog season here on Cape Cod. Thankfully for me, this means fresh caught fish!
Springtime in New England always brings a big sigh of relief. The long winters we endure can seem to last a lifetime. When the sun shines, the birds start chirping, and flowers, plants and trees start to bud. You know winter is finally done and it couldn't be a better feeling!
With the Cape Cod saltwater fishing season about to kick-off, this will be the last "Costa Rica Saturday" blog post for quite some time.
However, I'm going to continue blogging about Costa Rica, but over at MFCC's new "sister website" https://arenaalta.com.
Lauren and I are helping Costa Rica's Arena Alta Wildlife Village & Reserve with their online marketing. We haven't purchased property yet at Arena Alta (which is right next to the beach where I do all my fishing in Costa Rica) but we are saving up our pennies and seriously thinking about it. Definitely check out the Arena Alta website and let me know what you think!
Winters can be grueling here on Cape Cod. We sometimes experience record snowfalls and epic Arctic cold spells. Like me, I am sure many of you cannot wait to get out on the water and wet a line.
Right now, fishing from your boat may still feel like a long ways off. However, it won't be too much longer until the saltwater fishing turns on.
Right now water temps throughout most of Cape Cod are a chilly 48 degrees. The good news is that the fishing (especially for tautog) ought to take a turn for the better as soon as water temps warm up.
After my rise to fame on this past season of MFCC TV, it has come to my attention that it is my duty to give the public what it wants...more cooking your catch recipes!
I'm kidding, I am not famous, but I am excited to share with you 22 new ways to cook your catch this season, every Sunday starting next week through the end of September!
Starting next Sunday, April 28, there will be a new recipe posted each week on the blog, giving you new ways to cook your catch or how to use locally sourced shellfish and other types of fish.
I've been having a lot of fun writing up these recipes, and Ryan has very much enjoyed the taste testing portion of this project too! Each recipe was created to be easy and with not a lot of ingredients...because no one wants to attempt a 30-ingredient recipe!
All of these recipes are either my very own, inspired by dishes I've had while traveling, or some variation of a dish my Mom would make me growing up. I really hope you enjoy them!
Here's a breakdown of just a few of the recipes to look forward to this coming season.
This past winter my wife Lauren and I guided two awesome groups of MFCC anglers and their wives in Costa Rica. We explored the jungle together, saw sloths and monkeys, and of course went fishing!
If you'd like to learn more about the area of Costa Rica we visited, then please head over to https://arenaalta.com.
The fishing from the beach in the days leading up to this kayak trip had been unusually slow. However, when I woke up on the morning of February 4th 2019, I saw huge topwater explosions about a mile offshore.
I'm happy to report I caught my first striped bass of the 2019 season this past Wednesday afternoon April 17th!
I was fishing from my kayak on Cape Cod and was very surprised to find that one of the stripers was covered in sea lice.
Sea lice are marine external parasites that feed on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host marine fish. Sea lice often "hitch a ride" on the skin of striped bass which have been swimming in the open ocean.
