Late summer means that it's time to soak up as much sun and have as many beach days as possible. Plus with the kids heading back to school soon, many of Cape Cod's beaches will have a bit more breathing room. This is perfect for combining a beach day with the family or significant other, with a live eel striped bass fishing trip.
This past Sunday my girlfriend Lauren and Cammy (the cocka-poodle she was dog sitting) and I all took a mid afternoon trip to the beach. It was a bright sunny day - not ideal for bass fishing that's for sure.
Instead of hitting our usual beach spot we made a move and decided to make a trek and stake out a spot at a lesser known estuary/inlet in the area. Not only would this be a cool spot to relax in the sand, but I'd also have a chance to play around with some schoolie stripers.
Upon arrival I actually bumped into Drew, a My Fishing Cape Cod member. Drew and I had chatted a bit the week prior about areas to try from shore. Unfortunately he got skunked at the first area I had recommended he try, but luckily for me the same inlet we had decided to have a beach day next to had produced close to 20 schoolies for Drew.
Good news!
After putting in some time with the GF and the dog I got to exploring the creek. The tide was still coming in when I jumped into the creek and took a video. I always think it's pretty cool to jump right in and explore the same spots stripers roam!
I prefer to use smaller size eels when fishing from shore, especially if I know there are small bass around. The small bass often times grab a larger eel but don't get the hook. I think you have a better chance of getting a solid hook set on a small bass if you use a smaller eel to begin with.
This particular inlet was not very deep and the rip line that formed outside the creek was probably only 6 or so feet deep at most. Therefore I didn't need to use any weight. Just lob the eel out there on a hook - relatively simple.
More often than not I've had my best success just letting the eel float along in the current, and just slowly lifting and lowering the rod tip to keep the eel bobbing just off the bottom. When a bass hits, I usually drop the rod, let the line get tight and set the hook.
Of course things don't always work out that way! It's pretty common to miss fish, especially if they are less than 10 pounds.
About mid way through the outgoing tide Iwaded out towards the rip in my bathing suit and lobbed an eel out into the current. It took a couple more casts but I eventually landed a nice little fish - maybe a 28 inch keeper at best.
I think I caught the last fish in that rip outside the inlet because I did not get any more bumps or whacks after landing him. The water had become very shallow and extremely warm due to the backwaters of the creek now emptying out. Now I know that for this spot, the first half of the outgoing tide is best.
I'll be looking forward to hitting up this inlet again in October when some true cows move in to feed during the outgoing. Until then I'll go back to planning beach days around prime fishing spots!
Click here for areas where you'll have a decent chance at catching a fish while the family enjoys a nice day on the beach.
Have a great one!
Ryan
