Ryan Collins

This adventure began with a visit to Dave Steeves of Goose Hummock, to get rigged up with saltwater fly fishing equipment.

Dave has more than 20 years of experience fly fishing the waters around Cape Cod, and is definitely the "go to guy" for fly fishing the Cape.

I needed a setup that could handle a 30 pound striped bass. Even though I have never fly fished before in my life, I feel catching a 30 pounder to be a challenging (but attainable) goal for me.

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This was my first visit to Goose Hummock this season, and just as captain Eric has been telling us in the podcast, the store was stocked to the brim with everything anyone could ever need for fishing the Cape Cod area.

The sales process was phenomenally simple. I told Dave what I hoped to accomplish and in about 10 minutes I had an 8 weight Sage Motive 1190-4 fly rod and a Sage 3280 reel.

One of the "must have" flies which Dave recommended is the sand eel pattern pictured below. Sand eels are a predominant baitfish all throughout Cape Cod, so this fly will work just about everywhere.

Now that I had everything I needed, Dave and I headed outside to the boat ramp behind the Goose Hummock shop for a fly casting lesson. 

I remember leaving the Goose feeling very good about how things were progressing.

My first official fly fishing adventure began on Tuesday June 21, at the ridiculous hour of 1:30am. However like many of you, I never have trouble getting out of bed to go fishing.

At this point in the day, my "plan" was to actually go tuna fishing with Cullen of Cape Star. However, winds gusting to 25mph, plus the possibility of thunderstorms, effectively killed our dreams of tuna.

With tuna fishing no longer an option, I hustled to change into my waders and get the fly fishing gear in order. I would make Tuesday June 21st the day of my first fly rod striper.

By 3:30am I was ready to rock n' roll, and by 4:30am I was at my first fly fishing spot of the day. I had my first-ever fly fishing bite about 30 minutes into fishing...

Just after that fish bit, the thunderstorms to my west began moving in on me quick. I ended the trip by sprinting down the beach (while still in my waders) all the way back to my vehicle.

Waterfront resident enjoying their ocean view and morning cup of coffee must of thought I looked pretty silly, but I really did not want to be on the beach with all that electricity in the air!