My First Trip Of The New Year | January 9th Report

Ryan Collins

I spent the past 48 hours exploring all over Cape Cod in search of the elusive winter holdover striped bass.

I had a great experience and it felt wonderful to be outside breathing the icy cold winter air.

I have not been fishing since Costa Rica, and this was my first trip of the New Year. The plan was to catch my first fish of 2016, however nothing is guaranteed when fishing for stripers in the winter.

​I would guess that 99% of the Cape's striper population has migrated to warmer waters. Despite the difficult odds I felt confident and was excited to give it a shot!

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This fishing trip actually began Wednesday night at the Canal. Fishing the Canal at this time of the year might seem crazy, but I was curious what I might find.

By 8PM the sky above was pitch black and full of stars. Suddenly there was a splash, and then another.

A school of what I think were smelt were swimming by my feet, just a few yards off the riprap.​ I didn't catch a thing but it was a cool sight to see.

Thursday morning I swung by the Canal again, just in case...​

I walked down the service road and watched as a tug passed thru.

The air temp at sunrise was a refreshing 27 degrees.

With not much going on fishing wise at the Canal, I decided it was time to make the drive to an off-Cape destination I felt might support a population of holdover stripers.

I was greeted by quite the winter scene. There was snow among the eel grass and slabs of ice along the marsh channel. 

As I stepped onto the marsh bed I heard a shuffle beneath my feet. Then a much louder thrashing sound and finally a splash.

Upon closer investigation I found a tunnel which led from the creek bed up inside the marsh bank.

My guess is that a family of muskrats were living in the ground beneath my feet, and that they had just made an escape and were swimming away submerged beneath the icy water's surface.​

I had a good feeling because I know stripers sometimes winter over here. 

I made several casts and spent a good 20 minutes fishing the area without any bites and without seeing any muskrats. I decided it was time to move on.

A lot of the surfcasting I do requires a lot of walking, and searching for holdover striped bass is no different.

Expect to log some miles and keep your eyes peeled for drainage ditches...​

I explored more territory and fished a while longer, but soon felt the urge to make a big move. 

I decided to go back on Cape and visit some areas I have not fished in 2 years.

By the mid afternoon I had arrived at the spot. The sun had warmed the air and with no wind at all the scene almost felt spring-like.

I walked through the woods and emerged into what could easily be described as waving fields of grain. Only in this case they were cattails and eel grass.

I felt pretty alive in such a unique environment. It was like stepping into an entirely different world.

I could now see the spot where I intended to fish. The tide was right and the place felt alive. 

Easing towards the water's edge I made my first cast. After 2 years of not fishing this area at all it felt good to be here again.