Fly Fishing the Monomoy Rips

Note from Ryan

This report from Johan originally appeared inside the Fly Fishing section of our private forum. The fly fishing section of our forum is the place to go for friendly Cape Cod fishing advice, reports and camaraderie. You can click the button below to visit the forum.

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On June 20th 2023 I did my yearly trip to the Monomoy Rips and had a great day fishing with Patrick Cassidy of Cape Cod on the Fly, who not only put us on the fish but also took some great photos which I have included below.

One of the highlights was that we saw a great white that vertically breached the surface. The entire body was above the water and I estimated it was 12-13’. Quite surreal!

I brought my buddy Nate with me who is an avid freshwater guy but who had never caught a bass on fly.

We both had a great day with about 20 bass each of us in the old slot range and we probably lost about the same number. There were numerous smaller fish down to 22” were caught as well.

We doubled up several times. A 6 inch white/pink squid fly did most of the work.

Photo credit: Patrick Cassidy of Cape Cod on the Fly

We fished Bearses, Pollock and Stonehorse rips, and followed the birds in between.

Besides the great white, the highlight was that Nate broke his PB four times. It started with a 28”, quickly followed by a 31” and 34” at Bearse’s.

A few hours later he landed a fish around 36”.

It was a heck of an introduction to fly fishing for striped bass.

On our way home we ran into more birds west of Monomoy and l landed a couple of lower slots. We didn’t hook any bluefish but we did see them.

Photo credit: Patrick Cassidy of Cape Cod on the Fly

Note from Ryan

SHOW ME!

About the author

Johan Frenje

Grew up in Sweden, spending a lot of time there fishing for salmon, trout, grayling and pike. Came to Boston in the late 90s for work. Met a girl from Martha’s Vineyard, got married and had kids. About 20 yrs later, my passion is now fly fishing the salt. Morris Island and Monomoy flats were initially the regions I fished the most. Moved to the north shore about 10 yrs ago and Cape Ann and Plum Island are now the areas I mainly fish these days, but do fish the entire coastline from Housatonic in CT to Kennebec in ME. I also fish Cape Cod as much as I can. Such a beautiful area. 2020 was the year my daughter’s fishing interest flourished with the first bass on spin and fly.