In today's episode we catch up with Ryan Collins off MFCC who's fresh off a trip out east for bluefin tuna. Ryan also updates us on the striper fishing at the canal and from the beaches. Next up is Mac Escher of the Goose Hummock Shop, who provides us with a Cape Cod kettle pond freshwater report for trout and smallmouth bass.
MFCC member Bruno Demir of Cape & Islands Mitsubishi gives his giant bluefin tuna and tautog report, followed by an update for striped bass and blue fish at the Monomoy Rips. Bruno is also starting to think more about doing some cod and haddock fishing.
Last but not least, we cap off today's podcast with two special guests from the Coast Guard - Matt Karras & Mark Phillips. These guys provide us with some excellent tips for staying safe while boating and kayaking the waters off Cape Cod and the Islands.
Kevin Collins:
Well hello and welcome to another edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast here from myfishingcapecod.com. I'm your host Kevin Collins, back at you with our last October edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast for the 2022 season. Man, the weather certainly has improved. It's allowed folks to get out there on the water and the fishing remains pretty solid here as we push toward November. Certainly plenty of unique fishing opportunities regarding plenty of species here on Cape Cod. And on this podcast we're going to dive into a variety of fishing options here. We're going to start off with MFCC founder and creator Ryan Collins.
We're then going to be joined by first time podcast guests, Mac Escher of the Goose Hummock. Next up will be our good buddy and proud MFCC member Bruno Demir of Cape and Islands Mitsubishi. And last but not least, we're going to have two more first time podcast guests, Matt Karas and Mark Phillips of the United States Coast Guard are going to join me to talk a little bit about boat and vessel safety here during the fall fishing season. So we've got a great show in store for you today. Let's dive right in. Well, as usual, our first guest on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod Podcast is none other than MFCC founder and creator Ryan Collins. Ryan, how are you on this beautiful Friday?
Ryan:
I'm doing great Kevin. And boy, it was a beautiful day today. For late October, it doesn't get any better.
Kevin Collins:
I know you had a chance to get out on the water today with Captain Cullen Lundholm. Why don't you tell us about how your trip went?
Ryan:
We had a great trip and we found plenty of rec tuna east of the Cape. And on board for this trip we had a bunch of members. We had Sebastian, John, Frank, Mike. So if you guys are listening, it was great to fish with you. The tuna today, we landed one that was 46 inches. We landed one that was 49 inches. We got both those fish on hogy paddle tails. And they were relatively finicky today, Kevin. They were feeding on butter fish. We have lots of good opportunities, lots of cast into surface feeding fish, but they more or less weren't cooperating.
But fortunately we were able to hook two. And I actually cast my camera into a feed and I ended up hooking and landing a fish that got wrapped around my camera line. So I didn't have a hook on the line, but I still was able to catch one today myself, which was pretty cool. So the camera got lassoed around the fish's body pointing down towards [inaudible 00:03:01] tail, so probably an angle that is impossible to get any other way and an angle that I'll probably never ever get again. So it was a cool shot and I'll definitely be using that clip as part of something in the future.
Kevin Collins:
Still quite a few decent size slot fish, Striped Bass in the Monomoy Rips. Are you hearing of bass still inside Cape Cod Bay and other areas?
Ryan:
I've heard of slot fish being caught in Buzzard's Bay and in the canal. In particular over the last couple of weeks, the canal, which has been on the slower side at least compared to how we all got spoiled years ago with the canal being light cloud action all summer long. It wasn't really like that this year, but the last couple weeks have kind of made up for it in a way. I got into some good action with my dad from my boat last week off the east end of the canal fishing by the green cans and that's a pretty good bet when the current's moving into Cape Cod Bay. Seems to bring all the life out the east end, and sometimes you can intercept some of those schools that are exiting the canal by those green cans.
But aside from that, oh we had the surf casters tournament and the amount of stripers that were caught during last weekend's tournament was pretty astounding. Lots of double digit catches reported mostly around inlets and estuaries in particular. You mentioned Cape Cod Bay, so the inlets and estuaries along the southern portion of Cape Cod Bay produced very well this past week. No big fish but plenty of 22 to 32 inch size stripers. And I also heard similar reports on the south side, some of those inlets and estuaries. But it seemed like Cape Cod Bay, the inlets and actuaries were just really producing well for the people who participated in our tournament. And if any of you guys are listening, thanks so much. I had a great time.
Kevin Collins:
Just want to talk a little bit more about the tournament and if off the top of your head you could rattle off some of the winners if you have them.
Ryan:
Yes, the tournament, the meetup was a success. We had Snowy owl Coffee, which was perfect because everybody had been up for 24 hours, more or less. Some of these guys fished for 24 hours straight, which was horrific. And Derek Jones and Ben Sussman were the winning team. They caught two fish that were, I think the total was 65 inches, so that's about 32 and a half inches per fish. And I'm not sure exactly where they were fishing, but awesome fish. And it was just a great excuse to meet other surf casters from My Fish and Cape Cod. So we'll do more events like that probably through the winter and into the spring.
Kevin Collins:
Another thing I wanted to ask you about real quick Ryan are albees, for the kind of wrapping up here in the fall.
Ryan:
I personally haven't been out after them, but I know some members inside the forum said they saw them earlier in the week, I think down more towards the `Elizabeth Islands area.
Kevin Collins:
And the last thing, just we get a decent day today. Are you going to get back out on the water this weekend? What's in the works for you?
Ryan:
I'm debating going out with a crew that we have going with Captain Cullen tomorrow. The weather's looking really good. I'm sure there'll be other folks out there as well with it being such a nice Saturday that is predicted. And I'm thinking maybe I'll go back out there and cast some more underwater cameras into the schools of tuna that we encountered today. You're not going to get many more days, so you got to make the most of it. So that's my short term plan. We'll see how it goes.
Kevin Collins:
All right Ryan, thanks for carving out some of your time on this beautiful Friday to visit with us. Always appreciate the insight and we'll look forward to catching up with you on the next edition of the podcast.
Ryan:
Sounds good, Kevin. Have a great day.
Kevin Collins:
Well next up on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast is a new guest, Mac Escher from down at the Goose Hummock shop in beautiful Orleans. And Mac, how are you doing on this beautiful Friday?
Mac: guest #2:
Very good, thank you for having me.
Kevin Collins:
Not a problem at all. I understand you're a big freshwater guy, Mac. Give us a quick little freshwater report from down there on Cape.
Mac: guest #2:
Yeah, most definitely. So I've been fishing a lot of the smaller ponds around here, whether it's Nickerson or Sheep's Pond, targeting a lot of Small Mouth Bass. But just the other night I was up in Mashpee, Mashpee Wakeby, and was killing like three pounders, just throwing wacky rigs all around the pads, targeting structure. And then right at sunset was throwing a little spook and got a just under six. So it was a beautiful fish and then just caught them throughout the night on top water. It was a beautiful night, no wind. So it was great for top water fish.
Kevin Collins:
Now the fresh water fishery is something that gets, I think, neglected a little bit on Cape Cod just because of all the different salt water opportunities. Can you talk a little bit about the different opportunities as we go into the fall here? Knock on wood, we've had a pretty warm, mild start to the fall, so the ponds and whatnot shouldn't freeze for quite a while. So I'm guessing there's going to be a nice window of time to get out there and explore a little bit here.
Mac: guest #2:
There definitely is. Whether we're targeting Nickerson Ponds, which I always hit in the fall, those trout will be in hitting those up. And then the smallies, I know a couple guys that have been doing very good on those. And like you said, it's not going to be freezing up for a little while. And even when it does, that's very good around here too. But like you said, a lot of the fresh water's neglected around here due to the salt water, but it's very good.
Kevin Collins:
Now Mac, do you prefer using baits and lures to live bait this time of year?
Mac: guest #2:
I do, this time of year I do. The reason I do it mostly is because I can make that bait do what I want. When you use a live bait, you can't control what it's doing, whether it's a shiner on a bobber or on the bottom or a night crawler. Instead of a night crawler, I'll use a wacky worm or a Texas rig. And I just do it so I can control what the bait is doing, get those bass to react. It's getting colder so I'm going to start working things a little bit slower than I normally do when it's hot out, just because the fish are going to want things a little bit slower. But I just like it so, like I said, I can make the bait do exactly what I want. Yeah.
Kevin Collins:
And another thing I wanted to ask you about is the temperature changes. You're getting, I'll say later sunrises and earlier sunsets. And obviously the air and the water is going to be cooler at those times, whereas in the middle of the day when the sun's high in the sky, the water might warm up a little. Are you finding that the fish are a little bit more active during the day or in the evening? Or does it not really matter with those temperature changes?
Mac: guest #2:
I mean, as it's always been, first light and last light are always great. But I've been fishing mostly the afternoons, just mainly because I'm going after school. But I know some guys that have been going in the morning and they've been doing just as good as I have. A lot of my friends, my father's friends, they fish a lot of tournaments and they've been doing pretty good. But the other night, like I said, I was able to fish all the way an hour after dark and I was still catching larges on top water.
Kevin Collins:
Last question here. If you had one fishing trip left in the season, let's say for the fall year, and you're heading out the door and you're going to one of your favorite honey holes, heading to a kettle pond on Cape, we're not going to give away all your spots, but we're just going to create a scenario here. What are the, I'll say the three main things that you need in your tackle bag? The three main plugs or baits that you need.
Mac: guest #2:
All right, three things. I'm definitely going to start out with some rubber worms, whether they're Senkos, I'll just go with a Senko because I can do a lot of stuff with a Senko, whether it's a Texas rig or a wacky, you can even do a net and cut it in half. Definitely go with the top water, whether it's little-
Mac:
... cut in half, definitely go with the Topwater, whether it's a little spook or a Whopper Plopper, and then, since it's getting windier here in the fall, spinnerbaits definitely. Spinnerbaits have been killing it. I'd go with a spinnerbait, a spook and a wacky rig.
Kevin:
All right, Mac, really appreciate the insight. Thanks for taking a few minutes on the podcast. I know Phil put you on the spot, but it was great meeting you, my friend, and hopefully our paths will cross down the line.
Mac:
Awesome. Thank you, man.
Kevin:
Well, up next on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod Podcast is our good buddy, Bruno Demir from down at Cape & Islands Mitsubishi.
Bruno, how are you doing today?
Bruno:
I'm doing great, Kevin. It's a little breezy, but a sunny day here on Cape Cod.
Kevin:
Now, I know it's been pretty breezy this week. We've had some strong south to southwest winds, but you did have a chance to get out on Monday. Tell us about your trip.
Bruno:
Yeah, so I was actually fishing out of Sesuit Harbor instead of Saquatucket. Instead of fishing the south of The Cape, we're fishing out of Cape Cod Bay and into P-Town. That's one of the beauties of Cape Cod is, as you start getting into late season, you have the opportunity to move your boat to different locations and different fisheries. Right now, we're fishing out of Cape Cod Bay, and I'm mainly focused on trying to get a couple giant tuna fish before the October-November quota is filled.
Kevin:
Now talk a little bit about the last week or two. It seems like the wreck fishing has died off and your focus and the focus of a lot of the tuna fishermen on Cape Cod has shifted to giants.
Bruno:
Yeah. This time of the year is when you get the most money per pound for a commercial bluefin. This week, I fished off of P-Town off of Peaked Hill Bar. It was not the best day. On Sunday, it was a pretty good day. There was several fish taken out of that area. Monday, unfortunately, wasn't as good. I believe only two fish were landed off of Peaked Hill, not many bites, but it was interesting because, the week before, there was whales and birds and plenty of [inaudible 00:13:20]. It looks like that kind of died off, but they're still there, just not in huge numbers.
Last time I checked, NOAA quota was about 80% full, so I suspect that the quota will be filled at some point next week, and that'll be a wrap for the tuna season and pretty much a wrap for the Gaviota and Sesuit, at which point we'll move back over to Saquatucket and fish the south side and east of Chatham for the remainder of the season.
Kevin:
Oh, that sounds like a plan. I was on board with you, Bruno, for the journey from Saquatucket all the way around to Sesuit, and we didn't have a ton of luck spotting the wreck fish that day, but it certainly was a beautiful day for a ride. It just goes to show you, like you mentioned, the versatility you can have fishing Cape Cod both in the bay and out the back, out east. You've just got so many options to target so many different species.
Bruno:
Yeah, you if you look at it, I mean, speaking of options right now, there's a lot of people doing well in Buzzards Bay on Tautog. That's obviously a very rocky part of Cape Cod and where historically the best Tautog fishing cutter is out of, but to go from Cape Cod Bay to the Sound side, to the east of Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay, there's just so many options.
Also, I want to let folks know there are still really big stripers of blue fish at Monomoy and, the Monomoy rips, as of last week, people are still catching key precise slot stripe around on there, so I suspect that this weekend, as Saturday shaping up to be a pretty calm day, if you want to get one last fish before your season is over, I would say that this weekend is going to be a really good opportunity for that at Monomoy.
Kevin:
Talk a little bit about your plans, Bruno, with the Gavi. I know you said, in the immediate future, you're going to still try to target a few giants, but I know you also like to go out and explore the cod and haddock bite as well before the season ends.
Bruno:
Yeah. Typically, in November, the first week or two of November right after Halloween, I try to find a good break in the weather. Historically, we've always been lucky with that where we'll get one day where it's gritty, calm, sunny skies, nice 55-degree weather, and that'll be my last trip for the season where I'll go east of Chatham out to The Cod and Haddock grounds and do one last trip both of cod and haddock to fill the freezer for the rest of the winter. I'm looking forward to that. That's coming up soon. Of course, on those trips, we try to bring good friends along and see if we could get some folks back home with some nice fillets.
Kevin:
Last thing I wanted to ask you about is, usually I ask Ryan this question when it's cold and rainy and windy, when you can't get out on the water necessarily or it's tough to get out on the boat or impossible with the wind, it provides a good time for you to catch up on stuff at home, stuff at work. For Ryan, that's working on the computer all the time on the website. For you, it's managing your two car dealerships, so how's everything going in the car world?
Bruno:
It's doing great. More and more, we're seeing the chip shortage that ended up breaking the supply chains in the automotive industry. It's starting to bounce back, and we're pretty well-stocked with vehicles, especially with pre-owned pickup up trucks for those guys that need to trailer their boat around. If you're in the market, give us a shout. Take a look at it on our website at www.capemitsu.com.
Kevin:
I got a beautiful test drive in one of your new vehicles from the dock at the Sesuit Harbor the other day. It was awesome.
Bruno:
Yeah, so we ended up looking for ragfish and went all the way around Cape Cod from the south side and ended up in P-Town, and we were like, "We might as well just dock the boat in Cape Cod Bay instead of going all the way back around it if we're all the way up here," and we did. I mean, you were lucky enough to get a ride in a Mitsubishi from Sesuit Harbor back to Saquatucket. What did you think?
Kevin:
I thought it was beautiful. Let's see, we had five people, I think, that day. It fit us all comfortably with all the gear in the back. I believe that was the new Mitsubishi Outlander we drove in, and I got to tell you what. If you're a family man or a family woman listening to the podcast and you've got kids with soccer equipment, football equipment, fishing equipment, it's going to fit five, six bodies no problem, plus all the bags in the back. It was a great ride.
Bruno:
Thanks. Thanks, Kevin.
Kevin:
All right, Bruno, we're going to let you go for this week. I know you get a lot of work to attend to my friend, but we'll look forward to catching up with you on our next podcast, which is going to be the very beginning of November, and hopefully we still get a few good trips left and us for November.
Bruno:
Sounds good, Kevin. Tight lines, everybody. Talk to you soon.
Kevin:
Well, next up on this week's edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod Podcast, we've got two very special first-time guests on the show today. We want to welcome in Matt Harris and Mark Phillips of the United States Coast Guard, and they're here to talk about boater safety among other things.
Matt and Mark, welcome to the show.
Matt Harris:
Thanks for having us, Kevin.
Mark Phillips:
Yeah, thanks for having us, Kevin. It's good to be here.
Kevin:
Why don't you each take a turn real quick and give us a little bit on your background, where you're both from, how you got involved in the Coast Guard and how long you've been in the Coast Guard.
Matt Harris:
All right. I'm BM1 Matt Harris. I've been in the Coast Guard around 15 years. I'm originally from the North Shore up in Beverly. I joined the Coast Guard pretty much right out of high school at 18 and haven't looked back since
Mark Phillips:
BM1 Mark Phillips, originally from Connecticut. I guess you would say I cut my teeth out on the water from about eight years old out at the Watch Hill area in Rhode Island. My uncle used to take me fishing, boating. Kind of the same deal as Matt, I just got through high school, kind of wanted to somehow figure out a way to stay out in the water, so I joined the Coast Guard in 2004 and, again, been there ever since.
Kevin:
Where are you guys currently stationed?
Matt Harris:
We're currently stationed at the Northeast Regional Fisheries Training Center on Joint Base Cape Cod. What that is is all Coast Guard boarding officers that board commercial fishing vessels. Anybody that you see out there that goes and boards the commercial fishing vessels, they come through our school to learn how to enforce the laws and regulations and everything that goes into commercial and a little bit of recreational fishing.
Kevin:
That's a great segue into what we want to talk about today, boating safety and boating regulations. I guess one of my first questions would be, when you guys board a vessel, I think I've been boarded maybe once or twice, Ryan and myself, for simple checks, and I think we passed with flying colors, but what are some common, I'll say, mistakes or infractions that you guys spot out there when you're doing your inspections?
Matt Harris:
I think a lot of the things that... Usually, when the Coast Guard is going to come on board, they're going to come on board, they're going to introduce themselves. The first thing they're going to ask you for is your license and boating registration basically. It's almost a traffic-stop type situation, but what we're there for especially with our recreational boaters is education really. Boating can be a very dangerous situation, so we're checking and making sure everyone has a life jacket that fits and is proper quantity and quality, it's not rotting away. We want to make sure that you have proper throwable-type PFD, your flares are up to date, your fire extinguishers are up to date. Fire extinguishers do expire. If you look on the bottom, there's a stamp, so if it's more than 12 years old-
Speaker 2:
If you look on the bottom, there's a stamp. If it's more than 12-years-old, you need to get a new one, even if the little indication says it's in green.
Speaker 3:
Primary, I mean, when we get into the commercial regulations, it's a lot more in depth when we're talking commercial fishing, where you'll be selling catch and stuff like that. There's a whole other process we have for that. We specify at our schoolhouse, go into depth with that. Again, I think life saving equipment's probably your number one violation that we would find and that we would cite out on the water, but also the one we take most serious in education, as Matt said.
Kevin:
Now, when you're out there I guess doing these inspections and interacting with local fishermen, hopefully the response is generally pretty good. They understand what you're doing and that in general, your presence out there, I think, should be a comforting thing to most boaters to know you're there in case something goes wrong, but also to educate boaters on how to properly equip their vessels for the worst-case scenario.
Speaker 3:
We're fortunate here in the northeast to be part of a pretty strong culture that, specifically on Cape Cod here, involves almost everything on the water. Whether it's summertime recreation, whether it's history and commercial fishing, variety of other, the whaling industry, the whales. There's so much life here that, to be part of that culture too, it just sets a good vibe for us to work with the public and usually vice versa for the public in relation to the Coast Guard.
I think we're already set up for success there, where usually, it's a fairly pleasant experience on the water. Again, it goes a long way when you're just interacting with the public. We have a variety of other parts of the Coast Guard that do a lot for us too, like the Coast Guard Auxiliary. They do boating safety. They offer classes, safe boating classes.
Speaker 4:
Which are free. I highly recommend. I took one when I was 15-years-old. Take them with your kids. I think they're eligible at the age of 12 to go take a safe boating class. Even if you don't have a boat, it's still good to know the information. They're free. I think you have to pay for the textbook, but generally I think that's pretty cheap. They're all run through the Coast Guard Auxiliary. It's a really good program.
Kevin:
The community based ones too. How many local sailing clubs offer safe boating for kids these days? It's awesome. Whether it's sailing, surfing, surf camp, small boat camp, there seems to be just... You have so many different entities in this area of the country that were already set up for success for sending that voice out to be safe out in the water.
Speaker 2:
My daughter did a kayaking camp out in [inaudible 00:24:43] this year.
Kevin:
Now personal question for you guys. Do either one of you like to fish?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I would say that. I would say more of maybe a problem over a fishing hobby, an obsession.
Kevin:
Welcome to the club.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, the Cape Cods really got me spun out because we're talking four sides of water here. I grew up in Rhode Island and you're dealing with south facing beaches and salt ponds, which is great, but I mean, you're talking Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, Vineyard and Sound, Outer Cape. It's endless opportunity out here.
Kevin:
What is one of your favorite things to target or one of your favorite ways to fish perhaps?
Speaker 3:
I'd say primarily when I started taking it to that next level from hobby to obsession was surf casting at night for stripe bass. Then it's leaned into I'll be fishing in the fall time and tautog now is my new jam just because stripe bass has been in a little rough shape the last few years and tautog fishing's fantastic. Actually in Rhode Island we have a world class fishery. Again, that's where I'm from. I got three kids now too, so the night shift is a little harder to come by. 10 o'clock to 4:00 AM shifts are not as easy to recover from as they used to be.
Kevin:
I like hearing you say tautog is a passion, because I think it's an underrated fish, an underappreciated fish. And it's also really delicious too when you take it home for the table.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Thanks for asking.
Speaker 2:
In addition to your role, I'll say conducting inspections and whatnot out there commercially and recreationally on the water, there are worst case scenarios that happen. The Coast Guard, I'm sure is involved in many, I'll say different responses and rescues each year. Just wanted to ask you guys, I think a common question for our listeners might be looking at you guys a little bit as superheroes. Do you have a story that you can share or that you feel comfortable sharing or stories from your past experiences where you know guys were able to help, I'll say, make a difference with a particular vessel or crew?
Kevin:
I think we both can come up with the arsenal. We'll try to keep it to one each on this question, but I'm Matt, you want to go ahead first?
Speaker 3:
Sure. I think my biggest one was out in Tillamook Bay, Oregon. I was stationed out there from 2009 to 2014. West Coast is a lot different from the east coast. We have a lot of trope out here. Out there, it's large ocean swells, and with that, the breaking surf, we had a commercial fishing boat coming in through our bar. It was about 10 to 14 foot breaking seas where we were at. They took the south jetty. There was a north and a south jetty. They took it a little too close, got capsized. There's two people on board. Thankfully it was a 48 foot fishing boat. Thankfully they were both wearing their life jackets. That's what saved their life that day.
We were there, but the life jackets definitely saved their life. They popped up to the surface. We were able to throw a line to one of them who was in the braking surf. He grabbed it, pulled him out to break surf a little bit. We were able to wrangle him back in from there. We took, did a direct pickup, drove right up on the captain, picked him up their boat. Their boat was gone, but they were still here. So that life jacket's definitely, definitely where it's at.
Kevin:
It's all wild water out there on the west coast. It's kind of a different animal. Kind of switching gears, similar story, but different coast. Stationed at Fisher's Island in New York one that kind of sticks out to me through my career. It was right around a new moon and an east wind. For that area, to kind of give a little background from the area of Fisher's Island to Watch Hill, Rhode Island, the Connecticut triangle there, you have all of the Atlantic Ocean or Block island sound kind of enters into Long Island sound on that east end there. We had an east wind around a new moon and an incoming tide. When max speed of current is usually around two to three knots that day, it was probably between six and eight knots. It was almost like a full blown river coming into the sound.
We got a call of through a cell phone called the nine one one, which then the notified the Coast Guard of a boat that had capsized with three people on board. They were all in the water. The way we were able to get in contact with the mask or the Coast Guard was he had his cell phone in a waterproof container in his life jacket that he was wearing. He was wearing his life jacket. He was able to pull cellphone out when he was in the water, drifting and call 9 1 1.
Probably the most significant part of that case was over a span of 38 minutes from the time that the call went in to the time that we arrived on scene and picked them up out of the water, all three of them were safely recovered. They had drifted over 3.1 miles. Where we initially got the call to when we picked him up was about a three mile difference in an area, and that just kind of highlights what the elements of the surf, the wind, the seas, the current and all those combined can do, and how you could have your local knowledge. You could have your 20 years of boating experience, but it only takes one bad day to be in a situation that you wouldn't expect. Kudos to the fishermen, recreational fishermen, for wearing their life jacket, having all their gear, and then being able to contact and get help.
Speaker 2:
As we move into the mid to late fall here on Cape Cod, I know for myself, I'm out on the water still regularly. I went tuna fishing last week on a beautiful down east boat. Super comfy, heated and plus it allows you to, I'll say fish into December, really, if you want to, if they're still here. In addition, I'm a little nuts and I always wear my life jacket, but I'm still taking out a 12 foot tin boat and getting soaking wet. The temperature inside Cape Cod Bay is still around 60 degrees. The water temperature warmer than the air some days.
As the climate has changed and the weather is staying warmer longer and the fish are staying around longer before they migrate south, I'm seeing a trend in Cape Cod, of people leaving boats in longer, going out later into the season, pushing things into the winter perhaps. Other than having your vessel fully up to code and equipped with the proper lifesaving equipment and wearing a life jacket, having your radio work, having cell phones on board to call for help, those are simple things, are there any other tips that you would give guys? Especially, let's talk about the tuna fishermen that are going out later and later and later into the year chasing giants and rec bluefin.
Kevin:
So I think, not really, not even specifically any time of year, this is a must do. Is leave a float plan. So have a plan. Write down who's going with you, where you're supposed to be going, what time you intend to get there, what time you intend to get back, anything that you need to know, and leave it with a friend that's not going with you. Leave it with someone that you trust, that's going to check back on you when you're supposed to come back. Even if it's just a simple text, Hey, we're back. Just letting you know.
A lot of the times we get called out on search and rescue cases for people that they've been missing for 18 hours, but they could have been, we could have known that they were missing six hours prior to that if they had a float plan. It's highly important. Can't stress it enough. There's apps out there that you can download and send to your friend that'll remind them on their phone, call this person at this time. A float plan is definitely one of those key things that often gets overlooked and not even thought about.
Speaker 3:
I definitely agree with that a hundred percent, especially that time of year when that water temperature drops.
Ryan:
But especially that time of year when that water temperature drops. I'd say, I've seen a very similar, I guess, effort in access down in southern New England areas such as like Rhode Island, Connecticut and South Shore of Long Island with as these warmer, I guess, warmer falls kind of have just creeped their way into now being consistent, you're seeing in a really good tautog. And now I even, I don't know how the cod fishing is up by you guys or had you guys have a lot of haddock, but cod fishing stays pretty good now too. And if you're only in the water, you're only boat's in the water three, four months a year and maybe fishing wasn't so hot over the summer, it's going to push that angler effort out there into the fall. And so, some other things we were getting into those November, December timeframes, you mentioned tuna fishing, because you do have those school bluefin tuna have been pretty consistently hanging around.
And a dry suit if you have one. There's a lot of cool, it's not just the old school scuba super Han Solo where you used to have to don this big 30-pound suit over yourself to kind of go out there. Now you can get all these lightweight dry suits, but those are going to stop any water from getting in at all. And they're pretty comfortable. So you can get a dry suit and you can wear the dry suit those months of the year and that'll increase your survivability almost 24 hours. They're not to a hindrance anymore like they used to be. Pretty much starting, I don't know, probably next, probably close to soon, all your coastguard boats that are going to be out there. Every one of those guys and girls are going to be wearing a dry suit great from now until maybe June. It all depends on the water temperature, but they'll be wearing a dry suit. So if we can do it, you can do it.
Kevin:
Any other tips or things that we can do as fishermen or boaters to make your lives a little bit easier?
Ryan:
Yeah, absolutely. Marking your boat or kayak or paddle craft is huge. It's one of those things that most people don't think about is writing your name, address, and phone number on your kayak or if you go to West Marine or you go to any of these small shops, they have stickers that the Coastguard auxiliary gives out to stick onto your kayak or your paddle craft or even your smaller aluminum boats. Stick that on, fill out the information and get it out there, because a lot of the times, especially after a storm, we'll have a kayak go adrift and we'll spend eight, 10 hours searching, because if we find a kayak, we assume there was someone on there. And a lot of the times we end up finding through social media, finding out that the kayak was just left on the beach on someone's property, got taken out to shore.
Well, that's 10, 15 hours per person, that's been tied up now in a search and rescue case where we could have been potentially helping someone else. So marking your paddle craft is huge. Can't say it enough. Reach out to your Coastguard auxiliary, reach out to a local Coastguard station, they'll put you in the right direction to get one of those stickers or just take a Sharpie, write your name and phone number and every season or half season, write it over, make sure it's legible. One more thing I'd like to add for the tips, just to direct towards your question. A couple of the cases I experienced where it's just a bad day, it went wrong. There's so much technology out there. So I'm a big fan. Again, I'm not advocating or sponsored by any app or any company, but I use a variety of different apps out there with whether it's a wind app, I know windy and fish weather, there's just kind of spitballing here.
But those are so huge because that time of year, summertime, you can predict it's going to be southwest when five to 10 gusts to 15 in the afternoon, maybe it's a little more, maybe it's a little less. But in the fall time now you're talking that October, November, December, it can turn on a dime. And some of these apps out there really do a great job at telling you when the wind's going to turn or when things are going to go south. And using all that, whether you're putting out a flow plan, you've got your adequate safety gear and you're able to use the technology that's available to determine how long or short your day should be, really can help kind of mitigate a lot of your problems right there. Using the technology that's available is huge.
Kevin:
Any last, I'll say words or tips or information that you'd like to give out to the listeners that we might not have touched on?
Ryan:
So I'd like to touch on the recreational HMS fishery. We've seen the largest increase in effort in the recreational sector in federal waters for HMS, particularly the bluefin tuna, occasionally mixed in some yellowfin tuna. You also have some mahi-mahi that have been pretty consistent in a variety of other species, but we've seen a lot of effort in regards to HMS and just kind of remember that there's a federal permit that's required and if you're going to target those species or retain any of those species, you got to get your HMS angler permit. Yep. Again, that's been a really hot item and hot issue the last three or four years in the commercial sector as well. But for the recreational folks, just making sure you get your HMS permit and then also just when you're going a little bit farther offshore, just having all your safety gear and kind of bringing it full-circle to where we were.
Kevin:
Well, I would like to thank you on behalf of our fishing community for all you guys do, keeping us safe and also just feeling secure. I feel even a little bit more safe, insecure after taping this interview with you guys, knowing that you guys are out there watching out for all of us. I think we covered a lot of things that we can do as fishermen and voters to maybe make your lives a little bit easier. I mean, that's totally the goal, right? Is if the worst case scenario happens, not only be prepared, but to take steps and actions to make ourselves more easily identifiable or rescuable, if that's even a word for you guys. So I think on behalf of My Fishing Cape Cod community and Ryan, thank you to Matt and Mark for all you do for us and for taking the time to come out and chat with us today.
Matt and Mark:
Appreciate Kevin.
Ryan:
Yeah, thanks Kevin. It's great.
Kevin:
Once again, our thanks to Matt Karas and Mark Phillips of the United States Coastguard for taking time out of their busy work week to join us here on the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast. Certainly a lot of great useful information and tips on not only how to keep yourself and others on your vessel safe this fall and year round, but also some great tips on things you can do to help work in conjunction with the Coastguard should the worst case scenario ever present itself. After chatting with these two great guys, I certainly feel a little bit safer when I'm out floating around inside Cape Cod Bay. So thanks to Matt and Mark. Thanks to MFCC founder and creator, Ryan Collins, thanks to Mac Esher from down behind the counter at the Goose Hummock shop. And last but not least, thank you to Bruno Demir of Cape and Island's Mitsubishi. We had an action packed show. Thanks for sticking with us. I know the podcast was a little bit longer than usual, but just a lot of great information during this episode.
So that's going to put the wraps on the show. This is your host, Kevin Collins, signing off. And until we get a chance to chat again, tight lines and take care.
Speaker 5:
Thanks for tuning in to the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast. For the latest local news, information and fishing reports, be sure to log onto myfishingcapecod.com. From all of us at My Fishing Cape Cod tight lines and take care.
