Big Fish, Sharp Rocks, and Helping an Angler in Need

During the afternoon of Monday October 5th, I stopped by Riverview Bait & Tackle in South Yarmouth to pick up a few things for the upcoming trout season. When I was talking with Lee the owner, he mentioned that the morning striper bite had been good.

Add that to all the reports here on MFCC about bass blitzing on peanut bunker and I knew I would have to give it a shot. Sadly I bartend Monday and Tuesday nights, so getting up early Tuesday or Wednesday morning was out of the question.

I decided Thursday would be the day. I woke up Wednesday morning for work and stuffed two poles (which were still rigged for shark fishing) and a tackle box into the back of my Nissan Xterra.

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On my lunch break I could be seen in the parking lot changing leaders and officially retiring my shark gear for the season. I rigged up the two rods with a White Guppy Jobo Jr. pencil popper and the other with a Sebile Magic Swimmer.

I was able to get to bed early Wednesday night. My alarm was set for 5:15 am.

Of course whenever I go fishing my body naturally wakes me up 10-15 minutes before my alarm (perhaps due to excitement). I sprang out of bed, let the dog out, and quickly got geared up for the trip ahead.

I was in the parking lot of the Dunkin Donuts down the street from my house by 5:30am. It was a quiet cruise on the road to my fishing spot for the day.

The wind was perfect!

A nice light NW breeze blew over the water, and I felt the breeze would really work to my advantage. By 5:45am I was on the beach and ready to go!

Only problem was that it was still pitch black, so I opted to wait and watch the sun come up. As the sun poked over the horizon it cast different shades of purple and orange across the sky.

As soon as it was bright enough to see I set out towards a nearby boulder field.

The tide was coming in around the rocks and there was a decent chop on the water's surface. To my great delight there were already birds working the area I planned to fish! However, for the time being they were still out of casting distance.

I hoped that before long, the incoming tide and wind would drive the bait and stripers in close to shore.

I hooked into one schoolie almost immediately. After a short fight he was quickly released back into the surf. I made another few casts only to have several hits but nothing stuck.

I was beginning to get discouraged.

Then my popper crested a wave and I could see a big brown shadow lurking behind it. The striper came through the wave as if I was fishing the rips at Monomoy, before the bass inhaled my plug in a wave of white water.

This was a good fish-perhaps large enough to get me on the Derby Leaderboard!

This bass had no desire to come ashore, and I spent a good amount of time trying to get him in. My real problems began once I had the fish next to the rocks.

Waves were crashing furiously onto the rocks.

I jumped down to a flat boulder right near the surf. Waves were now crashing into me! Even with my rain gear and waders I got soaked.

I next tried to hoist the striper up onto a rock, just as a huge wave came over the top and rammed the fish right into me. I almost went down into the surf!

I was not able to get a good grip on the bass because the fish was getting tossed about in the waves. I grabbed the plug and tried to pull the fish out of the water.

That’s when the hook popped, and I watched the massive bass fall back into the surf and swim away.

I spent a moment just standing there, watching the spot where the striper had disappeared, as if by some grace of God the fish might come back and let me measure it for the Derby…but that didn’t happen.

I recomposed myself and launched my Guppy Jobo Jr. pencil popper back out amongst the waves, rocks and birds.

The very next cast I was on again with a small fish. Moving quickly I released the schoolie back into the ocean and sent my plug sailing yet again.

A few minutes later I landed a small keeper of about 31 inches, not big enough to measure for the Derby. At this time I should mention that two other people had shown up to fish. They were also using top water plugs but not hooking up.

I think with topwater it’s all about presentation. I was watching their retrieves and neither of them were “walking the dog” and were instead hauling the plug straight in.

Ryan always talks about how the "walk the dog" retrieve is much more effective. I think this helps prove his theory.

The man to my left gave up after a while and came over to ask if he could watch me fish. I of course had no problem with that. He watched me for about 15 minutes. I caught another schoolie and another small keeper before he left.

At this point the older gentleman fishing to my right worked his way down the riprap over to me. He said his name was Hal, and he was using the same exact plug as me.

He said that clearly I must be doing something different, so I explained to him the “walk the dog” method of retrieving a pencil. He thanked me and went back to his spot.

Not two casts later he was doubled over with a nice fish! I could see Hal was struggling to move around, so I quickly reeled in my cast and made my way over to help him land the fish.

I jumped down into the surf, holding Hal's gaff. When the fish got close I tried to grab the leader to gain some control, but I missed the leader and grabbed the braid. The fish gave a big head shake and the braid sunk deep into my pinky finger.

Goes to show no good deed goes unpunished! 😉

Finally we had the striped bass on the rocks, and Hal was beside himself. After talking to him for a little while I learned he was 67 years old and had Stage 4 throat cancer.

Hal was very appreciative of my help. He even asked me where I had learned the "walk the dog" retrieve. I explained to him about MFCC and all its benefits, so we may see a new member popping up on the forums soon!

I made my way back to my spot and was instantly on with another good fish.

I wasn’t taking any chances this time, so I walked the bass a few hundred feet off the rocks, and onto a nearby stretch of sand.

This fish was not as big as the first one I had lost, but the bass was still a respectable 39 inches.

I measured its length...

And it's girth...

And sent the fish on its way.

It was now almost 8am and time for me to head to work. Hal thanked me one last time as I headed back towards my car.

Right now is a great time to be out fishing the beaches. The water has cooled off, the bait is there and the fish are tight to shore.

If you haven’t been out fishing lately I would recommend you try and find some time to get out there. This is some of the best fishing I’ve seen all season.

Tight lines and good luck,

Ryan.