In fact, this trip occurred last July, but Ryan has informed me that the lures and techniques we used will still work great right now for anyone who wants to surfcast the Cape's beaches at night. 

So with that in mind, I my target audiences for this blog post are:

How It All Began

My Epic Night Begins

Two important facts worth mentioning include:

It was a warm July evening, with the sky turning pink and orange, with a gorgeous sunset. I had a bag full of snacks and "all seemed right" in the world.  

With the camera crew on site, I felt there was a teensy bit of pressure on me to deliver - and deliver I did.

Fish On My First Cast

On my very first cast, which must of sailed at least 100 feet from shore, I hooked up with my very first fish!  

It was a beautiful little striper.

I hooked the bass perfectly, ensuring he had a clean release, which Ryan assisted with. 

I then took my second cast and what do you know, I was on again!

The fish was another small schoolie striper, which I naturally assumed must be the same fish I had just caught and released.

Truthfully, I was convinced I was catching the same fish over and over again throughout the whole night. However, Ryan assured me with a smirk that no, in fact, I was not catching the same fish over and over.

Tackle & Equipment

For this trip, it was really helpful to have a lighter than usual surfcasting setup - I was using a 7ft spinning rod. 

I could certainly feel the difference between the setup I was using, and the larger 9ft rod which Ryan was using.

Ryan also informed me that a 7ft setup is really ideal in many situations around Cape Cod, especially when fishing back bays and beaches when you have the wind at your back.

It's also often easier and more fun to use a smaller setup, especially if you are mostly catching schoolies. 

Here is the tackle I was using during this trip. 

We had crushed the barbs on the Joe Baggs Swarter's treble hooks to help make for easier releases. However, I would also recommend using a fish grip, and a pair of pliers, if you are going to use any lure with treble hooks. 

An energetic and feisty schoolie will thrash around as you try to remove the hooks, and it's very easy for the treble hooks to impale you in the hand. A fish grip and a pair of pliers will help with this big time.

You can also replace the treble hooks with single in-line hooks, but you will probably miss a few more fish than if you were using trebles.

Out-Fishing My Husband

As with many marriages, a little competition can be healthy.  So of course, I started to tally up my fish to Ryan's.  

I will admit that he spent more time releasing fish that I caught (and therefore didn't have as much time to do his own casting) but who's the real professional here?

No excuses, Ryan!

By the end of the evening, I tallied 10 fish (2 were "early releases", meaning they popped off early, but I'm counting them anyways). Ryan caught 6. Even with the early releasers, I still caught 8!

I believe Beyonce has a song with the lyric, "Who runs the world? Girls!"

To sum it up, this trip was definitely a night I won't forget. It was a lot of fun to be able to successfully fish from shore on my own, and spend quality time with Ryan.

It was a win win in my book! 

As we move into the month of August, I hope you will try some of the lures and techniques mentioned in this post. I also hope you will try to go fishing with your spourse, significant other, or friend who might love to fish more than you do.

What do you think? Please let me know by commenting below.