Last night around 8PM I found myself meandering down a beach path. I hadn't surfcasted the beach since my trip to outer Cape Cod - it felt good to smell the salt air again.
The wind yesterday evening was calm and the skies overcast. It was going to be a dark night on the beach, which I enjoy.
I was quite amazed at what transpired next.
Intercepting a School of Migratory Stripers
As I stepped foot onto the beach a breeze from the west swept across the water in front of me. Instantly it began to rain, albeit lightly. I rushed to get the waterproof casing onto my GoPro cameras before continuing down the beach.
For once my walk was not a long one. Many of my surfcasting trips this year have included rather long walks. The terrific MFCC crew who fished Cuttyhunk Island with me earlier this month knows what I mean!
Several hundred yards later and I was at the spot. Over the years I've noticed a school of fish will hang out here for a night or two, and then disappear. Due to this observation I feel this is an area which bass "investigate" before continuing their southerly migration.
The tide was dropping with low tide around 10:15PM. I waded out onto a sand bar into 2-3 feet of water. Within an instant the slight west breeze died down and the rain shut off.
Sight-Casting to Bio-luminescent Stripers
I made several casts without anything special happening. I must admit I was not expecting much. It was just good to get outside and be back on the beach.
Yet on my fifth or sixth cast my feeling about the night changed dramatically.
As I reeled my eel back in towards my rod tip the ocean directly in front of me lit up with amazing phosphorescence. The water glowed a bright green. Bio-luminescence sparkled all around me.
My heart was pumping fast now.
What happened was a big striper had followed my eel all the way to my rod tip, and then turned with violent force, beating his tail and disturbing the thick phosphorous which inundated the sea.
This caused the water to light up and glow a bright green. To my astonishment there was a school of bass here, and they were holding in just 2-3 feet of water.
