Ryan Collins
The sun was shining this past Wednesday when I donned my wet suit and entered the ocean for my first snorkeling session of the summer.
I still love snorkeling our local Cape Cod waters, despite the high numbers of full grown adult great white sharks in the area.
When snorkeling you never know what you may encounter, and this past Wedneday's snorkeling trip was no exception!
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Minutes after entering the water I found myself surrounded by a school of 5-20 pound striped bass in their natural habitat.
I was almost literally bumping into bass!
All of these images were taken during a 5 minute period as the stripers circled around me.
I found the fish to be curious and inquisitive.
Some bass allowed me to approach within a few feet. I even surprised one fish which was "laying" in a bed of sea weed.
It was a surreal experience and I am excited to share the highlights of the trip with you in the video clip below! 
If you would like to learn more about this trip, then please continue reading by accessing my members-only Extended Fishing Report.
In the Extended Report I will share with you more information about the spot (I don't reveal the exact location) plus information about tides and what I believe these fish were up to.
In the meantime, I may now be more excited about filming these bass underwater than I am about trying to catch them! Throughout the rest of this summer I plan to return to this area and capture more footage.
I may even perform some "experiments" on these fish in an effort to learn more about how they live and behave.
Please LMK what you think by commenting below!
Tight lines 
Bring the ladder to my house and paint my trim.
Sure thing ?
pretty cool, Ryan!
I’ve seen fly guys kayaking about the flats with collapse-able ladders strapped to the back. How was the comfort factor sitting on top of that thing?
I found the ladder to be very comfortable. The view from above the water is awesome! Definitely recommend giving the technique a try. ?
I’m would like to take my nephew fishing while visiting the Cape next week. Would you have any recommendations for a guide for us?
Thank you
Are you looking for a shore guide or a private boat charter?
For boat charters you could try Wingman Sportfishing, Cape Star Charters, and Laura Jay Charters. Party boat options include the Helen-H out of Hyannis.
For shore trips there aren’t too many options. I would recommend calling the Goose Hummock in Orleans (508) 255-0455, or stopping by their shop at 15 MA-6A, Orleans, MA 02653 and inquiring if Eric or someone else from their staff has shore guiding availability. ?
Another option would be to familiarize yourself with the resources heres on the membership side of the website, including inside our forum. With some homework I am sure you could piece together a nice fishing plan all on your own.
Tight lines! ?
That was really cool!! I gotta try it sometime. Look forward to seeing more:)
Dave
Thanks for watching Dave. More underwater footage coming soon, I hope!
When striper fishing with squid strips, is it better to top fish or bottom? I know stripers love to pick the bottom for food
I would fish them on the bottom, but it can always pay to experiment. ?
The step ladder technique is routinely used by shore guides on the Monomoy and Brewster flats to spot cruising Striped Bass for clients. I have also carried a folded up step ladder to use for crossing the drainage ditches of estuaries when holdover fishing.
I would imagine you could learn a lot about bass by snorkeling amongst them. It would be interesting to see if larger bass are more present during low light conditions. I can easily see how you would be more interested in swimming with them and videoing them than catching. A kinship of sorts being developed.
Thanks for the comment Dex ? I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into the water asap. I have a feeling we will all learn A LOT about striped bass by watching these underwater videos.
On another note, I am glad you and a bunch of members from MFCC had a great surfcasting trip at Block Island! So pumped you guys had a good time. ?
I watched the videos of you snorkeling with the bass. At about 1:50 of the first one and around :52 of the second a bass swam past you with what I believe is a tag that is covered with weeds. I caught a couple of tagged fish and that looks similar. Loved the footage,makes you wonder how I get skunked sometimes. Keep up the good work.
Glad you like the video Charles. More to come soon, hopefully!
I have also caught tagged fish, and to make you feel a little better, I went back to this same spot the other day and there were no fish there at all.
Sometimes I think a skunking is inevitable!
Wow, incredible footage and super cool ladder fishing! Great job Ryan!
Thanks for watching Leslie. ??
More underwater footage coming soon, I hope!