Surfcasting Cape Cod With My Future Wife

Ryan Collins

This adventure with my future wife Lauren began on the morning of Saturday, July 16th.

However, before any fishing would take place, I had promised Lauren we would take care of some items she has been wanting to cross off her to-do list.​

So with that in mind, we woke up bright and early to wish my Mom a happy 65th birthday, before departing to Hokum Rock Farm in Dennis to pick blueberries.

More...

According to Lauren, right now is primetime for blueberry picking on Cape Cod. Lauren will soon be a certified health coach, and picking local blueberries is something she has been wanting to do all summer.

Fortunately for us weather conditions on Saturday were picture perfect, and we expected the blueberries to show up in force. I am happy to report the blueberries did not disappoint. 

It was actually the hottest blueberry pick I have ever experienced in my life! Lauren and I really enjoyed our experience at Hokum Rock Farm and we will definitely return soon.

Our next stop was at the Snowy Owl Coffee House in Brewster, for a 10AM appointment with Reverend Kathleen Geagan.

Kathleen will be helping my good friend Chris O'Grady learn how to officiate our wedding on October 29th. By 11:30AM we had crossed off everything on our to-do list.

We cruised down the mid-Cape highway and was able to avoid most of the weekend traffic by utilizing a series of backroads. It was now time to hit the beach!

Lauren planned on doing some sunbathing while I hoped to catch a midday striper on the fly rod. Conditions were sunny and hot, with barely any wind at all.

I knew my odds of catching a bass were slim. Stripers are most active at night. Nevertheless I figured I would do some exploring and revisit some areas I fished during last year's 27 mile walk.

Unfortunately I was soon surrounded by dozens of seals, some of which easily weighed 400+ pounds. Mung was also an issue. This troublesome sea weed was sticking to my line and made casting with the fly rod more difficult than usual.

Nevertheless I "discovered" an area I think could be a killer spot at night. At low tide a large bar runs perpendicular to the shoreline, with a deep bowl located just off the northern edge of the bar.

I fished for a while but soon decided to head back and reconnect with Lauren. It would be dark before we knew it, and I wanted to make sure Lauren was well fed before I dragged her out for a night of surfcasting the beach.

We split a plate of fish and chips and were back on the beach just as the sun was sinking beneath the horizon. It was a beautiful, perfect Cape Cod for fishing the sand. 

Unfortunately the bugs showed up in droves. At first it was the greenheads and then the mosquitoes. We hustled along to avoid being bitten - I was impressed by how well Lauren was dealing with the hordes of biting insects.

We walked at a brisk pace for about 2 miles before reaching the bar where I planned to surfcast the night away. This particular bar has produced very well for me over the past several years.

We had arrived just in time to catch the outgoing tide. This would be my first time using my new Lamiglas Surf Pro rod from Canal Bait & Tackle and the VR175 spinning reel from Van Staal.

I knew that schools of stripers could appear at any moment. They often cruise close to shore here, during the outgoing tide and under the cover of darkness. The moon shone brightly on the clouds above.

I was casting a blurple colored Hogy Swimbait. These are new lures (at least for me) and I have a feeling they will be very effective. I owe a thank you to Mike Hogan and captain Cullen Lundholm for tipping me off to these lures.

It was now 11PM and the fish had still not showed up. Had this area finally run dry? Would the fish appear later in the tide?

I began to feel the pressure and I was concerned Lauren may not survive the plague of sand fleas which had descended upon us.

Fortunately Lauren stuck it out, because the bass arrived just moment later. I actually saw the swirls from the schools of bass before I started getting bites.

Suddenly I received a swift and sharp strike as I retrieved my blurple Hogy swimbait at a moderate pace. I set the hook and was on with my first bass on the new spinning setup from Canal Bait!

I then decided to pass the rod off to Lauren...

It was now obvious that the bass had settled into the area surrounding the bar. I saw swirls and was getting whacked on just about every cast. 

The stripers were not huge but I was happy to just have some action. It's not often Lauren joins me on night surfcasting expeditions so I was pumped to be able to get her into some fish. 

After landing 3 bass with the spinning setup I decided to switch over to my Sage fly fishing outfit, courtesy of the crew over at Goose Hummock in Orleans.

My fly casting ability has improved dramatically since I first began about one month ago, however in hindsight I should of been wearing eye protection and I should of brought the stripping basket which MFCC member Dex Chadsey recently gave me.

Nevertheless on my third or fourth cast I hooked on the fly!

By now it was past midnight and I knew my time on the beach was limited. The bass would soon head offshore with the last of the outgoing tide, and Lauren would want to go to bed.

The sand fleas were also borderline unbearable! Once the wind completely died off, the sand fleas came out in full force. I had just enough time to catch one more bass on the fly before high-tailing it to the car.

Unfortunately this striper absolutely engulfed the fly. The fish was hooked deep and its gill had been damaged during the fight. 

I was able to quickly remove the hook however the bass was bleeding pretty badly. As I watched the schoolie swim away I could only hope the blood congealed. 

The attack of the sand fleas was now nothing short of epic. Lauren and I packed up our gear as quickly as possible and began power walking back to the car.

Finally by 1:00AM we reached the relative safety of the vehicle, yet sand fleas still harassed us, as they fell out of our hair and off our clothing. Nevertheless it was a great trip and I was pumped to have Lauren there.

I expect a slug of big bass to show up along Cape Cod's beaches starting very soon. Historically most of my largest surf caught striped bass have come during the depths of the night, starting in late July.

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with by commenting below. As always tight lines and take care!

​