I fished the flats of Cape Cod Bay three times this week — Monday, Thursday, and again this morning — and each trip felt like a completely different season. Summerlike warmth and a massive low tide on Monday, a cool drizzly northeast vibe by Thursday, and howling wind at high tide this morning.
Three very different sets of conditions, three very different things to observe — and the bass were present for all of it. I saw them with my own eyes and the drone confirmed it. What I experienced out there over these three days has me more fired up about fishing the flats than ever before.
Monday: Surrounded by Fish
Conditions on Monday felt more like July than May. A warm southwest wind was blowing over my shoulder when I snapped this photo of the eastern sky just before sunrise.
I was out before sunrise on Monday, chasing what turned out to be the biggest low tide of the entire month. When the flat dropped out that far, I walked to an edge I’ve literally never reached before — and that’s when it happened.
I made it all the way out to the very edge of the flat on Monday morning, but I could only spend about 25 minutes there before I needed to start walking back. The incoming tide floods over the flats with amazing speed, and I didn’t want to risk my life over a few fish.
A dozen bass, several pushing 40 inches, materialized around me in the shallow water. For a brief moment I was standing in the middle of them. It was one of those things you don’t forget.
I had a few follows on the white Magic Swimmer. I’ve had good luck from my boat speed-trolling Magic Swimmers over the flats, but I couldn’t get a bass to commit on Monday.
Of course, none of them wanted to eat. I had a few follows on a white magic swimmer, a couple more on a Toughtec crab, but nothing committed. In hindsight, maybe something I didn't have — chunk mackerel, a live crab, maybe fresh sand eels, would have done the trick. Bright sunshine, crystal clear water.
Conditions like that can make these fish incredibly tough to fool on artificials, but at least I knew there were fish around. Then, just before high tide, at a new location several miles to the east, I encountered the largest school of bass I've seen all year.
With only 30 minutes to spare before I had to drive home, I grabbed a Guppy Mini 1.25oz pencil popper and began casting.
Want to know what happened next?
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