May 2 2013

Top Water Plugging | May 2 Report

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This morning was clear, calm and cool - especially at 4AM. My plan was to fish an estuary and hopefully raise a few striped bass to the surface by fishing with top water plugs.

Catching stripers using subsurface lures is a blast, but few will argue that the most exciting way to catch a fish is with a top water plug. Bass love hammering plugs fished right along the surface, particularly in the early morning. Over the past few weeks I have been fishing subsurface lures, so today was definitely a nice change of pace.

At 5:15AM I pulled down a quiet dirt road and meandered past empty cottages and summer homes. There was not a soul in sight which was a relief because parking was difficult to say the least.

The good thing about fishing during May on Cape Cod is that many summer cottages and waterfront homes are not yet inhabited. I don't think I would have been able to get away with parking where I did this morning, had it been say Memorial Day weekend or July Fourth.

A short walk through the neighborhood brought me to the water's edge. The Bay was so still and calm that I could see my own reflection in the water. Visibility was somewhat limited due to the fog bank which stretched well off into the horizon. To say that conditions were dead calm would have been an understatement.

After a relatively quick walk through the mud I arrived at a point dotted with boulders, sand pipers and a blue heron. Aside from the birds I had the entire area completely to myself, which is another benefit of fishing Cape Cod early in the season.

Fishing this point allowed me to launch my pencil popper almost to the red nun buoy which marked the edge of the navigation channel. As the sun peeked its head over the trees I began casting into what felt like very fishy territory.

top water plugging

 

The only ripples on the surface of the entire Bay were those caused by my pencil popper dancing back and forth. That was until a lone fish broke the surface on the far edge of the channel - well out of casting range. Nevertheless it was a sign of life, which is always an excellent sign.

10 or 15 minutes later I heard a slap somewhere off in the mist to my left. I did not see the fish but I certainly heard him. I started thinking it was only a matter of time until one of these fish swam within reach of my cast. I decided to stick to fishing the point and wait for the bass to come to me.

The fog began to burn off as I made a long cast back out towards the red nun buoy. The ebbing current swung my pencil popper within a few yards of the buoy, as I pumped the plug back and forth across the surface.

Suddenly there was a disturbance in the water behind the plug - it had to be a bass. I continued to "walk the dog" with the plug, pumping it back and forth in an effort to illicit a strike. I sped up the retrieve ever so slightly and with one last pump of the rod tip the bass exploded on the plug, sending white water in every direction.

Click here for the full report...

 

fish cape cod

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