July 2001 Daily Fishing Reports

Joining Frankie and I aboard the Katie G. today were Jim Phillips and his son Chris, who is an ardent angler at the young age of 12. The plan was to try and seek out a bonito or two, or even some bass, but things didn't quite work out that way. When they told me they had recently been to Monomoy and experienced some of the great fishing those waters have had to offer, I was a little concerned that we weren't going to be able to match that action, although I had hopes for some funny fish. The waters around the islands were dead after first light, and apparently the fish had shut off at sunrise after some good action earlier. We tried plugs and plastics, but to no avail at any of my favorite spots. We headed for Hedge Fence, where folks trolling had been taking some bonito, but things were very quiet even though plenty of boats were zig-zagging the area. We set up some drifts and I had the pleasure of working with Chris on the fly rod, which his father said he is very interested in. Jim finally got the skunk out with a bluefish which took a jig worked deep, but overall it was a very quiet trip. Frankly, I hope I get a chance to work with these two anglers again since they clearly love this sport and are interested in learning everything they can.

Ken Sullins was in town over the weekend to give a talk at a veterinarian's conference and called to ask how the fishing was down Chatham. Things have been good and Ken knows that can mean something very special, so he decided to join me on Monday and brought along Charles Courtney, a veterinarian and professor from Florida to sample some Cape Cod fishing. Well, Charles found out how good it can be. Ken is a big fan of clear plugs and brought along a Chug Bug which brought fish up, but the hooks were too small to penetrate the big basses' mouthes. On the other hand, I set Charles up with a Yo-zuri Walkin' Dog which was rigged with a single Siwash hook I had wrapped with bucktail and flash material. Suffice it to say that Charles' first striper was a beautiful 36 incher that really tested the light rod and 12 pound test. After that, things got slow on the grass beds and we tried the point, with no luck and elected to head into the flats as the water dumped out. They were alive, and Ken managed to get one fish to take a soft plastic, but I am still convinced that a fly rod is still the best way to take these fish, some of which were well into the 40 inch range. So it was outside to try the southway, which was alive with bass right up against the beach. There were birds everywhere and big swell which made boat handling interested, but both Ken and Charles had plenty of action on fish from the 24 to 30 inch class on soft plastics. And Ken certainly showed that those super lines make a big difference in feeling the pick up in this type of fishing.

Today I got back together with Charles Mann and his son Griff, who last year had a good day in Woods Hole with the fly rod. Joining them was Mark Tenerowicz, who has just recently made his new home in Marion and wanted to see what all this fishing stuff was about. I'm afraid Mark's wife isn't going to like me very much since we had a very good day along Naushon pitching Super Flukes, plugs, and flies, with Charles picking up the largest bass which was very close to legal size. Mark was really struck by the fishing bug and was headed for a local shop to pick up a rod and reel so he could try out spots around his home, which I told him has some great fishing. It was a beautiful morning and the bass really cooperated; it's not often that you get such perfect drifts where every pass produced a fish and the Katie G. moved along just perfectly. All three of these anglers are great fun to be with and made the day even better.

The southwest blows of yesterday didn't lay down as expected and when Kevin Diffendaffer called me as I was grabbing a cup of coffee to report that the curtains were straight out at his house in Woods Hole, we made a quick change in plans and moved operations to Barnstable Harbor. And the shift in locales couldn't have worked out better. Kevin and Bruce Bristol were introduced to all of the glories that are the northside, as we hit fish in a trough along Chapin's Beach and then were able to sight cast to tons of fish on the end of the outgoing, including one of the prettiest takes I have ever seen as Kevin dropped the fly perfectly and we could all watch as the fish turned on it and ate it. I sure was glad that I had tied up some of those special B-harbor Clousers that have worked so well for me this year. Oh, if only for a video camera with everything we saw today! Then as the tide started to come in, the fish went ballistic on top and we could seem them cruising the bottom as well before they would push bait up and have a meal on the surface. Today certainly was one of those days where I am more than glad that the Katie G. is on her trailer rather than tied to a mooring, ready to go where the action is.

Today Kevin Diffendaffer from Bozeman, Montana returned to fish on the Katie G., this time with his friend Bruce Bristol who hails from the same locale. Last year, Kevin and I had a good day in the Hole, but with things quiet, I headed down along Nonamesset and Naushon to fish some of my favorite coves. Fortunately, the first spot had fish breaking inside in good numbers; a few folks were tossing popping plugs, but Kevin and Bruce, both very good flyrodders, managed the only stripers, breaking the ice for the latter on Cape Cod bass. Then it was down below Lackey's and a nice pick of bass which certainly seemed interested in the Clousers we tossed, making for a solid half day of fishing. With the wind starting to make up, it was back to the Hole, but again nothing was stirring and we made plans for the next morning to head for Cuttyhunk and some of the larger fish that have been eating big flies, incluiding poppers, on some of my last trips to the area.