June 2002 Daily Fishing Reports

Gerrit Frase has become quite an accomplished fly angler since I first met him in one of my classes and Middle Ground was the perfect spot for some continuing education. Monday, the fish were on top and Gerrit did a nice job presenting his fly and was rewarded with several hook ups, as well as lessons in line management and keeping a tight connection while fighting a rip. With the wind picking up, we elected to continue the next morning and got an early start, with the bass still there and more shots at them. Overall, it was a good time and Gerrit, who has spent most of his time fishing from the shore, really showed he is a quick read as he got his sea legs down pat.

Today was one of those times when everything is just perfect, from the weather to the fishing to the camraderie on board. John Morningstar, his daughter Nicole, and her hubbie Tim had just about all you could ask for on a trip. We started a Middle Ground where the bass made themselves well known and everybody got into the action with light spinning gear, plugs, and soft plastics. As the current went slack, we headed for the islands to toss eels, ultimately ending at Cuttyhunk where first Nicole and then John took turns catching fish well over the legal limit, which made some very nice eating that night I imagine. On the way back, MG was absolutely alive with bass and blues which made this a perfect book end day. And best of all, it was all captured on video which Nicole and Tim were good enough to send me a copy of. Let's just day with a tough winter this year, this film got some extra screening!

It was Middle Ground once again for Steve Bachand and his guest Jack MacDonald and the fish certainly cooperated. When the current was moving, the bass did their typical aerial display as they purused squid and other food, but what was really cool was when they tide went slack and then just stared to move, bass began sipping sand eels. The water was flat calm and you could see fish dimpling on the glassy surface; if you didn't know better, you would have sworn we were sight fishing the flats. Soft plastics did the trick, with the Arkansas shiner colored Fin-S-Fish particulary effective . . . and I could only imagine what a fly would have done on some of the biggest fish I had seen in a long while.

After a couple of postponements due to inclement weather, I finally got together with Dave Johnson and Walter Nelson, two very good friends and very good fishermen. For the first time, Barnstable Harbor just didn't pan out today; we caught a few fish around Horseshoe Bar, but the waters around Bass Hole and Chapin's were devoid of bait and fish. My suggestion was to pull the boat and head for the southside, where things had been gangbusters at Middle Ground. Sure enough, when we got there, bass were surfing the rip, but the wind was tough and getting a proper angle for a cast was tough. We banged around Woods Hole to no avail as well, but my sincerest hope is that I can someday get Dave and Walt hooked up with a good fish at MG and let them have a real tussle.

Keith Ashmus, whose folks run the Herring Run Motel in Bourne, was aboard today to try and find some early morning action on a half day trip. As I had hoped, Woods Hole was alive with bass around Red Ledge and Middle Ledge willing to take topwaters and soft plastics. This kind of action is some of my favorite as you can see the fish swirling and pushing bait, and a well placed cast will bring explosive strikes and impressive aerial displays.

Keith Ashmus, whose folks run the Herring Run Motel in Bourne, was aboard today to try and find some early morning action on a half day trip. As I had hoped, Woods Hole was alive with bass around Red Ledge and Middle Ledge willing to take topwaters and soft plastics. This kind of action is some of my favorite as you can see the fish swirling and pushing bait, and a well placed cast will bring explosive strikes and impressive aerial displays.

Scott Simenas and I got together for our annual eary summer trip and found Middle Ground alive once again with some very good bass fishing. Scott and I usually head down the islands to toss plugs in June, but I assured him that this experience would be a unique one. Sure enough, Scott caught some nice bass, but at one point he hooked onto what I thought must be a huge fish. Scott was using a stout, 10 foot conventional casting rod with an Abu 7000 reel, certainly not equipment you would consider light tackle. Well, whatever he had hooked up wouldn't come out of that rip for anything; in fact, it wasn't until we drifted through and got to the quiet water on the other side that we found out he had hook two 30 inch fish, one on the teaser he loves to tie in front of his main lure and one on the soft plastic he was using as the primary offering. I guess it just goes to show how much power a 60 inch fish might just have!

Today, I fished with brothers Barry and David Jaye; I had met Barry before, but this was my first meeting with David. During the day, the brothers Jaye caught a good number of fish at Middle Ground, including a bass and bluefish they elected to take home. After the rip had quieted down and the fishing action with it, we chugged over to Woods Hole and off of Nobska we ran into schools of small blues and bass. Even though these fish were midgets in comparison to the ones we encountered earlier, David howled with delight as they chased his surface plug and Barry would catch a fish and then change over to something else, just to see if he could get it to work. They laughed and just had a simple good time, to the point where it was almost like they were kids again. Days don't get much better than this.

Today I got to fish with two individuals whom I really enjoy spending time with, Dr. Ken Sullins and his dog Murphy. As usual, Ken worked his magic on the fish at Middle Ground, catching them on all kinds of topwaters and all kinds of equipment. There is no doubt in my mind that those new fangled, no stretch superbraids work because Ken's hook up to hit ratio is fantastic; he always emphasizes that you can feel the take and that setting the hook is much easier. Murphy is Ken's toy black poodle who is just a joy to have on the boat; her enthusiasm for fishing is infectious and her antics when a fish is brought aboard always leave me laughing.

The object of today's trip with Harry Graff and John Lorden was to get a good fish for John on the fly rod. Harry fishes a great deal down around Chatham and is a very experienced flyrodder, as well as being one of the moving forces in the Coastal Conservation Association in New England. John, on the other hand, was relatively new to the fly game and Harry really wanted him to get a good fish on the long wand. For some reason, the Elizabeths were slow today, and despite our best efforts, the islands did not produce. Fortunately, Woods Hole was alive at the end of the trip and it was fish city along Middle Ledge, where John took his first legal fish that seemed even larger as it worked the current to its advantage.

Had only one trip this week with David Ethier on Monday, but the action continues to pick up at Middle Ground and Woods Hole, with good numbers of bass feeding on squid and sand eels. Folks using herring and jigs might be catching some larger fish, but they certainly aren't partaking in some of the best visual action of the year, with bass surfing the rip and busting topwater plugs and flies.