April 2000 Daily Fishing Reports

Since it was Easter for the Greek Orthodox community, it was off to the folks for dinner after helping Kate put in a compost bin this morning. The closest I got to fishing was digging up some earth worms for the pile.

I did run into Stan Kuzia at Scorton Creek and he said things have been kind of slow on the northside. He's taken a few fish in Barnstable Harbor and there have been some nice brown trout dumped into Scorton. From the number of guys angling the main pool, I suspect they were after one of those trout . . . which are definitely not searuns.

From what the scuttlebutt is, the boat guys did well in Popponesset and Cotuit today; amazing what a little sunshine will do. The one person I did speak to first hand, my buddy Gene, found Cross Street absolutely dead this morning and ditto for West Falmouth.

I guess timing is everything, as is finding one of those magic holes or finding flats where the fish are rolling.

With everything involved in having a stern casting platform installed, new steering, fuel tank, and the like, I just have refused to put the boat in the water until she was completely ready. That included rewiring the trailer, but after completing that task yesterday, I couldn't wait any longer to wax and Teflon the hull. So it was off to Mashpee to pick up Frankie and do some sniffing around.

As is usual this time of year when it comes to my own personal fishing, things like going to the bank and post office take precedence. That meant a late morning launch, but who cared? All I can say is we saw a half dozen guys throwing jigs at the spit at the tale end of the incoming and we made a couple of drifts with no success at all. Jim Lowe and his daughter were already out there and they had the same experience as us. The wind had shifted to the east, but we decided to make the run to Cotuit anyway, following Jim who went screaming across the flats.

Suffice it to say that we did nothing no matter where we stopped in Cotuit Bay, North Bay, and even Prince Cove. One pair of anglers told us they had snagged a couple in the cove, but things were pretty dead when we got there, even though it was starting to flow out. The rest of the afternoon was spent building and installing new rod holders. Somehow I think I should buy stock in Starboard I've bought so much of the stuff already.

Now the big question is if I spring for a complete set of those nonmarking rollers since I have to change all of the washers and spindles as it is and I really like the look of them in terms of how they treat your hull.

Amazing isn't it how your mind can turn to such things when those darn fish won't cooperate.

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening shore hopping from Falmouth to Cotuit. The draggers are definitely out in the sound and they are stirring up plenty of weed, which was being carried into the ponds by the incoming tide. Interesting collection of gulls sitting well up inside Bourne's Pond, but I wouldn't want to say what they were doing since I didn't see much bait in the water.

When I made it to the Narrows, I spied my good buddy Gene Bourque across the way, working a point which he had accessed by kayak. I didn't fish, but when he came back over, he noted that he had taken a couple of fish and that a jig angler who could put his cast near him had taken a pair as well. One of the fish was decent and needed careful handling, but as darkness approached, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and it sure felt good to be back in the truck.

Quite a crowd in the area and hopefully if I get the wiring done on the trailer, the boat will be back in the water this afternoon so I can hit some spots where there are fewer people.

Frankly, best bet if you want fish is upper Buzzards Bay, from Onset to Wareham in the Agawam and Weweantic. With this brief spurt of sunshine, things could be solid today.