October 2000 Daily Fishing Reports

Jerry Weiner and his young son made the trip down from East Freetown, but despite trolling some of the most productive waters with tubes and casting eels into spots which should hold fall fish, there would be no action on the day. Fortunately, the afternoon was sunny and warm and as we made our way home as the evening skies went dark, we talked about a return trip next year. I also reflected on what had been just an OK season along the Elizabeths and promised to analyze my data over the winter and figure out what might have caused such slow eeling this season. Or maybe I will just have to chalk it up to the vagaries of fishing - and fish behavior.

Jeff Howard joined me this morning for the second part of our trip together, moving from the northside and Barnstable to the southside. While Jeff managed one schoolie in the Waquoit channel, the action was suprisingly slow. As I looked outside, I saw small splooshes in the water which proved to be small albies pushing water quietly as they do when the water temperatures drop and they're just about ready to depart our locales. The water along the Elizabeths was incredibly clear and we again only found a single schoolie willing to take the fly; one experienced angler I know said the fishing along the islands has been slower this year because of the extreme clarity of the water. I suspect it also has to do with the lack of bait in the area, as we didn't see a stick of bait.

Frankie and I fished today with Mike Ross and his dad David in search of bass along the islands. Mike enjoys flyrodding while we also planned to troll the tube-and-worm since that has been the most consistent daytime producer of larger bass. Stretches along Pasque and Nashawena came up empty, but as we worked the backside of Cuttyhunk, Dave's rod went off and he was fast to a beautiful fish which we released to fight another day. Working our way back, we found a few bass on the fly rod for Mike and saluted what was just a picture perfect fall day.