Summer Has Finally Arrived
Capt. Hap Farrell
Cape Cod weather is just as fickled as the fishing is. This last week is a perfect example. It seemed it was warmer earlier in the spring than it has been. If it warms up maybe the fishing will get really warm too. There has been a cool down of the fishing in the last few days, especially during the flood water.. We did "OK" out in the deep water but we either used weighted umbrella or jigging with 450 feet of wire. The fish are in 45 to 55 feet of water off the north edge of Billingsgate Shoals. It's a big area called "The Square", a spot that we go to quite a bit during the season.
There is one area that used to be good to fish for both bass and bluefish. This spot is Stony Bar and along the Eastham Shore. In the spring there'd be stripers in by the #3 and #5 cans and some a little to the east of there. Later in the season the bluefish would show up in mass in the shallow water in by the Eastham Shore. This area was a good place to take families with kids to tackle this hard fighting fish. In the last few years this has became more of a hit or miss area. Some days there are some fish there but most times there's not much going on. Only later in the summer, late August and September, does it get fairly consistent. I think it's because of the fast growning colony of seals on Billingsagte Island itself. A scientist stated that the seals don't eat stripers because he didn't find the tell tale ear bone in their scat. Well, the seals don't eat the head.
With the arrival of this warmer weather and a wind change to the west and southwest there should be a change in the fishing patterns. Hopefully the fish will move up on top of the shoals where we can use surface trolling plug or even our shorter jigging rods instead of those 450 foot jigging set ups. Also, when the water warms up this may bring the bluefish into the bay. Hooking up on these hard fighting fish will give any angler a run for their money.
This Saturday, starting at 11:00 am, there will be the 2nd annual "Blessing of the Fleet", at Rock Harbor. Those with boats are welcome to get blessed or you can watch the parade of the boats as they go through the line. It will take place where the Coast Guard boat is tied up and there will various groups there also to answer questions you might have about the water of Cape Cod Bay and the town of Orleans.
I had a number of groups out this last week and it was hard to decide which one to recognize. I had a Chris Hohab and his other lawyer friends out along with Will Platt and his family. plus John Eddy and his friends. They all did well. The one group that I really want to mention is Ray Tautkus, his son and his two grandchildren Matt and Andrew. Matt and Andrew are the lucky charms of the group and the real anglers. They have been fishing with me for well over 10 years now. They can catch fish...
If you'd like to try some of the best fishing on Cape Cod, give me a call (508-240-8267) and I'll get you out to take on the fish that this summer season will offer.
www.capecodbaycharters.com
