August Doldrums...
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
It's the beginning of August. The summer is more than half over and we are starting to run on emergency power. We wake up, and head to the boat, even if we don't have a trip, because we don't know where else to go. The beaches are crowded, the roads are crowded and we are just hoping to get out on the water. Even some of the areas out there are crowded.
The fishing is good, not great, but we are keeping everyone happy with a decent load of stripers and some bluefish mixed in. The main area we start fishing is the north edge of Billingsgate Shoals. If we don't find much there we may go out to the deep water and troll rigs or single hootchies around looking for bluefish. At times we find some fish and land a half a dozen or so. Then we go back to the shoals and work the south edge looking for the stripers again. So far, we've been successful at our endeavors. For whatever reason, P-town has been fairly quiet lately.
There are tons upon tons of bait, mainly sand eels, on Billingsgate Shoals. It has been a long time since there has been this much food concentrated in one area. This is what seems to be keeping the bass on the shoals. There has been one or two days when the sand eels have moved off and they took the fish with them. So, if you get out to the shoals and do not find the bait there, go right out to the deep water and look around. As far as P-town is concerned, look to next weekend before the fish move back in any volume.
Before I get into the groups who fished this last week I'd like to tell of a young woman who has fished with me for many years and is now working for me as a mate part time. Emily Ewen and her father Chris started fishing with me six years ago. Emily was eleven then. Now she is seventeen. Last season she expressed an interest in learning to mate on the boat, so we trained her some. This season, with a bit more training, Emily was ready to take a trip by herself. When asked if she was nervous her reply was "I'll do the best I can". That's all I or anyone can expect. She was good to her word. She did the best she could and it was more than anyone could expect. She will be a busy young lady come next summer.
I had a number of families out this past week. I had the Gilbrides, the Grays , and the Jagemanns amongst other. Carrie Gilbride is the daughter of Dave and Mary Smith. Dave mated for me years ago one fall before he passed. The Jagemanns are friends of the Gilbrides, and their daughter Casey and Izzy are friends so when they fish together theyt are known as the Dynamic Duo. The Grays are another family that regularly go fishing and their daughter Cassandra turned out to be the fisherman of the week. Capt. Chuck Cataldo, of the Fair Lady had a spilt trip this last Tuesday with Chuck Conlen and Gerald Correau plus friends. They did very well with a good number of good sized stripers. This trip came through the Rock Harbor Charter Service (508-255-9757), the Booth at Rock Harbor.
If you want to get in on this good fishing call me at: 508-240-8267 or 508-255-6211.
