Hurricane Fishing...
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
It's back on... A statement we all wanted to hear. That is the electricity was back on. Irene may not have been that big of a storm but she left her mark. A number of downed trees, power off, and the sense of what it could have been like if we really got hit head on by a more powerful hurricane. We really lucked out.
I've been through a few hurricanes on the Cape and just before and just after these storms the fishing can get really good. Something about the impending low pressure or something like that makes the fish really active. That happened just before the storm but not as much after. Once Irene had gone by the sky cleared, the stars shone very brightly and the next day was absolutely gorgeous. However the fishing in Cape Cod Bay went back to normal. There are some bass and bluefish on Billingsgate Shoals, mainly on the western end. Jigging and umbrella rigs work on these fish. The bluefish are of the medium size and the bass that you can keep average around 30 to 32 inches. The fishing is steady but not gangbusters. There are also some stripers and bluefish in the deep water off the shoals in the area of the Square. The bluefish are medium in size but the stripers are a bit bigger. Jigging with the long wire works for the bass and umbrella rigs work for the bluefish.
The Veterans Trip was postponed until the 18th of September at 1:30 pm. The Rock Harbor Charter Fleet will be taking out veterans for a half day of fishing. Hurricane Irene put a stop to the original plans. So, we will try it again. Come down and support our troops with a good send off.
This last Tuesday 5 boats took out some folks on a Special Olympics trip. The Amber Lee, Luau, Roxy, Hobo and the Stunami II challenged these special anglers to some very active bluefish. Fish as large as 15 pounds and 36 inches in length. Not one of the angler was tired out at the end of the trip. They all to an anglers could keep on "fishin" and wanted to but the tide made us return to port. It was a very good day.
Where to look for fish over this long weekend. Well, if you want to get into some big bluefish I'd look off the Eastham shore and out towards the #3 and #5 cans which lead to Welfleet Harbor. For both bass and bluefish go right to Billingsgate Shoals. This is a big area so start on the north edge and work the area first. The next place to check out is the deep water off the shoals. This is an even bigger area so it might take a while. In off Eastham use hootchies on mono. On the shoals jigging is your best bet, and out in the deep water use your umbrella rigs on 200 foot wire rods and work up towards the Path in 50 feet of water.
The Saturday before the storm I had Bonnie and Al Morgan, with their son Chris, out for a full day trip. They were looking for some bass and bluefish and we found them some. Bonnie landed the first one which went close to 25 pounds. That started things off by the end of the trip we were throwing back keepers. Bonnie won the pool with that nice sized striper.
If you'd like to get in on this good end of the summer fishing call me at:508-240-8267 or 508-255-6211.
