Nearing the End...
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
It's the middle of September already. Time really flies when you get older and I'm starting to get there. Remember back when you were just a whipper snapper? You never thought you'd ever see the other side of sixty. Well, being somewhat past that it's going by too fast. Another season is just about over. Don't tell that to the stripers up in P-town, it is not time for them to go. Just a few more weeks. The same for the bluefish. After Columbus Day weekend, then they can all head south knowing we will hold a place for them next year.
With the storm we had last weekend and the days of the east to northeast wind the water in the bay cooled down a bit. This slowed the bluefishing down some but helped the bass fishing. We soon got back to some southwest wind which should bring the bluefish activity back to a good level for the rest of this season. We normally have quite a bit of good bluefish fishing in the fall, especially in the shallow water areas.
The striped bass fishing has been a little slow down near our area. Usually Billingsgate Shoals is a focal point for the bass fishing in years past. This season it is P-town. Primarily the area in front of the Bath house and up towards Race Point. This last Tuesday, Capt. John Shakliks aboard the Luau, stated that the fish were there but they had not turned on yet. When the tide changed and started in the fishing picked up and keepers were landed. The day before we both were fishing up there. Basically, the same thing happened. The fishing was a little slow to start but picked up significantly after the tide turned. Capt. Shakliks landed a few fish in the 40 inch range where most of mine were between 30 and 34 inches. Hopefully, these fish will move back to the shoals before our season is over. Jigging was the method that worked the best in the P-town area, however, the tube and worm will work also.
This last Saturday I had the Siegel family out for a full day trip. Alex Siegal is a retired professor and used to come out quite a bit years ago. Last year he came with his daughter and son. This season, his son Jeff and his wife Karen, plus a friend of his, decided they'd like to go bass fishing. We headed to P-town which was the only game in town at that time. It didn't take long to see who was the true fisherman of the bunch. We jigged for maybe 10 minutes and landed four keepers, all the fish they wanted. After that we used the tubes and this is where Karen, Jeff's wife , shined. Of the fifty or so keepers we landed, karen accounted for almost half. If she went near a rod a fish would grab it and she'd bring it in. A great end of the season trip.
There will be a few more reports on what is going on in Cape Cod Bay. It has been a strange season both in weather and the actions of the bass and bluefish. I have no idea how the rest of the season will play out. We will see though so stay tuned.
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stunmai@copper.net
