Rock Harbor Fishing Report
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
15 June 2007
The Harbor Swings into Action
All the boats are in the water now and raring for action. Fortunately the fish in Cape Cod Bay are also. Even though the bass sometimes play cat and mouse with us a bit our boats are keeping them on their fins. Fish don't have toes. Seriously, all of our captains are making a concerted effort to keep track of these stripers, who are making us work to keep track of them.
Usually, each summer a new secret lure that works better than expected comes to the surface. This season it seems the old standbys are what is working best. The main standard, the umbrella rig, has always been and is still the best insurance policy to hook up on finicky stripers. The second and probably the best for hooking up on larger bass and bluefish is the jigged eel. Many of the captains started using them very early this season. The other standby is the hootchie. As far as fishing for bass and bluefish is concerned this lure works very well. It works best in the shallow water near rips and many of the bars in the Bay. The one lure that is starting to show some success is the swimming plug. Not the plugs with the metal spoon or nose but the one that swims to a shallow depth, those with the small plastic bill or nose. Most of us use Bombers. The colors are almost a personal choice but the white, black & silver or clear, the mackerel, and the pink colored plugs seem to work the best.
The best or most productive area for the stripers has been the south edge of the shoals where you see working birds, off the Brewster Flats, and west of the Target Ship. There are a few bass are still being caught in by Stony Bar but it is mostly bluefish up there now. The north edge of the shoals also holds a number of bluefish if you're going to use an umbrella rig on wire.
The area to look next I feel will be on top of Billingsgate Shoals. The method to use will be a toss up. You'll just have to try all of them out to see which way works the best.
There seems to be many different groups of anglers coming from all different parts of the east coast this season. Capt. John Shakliks, who run the Luau, had a bunch of guys up from New Jersey. John goes black powder hunting with them in the early winter and turkey hunting in the spring down in Jersey and these guys come up for some good bass fishing with John. This season Capt. Shakliks treated them to some of the best fishing they'd had in years. I had a group up from Delaware, just outside D.C.. Don't worry they weren't politicians, if they were I wouldn't have anything to do with them. These guys did well also. They will be eating fish for a while.
This last Sunday I took many of the employees of the Goose Hummock out for an early morning 1/2 day trip, They all fish but it is rare to get them all on one boat. We did fine, they kept three stripers and a few bluefish and released the rest. They did try a new rod and reel set up which could set new standards. I'm not at liberty to release this information. You'll have to go in and ask on your own. The real angler of the week was a Miss Liana Ghiron, age 12 from Newton, Ma. She came out with her mother Linda and their friend Janet Park. None of these women had done much fishing but Miss Liana was the first to pick up on the techniques of angling. With not much effort she landed her share of both stripers and bluefish. It is good to see a young lady like this enjoy a new found sport.
If you'd like to try your hand at some good Cape Cod bay fishing call me at: 508-255-6211 or 508-240-8267 (cell)
e-mail - stunmai@copper.net
www.capecodbaycharters.com
