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Stripers101

Chatham, MA

Photo Courtesy of Randy Jones, 
Professional Monomoy Guide

Stripers in the refuge range in size from a foot and a half to four feet long or more, offering a uniquely entertaining and productive sight fishing opportunity for wading anglers using average fly gear.  Flouro tippets and the effectivenes of small flies help maintain the stealth factor in favor of the wading fly angler.

There are four primary areas to fish here: (1) North Monomoy Island (2) South Beach (3) Morris Island / Stage Harbor Inlet (4) South Monomoy Island.  Each has it's own character and appeal with one thing in common - they will all produce big stripers.

North Monomoy is flanked by expansive sand flats stretching for miles along it's west side.  These flats are so shallow that one could almost cross to the mainland on the north with a short swim at low tide.  They stretch out to the west to meet Nantucket Sound, and would blend with the northern flats of South Monomoy Island if not for the channel that winds through the gap between the two.   It's these flats and their subtle structures that offer the ultimate sight fishing experience for striped bass. 

 A lone wader in mid-day fog
(Photo Juro Mukai)

South Beach extends along the oceanside of this myriad of channels and sandy flats.  It's generally easier to fish than North Monomoy, and fishes particularly well on the dropping tide along the inside shore (west side).   This shore can be fished with common flies and standard cast and strip methods because the fish are feeding along drop offs that are easy to find and reach on the ebb tide.  As you work southward on South Beach on the inside, you will come to a series of buoys.  The area near the "J" buoy is a flat that reaches into the traveling zones and can be a real producer on incoming tides.  For the ambitious walker, the beach ends across from the channel between North and South Monomoy Islands.  The mixing of currents creates a very productive feeding zone - in fact during summer months this spot can be completely choked with 700 pound horsehead seals.

South Beach also provides easy access to the open ocean beach.  It's easy to cross over to fish the "back" side.  This area requires the same considerations as Nauset to the north, or any of the big ocean beaches reaching to Race Point - the very tip of the Cape.  I like the top of the tide in the morning or evening.  Be careful of the large waves that can be pounding the beach, don't wade deep and work the surfline because the fish may be feeding just on the first edge. 

South Monomoy Island is pretty much a mystery to most shore anglers because the Monomoy ferry services traditionally won't take you there.  Boat anglers have enjoyed fishing the wild riptide on the southern tip or have fished the expansive flats on the northwest corner.  They've enjoyed catching the big fish feeding in the undertows of the high banks on the ocean side or chased them on the open shoals that create fierce rip currents with ocean tide flows.  

"We the members" of the Flyfishing Forum broke from tradition and became the first angling group to explore, fish and conquer the mysteries of the south island on foot.  I'd fished South Monomoy from a boat over the years and always wanted to fish with both feet standing on the Point Rip.  This desire was shared with equal intensity by our own Chatham Angling Club president John Morin (member handle striblue).  Keith Lincoln, Captain of the Monomoy Island Ferry, made sure we included each other in our plans as we finalized our dates on the Forum discussion board.  Few trips could rival the sense of discovery that the Rip Trip I had, but during the wrong tide the fishing was slow.  We were almost satisfied with a striper here, a bluefish there in a most beautiful location when all hell broke loose!  The riptide fishing was incredible.

	After three journeys to the "tip rip" - we can safely say that the mystery has been solved and we have added another amazing fishery to our list of world-class conclave destinations. A photographic journal of these exploits is available in the Point Rip Trip Journals.
Jeff Roop w/  Tip Rip Striper

Fly Gear for Monomoy:

Although you could use an 8 weight or a 10 weight rod, the 9 weight single handed fly rod is the most common and perhaps the most appropriate tool for the job.   The area offers a variety of options - deep channels, ocean beaches, flats, guzzles, etc.  You can blind cast very effectively on South Beach, fish the pounding outer beach, or spend the day wading on the expansive sugar white flats on North Monomoy Island.  If one venue is not cutting it, try another.  For the most versatility in a wide selection of spots, most prefer a 9wt / 9 foot fly rod.  This is the best tool for the job, generally speaking.

Your fly reel should have a very good drag and hold lots of backing.  Most stripers won't require a lot of backing, but it's the ones that do that count.  When a huge "cow" tries to spool you you need to be ready.  The spool rim should be exposed of course, such that it can be palmed when needed.

Generally speaking, fly Lines for coastal flyfishing are:

A) intermediate clear, white or other stealthy color for the flats
B) fast sinking (full or sinking head) line for deep/fast water
C) floating line for poppers

On Monomoy,  stealthy lines and tippets in shallow water comprises 99% of the fishing.  Don't get me wrong - the sinking line can be quite handy, there is no lack of deep fast water to fish.  A floater would be handy for poppers to interest bass busting on squid, etc.  All around, most feel the best line to have if you had only one would be a clear intermediate line.  Most carry the sinking line on a spare spool, but very few carry a floating line in the vest or chest pack.

It's wise to use flourocarbon tippets for two reasons: (1) the material is very close to invisible in water, and (2) it allows bigger tippet weights to be used for these large fish.   Sight fishing is best when the sun is high enough to illuminate the sandy shoals.   Here, the noticeable becomes the obvious in the mid-day sun.  If you don't have flourocarbon, make sure you have a fresh tippet that does not appear obvious in the water.  I prefer Maxima ultragreen when I am out of flourocarbon tippet.

The Monomoy angler quickly learns that the same rules that apply to the tide rips or herring runs don't necessarily work here - even the largest fish can be caught on relatively small offerings on the flats.

Knowledgeable Monomoy anglers know that as a general rule the bigger fish are less prone to take flashy, stimulator flies in these mid-day conditions on sunny flats.  I've found this to be generally true and use much subdued colors and materials on the flats.  Realism counts.  I attribute my own success on the flats to the use of 'triggering' features on flies that are convincing to choosy fish.  Others use very sparse flies, which in my opinion fool the fish with what is not seen as well as what is.  Kind of like a Japanese brush painting - the white space is just as important as the ink; in this case the suggestion of an edible organism against a canvas of sand. 

Uncommon offerings seem to have an appeal to stripers on the flats.  Years ago a crab pattern was automatic.  Lately there are so many crab patterns being thrown at them that I believe they are getting wise to them.  Crab flies still attract a big striper's attention but they are not nearly as gullible as they were just a few years ago.  I've done better this year with a realistic sand eel than with crab flies.  Monomoy disciple Steve Robbins has been fishing the flats from his flats boat for years, in fact he is one of the first I know in the area to extensively apply the crab fly techniques of our flyfishing brethren near the equator to trick these big picky stripers in skinny water.

Squid patterns are also a winner.   Bass are often seen busting with abandon throughout the day, despite high sun and awful tide phases.  This behavior is almost always due to the presence of squid.  While everyone throws the kitchen sink at these busting fish, they are  rarely interested in anything but these tan/pink delicacies that literally fly out of the water to escape a grim fate.

Check out the fly archives for some of the flies we use out there.

John Marrotta (bigcat) uses a stepladder to gain the advantage over stealthy cruising stripers.

The use of stepladders is becoming more common on Monomoy all the time.  I suppose they might become as popular as they are out on Pyramid Lake (out west) for cruising cutthroat trout.

Some guys even camoflage the ladders with sand colored spray paint.  One guy we met even mounted wheels on his ladder legs to make trasportation easier.

Jeff Roop Photo