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One
of the quintessential experiences of flyfishing on Cape Cod is the famed Monomoy Island
Wildlife Refuge and it's primitive beauty. On June 10 and 11th,
friends and members of the Flyfishing Forum will get together to enjoy this unique
resource. The venue will include boat shuttles to North and South Monomoy
islands and adjacent South Beach, camping at Nickerson State Park,
and the usual great times with great people. The mission: sight fishing for big
stripers on the sugar white sands and gin clear waters of the refuge, memories that won't
soon be forgotten, and new learnings for fly fishing enthusiasts. Timing is good,
before Tuesday's nor'easter there have been numerous reports of keepers cruising the
flats. With luck the storm won't churn things up too much. In most years, the
early flats fishing has been phenomenal - we'll find out how this tradition holds!
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Introducing the islands, a fly-fishers view... There are three possible areas on the refuge to fish: (a) North Monomoy Island, (b) South Beach, (c) South Monomoy Island. Click HERE to read all about them, or HERE to view the coastline's aerial view. They collectively make up an primitive striped bass mecca.
Most remote of the three is South Monomoy Island (c). Keith Lincoln of Rip Ryder says everybody talks about taking the shuttle to fish there, but no one ever does it. That's all we needed to hear! A contingent of clavers will leave for South Monomoy at 6am on Saturday. The 'tip' (NOT shown) offers virgin ground for shuttle fishermen. To the east is ocean beach, the tip is a rip, and the inside is a cove with shoals and flats. (The northern flats shown above are a major hike from the drop off point) The most talked about location is North Monomoy (a). It is flanked with expansive flats to the west, southwest and northeast. These are the flats that make Monomoy famous for shore bound sight casting opportunities. The under-rated South Beach (b) flats reach westward toward Monomoy. Reports thus far are that these flats are the happenin' place this season. While all the attention's on Monomoy, the cows could be home on the range on the South Beach flats. Click here to see how Outermost Harbor looks today. On Sunday, individuals can choose to fish North Monomoy or South Beach. We can either split into groups or fish en masse, either way we will need to get a number of people signed up to charter a 6:00 am shuttle. The alternative is to leave at 8am, no advance payment needed. More details are listed below... As early as 1pm on Friday June 9th, some of us will gather at Nickerson State Park for opening ceremonies. The site we occupy is site 102 in area 3.
Camp maps are available at the station, even when closed. Saturday's first Shuttle... 6:00 am to South Monomoy! On Saturday June 10th, the planned shuttle will leave at 6:00 am for South Monomoy from the Monomoy Wildlife Refuge headquarters located just south of Chatham light off Morris Island Road. Head south of the lighthouse to Morris Island Rd. to end of causeway. A cove on Stage Harbor will be visible to the right. The refuge HQ entrance is on the left as you ascend the hill at the end of the causeway. There is no parking at the HQ, once you drop off your gear you need to park at the end of the causeway. We'll combine vehicles from camp, but for those arriving in the AM we will be easy to spot loading / walking up to the meeting point. Keith Lincoln of Rip Ryder will meet us at the refuge HQ. Note: The cost of this shuttle is $300 divided by the number of riders. Those who sign up should commit to their share regardless of whether they make the shuttle or not. We are already talking about 10 or more riders, so it will be less than $30 each... and dropping. The normal shuttle price is $10-$15, so this is quite a bit more... but the adventure of fly-fishing South Monomoy on foot is nearly unprecedented. This trip requires a single coordinated pick-up time for all riders.
If you want to fish South Beach or North Monomoy instead, that's fine. If you are interested in breaking new ground, South Monomoy is your location. If you go to NM or SB, tell your captain what time you would like to be picked up. As mentioned earlier, the site details will be posted Thursday and at the gatehouse Friday night. We are planning to hold a casting clinic and hope to have a guest instructor. In any case there will be plenty of commiseration and discussion on casting, and we're all sure to learn something. The fabulous Estey Bros. will dazzle us with their skill at camp cooking. Not to be missed! The campground is Nickerson State Park just off rte 6A in Brewster. The site we occupy is site 102 in area 3.
Camp maps are available at the station, even when closed. On Sunday, the venue will be to fish on North Monomoy or South Beach based on your preference. The shuttle meets at the same place, same time. There are two ways to shuttle on Sunday:
The 6:00 am Sunday shuttle (any 6:00am shuttle in fact) requires an advance payment of $120/boatload (max 13 riders) to get to North Monomoy or South Beach. Please signup so we can see how many people we will have to split the $120 6:00am charter vs. the normal per-person fee w/ 8:00am departure. Those who leave at 8:00am pay only the $10-$15 per person.
When you get dropped-off, you must tell the captain your pick-up time. Everyone in the group needs to be back at the rendezvous at the appointed time. Unfortunately, my experience is that they rarely get to the rendezvous at the agreed upon time, but there is usually some fishing to be had at the meeting point. I guess the charters get shafted twice for every time the punctual fisherman does, but I would suggest bringing some sandals or footwear to permit the removal of waders in the event you need to wait a while in the hot sun for the pick-up. You can leave the sandals at the location where you are dropped off / picked up without concern. Traffic willing, we will discuss meeting at a bar to recap, share stories and say good bye.... until the next clave! |
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