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Cape Vacation

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  OC 
#1 ·
I live in S. Me. and am going to Dennisport for vacation 9/27 - 10/4. Never spent anytime on Cape Cod and am curious about what to expect. I am planning to mostly fish the beaches at dawn and dusk as I do here but don't know about access and if one place is apt to be any better than another. Also would it make any since to trailer a boat down ? if so any marinas near there for weekly tie up ? Any assistance much appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Yep you bet, you should definitely try along the beaches from Yarmouth to Chatham or if you have less time right in Dennisport itself.

In Dennisport, the time-limited angler should fish any of the beaches from Bass River to Herring River and on to Red River. If you have more time, try the lighthouse at Chatham or go the other way to the mouth of the Parker River in Yarmouth on the other side of Bass River. Daybreak provides the best fishing along the Dennis beaches in fall, usually around the top of the tide.

Early in your stay you'll have morning lows / minus tides. I would fish Chatham light even though it's a bit of a drive. Another option is Brewster Flats but you should be warned - as soon as the tide turns get the hell off the flats on the bayside. Unless you are very experienced up there you should not take chances.

Chatham light is the same in that if you wade out to the bars, you need to wade back as soon as you feel tide swells coming in... before the level rises! The current will be running out, but the tide will be coming in - don't be fooled.

Pleasant Bay fishes very well that time of year. Head north on 28 from the lighthouse and poke into any side road to try your luck. If the current is flowing, don't strip the fly too hastily... let it swing.

Later on in the week the tide will be high in the morning so you can find good water to fish around Bass River, Herring River to Red River and all the small jetty cut beaches in between when the tide current is running hard in either direction. I'd recommend moving along until you connect or see birds. This time of year that shouldn't be too long under normal circumstances.

Bass River:
My preference is to go to the end of the beachway on the West Dennis side and park at the end. Most of the time it's best to walk to the right and fish the channel between the island (Stage Island) and the shore within the estuary. Fish rush in on the flood, then feed on bait pushed out by the current on the ebb. It's a good spot to flyfish because of prevailing south/southwest winds if you're a righty. Or go across the bridge back on 28 and wind down to Veteran's Park and fish the tip of the jetty on the west side on the ebb tide. The fish can blow up right in your face there on the right tide!

Herring River:
Find the access on the map (Riverside Rd off 28) and walk to the mouth. If they aren't busting in the river, walk to the end and also work the beach to the west stopping to cast from each little jetty. Best early and late on the late incoming or early outgoing when the water is moving and there is bait around.

Red River:
Red River Road, can't miss it. I like the very end the best.

Hardings Beach / Stage Harbor light:
Take Barn Hill Rd at Larry's PX on 28 in Harwich and bear to the right at the fork. I recommend parking near high tide and walking all the way to the lighthouse if you have the time, fishing it as the current starts to run out thru the inlet, then walking back to the vehicle. The hike is about 1.5 miles or so, but you fish as you go and there are lots of fish working the beach on the way over and sometimes you never make it to the light!

During mid summer those Dennisport beaches are just blues or searobin haunts, but during the fall migration they are a striper highway. You should have a lot of fun, just keep your eyes open and the fly in the water!
 
#4 ·
Kush you are so right about the Rte 28 minature golf. Spent many of summer nights as a 12 year old banging the ball through windmills, eating saltwater taffy and trying to convince my dad to drop me off at the canal or Bass River so I could fish till morning.

The Cape is two worlds totally different and one of those worlds is rte 28. Got to wonder if the idea of stripmalls came from rte 28, For those who never got to see rte 28 in it's hey day 50's and early 60's when it was the main route to the Cape for many you really are not missing much, it's still pretty much the same just a lot more real estate agencies now than open front salt water taffy stands. By the way I'm talking mostly about Bourne and Wareham. We had a summer home in Wareham back then and it may have been on the wrong side of the canal but for a blue collar family it was so wonderful.

Damn Kush, just that little mention of Minature golf brings back one of many things that make the Cape such a great place to visit. Those who live there or spend lot's of time there consider your self very lucky. For those going for the first time never mind the crowds just enjoy all of Cape Cod for what it is, it's still got the same smells the same flavors it had fifty years ago if you look for them.
 
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