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9/24 Chatham Area "Report"

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Paxton 
#1 ·
9/23 arrived at Morris Island, fished for 3 hrs from Rip Ryder to the inlet.....nothing.....no fish , no bait, except at inlet(bait-bunker). Headed to Harding's beach, picked up 2 blues from 5 pm to dusk.

9/24 walked from the Chatham Light up to the drop off at SB(outside). Blue fish bonanza last 3 hrs of incoming on outside... then they moved 200 ft off shore...picked up six in the 5 to 6 lb range on baby bunker flies. Hords of bunker were in the water.....as well as 1000's on the beach escaping the blues.
Crossed over at high tide to the flats and holes at drop off point, only saw 6 stripers (singles), who seemed more interested in planning for their retirement and rebalancing their 401K's, than my presentations:hehe:

Hooked up in the morning with Jim S on SB.....he served as my tutor on fishing the surf. Learned a great deal from Jim and now feel that I have a fighting chance at success in the future:) Thank you Jim for the knowledge you shared and especially your company. Again I find it amazing how many people I've met, who are more than willing to impart their knowledge.....just makes the experience all that better. Thank you Jim!!!!

Stripers on outside(dropping tide) were sparse yesterday.......no hook-ups.

Lastly.....a friend of mine from Penn., will be vacationing at the Cape starting this Saturday. He is anxious to fish Monomoy and get a 1st hand look instead of seeing pictures in magazines. I told him that given SB, it looks like flats are just about dead. Is anyone doing anything out there? Is it worth a try? Or should he concentrate on SB that give him opportunites for flats and surf?
Your input will be appreciated.
Ron
 
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#2 ·
Flats fishing in the refuge, as we know it, has been over for a while at least in meaningful quantities and qualities. But fishing on the flats is at least as good as any other area when the prime objective, bunker, is up inside wandering over the shoals.

In fact, fishing amidst the acres of small bait where bunker are thick in deep water can be frustrating when the fish are targeting only the clouds of bait verses individual baitfish. Certain times of the day the fish are willing to hit anything, but most of the time fish in deep water under thick bait wait for the bait to get thick above them and explode upward, often leaping right into the air with the momentum they gain. These are often tough times to hook fish because they are not targeting individual baits but clouds of them.

On the flats, hordes of bait are more methodically attacked and the fish are much more prone to hit a fly passing by while making their shallow water approach to the bait pods. I have often watched them make an approach in shallow water toward the bait, seemingly getting excited as they near. At that point anything you do will get a grab. Conversely, as they swim away from the attack the same fish are far less likely to even look at never mind eat the fly. They will make multiple strafing runs provided you don't wade into their lane and put them off. Look for the approach lane and make a good cast to them.

It's all about finding the trap zones when bunker season comes to the flats. Other times you can score big are during low tide when the bait is holed up in one of the kettles. Often the fish are sitting under them, not really attacking due to slack current. Once the tide starts to move they explode. During these slack tides you can find plenty of willing fish sitting deep in the holes between flats.

Flats on SB and NM have distinct channels, edges, and bars. The current creates opportunities at these structures that when combined with shoals of moving bunker can produce phenomenal sight fishing but in a whole different way.

Observe the approach lanes that fish use to attack bait and fish those lanes. Often the sight fishing opportunities are great even in fall with this method.

All in all having a good surf strategy will produce more fish, but for me there is still nothing more exciting than finding a good entrapment scenario with huge fall bass chasing bunker with their fins out of the water on the flats!

Good luck.
 
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