Hate to be a whiner, but ever have One Of THOSE days?
Just couldn't find my Mojo today. Made wrong decisions, went to the wrong places, carried the wrong gear. Dang!
I blame it all on external stress and strife at home. That's what kept me up half the night Saturday causing me to over sleep and get a late start. Then I failed to take my own advice and skipped Watch Hill at dawn and went to Weekapoug instead. I saw Sean there and we each landed a mini-blue. The water was very cloudy and any albies stayed far off shore. I kept thinking "there's still time to leave here and run over to Watch Hill" But I didn't.
Eventually I went everywhere else, but never connected with another fish all day.
Finally around 4:00 PM I went to Watch Hill. Soon as I parked at the Inn, I could see Napatree was lined with anglers the whole way out and a couple dozen boats were clustered there as well. I commented to a guy next to me that "something must be going on". Can you guess what's coming?
"Shoulda been here earlier today!" He proceeds to tell me bass and blues blitzed and he landed a 38" striper on a fly. Bummer!
Oh well, it's much calmer now, no more white water, but I decide to give it a shot. Uncharacteristically for me, for some unknown reason I decided to leave the surf rod behind and only carry the fly rod. Usually I carry both when I fish the lighthouse. I'm no snob, and I actually enjoy surf casting for its own sake, not to mention it is often deadly.
At this point an astute reader can predict what's coming. Yep, good sized bass and blues non-stop all evening for the surf casters, all action just a half a cast too far for my best efforts with the long wand. Just before dark, when it looked like I would literally be The Only person not to catch a fish, a tiny schoolie bass took pity on me and I was able to slink away with a shred of self respect intact. One of the surf casters actually cheered when I finally hooked up. He was feeling sorry for me.
So to answer Sean's question from another thread, I frequently revert to the spinning rod when conditions dictate. If I had tonight, it would have meant the difference between one tiny fish and numerous big ones!
Just couldn't find my Mojo today. Made wrong decisions, went to the wrong places, carried the wrong gear. Dang!
I blame it all on external stress and strife at home. That's what kept me up half the night Saturday causing me to over sleep and get a late start. Then I failed to take my own advice and skipped Watch Hill at dawn and went to Weekapoug instead. I saw Sean there and we each landed a mini-blue. The water was very cloudy and any albies stayed far off shore. I kept thinking "there's still time to leave here and run over to Watch Hill" But I didn't.
Eventually I went everywhere else, but never connected with another fish all day.
Finally around 4:00 PM I went to Watch Hill. Soon as I parked at the Inn, I could see Napatree was lined with anglers the whole way out and a couple dozen boats were clustered there as well. I commented to a guy next to me that "something must be going on". Can you guess what's coming?
"Shoulda been here earlier today!" He proceeds to tell me bass and blues blitzed and he landed a 38" striper on a fly. Bummer!
Oh well, it's much calmer now, no more white water, but I decide to give it a shot. Uncharacteristically for me, for some unknown reason I decided to leave the surf rod behind and only carry the fly rod. Usually I carry both when I fish the lighthouse. I'm no snob, and I actually enjoy surf casting for its own sake, not to mention it is often deadly.
At this point an astute reader can predict what's coming. Yep, good sized bass and blues non-stop all evening for the surf casters, all action just a half a cast too far for my best efforts with the long wand. Just before dark, when it looked like I would literally be The Only person not to catch a fish, a tiny schoolie bass took pity on me and I was able to slink away with a shred of self respect intact. One of the surf casters actually cheered when I finally hooked up. He was feeling sorry for me.
So to answer Sean's question from another thread, I frequently revert to the spinning rod when conditions dictate. If I had tonight, it would have meant the difference between one tiny fish and numerous big ones!