Fly Fishing Forum banner

Frustrated at Watch Hill

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  mikez 
#1 ·
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!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Hey Mike....

....that was me in the parking lot at Watch Hill. Sorry I didn't recognize the hat. Anyway...sorry to hear things didn't quite work out for you today. I've been skunked my last three outings, so perhaps I was due. Don't make this your last outing...things are only going to get better!
 
#3 ·
Good to meet you Caster! Congrats on a great day!
I think you're right about not quiting yet. I was discouraged when I talked to you. Besides everything else I mentioned in my post above, I also struggled with staying awake on the two hour ride down this morning. I don't normally have that problem. Just seemed like I'm burning myself out for nothing. Hearing about the day you had reminds me why I burn myself out. There's plenty of time to rest during winter - at least until the ice is safe!;)

Oh ya, forgot to mention above that I also ran into Tim st at Weekapoug. How'd you do Tim?
 
#4 ·
I'm too old no one listens

Mike, Notice my report of 10/18/02. I said boats in close to the wall at Napatree. I also didn't say the albies we caught had their gullets caulk full of peanut bunkers about 3 " long. Most of my friends who fish the beach are fishing from Weekapaug to Watch Hill, that is those who drive the beach.:D If you don't mind walking Napatree.:smokin:
 
#5 ·
Art -- Some of us listened ;)

Mike - guess we must have crossed paths too. I think I saw you leaving the east side of Weekapaug just when I arrived on the west side (~9:00 a.m.?). I walked out to the jetty and went right back to the car. Never even put the rod together. I did manage to get in on the action at Napatree/Watch Hill. Must have crossed paths there too since I left at around 4:15. I'm still planning to make a couple more Rhode trips so maybe we'll hook up next time.

Q
 
#6 ·
Mike, good to see you again, and it was great to meet Sean too. I didn't do any better that day-when I got to Quonnie, those blues from Weekapaug arrived at the same time. Lots of bait in the breachway, but nothing doing.
I did get 3 albies at Watch Hill today though :)
 
#8 ·
Mike,
I wasn't on shore, but the albies were definitely reachable from the point shortly after first light. They were eating bay anchovies further out, so possibly the same in close.
Lots of blues/bass driving bait onto the beach after lunchtime. Big blitzes on the other side in the late afternoon. Classic Rhode Island October stuff :)
Tim
 
#9 ·
mikez said:
There were lots of unknown bait in the wash Sunday, small and skinny but not silversides or sand eels. Was that what the albies were chasing?
Enquiring minds want to know!
I saw them too. They looked like bay anchovies to me. Light brown back and silver sides. I snagged one and it looked kind of like this: http://www.stripermoon.com/baitfish/show7.htm

Q
 
#10 ·
Mike, remember that fly I gave you last week? Compare to Q`s post from above. I just knew the water would be dirty on Sun. after Sat. wind so went deer hunting instead. Archery fever has finally taken over so all fishing will be in dreams till next March. Time to harvest bucktails for the comming fly tieing season. Will still be checking the boards every night.
Slinger
 
#11 ·
You are correct Steve, that fly is a dead ringer for that bait. I actually tied your's on that day, but quickly realized there were too many blues in the mix. Your fly is too valuable to waste. I'll need it as a model this winter. Seeing your overflowing boxes of beautifully crafted flies has shamed me into cleaning off my bench and digging out the gear. I've fallen away from tying these past few years because of time constraints, I'm commited to reviving the interest. That's bad news for Tom over at Blue Northern [he makes alot more selling me flies than he does selling me tying supplies], but good news for young Matthew who is very serious about learning to tie.
Keep in touch, I plan to pick your brain for techniques and recipes this tieing season.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top