Fly Fishing Forum banner

Lessons Learned - Monomoy Clave

2K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Nathan Smith 
#1 ·
It was yet another great clave. I learned a lot, which always seems to be the case at claves. I think it would be a worthwhile topic to recap what we all learned while it's still fresh on the mind.

1) One of the things I learned is the great fishing on South Beach. I usually opt for the classic flats experience and 'famous' North Monomoy flats, but I'll have to say that South Beach sure had a lot of fish!

2) Another is a distinct south-north movement of large fish at the edge or on the flats during the dropping tide. This was evident on both sides (ocean and inside). In fact I did not see any fish moving from north to south during the entire time, although I did see lots of fish going the other way. In fact, right after Chuck hooked his 34" 50 yards to my south, I hooked a fish over 30". It was trailed by another keeper sized fish and I hooked a second fish the same size right after the first.

3) Third is the predation of released fish by seals who target fishermen for their tendency to tire fish out and release them haplessly into the seal's death trap. I will avoid fishing near seals for this reason.

4) Fourth is a timely reminder that the bentback fly can be used as an unweighted alternative to the clouser to construct a fly that not only rides point up but conceals the hook well, allowing it to slide thru more junk than conventional hook designs. Roops affinity for the price of tides and the fish he caught convinced me of the need to explore this area further.

5) Another was the role of bright flashy flies and stealthy transparent flies with respect to conditions. My luck during low light and deep dark pools was better with bright or flashy flies, my luck during high sun and bright water was better with dull or clear colors. Of course I already knew this but every visit to Monomoy and it's surrounding flats (summer on Brewster flats, etc) re-inforces this message.

6) There is such thing as over-exhuberance in fishing. We overdid it a little by dropping our forks and running to the water leaving the fire burning and a buffet for skunks, racoons, squirrels, and foxes on the table. It had the effect of tapping out our energy when needed, and made it difficult for some folks who were trying to join up with us (sorry Fred!) for some fishing. I would suggest in the future to do a 3pm luncheon (opposite of brunch) in the afternoon on Saturday to save enough time for an evening run at 5 pm. Clean-up can begin without giving too many chances for animals, large tubs can be brought for dumping dirty dishes into until return, etc.

Please post YOUR observations and learnings...
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I agree with the mid-day food fest leaving the evening open for those who need to get back out.

Three additoinal suggestions:

1. Hire 1 or 2 college kids as camp attendants. Their responsibilities could include; always have coffe ready, beer cold, sandwich makings available, wake up calls, guard the communal money we leave lying on the table as we run off...

2. Set a schedule of events; Friday afternoon fly tying, Saturday afternoon first aid & wound dressing seminar, Sunday afternoon rod repair.

3. Find a way to alleviate the need for sleeping 3 - 4 hours Friday & Saturday. It's just too much time taken away from fishing.

Roop
 
#3 ·
Roop:

I already had an Idea for #3; next Clave I am going to bring a case of Frapachino's chilled in my cooler.

As far as #1 goes, are you saying that if you almost lop off the tip of your index finger because your thinking only about getting your lure retied instead of thinking about the fact that you are using a very sharp knife means your fishing too much?

I wonder how big of a fine we would have been slammed with if the park ranger had come to our site with everyone gone & the camp fire burning (on a breezey night)?

It has been said before, but "Claves take on a life of there own." There's usually about 1/2 the people who want to fish at a reasonable pace & also do the social thing. And the other half that wants to fish a lot & squeeze in a little social activity. But the ratio for this clave was about 5%/95%. We all egged each other on & there was no room for a voice of reason.

I feel bad for missing Jay & Diane's Friday dinner, sorry, but The Race waits for no man.

I think we all learned a few things. I for one will no longer cast near cruising seals; I saw the result.

Maybe mid-day meals would be better than suppers, but at other claves (Rhodey) we had a great time sharing stories around the fire. One problem was that we were at Nickerson Park & you could point your finger in any random direction & was probably a great fishing spot within 10 miles. That's just TOO tempting to a group of fishin finnatics!
 
#4 ·
Another lesson learned -

The contact protocol for those arriving at different times needs to be more stringent. I am not pleased with my handling of the arrangement for Mike Powers, Fred, Brian and Rick to name a few.

In future claves it will be imperative to provide better coordination and also course-correction notices by cell phone, email or normal land-lines.

a) establishment and adherence to a core clave plan

b) better contact info per claver, and an awareness of deviations from the stated plan with proper notification

c) less spontaneous activity, particularly by the clave meister who's responsibility is to coordinate all named participants

Sounds pretty serious but it's inconsiderate to leave folks hanging. I hope all had a good time anyway, lessons learned.
 
#5 ·
Then on the other hand Juro, you had a cell phone and it was on when I needed you. The fact that you were not as organized as you wanted was ok. Passion for fishing is understood, and heck "less spontaneous activity"? I have the rest of my life to be old with memories. Ok a cleaner campsite, no problem. Can't wait till the Boneclave. But ah yes..now it's vacation with the family time...4th July hot dogs and burgers, camping with little ones etc. etc. We'll turn up the heat soon enough.

TerryW (who saw 3 skunks in camp, and a couple down by the water)
 
#6 ·
Looking back at Saturday on South Beach I will have to chalk that up as one of my favorite spots. The changes during the dropping tide were very revealing and put into perspective why that spot was fishing as well as it did. I can't wait to go back! Also when talking with some of the locals it seems that they have a consensus that when the water warms a bit the whole place is really going to pop.. I agree the water was chilly!!
 
#7 ·
Just a couple of comments from an observer/reluctant intruder:

Beware of overplanning/organizing these events. From my vantage point the ingredients for success are venue, a group of good people with a common passion and some solid pre-planning. Spontaneaity, I suspect, gives each of these events its own character and unique set of memories.

John and Juro's imprompto casting clinic was great. I've watched the Mel Krieger video, read the Lefty casting tips, and been a lurking info. sponge on these sites for the past year or so. But the hands on instruction and tips are unbeatable. Should really be paying for that stuff. The flipping the meatball analogy helped establish an intuitive understanding of the acceleration part of the casting stroke.

On my way to Dennis Saturday I decided, what the hell, and continued to Nickerson to check out the clave HQ. This is kinda out of character for me and I was a bit uncomfortable. The people there were great and any apparent angst on my part was my problem.

Thanks and regards,
Fred A.
 
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