[admin]

I know when we posted our bonanzas last year we gave away the keys to the henhouse, but it's so early right now I am finding it easier just to talk about our plans for the weekend on line. Of couse when the big cows come in it won't be as prudent to on-line discuss specific details about locations, tides, etc - but for now... what's up for the weekend???

I am getting my backside beach passes and doing a little scout fishing east to west from Chatham to Nobska until I hit a pack of spring fish, where I will stop and indulge myself to shake off that NASTY winter. I would be happy to hook up with anyone on an intersecting route / timeline if at all possible, but am not planning a fixed time place thing at this point because it appears to be a true recon mission by the sound of all the reports.

Thanks for all the cell phone #'s, I will make an effort to report anything exciting... I will send my cell phone # in reply so please do same for me.

Next weekend I plan to scout as well, with a bit more urgency... maybe two days if the "boss" will let me. ;-)

 

[striblue]

Juro, you know where I will be... Bridge Street at about 5 AM. Stop by or at the House before you continue your scouting. Cranking out the 7 wts.

 

[Adrian]

I'll be out on the water with Professor Jop somewhere - not sure whe yet, but I'll have the laptop and will post details accordingly.

 

[bcasey]

I'll be out and around Falmouth this weekend, in between little league games. (2 kids, separate teams) I'm going to try the canal on my way home this pm, and later around dusk, Old Silver beach. I'll try to post later tonight, for sure if I come across anything. Good Luck this weekend, I think we need it!

 

[Bob Pink]

Small fish way up inside Poppy this morning. Nothing showing along thje beaches even with these warm WSW winds !? Fish were bright and fiesty but the real troops are still waiting elsewhere.
Poppy water temps 62*
Poppy spit 56*

 

[chromer]

thank you Bob - this tells me to fish the estuaries this weekend

 

[doogue]

My final plans for the weekend...

It looks like I will be on a collision course with Juro tomorrow. I plan to fish from Falmouth/Nobska all the way out to Chatham. I will start fishing at around 7 AM and I am planning on fishing through Sunday afternoon. I am going to grab a cheap motel tomorrow night and head out early on Sunday if I think that I can find some fish.

I would love to meet up with some of you guys tomorrow. If you have a cell or want my cell then e-mail me at:
[email protected]

The reports do not look great on the Cape over the past few days but I plan on hooking up this weekend...period. You do not catch fish when you are not fishing.

Good luck out there.

-Doogue

 

[FredA]

May want to pack a bit of wire. Just checking the boards one last time and there's a post on reel-time (Dave Charbuck sp?) - blues in #'s before schoolies. Bob Paccia, whom I took some tying lessons with this winter, insisted this was going to be a big year for blues. How'd he know that?

Well, off to bed. Goal is to be at Bass River by 6:00am.

Fred A.

 

[juro]

Amazing how the human body works... I woke up at 2:51 am without an alarm. Of course, I was so pleased I snuggled back to a deep sleep until 5. ;D I had to finish the rest of the steely swap scannings and wanted to have breakfast with my National Honor Society son before his SAT tests this morning.

Anyway, he'll be up soon and I'll probably get out of here at around 7, which puts me in Orleans at 9 when they start selling oversand permits. I'll be stopping by our friend and sponsor's place - Nauset Angler. Harry Koons reports that there are a lot more fish being caught by people he knows (locals) than he hears about on-line and that the herring chasing cows are there. Fish that were harassing the canal herring run have rounded the bend to the bayside flats (as they always do in May) and some liveliners are getting big fish on the south side rivers.

My suspicion is that the wave of schoolies is not at it's usual intensity but the herring eaters are on time or close to it. The schoolies are non-spawners while the big herring eaters have spawned this winter. It stands to reason that their behavior is different.

Also because the striped bass is a naturally reproducing species there is a lot of diversity in the gene pool. (Aaron Adams' reference to the diversity factor in pacfic salmon teaches us a few key points about the importance of diversity in the population)

Populations reproduce as far north as Nova Scotia according to textbooks. From the Hudson to the Chesapeake to the Roanoke etc - there is a great diversity to striped bass populations which I believe helps them be able to bounce back so well.

Anyway, hope all found some fish this morning and I hope to hook up with you a little later on...

 

[FredA]

Well I got to Bass River, but not till about 7:00am, which ain't bad cause slack low was just over. Windy and a bit wet. According to people I talked to some small fresh fish are showing up. I watched two gentlemen work in opposite directions from the point to the right of the parking lot. They saw nothing. They went over to Windmill beach to get out of the wind. Eventually I made my way over. One of the guy's got a bright, lice covered 22" schoolie which affirmed there may indeed be some fish this year. ..Eh..nothing for me. Might get to try again tommorow.

Fred A.

PS Got back down 5/6 but starring at the water while eating lunch at Clancy's with the family was as close as I got. Oh well, accumalated a couple points.

 

[grego]

I'm back home.

Because of the Iffy weather forcasts, I changed my game-plan a bit & headed for the Cape @ 8:30 PM Friday. Shore fished one of my favorite Estuaries in Upper B-Bay. Fished 10:00 PM-1:00 AM with one 20"er to show for my efforts. Not a hole lot of bait around. Had a few other missed hookups, but it was by no means fast & furious. However, it was a beautiful night, down right balmy, very little wind & a nice moon!

Launched the boat Saturday morning shook things out & fished for a couple of hours, Al got 1 twinkey & we saw a couple other micros taken around us. Again, we did not see much bait or bird activity. Finally, Al, Jen & I hit the Weweantic Saturady afternoon. Again not much around in the way of bait. Two spin guys reported that they had caught two schooloies by drifting live herring earlier in the tide. I headed home around 6:00 PM. Going to relax tonight & do Chores tomorrow.

End Transmission.

 

[labrax]

Went out to the Merrimack River early this AM. Arrived at 5:30am and fished from the location of the old sandbar halfway to the party boats. No stripers caught - but plenty of seals were out. The seals were porpoising out of the water and were probably herding herring or shad. A couple of people walking their dogs reported a 1/2 dozen dead shad washed up with their stomachs eaten. Wind was moderate from the north - only 4 other spin guys out there, not much activity on the Salisbury side from what I saw.

I did finally arrive back from Deadman's Cay this past Monday. Bonefishing can be a humbling experience IMHO. Spending time blindcasting for inshore species up here in the Northeast can have a detrimental effect on your ability to cast accurately. The wind was a constant factor, and actually blew 25-30 on two of the 6 days. Two other days were difficult due to moderate winds and cloudy conditions. I caught a total of 8 bonefish (lost 4 others - and had many, many more legitimate chances) for 6 days - the other guys at the lodge did better - some hit 8-10/day (on the flats, which is considered good - not "mudding", which is essentially blind fishing). Although the same guys did experience bad days as well. Took 4 rolls of film (wife would not let me take the digital), so I will scan some shots in when the film gets developed. Bonefishing is a blast - it is like hunting (a lot like bird hunting), they can peel off line, and even 3-4 lbder can put a nice bend in an wt.

Good luck with the start of the season,

Pete

 

[bcasey]

Bourne's Pond friday pm, Old Silver Beach inside the marsh saturday, and Meganssett out back sunday late afternoon. NOTHING! Plenty of herring jumping and silversides @ OSB, but thats about it.