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The Pouler of Obseraution A l o n g ,l o n gt i m e a g ot h e r ew a sa groupof us that fishedfor striped b a s ss i xd a y sa w e e k ,b e f o r eo r after work. On somedayswe'd f i n i s hw o r k a n dh e a dr i g h to u t to f ish;if the tidesweren'tright we'dgo home,catchsomesleep a n dh e a do u t a S a i na r o u n dm i d n i g h t .T h i sw a si n t h e e a r l y1 9 9 0 s , a n dt h e r ew e r et r e m e n d o u s n u m b e r so f s m a l l -a n dm e d i u m s i z eb a s st o b e h a d .V i r t u a l l y everyday we'd find schoolsof f i s hp o u n d i n gb a i to n t h e s u r f a c e . I n d o i n $s o ,w e h a m m e r e d easyfish but learnedvery little aboutthe fishery.Thatchanged a few seasonslater,when I startedwatchingmore than fish. A n dt h a t ' sw h e nI r e a l l ys t a r t e d learning a b o u ts t r i p e db a s s - t h e s c h o o l i e st h, e g i a n t sa n da l l s i z e s b e t w e e nW . h a tI l e a r n e dc a n helpyou,too, so pay attention to theseobservations and you'll seea new saltwaterworld open beforeyou, while fishingthe M o n o m o fyl a t so r a n y w h e r ee l s e .
Windandtide Windmakesa tremendous differencewith migratoryfish.Offshore wind pushesfishoff the beach,far from castingrange.A quartering wind oushesthem downa beach. An onshorewind bringsbassshallow,nearlyto yourfeet.When you'renot catchinS frshin the usuallocations, lookelsewhere. Forinstance, watchfor bassrunningon the edgesof salthayand saltcordgrasses on highmoon tides,wherethey will gorgeon shrimp.In MayandJune,during full-moonphases, lookfor bassin the samesaltpondson the same tides,but expectthemto turn from shrimpto cinderworms,which hatchout of the mud at that time.
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pathsof baitfish.Whenthe current startsto run,castshallowfrrst andthenmoveintothe current. You'llpassthroughnon-productive waterquicklyandsoonfrndthe frsh.Onceyou frndthe frsh,check allof yourpoints;if thefrshareon the southeastedgeof a pointbar in two feet of water,lookat other southeastedgesof pointbarsin two feet of water.Basslikeedges, sofind wherecurrentsjoin aswell aswherethey separate.Fishalways moveintothe current,andif the currentis consistent thenalliswell. Buton a windy day,the surface currentmay be stronSerthan the watercurrent,whichmeansthe frshwill moveto the surface.Fish the top at thosetimes.
Patternfrshon the flats Birdactivity First,studythe terrainat low tide andnoteallstructurelines,as bass will followthem asthe tide floods. Makenotesof the beginnings and endings of bars,grassbedsand higherground;theyarethe travel
Birdstell us what kindof baitis in the water.Herringgulls,wouldn't you know,favorherring.Terns focuson smallbaitat or on the gansurface,andplunge-diving nets dropfrom heightsof up to 70
feetto swimwith theirwints and spearherrini with theirpointy beaks.Shearwaters feedon mackerelandmenhaden, whilestormy petrelsprefershrimp.Whenterns hoverabovethe water.likeHarriers,you canfigurethereis a big schoolof frshunderthe bait;when thosebirdsarewinginghighthey don'tseebaitandaresearching for a meat. Duringthe lastweekof this year'sfall blitzI walkeda shoreline andfoundninetypesof striperbait washedontothe beach.I sawsilversides, sandeels,mullet,tinker mackerel, anchovies, butterfrsh, herring,peanutbunkerandsnapperblues.Whyall in one placeat onetime) Rightnow lcan't tell you,but maybeby nextyearl'll frgureit out.Always,there'sa lot to learnaboutwind,tides,birdsand baitno matterhow longyou've frshedstripers.Beobservantwhen you'reon the waterandyou'll becomea betterangler. -Tom Keer FlyRod&Reel ll
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II its shuttlesthis past year.The flats have been empty savefor a few intrepid kayakerswho make the seven-milepaddle from StageHarbor or Harding's Beach.This can be a hairy ride when the southwestwind blows over 15 knots and there is an outgoing tide from StageHarbor, churning the area called Chatham Roads,between Monomoy and the mainland, with six-foot seas.It's a full-day adventure. I've fished Monomoy sincethe early dayswith TonyBiski, and Rich and Bob Benson,and I can't fish CapeCod without at least getting a look at the flats,becauseI remembertoo many epic days from the past.And the west side,which still getsa flush of offshore water from Nantucket Soundtwice a day,is not as stagnant as the inner flats; the fishing there,while not quite the old days,can still be about as good asflats fishing gets.Biski still lovesto pull his boat onto the flats on an incoming tide, and this spring, after playing in the angling circus out in Fromthe air,the i\lonomoy the rips, he and our mutual friend f l a i cl co k l r i . et h e B : h . r r r a s Bill Pastoreand I hit the perfect inm i n u sL u r t lger a s a snd comingtide on ourwayhome. m a n g r o v eosf,c o u r s e . As soon as we pulled into I h e s ef l a t sa r el u s th : f d w l r i i es a n d; n d t r r n s p a f e n t shallow water we were surr,nr;ter, cftenco{oredorrly rounded by schoolsofbass, and b y s c h o o losf s t r i p e db a s s . while they were not stupid, we
managed to catch several,including a beautiful 36-incher that Pastoresight-cast to with a tiny, sparse sand eel.At one point about an hour into the incoming tide we were covered up in fish, with squadrons of them pouring over shallow bars to get from the inside of the flats into Nantucket Sound. And we had the whole place to ourselves,with the exception of a single kayak way off in the distance. If you go by kayak, make sure you go with a buddy and carry GPSand a cell phone, and don't try it unless you're an experiencedkayaker.Or hire a local guide to take you, like Biski, Dave Stevesor Dave Ruddick. In addition, it's not wise to take your own powered boat to the flats, becausethe bars are tricky and if the notorious Chatham fog blows in you can run aground or get hung up for a full tide. To do well at Monomoyyou need a bright, clear daywith winds under 18knots and an incoming tide. If you can hit the Monomoy Flats under those conditions, you'll get a taste of what it was like in the old days.And, maybewith smart regulations and a big storm that blows a new hole in Monomoy,those dayswill return in force. 1\Tom Rosenbaueris The Orvis Company's marketingdirector. He was FJyRod & Reel's Angler of the Year in 2011.
t h e g r i l l .l t s h o u l ds a yt o y o u , " G e to v e rt h e r e ,f a s t . "W h i l e w a d i n ga t n i g h ty o u ' l ln e e dt o s h u f f l ey o u r f e e t ,a n d i f y o u ' r e i n a m u c k ya r e au s ez i p t i e so n y o u r b o o t f o o tw a d e r s T . hose z i p sk e e py o u rf e e t f r o m p u l l i n g o u t o f t h e b o o tw h e ny o u try to extractyour dogsfrom t h e o o z e .S h a r p e ny o u r h o o k s c o n s t a n t l ya n d r e p l a c ey o u r l e a d e r sw h e n n e e d e dE . v e ni f y o u ' r ea g r e a tc a s t e ry o u ' l lg e t d u l l p o i n t sa n d f r a y e dt i p p e t s w h e n y o u r f l y a n d l e a d e tr i c k thesand. Iherewon't be a lot of competitionat night,but you'llsee fishermenin theirusualhaunts. TheDunkin'Donutsat the rotary just at 5:00PM.The7-Eleven beforeclosingtime.Theparking lot overby thejetty.Andalong the beaches whereverthe salt oondsdrainintothe ocean. -Tom Keer
FlyRod&Reel 13
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