Cape Cod

I have to hand it to people that fly fish in the salt....Damn...that's tough business...but what a blast. The conditions on the Cape were a little rough...40 degrees the first day, overcast and 20 mph winds...If you are fishing from shore, wading sand flats and standing in the surf....you better be prepared to walk. We must have put on between 15-20 miles of sand walking in three days. If you can't double haul, forget it. I have never actually been this sore from fishing before. 10 hour days, none stop casting into headwinds up to 30 mph, double hauling sink lines with weighted flies....It will make you a tougher angler and a better one. The last day I cast an intermediate sink line with a deceiver into a 30 mph headwind 80 feet....It's going to make casting to carp this week seem like a dream...I can't wait to do this again though....



The first day....1 1/2 mile walk from the lot to the beach. We got on fish right off the bat...My second cast I caught my first schoolie. Tom caught one right before me...Then Mark hooked into his first as well. We all thought it was game on, but we worked our asses off for the rest of the day. We each got into a few more fish, we pulled about 20 fish between the three of us. Not terrible for the first day, I must say that I felt pretty satisfied catching my first stripers on the fly. We packed it in around 7:30pm, had the worst sub I've ever had in my life, and spent the night with indigestion. 4 hours of sleep, up and at it again.







Day 2...50 degrees, overcast, 20-25 mph winds...We make the same march to the beach...We decided to fish our way out into a tidal creek...On the way Tom hooked into this little crab. This thing would not let the fly go. In fact, he tried to escape us and burrow into the sand with it...Crazy little critter....






We make it to the sand flats out there. My first cast I hook a monster....Rod tip bouncing, reel starts going, then I realize my line is wrapped around my thumb...I give it a little slack so my finger doesn't get ripped off, fish off...My mistake, things happen....Tom got into some big fish, he pulled a few 30 inchers, then hit one that was pushing 40 inches. I have to hand it to him, he lives for this stuff and he's good at it. He's a striper magnet, the man has serious salt skills...We leave the creek and head to another location. This spot is a known haunting ground for the monster whites that are eating up the seals. We walk to the flats....as I'm wading out 100 yards off shore, every little thing I see moving I think is a shark. We're fishing this drop off edge, right at the end of the flats. It's a little nerve racking to say the least. You're waiting the whole time to see a fin pop up out of nowhere. There was eel grass everywhere, when that stuff moves it creates a dark flowing shadow like a huge fish...Crazy stuff....Anyway, we got into a few small fish there...ended the day a little early....Got a decent meal and some great beer...hit the sack early...




Day 3....55 degrees, overcast, 30 mph winds. We get to the tidal creek again. We fished out asses off....When people on the Cape tell you that it is foggy outside...prepare to be wet...Fog out here seems to mist a fine mist of rain coming down. So it was windy and a little rainy...No big deal....We fished from 7 am until noon....Tom caught one nice fish....Mark caught a clam....I mean really caught a clam. The thing ate a 4 inch fly. He had to pry it open to get his fly back. As Mark was unhooking his clam, I hooked into a really nice fish....Ripped out line, hit my backing at one point, I get it about 10 feet from me, it's layed out across the surface, my rod is bent in half, the hook pulls....By striper....We packed it in and made our way back to New York....




What a great trip. I can't thank my friend Tom for inviting me out to share this. I can't wait to do it again...I even got humped but a horseshoe crab. When the tides go out, they come in and spawn...If you stand still, the will mount your shoe....This little guy made it all the way down the beach, went from my foot, to Tom's, then to Marks....Horny little man.....







My biggest fish landed of the trip...Tight lines my friends....