Today was a very short trip OTW. I had some open time and my buddy Capt Vin (Seaker) wanted to get out to get his first bass of the season. I met Vin at Bourne around 0730 with plans to be back around 1030. We ran out in the 20-25kt winds and headed into Buzzards Bay.
Dana and crew had been out for a while and had taken advantage of the 20-26" fish around the West end. We decided to pass on them and see what else was around. I hit a few spots near the west end, but in my heart I KNEW where the fish would be and I felt they would be there in BIG numbers. PLaying the wind in Buzzards Bay is a strong suit for me and dispite 3-5' seas in some areas we ran a long way to test my gut feeling.
After a half hour of running and getting soaked Vin and I found the MOTHER LOAD of birds, biat and fish. Of course it had to be in the roughest place on the planet, but we found them. Arond 5-6 MILES of birds working like mad in the white capped slop. There were huge flocks of terns eating 2" sandeels, big groups of herring gulls eating 6-8" squid and what Vin and I would swear was Butterfish (eventhough it seems way early), and finally the GANETS on the 14" Pogies!!!! Yeah we pretty much had it all and tons of it.
We slogged into the melee and began to hook up right away. The problem was there were tons of 20-26" fish and we had trouble getting through them. Numerous times we saw quality fish come up within 100' of the boat and corral one of the larger baits but with the water being so rough we couldn't get there quickly. We would see the gulls and gannets hit the water for a few seconds then the fish would sound. Cast there 10 seconds later and you'd get a mid 20" fish.
We tried deep jigging, BIG plugs but nothing we did got us one of the larger fish we were seeing. We hailed up Bonito Bob since we were the only boat for miles. Bob slogged over and he had the same issues we did with the smaller fish.
Since we were tight for time and the ride homewas going to be long and slow we only fished the area for about an hour. Bonito Bob hung out and in the next two hours he was able to pull 2 of the larger fish out of the mix. It's tough when there are SO many fish you can't catch the ones you want.
Final tally 30-40 fish bertween Vin and I in the hour we were there. The biggest was around 29" but most were 20-26". Lures of choice were Spro jigs and large Calcutta Shad. I tried ALLOT of stuff to get the bigger fish and after 3-5 casts I'd change up and nothing really worked better than the jjigs and the big rubber. The water temps were 56 and the conditions were ROUGH! Steep breaking waves in the 3-5' range were the rule. We got tossed and sloshed the entire times were were fishing. The water was 40-60' deep.
Overall a fair outing. I was happy my gut instinct was right. I wish we had a bit more time to pattern the fish. I REALLY wish we could have snagged a 14" pogie and sent him out to explore. The wind was a double edge sword. Without it the fish and bait would not have been so compacted and easy to fish. But with the wind moving around to get on and more importantly STAY on the fish was all but impossible. Our drift was around 4 mph!!! Maybe tomorrow morning they will still be there and the clamer forcast might let us get some before they disperse.
Charter Owner/Captain, Yacht Broker, Mortgage Originator
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Man I have been drivin the bus and not gettin any rod time in. Well thanks to Rippy we scratched that itch! It was sporty out there but he found the fish....runnin 3-5's with no period in between Rippy was glued to his radar screen and found the birds....Even at half mile I had so much salt on my glasses that I was useless but he found em and we nailed em..Gotta say the new furuno display was sweet in loacating everything period....
Now neither one of us needs an invitation to begin casting so when he pulls up on the first flock I fire immediately but the wind has captured the power pro and throughs a big wind loop just as Rippy sends one away and we manage to tangle mid air
No big he starts hand lining the power pro in when I caution to be carefull we are in fish central and then he starts to laugh as he says ...we't tight...He handlines in our fist fish of the day
Nice report guys. I wish I could have been with you fishing... I was coming across Buzzards from Montauk, and we would have paid good money to be in 3-5's.
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