After our June 2002 trip up to Cape Cod we knew that we'd be going again. We made plans to spend a week there is September. As with any activity that is affected by nature timing isn't always perfect June we hit it well, September not as well. It had been one of the hottest summers on record and the second week of September was acting more like mid August. In other words a typical summer pattern with the fish being in near shore mornings, evenings and at night and spending the majority of their time approximately a half a mile or more off the beach. %s didn't present a problem for yak fisherman. There are two things that do affect kayak fishing and they are wind and big waves.
Joey and Erik arrived before Chris and myself. This was early Friday evening and we moved into the house that we had rented in Wellfleet. I had with me both the kayak I was going to fish from, a WS Tarpon, Chris' Cobra Explorer and since I needed to bring a kayak for FlaTom, I brought a trailer and a few extras, just in case. I had from Cobra a Navigator, 2 Fish in Dives and a WS Ride. All were set up for fishing.
Joey and Erik, having both arrived midday and only being up for a long weekend, were anxious to go fishing. They decided to go to Nauset Inlet and launched inside the bay and paddle out to the sand bars that are formed in the inlet area It's a great spot to fish and we had some success there in the spring. One day, in the spring, we found 2 fly fisherman who had hiked down from the nearest parking lot, which was a 4 mile round trip, slamming the bass. It was an easy trip for us in kayaks. Unfortunately Erik and Joey encountered the skunk on this excursion.
JoeV, arrived late that night and John M in the wee hours. The next morning Joey, JoeV and Erik hit Nauset again at first light. Erik got a nice bass and it was the only bass they got. They were trolling tube and worms. At the inlet they found breaking schools of 5-10 pound blues, and caught all they wanted on poppers. JoeV went wandering out in the ocean and found larger blues to 15 pounds.
On Saturday Dick arrived, our lone non-kayak fisherman on the trip. Dick hadn't fished the Cape as he usually went to Martha's Vineyard. Due to increasing loss of access he thought that he'd check out the Cape and what it has to offer. Also arriving Saturday was FlaTom. He had driven for 2 days from Florida, to join us for the week and see what this kayak fishing thing was all about. He was staying on and fishing the following week too. That night John joined the morning's fisherman and they returned to hit Nauset again. They got skunked.
Sunday, Tom, Chris and myself headed north and the night crew put all 4 yaks in John's truck and headed down the sand of Nauset's beach looking for action. Both groups did the same thing essentially. Everyone couldn't agree to launch as we saw scattered fish and birds working but no significant blitzes. I wanted to launch at one particular beach but I couldn't get Tom and Chris to agree, as they wanted to scout for a better situation. We did go and hit Ballston Beach for some evening surf fishing. We just couldn't stay with the fast moving blues as they headed north along the beach.
Monday we wanted to hit the outgoing of Herring Cove but the winds and water was much too choppy. I wanted to launch but even JoeV didn't like the looks of it and he fishes all the time from his yak in all kinds of weather. So some of the guys ended up surf fishing. Tom did well on small stripers up at Pickle beach. They were all small fish in the wash. Chris and I had returned to the house. He's had hip surgery and wandering the beach isn't in the cards for hun.
By Tuesday JoeV, Joey and Erik had departed. I took charge and told the guys that we were going to a beach and then launching. Looking for working fish when we were on shore and they were a half mile plus wasn't the way to go. We went to Head of the Meadow and got ready. Joining us now were Splash, John and Surfacetension, who had arrived Sunday afternoon. So my group consisted of Chris, who had at most five days in a kayak and only once in the surf: Surf.. ... who had less than 10 days and never in the surf and he hadn't been out for 7 months. Splash with 2 days of experience and Tom who hadn't fished from a kayak yet. Tom took off in an FnD and was off. I found Surf.. . in the surf: no pun intended, having trouble and in doubt of whether he wanted to go out or not. He had never done a surf launch before. He was in no man's land with his yak and he was basically being pummeled by the surf because of where it and he were. I sort of scolded him and told him that he either had to be on the sand or out in the ocean. The surf wasn't a place to be with a kayak. So with a little instruction and a push he was off: same with Splash, John and Chris. I brought up the rear. Chris got the first fish, a small sand shark, trolling a Daredevil spoon, and I proceeded to catch Tom who had headed out to the Lobster pot zone approximately a half a mile plus from the beach. He started jigging and picked up a nice bluefish. A chartreuse and pepper six inch sluggo on a jighead was the ticket Turns out there were small pods of blues up to about 12 pounds harassing bait on the surface periodically. Everyone eventually got into fish. Depths ranged from 40 to 60 feet and I was marking schools of fish on occasion too. Then we noticed that Splash wasn't with us and we realized that he had never come out to the pots with us. We were a couple of miles north of our launch beach as the wind had been blowing us that way. We all got kind of scattered and Chris got towed northeast by a good fish and found a large school of breaking fish. John headed off in that direction too. Surf.. . decided to see where Splash was and headed back in. By this time Tom had had enough in the kayak and headed in as well. Chris and John rejoined me and we headed back also. We didn't go in towards the beach though and paralleled the lobster pots. By staying a few hundred yards inside of them we basically were in the zone where most of the bluefish had been working. We hit a few more blitzes. They never lasted very long with the last and best blitz being right in front of the launch beach less than 1/4 mile out. The fish had increased in size with some blues near the 15-pound mark. They were fantastic adversaries. It was lots of fun and it was great to finally catch some fish from the yaks. Other than myself and Surf.. .. Everyone got the biggest fish they've caught from a kayak.
That night Tom, along with Surf.. . and Splash hit pickle beach. I'm not sure where John went. Chris and I stayed in.
The next morning we hit the closest beach to the house on the ocean side. It was called Newcomb Hollow. The wind was blowing hard from our backs and it was marginal as to whether we should go out or not. Splash wasn't feeling well and didn't join us. We launched and I took the largest set of waves to practice. I took a good wave up to the waist. The Tarpon punched through nicely. While out on the water we were fine but the wind was strong as we moved out to the lobster pot zone. I marked some big schools and occasionally they'd break surface. Tom picked up 2 blues and then I made the call that I didn't think it was safe and that we should head in. I didn't want us ending up a few miles offshore where the wind would be even stronger. If you stopped to simply change lures you'd be a few hundred yards farther out when you were finished! I had put on a 3 oz. Smiling Bill to get down and it was on a wire leader. Since it was already rigged up I trolled it in. I got a good hit and then as Surf.. . yelled asking if it had stripes, I realized that it wasn't fighting like a blue. Then I saw color and it was a nice bass of app. 35". It turned out to be my only yak caught bass of the trip. I offered to take everyone's rods and put them in the Tarpon's hatch just in case the surf had gotten bigger. It hadn't but John dumped as he practiced on the largest set he could find. For the rest of us the landings were uneventful. Now we came to the worst part of the excursion: dragging the kayaks up the steep beach. We came up with an idea to use ropes and a vehicle and simply drag them up. So we tied a few ropes together and it worked great! Now the steep beaches weren't a problem anymore.
Severe winds from a tropical stow which actually turned into a hurricane in the north Atlantic, were predicted for the next day starting early. When we woke it was dead calm so Tom and I decided to head for the south shore of Cape Cod and look for albies. We went to Bass River and found a great launch ramp and headed out into the Sound. We found fish working the buoys but unfortunately they were only cocktail blues. They were fun but when they became too much work we went back in to look for greener pastures. We ended up at Harding Beach and met a few folks. Upon passing Chatham Inlet and the overlook we spotted fish breaking near the sandbars in the middle of the inlet. So we explored how we could get to them. It became quite an adventure. There isn't any parking near the inlet for more than 2 hours until after 5 PM, so we ended up in the next bay system south and paddled to the land strip that separated the two bays. %s is the same place where we had parked and launched from in the spring when we fished Monomoy. Using Roleez sand wheels we transported both kayaks over to the inlet and launched. The water was rough, the fish activity had stopped, and then the wind started coming up. So we decided it was time to split. I knew how to get to the sand bars of the inlet now and it was worth the effort. On a falling tide it should be spectacular fishing. I have it marked in my brain for my next visit to the Cape. After crossing the sand again we had a very strong head wind of at least 30 mph. If need be we could have walked the kayaks back, but we paddled. While loading the WS Ride the strong wind ripped it from our grasp and it flew over the roof of my Pathfinder and broke the mirror on the way to the ground We made a few stops, including the bait shop and eventually got back to the house mid afternoon. We had been gone about 6 hours and the guys had just placed an APB out on us! They were worried, but I don't take unnecessary chances and they called and cancelled it.
The next day we ended up giving the Cape Cod Bay side a shot. We launched inside Pamet Harbor at the municipal boat ramp. There was still wind but it was manageable here. The rip in the inlet had 2 plus foot waves on it. Tom just charged through Chris and Surf.. . went out to but Splash wasn't up to it. He wasn't very secure in his Nav. Splash isn't built for a Nav. Guys who have a lot of upper body mass don't do well in them. So I invited Splash to join me while I explored the estuaries. Instead he beached and fished the jetty from shore. So I headed up to the beginning of a creek. I found bait and they were most likely being harassed by snappers. No one got fish. When I returned to the group I found out that Chris had dumped. He was chatting with a guy on the jetty and wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. He ended up going into the rip backwards and it took him by surprise. Luckily Splash saw it and alerted Surf.. . who provided help. We have since formulated rules that we now adhere to in fishing excursions. This includes both gear and conduct.
The next morning I went up to the beach up at Herring Cove to give it a shot. Some blues and an occasional bass were being caught but I didn't get anything. The 4 was brutal. That evening Torn, Chris and myself hit Coast Guard Beach. Chris and I left early and Tom ended up with 8 bass to 15#s. The next morning Tom and I hit the same beach early and we each hit stripers immediately. Then it died. At first light some 5- 10 pound blues came through and they were fun. I was using a steelhead rod and got a few and Tom got one. When the sun crested the horizon there was a monstrously large school of fish working on the horizon and hundreds of birds could be seen with the naked eye. It was massive. Of course it was our departure day, the kayaks and all their gear was packed. The seas were calm, the wind light and it was perfect for going out. It was a shame because it looked amazing out there. It was by far the biggest blitz we had seen on the trip, or I've ever seen in Cape Cod.
I learned a lot on this trip. Spring is a better time for kayak fishing. Generally the winds are less and even more importantly the fish are in all the environments. They can be found in the bays, estuaries and ocean. Many more options for the kayaks to fish in protected waters and utilize the many exposures that Cape Cod offers. Two weeks next June sounds great