1999
Pretty crappy weather this year. It was a good season for catching fish, but I put a lot fewer days on the water due to weather--45 days this year vs. 74 days last season. It was a disappointing season for large blues, but very good for smaller blues all summer. Average striper season compared with the last three. A great year for bait--it was everywhere! Here's a sampling of what happened:
May 14th:
Fished a few days last week and a few the week before. By May 7th there were a good number of schoolies in Stage Harbor/Oyster River, with the largest being in the 24 inch range. Fishing was fairly consistent (I was fishing the last 3 hours of outgoing last week). I also found a good number of fish around the Hardings Beach jetties at the higher tides.
I noticed that the commercial guys were getting mackeral at the fish weirs (which are visible from Hardings). There also seem to be a lot of squid being brought into the docks.
I poked around the flats, both at Hardings and Common Flat/North Monomoy, but saw nothing. This time of year you can usually find a lot of fish in the "bowl" by Outermost Harbor/Lighthouse beach, but I didn't get over there last weekend due to fog.
May 24th:
Fishing has improved but still isn't hopping. I fished Chatham, Monomoy, Hardings Beach, Morris Island, and Lighthouse Beach this weekend and it was pretty spotty. It took a couple of hours to even find fish on Saturday, which had me pretty worried. There were no schoolies on the beaches or in the Oyster River. We finally made our way down to South Monomoy to a little cut that we like to fish and we found a lot of 18-22 inch fish out there. The weather was pretty good for sight-fishing, so I'm pretty sure that we saw what was out there.
Sunday started out better, with terns working fairly well over breaking fish on Common Flat just outside of Stage Harbor. We caught a few larger schoolies before the action died off. Tried every other spot within easy reach but saw few fish as the tide dropped. Spotted the first large bluefish of the season off of Hardings Beach and my father got it to take a swipe at a YoZuri minnow, but it threw the hook.
That's all I can tell you. As always, I'm optimistic for next week.
June 1st:
Friday started off very well; we left Stage Harbor at 7 a.m. at the start of the incoming tide and immediately saw terns working all of the edges. More terns than fish at each spot, but everyone landed a few schoolies. Proceeded down the West side of Monomoy and found fairly consistent action casting to pods of nice sized schoolies with an occasional keeper-sized single crossing the flats. By late morning we had spotted some very large (upwards of 36") fish but the largest we connected with was 30 inches.
Saturday the wind kicked up to 20 knots onshore and we spent most of the day trying to hide. Caught one 9lb. bluefish and a 29 inch striper, both on the East side of Monomoy out by the Crib. Wet ride both ways.
Sunday the wind had dropped and we went back down the West side of Monomoy but it was nothing like Friday. We were a couple of hours earlier in the tide, but we stayed there most of the day, and saw far fewer fish. Found some large schoolies on Hardings Beach and Common Flat.
Monday we stayed closer to Stage Harbor -- Hardings Beach, Common Flat, Morris Island -- my father caught a 31 inch fish on Common Flat early, but the rest of the day was tougher. Landed a bunch of schoolies.
Crab flies accounted for all of the larger fish (4 keepers). Ray's Flies also generated some interest. My wife had luck with Sluggos and YoZuri Crystal Minnows.
June 8th:
Saturday went fairly well. My father and I left Stage Harbor at 8 a.m. for an 11 a.m. low tide. Fished the edge of Common Flat under some working birds and caught a few schoolies. Moved over to Hardings Beach and found a big pod of schoolies dimpling all around the weedbeds, but we couldn't buy a hit. This happens every year, and I assume it's because the bait is very small. Moved down the west side of Monomoy to the cuts, but saw very few fish (now the end of the outgoing tide). As the tide began to rise, we moved toward the northern most flat on west Monomoy and the fish started to appear more consistently. Between noon and 2 p.m. we released 6 fish and dropped a couple of others. Largest fish was 31.5 inches and the smallest was 26 inches. Every fish was taken on a crab fly. We had to spend some "family time," so we headed in early.
Sunday was another story, and not much fun on the south side. We started at Morris Island (with about 15 other boats) where there were a lot of birds working. Not as many fish there as I think the other boats believed. Caught two schoolies. Moved down the east side of Monomoy hoping to find bluefish on the falling tide (didn't see a thing). Many, many seals on the east side out by the crib. No stripers. Decided to ignore the wind and headed out to the west side (same flat as Sat.), where we were able to catch a couple of fish. Only one fish on flies. My father caught a 28 inch fish on a topwater plug in 18" of water--pretty exciting to see.
I haven't seen any big pods of fish (large or small) on the flats yet...only singles and pods up to a dozen fish.
June 21st:
Friday was cloudy and breezy with a 10:30 a.m. low tide, so we stayed fairly close to Stage Harbor. There were cocktail-sized blues breaking in the channel and both my father and I caught a few. Moved over to Common Flat, but there was no light for sight-fishing. There were fish around, but we were spotting them only after they bounced off of the boat. My father picked up a few fish on spinning tackle (sluggos). Moved further down Monomoy, but with no light it wasn't much fun. I caught nothing on flies. Lots of very small bait.
Saturday was perfect flats fishing weather. It was a little too calm early in the morning--not a ripple on the water--and the fish were spooky. Started at Common Flat and found fish most everywhere. They were pretty tough as they were mostly hanging off of the edge of the flat rather than cruising in the shallows. They got a little bolder when the breeze filled in. Caught two fish (27 inches and 25 inches) both on crabs. Moved out to Monomoy, starting WAY down the Island. Saw nothing. Fished our way back toward Stage Harbor and caught three fish between 24-29 inches. Some very large fish running parallel to the beach in the first set of waves, but it wasn't possible to get a good head-on shot at them. Most of the fish were shy, which I've heard the guides mentioning as well. Had a shore lunch while the tide changed. Moved back to Common Flat for the afternoon and found pretty quick fishing. There was a little too much water on the flat, but the visibility was good and we brought four more fish to the boat, all shorts.
Sunday was cloudy and breezy. Forgot my polarized sunglasses at home. There were a lot of small blues in the harbor as well as in the channel by Hardings Beach. Kept three for the smoker. Very poor light for sight-fishing, but we picked up three decent schoolies on spinning tackle at the edge of Common Flat.
June 28th:
Left Stage Harbor at 8 a.m. on Saturday for an 11:30 a.m. high tide. Sustained wind from the SSW at 15 to 20 kts. Pretty snotty. Found a lot of birds working from the mouth of the harbor to the end of the channel (several hundred yds.). Schools of bluefish were everywhere in the waves. Mixed sizes. Did very well for several hours with a variety of topwater plugs. Too rough to stand on the bow and flycast. Fish ranged from 1-5 lbs. Hardings Beach was boiling with micro-blues as far as the eye could see. It was very encouraging. Kept a few larger blues for the smoker.
Tired of the small blues and went in search of stripers. Drifted the protected inner edge of Common Flat but saw very little. Fished the eastern edge of N. Monomoy but saw very little. Went out to the "crib" on the east side of the island but saw nothing. Wind dropped to 8-10 kts., so we went around to the West side. Still saw few fish. Caught one schoolie of 25 inches on a fly.
Moved in to Common Flat and found a nice pod of large fish hanging among the weeds. Took the largest fish of the season, on a crab, 35.5 inches, 19.25 lbs. Called it a day.
Sunday was calm and hazy. Saw no blues in the morning leaving the harbor. Lots of stripers on Common Flat, mixed sizes. My father took a nice fish on a fly 26 inches, and lost another. Moved out to Monomoy and found the flats covered in large fish. Couldn't buy a hit. Probably should have gotten out of the boat and waded (but didn't). Some real bruisers out there. Tried everything. My only excuse is that the tide wasn't doing much and they seemed to be just milling around. Found blues out on the edge of the flat and spent the last couple of hours catching small blues on a 7 wt., which was a ball.
July 6th:
Took Friday off from work, but woke to high winds from the SSW at 30-35kts. Pass!
Saturday was the best weather day of the long weekend--mostly sunny, light onshore breeze. Left Stage at 8:00 for a late morning low tide. Lots of fish on Common Flat. My father took 5-6 fish up to 26" on crabs while I poled. Fish definitely seemed on-the-bite after the rough weather the previous day. We had pestered most of the fish on Common Flat by 11 a.m., so we moved south down Monomoy. Enormous numbers of very large fish down the west side. Pod after pod of fish. They weren't skittish at all--they just wouldn't eat. Threw crabs (3/0 down to #2), small shrimp, mole crab imitations, large flies (Paige's Big Eye Baitfish), Sluggos, YoZuri Crystal Minnows, Crippled Herring, Walkin Dogs, others I'm forgetting, etc. Most flies got a look or a short follow if they were well placed. Only bumps were on the #2 crab and the mole crab. Very tough fishing. There were some honest 40 inchers out there! Moved up Monomoy as the tide began to flood and got two fish (29", 31") on crabs. Pulled in to Hardings Beach to meet the family for lunch. In the afternoon the breeze was up so we stayed on Common Flat. Found a lot of shorts still hanging around. Cocktail blues all over the edges.
Sunday we had downpours until noon. Went out later in the day but it wasn't great sightfishing weather. Hazy and breezy. Got two stripers (23", 24"), and missed a couple of larger fish on Common Flat. After missing three or four fish I actually got around to checking my fly (lazy bugger!) and found that the crab body had turned on the hook and effectively eliminated any hook-gap. Caught some small blues in the channel for the smoker.
Monday was breezy again and there was very little water on the flats early. Some fish on the edge of Common Flat, but it was tough to sightfish for them. Caught a couple of blues. Moved out to Monomoy but we were limited to a small, protected, flat by wind and surf. We were able to find fish, but they were pretty tough to feed. My father got one on a Sluggo and I got a couple of micro-bass on crabs. By afternoon it was a circus of boat traffic, windy and cloudy, so we just hung around.
July 12th:
Saturday I didn't get out until mid-morning as it was raining and windy in Chatham. When I finally got out it was just plain windy and cloudy. Forced to stay inside Common Flat by Morris Island. Lots of birds working, but there only seemed to be a few schoolies and small blues under the bait. Not very exciting fishing.
Sunday was supposed to be better but a line of clouds hung directly over Monomoy all morning, and it was windy (15-20kts. from the NW) again. Fished Hardings Beach, which is protected in a NW breeze. Caught some decent sized schoolies and a few small blues. Largest striper was 22 inches.
So, not much to tell you. Contrary to the reports there does seem to be good numbers of fish around, at least as far as I could tell.
Strange bird activity around Stage Harbor...terns (many) would start to bunch-up and work a small area, but as soon as you could get withing range they would be gone. They were moving very fast up and down the edges. Appeared to me to be very albie/bonito like activity, but I didn't see any.
July 19th:
Another poor sight-fishing weather weekend. Nice pattern we're in!
Saturday was very hazy and hot, with the wind from the SW at 15-20kts. The biggest obstacle was the surf--down Monomoy the seas were reaching 4-5 feet by early afternoon. We couldn't get out of the Stage Harbor channel earlier in the morning, so we fished Morris Island. Saw nothing. Finally got out, but Common Flat was unfishable. Pounded our way out to the fish weirs, which are a mile out on the West side of Monomoy. The Orvis guys reported that the commercial guys were getting bonito in the weirs, so we were hoping for something exotic to save the day. Lots of bird activity kept drawing us further out, but all we found were schools of 2-3lb. blues. Saw no albies or bonito. By noon some of the waves were really impressive, so we headed back toward Stage.
Sunday morning was decent--overcast, but not terribly breezy. There were still swells breaking onto the flats. Saw some fish on Common Flat but they were not interested in anything. Didn't have a thermometer, but didn't need one to know that the water is really warm. Fish didn't even look at flies. My father and wife caught some schoolies off of the edge of the flat using Sluggos fished deep. Very slow fishing. Went out to the weirs, but there was nothing doing there. The blues had spread out and we only caught three. No light for fishing Monomoy. Moved back toward Stage. Saw some nice fish at Hardings and Common Flat, but again found the fish to be very uninterested.
So in summary: Low light, high wind, high surf, lots of weed (forgot to mention), lots of traffic, few fish caught.
August 9th:
Saturday was really windy in the morning--25kts from the WNW. It was pretty snotty! Fortunately there were bonito popping up just off of Hardings Beach. Not much of a flyfishing opportunity, but we did well on Deadly Dicks and Sluggos. The wind started to drop mid-morning and we poked out toward the weirs. There were small pods of bonito around, but we didn't do as well. Moved down W.Monomoy and found enormous numbers of large fish milling around in all of the little cuts and bowls. Not very spooky, but not very hungry either. I broke a large fish off by tying a new tippet with a double surgeons knot (saved about 4 seconds over tying a blood knot!). Lost two others to poor hook-sets.
Sunday it poured until 3:00 and I didn't get out.
August 22nd:
I was out every day--I'm tired of giving in to the weather. Lesson: don't fool with Mother Nature, or something like that.
Friday was O.K. except for the nasty Easterly wind. Anna and I fished all around the West side, but saw almost no fish. No blues. No Bonito (except for one pod that showed up at the weirs and disappeared almost immediately). There were some schoolies on Hardings hanging around the balls of p'nut bunker, but they were not very hungry. Got one hit. Wind picked up and we quit.
Saturday it poured all morning and I had to wait until 2:00 to even go wading at Hardings. Saw nothing at all. Conditions were calm and overcast but the tide was fairly low.
Sunday we took the boat out in the cold rain. There were a few (very few) breaking fish around the channel. No hits. Few birds. Nothing at the weirs. Seas were pretty calm and the wind was from the NW, so I expected to see something.