CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS FISHING FAQ

by David Churbuck

 

This is a FAQ for fishing Cape Cod. The answers are based on my

30 years of experience with a fishing rod on Cape Cod beaches,

flats, piers, jetties, and boats. All suggestions are personal

and not based on any empirical data. If you have more specific

questions about current conditions, please feel free to mail me

at DBUCK@WORLD.STD.COM and I'll try my best to answer them.

Additions and suggestions are welcome.

 

HOW TO GET TO THE CAPE

 

The Cape Cod Canal -- the accepted geographical beginning of Cape

Cod -- is one hour south of Boston (in perfect, light traffic

conditions) and one hour east of Providence, Rhode Island. Route

3 from Boston turns into Route Six once one crosses the Sagamore

(the most northern of the two Canal bridges) bridge onto the

Cape. Exit numbers begin at one and Route 6 remains a divided

four lane highway until Dennis, when it becomes a dangerous two

lane highway known as Suicide Alley. At Orleans, at the crook of

the Cape's elbow, Route 6 becomes four lane again and continues

north to Provincetown. Weekend traffic in the summer is nearly

intolerable.

 

Route 495, which encircles Cape Cod and intersects with the

Massachusetts Turnpike, ends at the Bourne Bridge. Route 195 runs

from Providence. Both highways serve Buzzards Bay and will

eventually get you to Woods Hole.

 

Airports include Hyannis (with service to Boston, New York,

Newark), Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Reservations are

mandatory in the summertime and fares are higher during the peak

season.

 

HOW TO GET TO THE ISLANDS

 

Martha's Vineyard Ferries can be boarded at Woods Hole (for

passengers and autos, terminating in Oak Bluffs and Vineyard

Haven), Falmouth Inner Harbor and Hyannis Harbor (passengers and

bikes only). Automobile reservations are a necessity from

Memorial Day to Labor Day. The phone number for the Steamship

Authority is 508-548-3788. Hy-Line is 508-778-2600

 

Nantucket ferries run from Hyannis only. Again, automobiles on

the Steamship Authority only. Passengers as well on Hy-Line.

Fares vary according to the season as do schedules. Call ahead.

 

LODGING

 

Far too many motels, hotels, bed and breakfasts to list. Cape Cod

Chamber of Commerce: 508-362-3225

Homes rent for as much as $2,000 a week in the summer months and

are difficult to book after May 1.

 

WHEN TO FISH THE CAPE.

 

Winter:

Sea run brown trout are worth stalking -- they say the worst the

weather on an outgoing tide the better -- but I prefer to wrap a

new rod and tie flies than freeze to death on an icy jetty

looking for stripers in the outflow of some nuclear plant. Which

you sometimes can do off the Cape at Pilgrim Nuclear, in

Plymouth. You have to have the itch to fish real bad to fish the

Nuke. Good ice fishing for yellow perch.

 

Cod:

Year round cod fishing on the Georges Bank and wrecks is

available from Hyannis aboard the Helen H. (508- Hardy fanatics

used to surf cast for them in the dead of winter but seriously

overfished stocks have made the inshore fishery a waste of time.

 

Smelt:

Smelt are catchable from November through March. Pick a dock

with some open water and try your luck.

 

Spring:

 

Spring fishing is one of the most peaceful and productive

angling seasons on the Cape. The best fishing is inshore, in the

bays and tidal rivers and inlets that notch the Cape from end to

end. The south side of the Cape, fronted by the shallow waters of

Nantucket Sound, warm up sooner than the outer beaches or the

north side, and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket benefit from the

Gult Stream. Schoolies (striped bass under 36"), tautog and

flounder are the first fish to make fishing something more than

just cold casting practice. The competition to catch and release

the first schoolie is fierce, and some claim to have caught them

as early as March 15.

 

Cod: Some cod linger in close during March and April. A loran and

wreck numbers are a must. I recommend The Fisherman, New England

Regional edition for good wreck intelligence. They also publish a

directory of wrecks. (Mystic, CT 1-203-572-0564).

 

Striped Bass:

These, the prize fish of the region, first appear around Tax

Day on the south side of the Cape and the islands. One fish per

day, 28" min. Keeper sized fish appear around herring runs,

especially the Cape Cod Canal in mid-May. Fishing kicks off in

late May with the so-called "worm hatch" and crosses over to the

northside of the Cape and the outerbeaches throughout June. Frank

Daignault's 100 Striper Hot Spots, Pequot Press, is a good guide

to Cape striper spots, but to avoid the crowds check out the bait

& tackle shop reports, they'll know where the fish are. Bass are

a religion unto themselves so anyone unfamiliar with the fish or

the waters will have to spend a lot of lonely hours on the beach

before they stumble upon a magical blitz where every cast catches

a cow. Observe good surfcasting etiquette: ie, don't crowd a

spot, be friendly, don't shine your light in the water, and reel

in if someone next you yells "Fish on!". Don't flycast in the

middle of a crowd of bait slingers, and don't tell everyone you

pass about the great fish you caught last night at the Wianno Cut

or Tashmoo.. Real surfcasters bury their catch in the sand and

lie when asked if there's been any action. Read "Reading the

Water" by Bob Post, Pequot Press, for a good sense of surfcasting

culture. The bass fanatics are easy to spot. They're the ones

with all the rod racks on their bumpers, striper decals on their

back window, and the 1000 yard stare. Striper fishermen from New

Jersey use yellow Rebels.

 

Bluefish:

They make their first appearances on the south side beaches

from Falmouth to Cotuit beginning the first week of May. First

fish are robust, 6-12 pounders feeding primarily on squid.

Surface poppers retrieved at high speed do the trick. Spofford

Ballistic Missile in orange is a personal favorite. Fish

surfcasting rods (7 foot minimum, 2 ounce lure weight min.), with

15 lb. test minimum, wire leaders with snap and barrel swivels

Hot spring bluefish hot spots include: Oregon Beach, Cotuit;

South Cape Beach, Mashpee; Falmouth Heights; West End of the

Cape Cod Canal, Buzzards Bay; Lobsterville, Chilmark, M.V.,

Wasque, Chappaquidick, M.V.. Fishing remains very strong and

intensifies in June, when a fish cast used to be the rule of

thumb.. Bag limit ten per angler per day, no size or weight

restriction. BLUEFISH HAVE TEETH AND A BAD ATTITUDE.

THEY WILLTAKE A FINGER OFF IF GIVEN THE CHANCE.!!!

Filet your fish right after you catch them, skin them, and they'll taste a lot

less fishy.

 

Weakfish, Squeteague:

Rarely appear anywhere in the region but Martha's Vineyard.

A cyclical species presently in a down cycle and only rarely

found north of Montauk.

 

Flounder:

Season opens May 1. 16" minimum and you must keep your

racks as well as your filets. There is a bag limit but I forget

it. Don't bother. The flatties are seriously overfished, but if

you must catch one then get a skiff, find any estuary. anchor up

high in the rivers on a sunny day after a rain storm. Mussels are

best bait and chumming a must. Stir up the bottom with an oar

first to really get a cloud of food floating. Spreader rigs

dressed up with beads of yellow plastic corn.

 

Tautog, Blackfish:

An early season fish that is found around rocky structure.

Use seaworms in the early spring when their mouths are soft,

green or fiddler crabs as they harden up. Excellent eating fish,

slime factories with bloody vents from swallowing sharp crushed

shells.

 

Mackerel:

Abundant at the East End of the Cape Cod Canal (The Sandwich

end) from the jetties. They'll take flies, shiny hooks, anything

when they're in the mood. Run in the spring as well as the late

fall.

 

FRESHWATER

There are over 360 ponds or lakes on Cape Cod, not to mention the

hundreds just off Cape in Southeastern Massachusetts. The prize

freshwater fish is definitely a Sea Run Brown, a stocked variant

found in Scorton Creek on Cape Cod, The Quashnet and Mashpee

Rivers in Mashpee, as well as the Childs and Coonamesset in

Falmouth. This is tough fishing, but the rewards are immense.

Beautiful waters, managed fisheries, and the mysterious allure of

these fish that live and feed in the salt/fresh water interface

make them the most esoteric fish on the Cape. Light spinners and

flyfishermen do best, with imitations of saltmarsh and estuary

baitfish such as herring, mummichog (a minnow), sand eels, etc.

The Trout Unlimited guide to trout fishing in Massachusetts (see

below) has a good chapter on sea run browns. The folks at the

Fly Shop in West Barnstable off of Route 6A know what to do and

where to do it. Ask for Chip.

 

There are several good sources for indepth information about

freshwater fishing on the Cape. Trout Unlimited publishes An

Anglers Guide to Fishing in Massachusetts, ($15, available at

most b&t shops) and Butterworth Publishing publishes a fishing

map of the region.

 

Recommended ponds include: Spectacle, Hamblins, Lovells, Pimlico,

Peter's, Gull, Cliff, Mashpee-Wakeby, and John's Pond. Landlocked

salmon brood stock is stocked in Peter's and Cliff as well as the

usual assortment of rainbows, browns, and brookies.

 

Other species include chain pickerel, small and large mouth bass,

yellow and white perch.

White perch is an interesting brackish water fish found in ponds

near the ocean. The world record white perch came out of

Sesequatcha Pond on Nantucket.

 

Stockings take place out of the State hatchery in Sandwich (worth

a tour if you don't feel like fishing) and happen after the ice

is off the water in March and again in September or October.

 

A license is required, available at any town hall or b&t shop.

Resident $17.50, non resident $16.50 for one week, $22.50 for a year.

There is no "opening day", so season is all year round with the exception

of closures on the Mashpee and Quashnet rivers in the late spring when the

sea run brown parrs are moving.

 

SUMMER

 

As water temperatures rise, inshore fishing slows down and the

action shifts to tidal formations known as rips which form over

sandbars in Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds as well as the outer

beaches of the Cape. There are only a handful of rips which are

accessible from shore, but other likely summer fishing spots

including jetties, the Cape Cod Canal, and ocean holes found

along the outer beaches. So, if you have a boat, then check out

the rips, but beware, these are very hazardous places to fish for

the uninitiated, should never be attempted at night unless you

really know what you are doing, but hold fish all summer long.

 

Striped Bass:

By the end of June, the bass can be found from the tip of Monomoy

Island south of Chatham, all the way north to Race Point at

Provincetown, and then nearly anywhere in Massachusetts Bay.

Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard see action at Great Point and

Wasque respectively, with other action noted at Chappaquidick's

Cape Pogue and Gut. The entrance to Pleasant Bay, known as South

Beach in Chatham, is very popular but dangerous and demands some

local knowledge or at least a day time introduction. Other summer

bass spots include Nauset Beach, Coast Guard Beach (if you plan

on fishing anywhere in the National Seashore from Eastham to

Provincetown, you must have a parking sticker available for free

at the visitor's center at park headquarters in Eastham off of

Route 6, that sticker only allows you to park overnight in

parking lots. More on beach and ORV access later), Newcomb

Hollow, Marconi, Ballston, High Head, Pamet Bars, The Race. On

the north sideof the Cape, Anything from the Pamet River in

Truro, through Wellfleet, down to Rock Harbor in Orleans, and

anywhere along the tidal flats to Sandwich is good fishing.

Beware of extreme tides when fishing the flats. There have been

drownings in the past few years.

On the rips, Monomoy rules, with stripers feeding hard at dawn,

but sometimes continuing throughout the day in Pollock, Stone

Horse, and Bearses Rip. This is hard core fishing. Deep draft

fishing boats can get into a lot of trouble and shallow draft

ones should remember they're fishing in five knot currents in an

area prone to fog (Monomoy is where the 65 degree waters of

Nantucket Sound meet the 55 degree waters of the Atlantic). A

guide is strongly suggested. There is no way to get to Monomoy

Island except boat, and few people surfcast it. No ORV access of

course.

 

Blues:

Blues are the name of the game in the rips of Nantucket Sound and

the submarine banks of Massachusetts Bay from July through

September. They tend to be fussy, don't attack surface baits as

visciously as they do in the spring months, and run generally on

the small side, 3-5 lb. In Nantucket Sound, the rips to fish are

Succonnesset, Horseshoe, Norton and Long Shoals. In Vineyard

Sound, the Middle Ground is the spot made famous by John Hersey

in his book, Blues, an excellent book about bluefishing and a

classic piece of piscatorial literature.

 

Bonito, False Albacore or Little Tunny

These tropical speed freaks arrive in Vineyard waters in

late July and linger until October. Warm water and sand eels

(American Sand Launce, a dominant summer baitfish) trigger manic

feeding sprees by these fish which usually swim together and in

the company of bluefish. Light spinning tackle with Swedish

Pimples is the general rule of thumb. Fly rodders can have a very

good time. Don't bother trying to chase them with a boat, just

find a school, shut down and hope they move back into casting

range. Little Tunny or False Albacore is a tough fish to make a

meal from, but Bonito is very tasty. Fairly rare on the south

side of the Cape, their northernmost range, but they can be

located in Bass River, Hyannis to Popponesset, Woods Hole and all

around the Vineyard (try the Oak Bluff ferry docks, East Beach,

Edgartown Harbor and Lobsterville at Menemsha). In late August

there are predictable runs of these fish between the breakwaters

leading into Nantucket Harbor.

 

Fluke:

Aka summer flounder. Spotty fishing beginning in mid summer.

Drift bucktails over the bottom, or sandeels. Spinner blades and

other attractors will get their attention.

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

You need all sorts of permits and if you have to read this to

figure out how to catch one then you won't.

 

Shark

Beginning in early August, good fun can be had with a chunk

of meat, a stout 4/0 hook and a stiff rod on brown sharks that

swim along the beaches at night. The real game sharks: blues and

makos, are offshore, south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Chum like crazy and drift chunks of mackerel through the slick

with balloon bobbers. This is offshore fishing for those who know

what they are doing.

 

FALL

 

Some consider the fall months to be the most exciting fishing

season in Massachusetts. The blues and stripers start power

eating to fuel their southerly migration, and action can extend

all day long, rather than the night fishing which dominates

summer angling. Prime baits are sand eels and menhanden (bunker,

pogie). Martha's Vineyard hosts its famous Striped Bass Derby

from the middle of September to the middle of October, with

prizes awarded in all age categories for both shore and boat

caught fish. This is when a lucky fisherman will hook his trophy

striped bass.

 

Striped Bass: The bass move inshore from the rips as water

temperatures drop and begin to prowl inside of the bays looking

for menhaden. Liveliners do best, but any method from bait to the

fly will work. This is considered the peak time of year to fish

Martha's Vineyard. Popular spots include the breaches between the

salt ponds and South Beach; Squibnocket and Lobsterville.

 

Blues: the biggest bluefish of the year, the so-called Gorillas,

15 to 22 pound monsters, move into the harbors at night and at

dawn to terrify the menhaden schools. Find a dock, locate the

menhaden by the sound of their flipping on the surface (or

explosions as the blues rip into them) and be prepared for a

primal experience.

 

Bonito and False Albacore: these fish peak in September but

persist on the Vineyard until late October.

 

The season is considered over by Thanksgiving, but eternal

optimism and foolishness prevails and stripers are sometimes

caught into December. A nice side to Fall fishing is the

shorebirds have done their nesting and so ORV access is usually

opened up. The backside beach from High Head in Truro to The Race

in P-Town is only fishable by 4wd, but the waters there are truly

magical striper surf and worth the effort to fish.

 

CHARTERS AND GUIDES:

 

There are dozens of charter captains from Bourne to Provincetown

specializing in everything from backwater flycasting to offshore

Giant Bluefin tuna. Reputations vary and since there are so many

I won't attempt to make any recommendations but will upon email

request. The guides of Cuttyhunk, a small island at the end of

the Elizabeth Island chain, were famous in their heyday, but I

believe lodging can be a problem in Cuttyhunk and so the local

charter industry has lost a lot of its color. Guides and charters

are listed in the yellow pages. Business cards and brochures are

available in the shops.

 

BAIT and TACKLE:

 

Starting at the Canal:

(author's personal preferences and recollections)

Red Top, Buzzards Bay, near the Bourne Bridge. Massive selection

of everything you'll need. 508-759-3371

Cape Cod Charlies: under the Bourne Bridge, get your live eels

here and soak in some atmosphere.

Eastmans: Falmouth. Good supply of fly and spinning tackle.

508-548-6900

Gun and Tackle, Falmouth, near the Inner Harbor. Has changed

names, but used to have a good tackle department.

Sandwich Ship Supply: a commercial fisherman's chandelry with the

best selection of commercial quality boots, gloves, and angling

equipment. Has a good deep water sports fishing tackle

department. A good place to buy squid bars, outrigger parts, and

other bluewater tackle.

Angler's Edge: Sandwich. Very good freshwater specialists. Also

know what is going on at the Canal and Scorton Creek.

Sportsport, Hyannis, one of the oldest. Say hi to Karen, one of

the best woman anglers on the Cape and the proprietor. Does reel

repairs. 508-775-3096

Cape Cod Custom Tackle: Hyannis. Custom rods, good fresh bait.

Riverview, So. Yarmouth, 508-394-1036

Goose Hummock: Hyannis and Orleans. The preferred place for

surfcasters on the outer Cape.

The Fly Shop: West Barnstable. Good selection of fresh and

saltwater fly tackle and flies. 508-362-1500

 

Martha's Vineyard

Coops, owned by Cooper Gilkes, authority on Vineyard fishing

Larry's Tackle, Edgartown, 506-627-5088

 

Nantucket

Barry Thurston's Tackle Shop: 508-228-9595

Bill Fisher Tackle, 508-228-2261

 

RECOMMENDED BEACH TACKLE

Cape Cod is the home of the surfcaster, so you won't be out of

place with a nine to 12 foot rod equipped with a huge spinning or

conventional real. Light tackle opportunities abound, but the

average Joe on the rocks is holding a massive meat stick rigged

with 20 pound test. Theories on rod length and fishermen's

personal inadequacies abound, but my theory is the longer the rod

the easier it is to hold the line out of the surf and maintain a

realistic lure pattern. If there is a typical Cape Cod outfit it

would be a nine foot fiberglas rod, custom built, with a Penn

650SS wound with 20# test. Cork tape handles are common. Old

timers prefer the Penn Squidder or Newell and can heave some

awesome casts.

 

Flyfishing has exploded on the Cape. Ten weight rods are

recommended for most conditions. Preferred flies are Deceivers

(black for night), Surf candy, sand eel imitations, Tabory

Slabsides, poppers. Carry wire in case you run into bluefish and

fish with a stripping basket.

 

General equipment: waders (waters run 45 to 55 through May, peak

at 75 in the summer). Boot foot recommended for the salt as the

sand is bad for stockingfoots. Tackle bag: anything with a

shoulder strap makes hiking a couple miles in sand a little bit

easier. Rope: to drag back your catch. A 36" plastic measuring

tape. Flashlight: wrap the handle of a Mini-Maglite in duct tape

and hang it around your neck on a lanyard. Fishing pliers: good

for handling bluefish. Water: beach walking during the day with

waders on can make a rock sweat.

 

RECOMMENDED BAITS

Spring:

Herring, can be netted out of one of several runs. Check local

regulations and permit requirements. Very effective when fished

live near the mouth of herring runs.

Squid: lots of squid in Nantucket Sound throughout the Spring.

The fresher the better.

Seaworms: stripers love seaworms in the spring.

 

Summer:

Sand eels: the fresher the better. Sportsport and Cape Cod Custom

Tackle in Hyannis are known sources of good fresh sand eels.

Eeels: live eels are like casting live lures. Tough to master but

effective on bass once you do. Bring a five gallon bucket and

keep them alive with a damp towel which you'll need to handle

them. 2/0 Siwash up through the chin and out one eye does the

trick. Fish them on mono leaders as bass are leader shy. Slow

retrieve, feel the bump, drop back and wait for the swallow, then

set.

Squid

chunked herring and mackerel

Menhaden (if you can find them, they are more of a fall bait)

Mummichogs: minnows, shiners, fat brown chubs.

 

Fall:

Mehanden: greasy prolific fish that school together in the bays.

Catch them by snagging through a school with a weighted treble

hook them live line the result. Very effective.

Sand eels.

Eels.

Sea clams (bass will take it, but cod love it)

 

LURES

 

Stripers:

Spofford Needlefish, black

Parachute Jigs

Bucktail jigs

Rapalas

Rebels

Bombers

Danny plugs

Atom Popper

Pencil Popper

Kastmasters

 

Bluefish

Spofford Ballistic Missile

Roberts Plug

Atom Popper

Kastmaster

Hopkins

 

Bonito, False Albacore

Swedish Pimples

Deadly Dicks

 

FLIES

 

Striped Bass

Lefty's Deceiver in wide range of sizes

black and white

chartreuse

yellow and white

Tabory Slabside

Blond streamers

Epoxy sand eels

Poppers

 

Bluefish

Any of the above

 

Bonito:

Sand eel patterns

 

PERMITS and TECHNICALITIES

 

There is no saltwater fishing license in Massachusetts. There is

a fresh water license.

 

Parking on Cape Cod, particularly in the summer, is very tough.

Most towns require a town parking sticker for beach parking

during the day, but relax during the evening hours. Best bet is

call the local police and tell them you'll be fishing all night

at XYZ beach in a red Ferrari or something.

Overnight parking in the National Seashore requires a free

parking pass from the Visitor's Center in Eastham.

 

OFF ROAD VEHICLES

Cape Cod used to the mecca of the beach buggy. In an often heated

war of words with environmentalists and National Park service

personnel, the beach buggys have been severely restricted in when

and where they may drive on the sand. Miles of prime fishing

grounds are now virtually inacessible on the Cape and Island to

anyone except the strongest and most dedicated fishermen willing

to hike miles to get to the fish. Off road access is very tough

due to closures to preserve the existing Piping Plover

populations. Driving is possible on the Vineyard at Wasque

(check for closures during May and June, when the plovers nest in

the sand), Nantucket and on the Cape at, Sandy Neck in

Barnstable, Nauset Beach in Orleans, and the Provincelands in

Provincetown. A STICKER IS NEEDED FOR EACH PLACE. There is no

blanket Cape Wide beach sticker. You must have 4wd, a shovel, a

tire gauge, a plank and a rope to get your permit. The NFS

requires you to view an instructional video at the Race Point

facility. Permits are written in the office behind the old coast

guard station. Nauset Beach in Orleans can be tough due to town

permit requirements. Check with Orleans town hall for details.

 

ACCESS:

Access to good spots can be tough and demands some ingenuity. The

best places are the secret ones, and many hot spots are only

accessible by gaining permission beforehand from the property

owner. Public water access is generous, but parking is the pain.

The states laws say property lines end at "mean low water" and

riparian rights are extended to anyone fishing, hunting or

navigating. You will get hassled if you set your family up under

an umbrella on a private beach. Don't get confrontational with

the guy in the pink pants and blue alligator shirt with a gin and

tonic in his hand. Just back off and write the place off. We

locals take care of those who believe they hold the deed to the

Atlantic. Access is not as much of an issue on the Cape as it is

elsewhere in New England, but it is getting tougher as more

fishermen pig up beaches with bait boxes and fish carcasses.

Beach crime is not a problem, but don't leave a rod rack full of

rods on your car while you check out the surf. Don't sleep on the

beach. That's will get you a night in the local lockup.

 

TIPS:

The state is offering a hotline 1-800-ASKFISH.

Every Friday the Cape Cod Times publishes a fishing column by

Molly Benjamin. It's in the magazine supplement and generally up

to date.

Every Saturday the Boston Globe sports page has a report buried

in the sports section.

Remember, these are last week's fish being written about. The

action changes daily, so patronize a local bait and tackle shop,

get rigged up, and ask them for the most recent report.

For tide information, the back page of the Cape Cod Times has a

comprehensive daily tide table. The bible for most Cape fishermen

and sailors is Eldridge, an annual tide book available at tackle

shops and marine hardware stores across the Cape.

 

BOATING:

There are some public boat ramps available. One popular one is

off of Route 195 in Marion and feeds the Weweantic River, a good

bass and blues spot (that has white perch up high above the tidal

zone in late winter and early spring). Boat access to Buzzard's

Bay is found here. There are also ramps in Harwich, Sandwich,

Barnstable and Chatham. Nearly every town on the Cape has a ramp,

call their town halls for specifics, but parking is an issue,

especially around the smaller, unimproved ramps..

Exercise extreme caution in small boats on Nantucket Sound and

Buzzard's Bay, especially on summer afternoons when the

southwesterlies build against an ebbing tide. The chop can get

very steep. Rip fishing in a serious wind is not advised. One

piece of bad helmsmanship and you'll catch a standing wave over

the transom (that's why real bass boats have a tiller and

controls in the stern).

 

WADING:

Want to die? Wade into the surf at Chatham's South Beach bar at

dead low tide, at 3 am, without a buddy. Serious fishermen are

seen with life jackets on, carry compasses to find their way back

to the beach in the fog, and I swear, even tie themselves to an

anchor dug into the sand back on the beach. Salt marshes are

crisscrossed with ten foot deep mosquito control ditches that eat

anglers alive in the night. Backwater estuaries have bottoms than

turn from sand to Pre-Cambrian ooze that will suck the waders off

your legs. Step off a three foot bar into a 15 foot deep channel

with a raging outgoing current and you're thinking about your

life insurance as you go in. Check it out in the daylight first.

Fish with a friend. Never bet that the fish are one more set of

waves out.

 

DEEP SEA FISHING PARTY BOATS

Hyannis is the center, with Hy-Line and a few other outfits

running parties out to Nantucket Sound for scup and tautog. The

Helen H does overnights to Georges Bank. Party boats are also

found in Barnstable Harbor, Orleans, and Provincetown. Mostly

bottom drift fishing. Chances of stripers are slim.

Helen H: 508-790-0660

Navigator: 508-771-9500,0500

 

OTHER THINGS TO DO:

The Cape is the Cape. Part of it is all mini golf and

Tastee-Freeze, fried clams and salt water taffy, the other part

is gracious white mansions with Gatsby lawns down to the sea. If

you don't feel like fishing, then there is more than enough to

see and do. There is a Cape excusion train, lots of bike trails,

good museums, some excellent restaurants (Fishmonger in Woods

Hole, The Flume in Mashpee, and on and on), and the usual

touristy tours of Hyannis Harbor and the Kennedy Compound.

 

copyright D.C. CHURBUCK June 1994

 

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