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The Second Annual Monomoy Shootout is Scheduled for July 31, 2010.
WWW.THEMONOMOYSHOOTOUT.COM
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                THE DAILY BITE 
               "Just a little somethin' to Chew on"

Buy Local - Do you want to eat the freshest fish on the planet? Do you want to eat the healthiest fish on the planet?  An overwhelming 'YES' should be the answer.
    We are losing focus on what good seafood really is and where it comes from.  You know that lobster at Stop and Shop being sold for $5.99/lb that you bought because you didn't want to spent the extra two bucks at Nauset Fish and Lobster?  Well, you are paying for freshness and on Cape Cod you have the opportunity to taste the freshest seafood available.  I recommend you dig a little deeper into those pockets, support local businesses and experience the best treats the ocean has to offer.
    Some say that fish farmers are feeding farm-raised fish cow byproducts and in turn may be spreading madcow disease through fish.  The health of the fish caught off the coast of Cape Cod and the islands is in great standing.  The fresher and healthier the fish, the better it is for you.  Fresh seafood has more vitamins and minerals; just like vegetables that have been frozen and thawed fish will lose some of its nutritional value over time. 
    And on top of the freshness and nutrition, buying local seafood helps local fishermen continue to provide us with these wonderful products year after year. 

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Save lives: Catch More Fish.  Here are a few ways every fisherman can cut back on killing innocent fish.

1) Save, cut, and dispose of old line - Lets say you have one of those wind knots in your spinning real:  You peel off 50 feet to get to the bottom of it only to realize the mess is now on the deck of your boat. It is all knotted up into a ball that you don't want to spend the time untangling.  What do you do?  You probably cut it off, squish it into a ball and toss it in the garbage, the corner of the boat, or if you really don't care, right overboard into the water.  Monofilament line can take over 500 years to decompose!!  So everything you toss over now will still be sitting on the bottom killing fish when your great-grandkids great-grandkids kids are fishing these waters.  
    When you have this mess of line just stuff it in a pocket or put it in something you are bringing home.  When you get it home take out the scissors and cut the big clump of line into small 2-6 inch pieces.  This will ensure there is no entanglement of wildlife and increases decomposition time. Fishing line kills birds, turtles, and even the fish you are trying to catch. 

2) Re-tie knots and line - By re-tying knots and re-spooling line you will not only catch more fish but you will not leave a striper to swim around with 200 feet of line and a jig hanging out of its mouth.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  We were jigging on top of the Wellfleet Shoals when we pulled up a lost wire line.  At the end of the 200+ feet of wire there was a rotting striped bass carcass with a blue 6 oz lead jig hanging out of his decaying mouth.  Keep the knots fresh and you will catch more fish, spend less money at the tackle shop on new equipment, and save the lives of the unfortunate fish who decided to attack your inferior, low-grade, second-rate fishing gear.

3) Quick and Wet - I know that got you attention!  However, what I mean by this is if you are going to be releasing a fish be sure to keep its vacation on-board your vessel as quick as possible.  Take a quick measurement and/or a snapshot or two and get it back in the water with the least amount of fatigue as possible.  Also, keeping the fishes natural oils (or slime) on them while they are out of the water is important if they are being returned to the water.  Touching them with dry hands and letting them flop around on the deck of your boat will remove this coating and increase their chances of acquiring a disease.  If you can, dip you hand in the water before handling a fish you are releasing.

                                                                                  - Beardsley

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ORLEANS, MA
The fishing was good this weekend but there was some cluster out on the water.  The combination of beautiful weather and the holiday (Memorial Day) brought out a large number of boats and quite a few 'maiden voyages' for 2009.  Watching some of the activity made me think about the even larger crowds to come. 

The one thing every Cape Codder looks forward to is Summer!  Without a doubt it is the reason most of us live here.  We look forward to the beach, the boat, and even the increased traffic...  Well, maybe not the traffic exactly.  The increase in traffic means headache and increased road rage around town for most of us.  However, looking beyond the clogged streets and the extra hour it takes to run errands, there is a silver or even gold lining.  This is when the locals make the money they need in order to stay on the Cape.  More boats means sales at Nauset Marine, The Goose Hummock Shop, local deli's and of course gas stations.  More interest in fishing means money for the charter boat captains and increased sales at Nauset Fish and Lobster which in turn ups the prices for local lobstermen, fishermen and shellfishermen.  Even builders get a boost from the summer crowd.  People who fall in love with the cape want to build a house here.  There are plenty of other examples but I think you get the point.....as much as we want the cape to be a private peninsula in the summer, locals would not have the means to live here if it were not for the summer gridlock.

Why is this on SaltwaterWorld.com you ask?  Because, although everyone is welcome to enjoy the cape in the summer, there are some 'rules of the road' we hope everyone can follow out on the water.  
    The only one I am going to stress today is to give other boaters and fish some space.  By this I mean a few things:
1) Gimme some space!  - If the boat next to you can cast into your boat (or vice-versa, you have come too close!  I know it sounds obvious but you would be surprised.  I had a boat this past weekend motor up to me as I was drifting and kill his engine 50 feet off my bow.  If I had not hooked up on my current cast I was planning to drop a sluggo in his lap on my next.  This is not Tarpon Fishing in the Boca Grande pass, the fish are spread out and we should be too. 
2) Keep my lures out of your prop! - If trolling in a specific area and there are a large number of vessels, determine if the majority of the group is following a trolling pattern.  This means if all the boats are going East/West do not go North/South.  Again, sounds like a no-brainer and I wish it was. 
3) Share 'em, Don't scare 'em - Do NOT steam through or into a school of feeding fish (this is respectful if there are other boats around but still will pay of if it's just you).  If you are trolling, try to go around the school with your boat and drag your baits through the middle or the edge.  If you are casting get up-wind or up-current and drift back toward the fish.  Last year I was tuna fishing when a boat cruised into the middle of a school of feeding bluefin (at about 15 knots) in order to get a successful cast in.  Well it turns out that not only did the boat not hook up, but they also spooked the fish and we never saw them for the rest of the day (before the fish had been spooked several boats had hooked up by skimming the edges of the school). 

Following these few tips will gain the respect of other boaters as well as catch you more fish.  Thanks for listening and see you on the water!!

                                                                                - Beardsley

                                           TIP OF THE WEEK

9.30.09 - It's not over

Just because the weather has started to get that brisk fall feel to it doesn't mean the fish are gone.  Throw on that old hoodie and get out on the water.  This is a great time of year to catch that big striper you have been chasing all summer!  And if it's tuna you're after....well, it doesn't get much better than October.  As long as you "over"-prepare for cold weather you will be just fine.  Throw an extra windbreaker or fleece in the bag in addition to what you already have brought along.  I guarantee you won't be upset you did!!

8.3.09 - Try Sea Worms

I have heard a lot of people complaining about the lack of fresh sand eels this summer.  I agree that they are the best bait to drag through the rips, but if you can't find any don't be afraid to try sea worms.  Not only will big bass and blues suck them down but fluke tend to eat them up as well.  So next time you go in and ask for fresh sand eels at your local tackle shop and they say "we haven't had any all summer" ask them for a box of sea worms and be on your way! 

7.22.09 - Fish The Monomoy Shootout

So the Monomoy Shootout will not only provide you a stage to show everyone that those stories you are blundering through at the bar on Saturday night aren't just 'fish stories' but actual events, it will also provide a fun way to wind down August and say goodbye to most of the summer folk.  Free beer?  Yup, that will be there.  Large cash prizes?  Yup, that too...and even bigger if we get more boats!  If you have a boat in Chatham and you have brought at least one fish on board this year there is no reason for you not to enter this event.  But sign up soon or you may have to pay a late entry fee (after August 21st). 


6.2.09 - Get down

It's finally June and the water is getting warmer every day.  This is the time of year when there are great big schools of bass in the bay.  Most of the fish can be found by following the bird.  As my grandfather used to day "to find the fish, I follow the birds because they do it for a living".  This could not be more true.  However just because you see fish coming up to feed on the surface doesn't mean they will always be caught on surface plugs. 

Watch and observe the way the fish are feeding and the way the gulls and terns are acting.  If the birds just fly around and then suddenly head down to the water every few minutes, this is because the fish are coming up from the bottom to attack some bait on the surface.  However if there is constant action on-top and the birds are continually 'working' on the bait fish this is a sign that indeed the fish are staying up and feeding on the surface. 

Right now most of the fish are coming up from the bottom to feed on bait and you will see the corresponding pattern with the birds; sporadically shooting down to the water to feed.  The tip of the week is to use a weighted bait, live or artificial, to get it down to where the fish are hanging out.  If you let the bait get down to them, they will follow it up and you will have a larger number of hits.  By just cranking in a bait on the surface you are going to miss numerous looks from bottom dwelling stripers.  This worked for me this past weekend and I hope it works for you. 

5.18.09

Fish inlets and backwaters at high tides (or within a few hours either side of slack high).  Also, we have had great reports from the bay.  Lots of fish!  Biggest in the mid 30-inch range.  Most of these fish will be on the surface along the Brewster shoreline as they have been in years past.  Within the next few weeks I would look for them on top-water along the south side of the shoals.

Also still a lot of flounder being taken off Brewster, Orleans, Eastham.


5.11.09 - HERE WE GO!

So, there's a reason I have moved the "Tip of Week" to the top of the page.  That's because things are starting to heat up; and not just water temps.  We are right about at that magic fifty degree number and we are seeing what makes it "magic".  The reports of keepers being caught in the bay has been confirmed with my own two eyes!  If you are looking to target a few linesiders from shore you should look anywhere that a herring run enters the bay.

Also my uncle Mikey confirmed schoolies in Pleasant Bay after pulling in a large 23 incher today.  My advice to him and anyone else is keep fishing every day.  Hopefully we will get some of the same schoolie populations of years past and Mike will be catching a dozen fish a day where he caught this one. 
                                               
4.19.09 - GO SEE THE RIGHT WHALES IN THE BAY!!

 More than 20% of the worlds population of Right Whales are hanging out in the bay right now!  Yesterday (4/18) my cousin Tyler and I put the boat in the water for what we thought was going to be a day of flounder fishing out of Barnstable Harbor....or at least seeing if there were any around.  What it turned into was something much more magnificent.  For as far as the eye could see there where Right Whales!  We just turned off the engine and drifted, listening to the sounds of the whales breathing, breaching, and slapping their fins and tales on the water.  There were Gannets (large sea birds) diving which added even more interesting sound effects to the chorus of noises.  At one point we had a whale come and greet us swimming up to the boat, turning around, swimming one hundred yards away, turning around again and coming back to the boat.  Federal laws are in place to give whales there proper space and privacy but if you have the patience and time to drift for a few hours there is a good chance one of these massive creatures might swim past to say hi.  The fishing stinks right now so go see an animal that most people will never see in their lives....The Right Whale.

                                               TIP OF THE WEEK

4.6.09 - Dust 'em off!!

That's right.  The schoolies are on their way and the weather is SLOWLY starting to warm up.  If anyone had the pleasure of being on the Cape yesterday (4/5) they know that days like that mean the little striped bass are not far behind.  So grab your light tackle, change the line (or just rip off 20 yards of the old damaged, dried out stuff), make up some of your favorite lures, rigs, jigs, whatever....and start testing the waters.

I personally fish tube baits with a light jig head tucked inside.  You can buy the Git-Zit brand or make your own.  Power bait makes a nice scented tube bait that can really spark some attention from our finned friends.  My favorite color below......

   
I first used this bait over 13 years ago and have not changed since my first cast....literally!  My first cast ever with this lure produced a spunky 19" striper.  I had a day back in 1998 where a friend and I caught over 150 schoolies in under 4 hours!!

The areas marked on the map above represent the four major areas of fishing on the Cape.  Although these can be broken down into their own individual sections, this map will give you a general idea of what is where and how to get to the fish!


1) CAPE COD BAY - Cape Cod Bay presents itself as the friendliest area for sportsman all over the cape.  Protected from the harsh elements of the open ocean and loaded to the gills with fish make the bay a must for anglers of any level.  With ports and public entry in eleven cape towns it is easily accessible to nearly everyone.  Bluefish and Bass abound but don't forget about the fluke, flounder, sea bass, cod, and other groundfish.  Plenty of tuna have been taken around Provincetown and Truro so don't count them out either.  Imagine pulling in a 500+ lb Bluefin Tuna on your 21' center console:  It's been done here!

2)  THE GREAT BACKSIDE -  And "Great" it is!  The hardest part about fishing the backside is giving yourself time to rest in between pulling in monsters....Or maybe that is second behind dealing with the dangerous swells and notorious inlets that speckle the coastline.  Any fish you want to catch that can be found in New England waters is here (pretty much).  For those scuba divers, there are numerous wrecks in all depths and lobsters can be found in sometimes serious numbers. 

3) NANTUCKET SOUND - The first place to spot blues in the summer.  Actually the first place to find all migratory fish that visit the Cape in the summer.  Some good ground fishing can be had in the Sound as well.  And hey, if the fishing stinks you can shoot over to the islands for a cold one!

4) ATLANTIC OCEAN (offshore) - For those of you who travel more than 10 miles from shore there are some amazing things out there.  Areas like the Regal Sword, BC & BB boys, and for the real adventurous....The Canyons.  For those lucky enough to get to the Canyons and have good weather don't be surprised to run into Blue Marlin, White Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Mahi, Swordfish...and the list goes on.  Hint:  Go with someone who knows what they are doing before you go it alone.