THE BLUES BROTHERS June 19, 2004 - So here’s the scenario. Mark Kralian, Dave (Mr. August) Armstrong, Dave (Big Dave) Surdel and yours truly solicited the assistance of Wellfleet guide, Kevin Coakley (508.349.0951) for a casual morning of wade fishing along the western shore of Chequesset Neck. The game plan would be to meet the captain at 6am and traverse the inner harbor to Jeremy Point, where we would be deposited as he routinely went about his guiding chores with another client. We had strategically located a pick up vehicle 3 ½ miles down the coast to assure our safe return to the harbor parking facility. It was all too perfect. The 20-minute journey was uneventful and quite pleasant and we entered the water as all fly anglers do, fuelled by enthusiasm and optimism. Coakley had cautioned his commuters that the striper fishing had only been marginal along the neck, however there were bluefish in abundance, as his previous day’s tally reached somewhere in the 60’s. A brief session of blind casting into water with a distinct hint of integrity brought nary a bump to the four anglers and the prospects for a successful outing seemed to be in the balance. It was Mr. August who detected them first. A swirl, a slash, then an expeditious gathering of terns marked the location of marauding schools of bluefish, all within a double haul of his reestablished post. The next few hours would epitomize the essence of inshore fly fishing. We were indeed privileged to witness what would mature into a full-blown blitz complete with all the elements. At times the bluefish would literally run the shore as our flies waited in ambush. The power these animals possess was reinforced time and time again despite their modest proportion (5-6 lbs. estimate). As the tide ebbed around 9ish the fishing did also. The availability of forage in the gentle glide we were probing was no longer evident and our mercenaries were content to move on, ever in search of an easy banquet. The subsequent wade to our awaiting vehicle seemed anti climatic in a way, with only a token number of diminutive linesiders to add to the days tally. NEWBIE NAILS EM
Good fishing and safe
waiting, |
