MY BAD July 8, 2005 - As the cliché goes "we all learn by our mistakes." The laziness I illustrated over my most recent outing cost me the satisfaction of seducing certainly one of the largest specimens of the pervious few years of sight-fishing. Once summer arrives, and the stripers begin to exhibit a bit more selectivity in their feeding habits, I will dramatically alter the terminal side of my tackle. Gone are the crude 8-10' hand-tied leaders tapered to 16-20 lb. fluorocarbon tippets. A few years ago I began experimenting with extruded 4X fluorocarbon trout leaders with compatible tippets when pursuing summer fish in shallow water. The expansiveness of the real estate along the west side of South Beach in Chatham, combined with the lack of structure or obstacles, and the fact that this system tests out at a stout 7 lbs., has provided an air of confidence and has served me well during the previous few years. That is… until this past weekend. Content in the fact that I was able to dupe a handful of pretty uncompromising feeders during my morning session I began to canvass the edge of a definitive north to south depression. The situation would require me to deliver a fly into water depth in the vicinity of 4-4 1/2 feet from my knee-deep post. While the ocean bottom at this depth provides challenges regarding detecting fish at distance, the white sand with only occasional sooty tracts made visibility quite good, even at this depth. Experience has taught me that you probably don't want to blind (or in this case semi-blind) cast into water with terminal tackle of such diminutive nature. This is why I will generally tote along some pre-tied leaders of a more substantial construction (which on this day I had at the ready). On my approach to this subsurface hollow I began to witness movement. The shadows would approach the area (north to south and against current) and would settle on the darker areas, oftentimes lulling for an interval before exiting onto the white sand. Probably due to just plain laziness, or it could have been fatigue I failed to change my leader as I jettisoned my maiden cast in the direction of a darker tract, confident that it was occupied by one of the cruisers I had observed seconds before. It was over before it began. My initial strip solicited a violent strike and the mammoth striper parted the leader on impact. My son-in-law, Steve Curtis of Plymouth and I estimate the beast to reside in the 40-inch category, as the linesider had the decorum to display his entire bulk before making his hasty departure. Good fishing and safe
wading, |
