ADMIRAL ED SPEAKS

May 30, 2007 - Admiral Ed "Porky" Lincoln of Rip Ryder (www.monomoyislandferry.com) fame has never been at a loss for words. I recently had the pleasure of chatting at length with him regarding the fishing prospects that exist within the Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham, Massachusetts. Angling for striped bass began right on schedule sometime around the first week of May and continues to build in somewhat historic fashion. Bait availability has not been an issue as squid, herring, sand eels, silversides and hickory shad have all been present in large numbers at one time or another. Racer bluefish (8-10lbs) have recently entered the mix and can be targeted within the Morris Island proper. We are slowly approaching the most prolific angling weeks of the season.

Porky also made it known that despite the lack of a fresh flush of water due to the closing of the southway, sight fishing prospect on the west side of South beach as well as the north flat of North Monomoy remains excellent. Anglers are reporting good catches of striped bass with some specimens exceeding the 28" limit.

At present there are a lot of fish available to fly fisherman and at times it can become more of a quantity rather than a quality experience.

BONEHEAD PETERSON
Craig Peterson and girlfriend Ruthie Zearfoss of Barre recently returned from a week of sight fishing at El Pescador Fly Fishing Lodge in Belize. He really didn't require a great deal of prompting to let us make all the arrangements and he filed this report on their return…

"Back to work today after our return from Belize late last night. Our trip did not disappoint! El Pescador is truly one of the finest fishing "lodges" in the world (though I think it is much more of a resort than a "lodge"). Ruthie was pampered to death each day while I was out on the boat. We took
advantage of their kayaks, bikes, and tour reservations. We would ask for something and they would jump to make it happen. I would go back tomorrow if I could. What a friendly, fun group of people."

"On the fishing side… I was able to land about 20 bones in my three days, even though we really weren't doing a lot of
fishing for them. I had some really good shots at permit on Saturday. I had two refusals and missed a hook set. We fished a big school of "baby" tarpon in the 20-30 pound range in skinny water, but we could not get them to hit anything that we tossed to them, still a blast. Can't wait to go back and try again (maybe in July or August when the tarpon might be more agreeable)."

PERSONAL REPORT
As for me I've been doing the early and late drill, generally fishing two sessions daily, dawn and dusk. Thus far I've committed almost entirely to Gurglers and floating lines which is definitely not the most productive pursuit but certainly the most fun and rewarding one. It's been a season of quantity rather than quantity thus far as I just can't seem to locate any fish of profound proportion. Without being specific my venue has been Pleasant Bay from Ryders Cove to Chatham Light. I did manage to capture my first tagged fish of the season during a mid-May session while fishing with Dr. Tom Ukena, a fledgling striper zealot in his own right.

Good fishing and safe wading,
JB