STILL GOT THE BLUES

August 29, 2009 - With striped bass fishing in typical August mode we made our way to Wellfleet once again in search of bluefish. Fishing bayside with Capt. Kevin Coakley serving as host and accompanied by veteran anglers Len Renauld of Sterling and Steve Curtis of Plymouth we initially canvassed the area commonly referred to as the path. This had been the venue for numerous August success stories in the past and confidence prevailed as we departed right on schedule.

After a morning of somewhat less then encouraging action (maybe 3 or 4 fish to the boat) Captain Coakley relocated the Mako to Sunken Meadow subsequent with the low tide ebb. As the tide began to flood the meadow we were able to locate pods of cruising bluefish in the 5-7lb.-range. Mid-tide rising brought even more fish onto the grass and the balance of the afternoon was spent selectively tossing offerings to even larger groups of bluefish.

During the afternoon's events a few interesting phenomenons were witnessed and worthy of mention. Many of the fish that were boated were regurgitating mass quantities of tiny transparent shrimp, an occurrence that I am quite familiar with particularly during the mid and late summer months. Secondly, despite our diligent efforts, we were unable to consistently take fish with surface offerings, in lieu of the fact that fish were observed periodically crashing bait (in this case, krill) on top.

BONITO/ALBIES
We are receiving more and more reports of fly anglers witnessing bonito, particularly in Vineyard Sound. With the oncoming storm look for action to continue to improve particularly after it's passing. We also received our initial reports of albacore in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound and we look for this species to continue to filter in as we progress toward the beginning of September.

COMMERCIAL SEASON
The commercial striped bass season concluded on Wednesday, August 26th and we are still waiting for the official totals to roll in.

Good fishing and safe wading,
JB