I had been on Cape Cod for a couple of weeks enjoying the early fall weather with my wife. I always do a lot of shore fishing when I am here but I don’t trailer my boat down. I enjoy some personal time to fish on my own after chartering on the Merrimack all summer. Since we rent a cottage in Harwich Port I spend most of my fishing time on the beaches and jetties from Bass River to Chatham. It is a time of the year when the fishing can be unpredictable. One day there are fish around chasing baby bunker or some other small baitfish and the next day they are gone. The first week I was here I caught two or three 20 inch schoolie stripers off the Wychmere Harbor jetty. Then it was bluefish. Lots of bluefish but they were 7 or 8 inch baby blues. They hit small white clousers and tore them apart.

The second week some old friends came down for a visit. Jim and I have done a lot of fishing together over the years but he had not been doing much since moving to a new home in Maine. I took him to nearby Wychmere Harbor where he caught many of the baby bluefish. We near the end of the jetty casting out into the channel. I saw some nervous water about thirty yards out and then some big splashes. I thought they must be big bluefish. I told Jim to switch from a small Kastmaster to a larger one. I did the same.

I got the first cast out and felt a solid tug. I set the hook and started reeling in. I sensed that it wasn’t a bluefish as I felt a fast pulsating throb while holding the rod. I thought to myself it was probably a pogie (menhaden). As I reeled near to the base of the jetty I felt another solid hit. When I lifted the rod I saw half of a pogie. The tail half was cleanly cut off leaving a crescent shape bite on the remaining piece. As I was taking the head half of the pogey off the treble hook Jim yelled he had a good fish on. It pulled out line, against the drag which I had set pretty tight. I was glad that I had thirty pound Power Pro braid on the reel and a short piece of fifty pound monofilament in front of the lure.

As the fish and Jim fought it out Jim walked back on the jetty so he could get onto the beach for steadier footing. I ran back and got my digital camera to take a photo of Jim fighting the fish. The bluefish leaped clear out of the water and tried to shake the lure out of its mouth. I could see that it was a very big blue. After another leap or two Jim was able reel it in and drag it onto the sand. I grabbed it with my Boga Grip and lifted it up. The scale showed that it weigh twelve pounds! It was a big bluefish, indeed! I had Jim hold it and took a photo.

The fish were still near enough for more casts but instead of another bluefish we snagged pogies but they were chopped in half before wee could land them I had one hooked for a while but it pulled hard and got free. Then the activity ceased and the game was over.

Jim and his wife left the next day and I went back to fish the same area again. It was late afternoon and the tide was getting low. I caught a few snapper blues using my fly rod with a gurgler that I popped along the surface. I had about ten hits for everyone I hooked because the 2/0 kook that it was tied on was too big for those little fish. Another fisherman came by and was looking out from the beach. It turned out to be owner of the real estate office where I rented the cottage. As we chatted about the local fishing Neil said he some nervous looking water out in the channel. He pointed it out to me and as I watched I saw a big splash. It was too far away for either of us to cast there. I still had my fly rod and he had a medium spinning rod with a large wooden popper. He tried a cast but only got about three quarters of the distance to where the fish were. But they were slowly moving closer. I ran back to my jeep to get my spinning rod which still had a one ounce Kastmaster on the line. While I was doing that the fish moved close enough for some very long casts. Neil got a couple casts out near the fish. When I got back to him I stood and watched as he made another cast. The popper landed right in the middle of the splashes but he didn’t get a strike. I let him finish his retrieve before I sent my lure sailing. It was good cast. It landed right in the middle of the breaking fish. On my first swing of the rod I felt a solid hit. I was on! Remembering how my friend Jim had moved back on the jetty to get on the beach I did the same. That way Neil could get more casts in as my fish moved away taking line off my reel. The bluefish made two spectacular leaps but the hooks held and I soon dragged it onto the beach. By then the splashes had stopped as the bluefish moved out. I held up my bluefish and Neil took a photo with my camera.

It was just at dusk and a perfect end to a nice day of Cape Cod fishing.

Tight Lines!

Capt. Charlie Crue
Channel Edge Charters
www.channeledgecharters.com