Search the Community

Last night me, my brother and friend were fishing off a rocky point of a private beach in the Dennis area bay side. It was around 10:00 PM a little before dead low and we had been catching a fair amount of stripers between 20 and 32 inches. My friend hooked up on a smaller fish and was bringing it in easily when all the sudden the drag started screaming and going straight out, there was no head shakes, no side to side movement or diving. Whatever had eaten the striper was pulling straight out at a very steady but fast speed. There were no boats in the area. After about 1 minute of pulling drag steady without any signs of stopping the knot connecting the braid to backing gave out and the fish was gone. We were fishing shallow water, at the most it was 10 feet deep but most likely around 6-8 feet. We were fishing off a rocky point but it was surrounded by sand but there were many large boulders around. I have 3 theories for what I could be. My first thought was it was a seal but I’ve never seen any in that area and in videos I’ve seen of seals attacking hooked fish that thrash violently on the surface, there was none of that just a steady unstoppable run. My second theory is that it could have been a dolphin because lately there has been an unusual amount of dolphins around the Sesuit harbor area however the closest I’ve seen them come to shore is about 150 yards and I don’t think they would be hunting in a rocky area where they could get injured. Also I don’t know if a dolphin would try to take a 20 plus inch striper off the hook. My last theory is that it could have been a small Great White because there have been multiple around the 10 foot range spotted in the area in the past week. And I know there already been a few incidents this summer of sharks taking stripers off the hook in the bay. Still I don’t think a shark would be in that shallow and around that many rocks. I would be greatly appreciated if anyone had any input of what it could have been or what could have happened. Thanks.

Purchased new from amazon on 11/02/17. Butt-cap has been removed for rod holder, used once and decided not to keep it. $130. Willing to ship at your expense.