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Wading Fly Fishermen Bass Size Expectations

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The Graveyard Shift

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On 9/29/2018 at 10:32 AM, RedGreen said:

6: Again, I haven't been on the striper coast for long as this is my first season, but the weirdest thing so far was a horseshoe crab w/ a body the size of a dinner plate trying to mate with my booted foot while night fishing at cape cod. Obviously no harm done to my waders but the sensations on my foot were very queer and uncomfortable indeed. 

I found out the hard way that Keens hyrdo sandals look a lot like a female horseshoe crab to a male horseshoe crab, as well. At least they're gentle lovers. 

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This is my perspective as a resident of the upper Cape who has fly fished exclusively for 2-3 years, 50/50 between fly fishing and surfcasting before that.

 

#1A: How many keeper size (28 inches or larger) striped bass do you hope to catch in a season on the fly rod?

I usually expect to get into around a half dozen, as the primary location I fish tends to hold multiple fish in a similar size class, so if I get one 28-35" fish the chances of getting a second from the same rip are likely. 

 

#2: How many striped bass over 40 inches do you hope to catch in an entire season on the fly rod? 

Hope to catch? Dozens. Realistically expect to catch? Zero. I don't put enough time in at other locations than my primary to know them well enough to hope to catch a truly large bass there.

 

#3: Do you fish at night or purely during daylight or both please allocate a % of time?  Example (Based on this seasons log for me): Both 90% night and 10% day.  

80% between the hours of 3-7AM. 10% between the hours of 7-10PM, and 10% between the hours of 10PM-2AM. Rarely do I fish between 2-4AM, for reasons unknown.

 

#4: What type of fly rod set up would you plan to use and if multiple setups list all of them? Example (My recent preferences): 9' 9WT SH (single hand) rod for flats, 11' 10WT TH OH(two hand overhead) for most fishing conditions, 12.5' 10WT TH Spey for fishing inlets or estuaries with limited backcast room.

9' 9wt. single hand rod for 99% of what I do. In the backwaters/estuaries or when fishing for holdovers I will use a 9' 7wt. single hand, or my cheap glass rod.

 

#5: What types of fly lines do you use and what percentage of your fishing time is with each type?  Example (My recent preferences): Floating 30% Intermediate 10% Fast Sinking 60%

90% floating, 10% full sink.

 

#6: THE FUN QUESTION: What is the weirdest thing you have seen on a trip to fly fish for striped bass?  

Not necessarily weird, but I was out on a night last month when the bioluminescence in the water was so thick, I could see each step I took glowing green as I walked across a flat. When I made my way toward the edge of the rip, I saw green trails, similar to a smoke trail in the sky, appear all around me and realized I had just spooked some fish off the flat. It was very cool to be able to see their movements by way of the bioluminescence in the water. When I hooked a fish, I saw an eruption of green glow as he shook his head, and his entire outline shrouded in green as he came closer. Then when he ran, I again saw the green 'smoke' trail indicating his chosen path. It was all very surreal and I truly wish I had a camera (and the ability) to have captured a photo of it. It was so dark out though that I have no idea how you'd even go about getting a picture of it.

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17 hours ago, capefish4231 said:

 

Not necessarily weird, but I was out on a night last month when the bioluminescence in the water was so thick, I could see each step I took glowing green as I walked across a flat. When I made my way toward the edge of the rip, I saw green trails, similar to a smoke trail in the sky, appear all around me and realized I had just spooked some fish off the flat. It was very cool to be able to see their movements by way of the bioluminescence in the water. When I hooked a fish, I saw an eruption of green glow as he shook his head, and his entire outline shrouded in green as he came closer. Then when he ran, I again saw the green 'smoke' trail indicating his chosen path. It was all very surreal and I truly wish I had a camera (and the ability) to have captured a photo of it. It was so dark out though that I have no idea how you'd even go about getting a picture of it.

 

I love this story. Sounds like something they would show on Blue Planet or Planet Earth, the nature shows. The Drake magazine had a recent story on how they filmed the giant trevallies eating birds in the Seychelles. Amazing to me how much work they put into it for a precious few minutes of footage.

 

 

 

Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught. 

 

 

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19 hours ago, capefish4231 said:

This is my perspective as a resident of the upper Cape who has fly fished exclusively for 2-3 years, 50/50 between fly fishing and surfcasting before that.

 

#1A: How many keeper size (28 inches or larger) striped bass do you hope to catch in a season on the fly rod?

I usually expect to get into around a half dozen, as the primary location I fish tends to hold multiple fish in a similar size class, so if I get one 28-35" fish the chances of getting a second from the same rip are likely. 

 

#2: How many striped bass over 40 inches do you hope to catch in an entire season on the fly rod? 

Hope to catch? Dozens. Realistically expect to catch? Zero. I don't put enough time in at other locations than my primary to know them well enough to hope to catch a truly large bass there.

 

#3: Do you fish at night or purely during daylight or both please allocate a % of time?  Example (Based on this seasons log for me): Both 90% night and 10% day.  

80% between the hours of 3-7AM. 10% between the hours of 7-10PM, and 10% between the hours of 10PM-2AM. Rarely do I fish between 2-4AM, for reasons unknown.

 

#4: What type of fly rod set up would you plan to use and if multiple setups list all of them? Example (My recent preferences): 9' 9WT SH (single hand) rod for flats, 11' 10WT TH OH(two hand overhead) for most fishing conditions, 12.5' 10WT TH Spey for fishing inlets or estuaries with limited backcast room.

9' 9wt. single hand rod for 99% of what I do. In the backwaters/estuaries or when fishing for holdovers I will use a 9' 7wt. single hand, or my cheap glass rod.

 

#5: What types of fly lines do you use and what percentage of your fishing time is with each type?  Example (My recent preferences): Floating 30% Intermediate 10% Fast Sinking 60%

90% floating, 10% full sink.

 

#6: THE FUN QUESTION: What is the weirdest thing you have seen on a trip to fly fish for striped bass?  

Not necessarily weird, but I was out on a night last month when the bioluminescence in the water was so thick, I could see each step I took glowing green as I walked across a flat. When I made my way toward the edge of the rip, I saw green trails, similar to a smoke trail in the sky, appear all around me and realized I had just spooked some fish off the flat. It was very cool to be able to see their movements by way of the bioluminescence in the water. When I hooked a fish, I saw an eruption of green glow as he shook his head, and his entire outline shrouded in green as he came closer. Then when he ran, I again saw the green 'smoke' trail indicating his chosen path. It was all very surreal and I truly wish I had a camera (and the ability) to have captured a photo of it. It was so dark out though that I have no idea how you'd even go about getting a picture of it.

Very cool story!  My first trip ever to the Cape in 2005 I saw a similar thing ghost fish images in dark water.  I was unable to get anything to bite though and I thought that the luminescence was making my presentation not work for getting bass to bite.  But after hearing your story its clear you can still catch fish under those conditions!  Thanks for sharing.

 

On 40 inch fish this was the first year I got them and so far I have nabbed two.  That was after fishing hard for 6 years.  Both came out of locations very close to home, but using different strategies than I had previously.  The only thing in common was both were in the time window of 3:30-4:30am, however the tides were totally different and fly pattern/technique totally different.  I have two primary locations one estuary and one ocean front location.  I got one 40+ inch fish in both areas.  Feel free to shoot me a DM if you want to talk any specifics about your location.  I may have run into a similar scenario and may be able to point you in right direction.  All I will say is if the spot has produced a 35" fish for you then under a certain set of conditions it has 40 inch fish feeding there you just have to keep grinding until you figure it out. 

 

My last big fish came from a spot that was consistent a 30-34 inch producer on the first half of the drop.  I went there primarily to test my new sinking line I had put on the 10wt two hander and was there at the last hour of the drop which I had assumed was not ideal from other trips because the rip where I usually catch fish goes away when the tide drops to a certain point.  What I realized on getting there was on a moon tide it opened up walking out to point where i could fish a totally different section of spot with a fly effectively and right as I got out to that point a fish started feeding on the surface.  I had seen fish feeding on the surface in that same location but could never range it before higher in the tide.  First good presentation in the fishes feeding lane I hooked it and landed a nice fish estimated at 42 inches based on length comparison on fly rod.  Then a quick release.  I can tell that without the extra distance the two hand 10 wt provided I would not have made the cast to that fish so a TH rod is seriously worth considering.

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57 mins ago, The Graveyard Shift said:

Very cool story!  My first trip ever to the Cape in 2005 I saw a similar thing ghost fish images in dark water.  I was unable to get anything to bite though and I thought that the luminescence was making my presentation not work for getting bass to bite.  But after hearing your story its clear you can still catch fish under those conditions!  Thanks for sharing.

 

On 40 inch fish this was the first year I got them and so far I have nabbed two.  That was after fishing hard for 6 years.  Both came out of locations very close to home, but using different strategies than I had previously.  The only thing in common was both were in the time window of 3:30-4:30am, however the tides were totally different and fly pattern/technique totally different.  I have two primary locations one estuary and one ocean front location.  I got one 40+ inch fish in both areas.  Feel free to shoot me a DM if you want to talk any specifics about your location.  I may have run into a similar scenario and may be able to point you in right direction.  All I will say is if the spot has produced a 35" fish for you then under a certain set of conditions it has 40 inch fish feeding there you just have to keep grinding until you figure it out. 

 

My last big fish came from a spot that was consistent a 30-34 inch producer on the first half of the drop.  I went there primarily to test my new sinking line I had put on the 10wt two hander and was there at the last hour of the drop which I had assumed was not ideal from other trips because the rip where I usually catch fish goes away when the tide drops to a certain point.  What I realized on getting there was on a moon tide it opened up walking out to point where i could fish a totally different section of spot with a fly effectively and right as I got out to that point a fish started feeding on the surface.  I had seen fish feeding on the surface in that same location but could never range it before higher in the tide.  First good presentation in the fishes feeding lane I hooked it and landed a nice fish estimated at 42 inches based on length comparison on fly rod.  Then a quick release.  I can tell that without the extra distance the two hand 10 wt provided I would not have made the cast to that fish so a TH rod is seriously worth considering.

Thanks for the info! I will say that while the luminescence was thick in the still water, I was casting backhand into a rip and that is where the fish would take, then I would play them over onto the flat, out of the moving water. I'm guessing the current dispersed the luminescence enough to not have an adverse effect on the fish. 

 

On the subject of TH rods, I do have an 11'6" 8wt. switch that is sitting in a tube unused. I tried to sell it but no takers. I'm seriously considering giving it a go with my Airflo 40+ full sink shooting line (which is labeled a 9 but loads a 9wt more like a 10). Provided I can figure out how to make a two handed cast reasonably well.

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3 hours ago, capefish4231 said:

Thanks for the info! I will say that while the luminescence was thick in the still water, I was casting backhand into a rip and that is where the fish would take, then I would play them over onto the flat, out of the moving water. I'm guessing the current dispersed the luminescence enough to not have an adverse effect on the fish. 

 

On the subject of TH rods, I do have an 11'6" 8wt. switch that is sitting in a tube unused. I tried to sell it but no takers. I'm seriously considering giving it a go with my Airflo 40+ full sink shooting line (which is labeled a 9 but loads a 9wt more like a 10). Provided I can figure out how to make a two handed cast reasonably well.

If you're good at figuring out how to cast by looking at videos there's a very good video on youtube of steve rajeff casting a TH overhead in salmon distance. It takes some analysis and work on the viewers part but it helps a lot to get your TH casting started. That was a video I looked at a lot last winter to figure out my casting with my first TH.

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49 mins ago, capefish4231 said:

Thanks for the info! I will say that while the luminescence was thick in the still water, I was casting backhand into a rip and that is where the fish would take, then I would play them over onto the flat, out of the moving water. I'm guessing the current dispersed the luminescence enough to not have an adverse effect on the fish. 

 

On the subject of TH rods, I do have an 11'6" 8wt. switch that is sitting in a tube unused. I tried to sell it but no takers. I'm seriously considering giving it a go with my Airflo 40+ full sink shooting line (which is labeled a 9 but loads a 9wt more like a 10). Provided I can figure out how to make a two handed cast reasonably well.

The biggest thing that I will say I think I am doing differently that led to catching the bigger fish is fishing lower in the water column.  Even though I saw that big fish feeding on the surface by the time my fly got to its general location on the drift with the S6 line I was about 6 feet deep.  With an intermediate I would have been about a foot deep.  The other big fish I caught basically right on the bottom.  My surfcasting partner has also got a couple big fish and almost all of them were within a foot of the bottom even at night.  With a fly rod I find I am usually a lot shallower than I am hoping to be on a drift so going heavier on the sinking line has not been an issue its been going with to slow a sink rate where I have problems.  I am generally fishing water 6-12 feet deep though and sometimes as deep as 25 feet.

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#1B: IF you are a visiting angler to striper coasts how many keeper bass do you hope to catch on a single fly fishing trip (assume minimum of one full weekend for trip)?

 

- I do 1 cape trip a year and 'hope' to catch 100+ fish over 32" inches :)  - but typically catch a handful a trip. This year I had a 8.

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