Falmouth - Cape Cod

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tmcaul
Posts: 218
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:26 am
Species: salmonids
Location: Charlotte

Falmouth - Cape Cod

Post by tmcaul »

Had an interesting charter out of Falmouth on 9/16. Left the dock on the Islander at 6AM. Capt. "CJ" said we'd make an hour-long run out to a spot where we could target stripers and bluefish. There was a continuous line of bad weather to our west, right along the shoreline all the way to New Bedford and further south. Falmouth was soon enveloped by a nasty, dark cloud cover. CJ was confident that this bad weather would slide northeast and miss us, and so we set up for stripers off Nomans Land, a small island used for bombing practice from the 1940s until about 1995.

We had never fished offshore for our target species, so we were curious what kind of set ups CJ would use. For stripers he used an umbrella rig with flashers and 5 or 6 multi-colored plastic tubes, each with a single hook. Probably like other charter captains, he used a steel line and heavy leader. We trolled 2 of these umbrella rigs on heavy, short boat rods. The action was immediate and we caught 3 or 4 stripers and lost a couple more within the first half hour. We kept one legal striper to eat.

As we were hauling in these stripers, the weather started closing in on us. The storm had "hooked" to our south, meaning that the previously clearer skies there were now dark and predictive of bad weather. The clouds to our west were moving in on us and bolts of lighting were coming along with the edge of the storm. CJ contacted other boats...heading back to Falmouth would be heading into the heart of the storm. He decided to ride things out in the lee of Nomans Island. Sheeting rain enveloped us, but we were dry inside the Islander's cabin. The storm slid by and the lightning never got too close to our boat. So after about an hour we went back to fishing.

CJ rerigged for bluefish using a large spoon with a fly attached and a single hook. We then caught, and lost, bluefish for the rest of the morning. These bluefish, 5-10 lbs in size, were amazing fighters. I would have to say equal or better than our salmon. I was glad that our boat had folding marine chairs with a gimbal. That made fighting these fish much easier. We kept one of the larger fish and tried both species for dinner that night. Both were excellent, although the striper filets would have been a trifle mild without the oil/mayo/mustard/Siracha paste our son used to grill them (in a foil package).
Tom
"Tyee, Too"
18' Lund
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Reelax
Site Admin
Posts: 5720
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:27 pm
Species: Salmon, steelhead, brown trout
Location: Fletcher, Vt

Re: Falmouth - Cape Cod

Post by Reelax »

What and adventure! Thanks for sharing...

Sounds like a fun trip.
Matt B
pfu
Posts: 135
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:35 pm
Species: Cold and warm species
Location: Burlington VT

Re: Falmouth - Cape Cod

Post by pfu »

Always wanted to fish down there and catch a glimpse of a great white in person!

Sounds like a ball.
Gecha (Gerry)
Posts: 4447
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:26 pm
Species: whatever crazy enough to bite

Re: Falmouth - Cape Cod

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

Bluefish is a thrill to catch. It's like having a mini shark at the end of the rod. it fights hard and furiously even after being landed.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
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