Leeward Stripers of Two Lighthouse Island.

By George Vosmik, NCFF

Look Bob! Look at the size of these fish! I think we could ride these horses! Oh what a beautiful site! The water was dead calm here south of Cape Cod about two miles from Monomoy Island. The tide just went slack and it was as though we were looking into a giant aquarium with four-foot long stripers cruising as contentedly as lions on the prowl.

Cast, says Tony Biski, and both Bob and I cast in different directions to pods of big fish. Strip, strip, strip, faster!, faster! Fish on shouts Bob, and watch out George, he’s coming, he’s got it. Fish on! Bob’s fish decides to run toward the shore and soon is coming back to the boat where Tony lips him – a nice 28 incher. Meanwhile, my fish decides to head for Martha’s Vineyard and has my full line and about 50 feet of backing off the reel. Hang on, hang on. He’s turning. Keep him tight. Back on the reel, and once around the boat and he’s swimming sideways. On the Boga grip and he’s in the boat. How big? 10 pounds even. Quick lets measure – 32 inches! This turns out to be our best fish of the trip. But that was Monday and today was Wednesday!

It had been a long morning of blind casting on Joppa Flats, and Ipswich Bay, with schoolies of 12 to 20 inches making up most of the catch. Bob Nolan had caught a 28 incher on Joppa and I had some good success on Ipswich Bay but we had not gotten into the Silvery “Dirty Thirties” that we had come for. Barry Clemson was ready to run several miles to Cape Ann and try for the open water Striped Bass.

Yesterday had begun at 4:30 A.M. and today was a repeat performance. We fished hard, and were ready for a better return on our investment of hundreds of casts. We had had exciting fishing on Ipswich Bay yesterday for about an hour and a half, catching 28” – 30” striped bass with regularity but certainly not every cast as sometimes happens when you run into a ”Blitz”. Today was a bit less than that. Every now and then we were into a nice fish but most of the time we practiced our forward and backward casting presentations depending on which end of the boat we happened to be. We agreed. Lets run to Cape Ann.

Twenty minutes we rounded a point and I saw Cape Ann for the first time. It had several islands around it and one had not one but two lighthouses on it. Officially named Thacher Island, it is called Two Lighthouse Island. With a Southeast wind, the south side of the island was where to fish, to take advantage of the swells breaking into the rocks. This stunned the forage fish so that the stripers who usually lined up just below the receding waves could have a feast on them.

Well, we cast right up into the breaks between the rocks, and let the fly be carried out with the receding wave and -- strike after strike – were from harbor Pollack about 12 - 17 inches long. At the northeast point, which should have bee the best opportunity, we only saw two or three stripers of size and no hits.

Barry explained that he seldom fishes the lee side of a point or island but maybe we should give it a try. Bob was up. He cast into the swells and about the third cast – Fish On! Get him out Bob; watch that lobster pot line; bring him up. Barry, what did you say about the lee side. Twenty-eight incher!

My turn. Cast up into that cut in the rocks, looks like a hundred foot wide pool. No Hit. But wait, Barry repositions the boat and as we swing around the line follows and -- Fish on! Very close to us however is a series of lobster pots and connecting lines. Barry swung the boat out and I had to do the ‘under the boat or lose the fish’ trick. Another 28 inch Striped Bass.

Bob casts into the next opening, and after several more casts, boats another 25+ Striper. And so it went each of us caught several more, almost 30 inch Stripers, but never got to the dirty thirties again.

We all learned something new though. Trust your guide to keep trying to put you on fish. And, Barry discovered alternate plan “B”. Try the lee side of the island when the going gets rough on the windward side.

It was a tough catching trip but it was great fishing in the beautiful coastal waters of Massachusetts.

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