Rock Harbor Fishing Report
By: Capt. Hap Farrell
11 Sept. 2007
The Season Winds Down, the Fish Don't
This is going to be the last Rock Harbor Fishing Report for the season. Boy, has this summer gone by fast. The day the ice cleared out of the harbor seems to still be fresh in my mind and that is scary. It's been a good summer over all. A bit windy in the beginning and a few times we really had to hunt to find a decent amount of bass, but it has been a good season. No real changes were noticed this year other than the bass seemed to stay in the deep water a little more than usual.
There is one thing that should be addressed and it seems that it may take more than the phone calls that have already been made. This is the sea clammers that are fishing on the shoals. As I understand it they are not supposed to drag in less than 20 feet of water. Even at high water the only part of Billingsgate shoals that is more than 20 feet is the southwest end down near the #1 can. What is happening is the drag on the sea clammer is tearing up the seas grass beds. This eel grass does not grow back easily when torn up by the roots. The striped bass like to congregate in these grass patches and wait for the bait fish to go by. Crabs and other sea creature hang out in these patches. It is an ecosystem all to itself. Tear it up and the shoals will die as a viable area of Cape Cod Bay. It would be like tearing up the coral reefs in the Caribbean. It has to stop.
What is going to happen for the rest of this season? There will be a good amount of bluefish that should stay around well into October. The bass may even do the same. Last season we thought that they left just before Columbus Day weekend when a front came through. They did not. I hope they stick around this season too. The bluefish were mainly up along the Eastham shore and the north edge of the shoals out in the deep water and also up by the Path. The bass were on the shoals and out in the deep water from 40 feet out to 50 feet. Jigging and the umbrella rig were the lure systems of choice. Don't forget the Brewster Flats and just off the edge of the flats. There will be bluefish here well into the fall with some legal bass mixed in with a fair amount of small fish. In all it should be a good year for good fall fishing in Cape Cod bay.
This last weekend was some of the best fishing we had all season. On Saturday there was a multi boat trip set up by David Ambrose through one of the boats in the harbor. They booked most of the boats in the fleet. There was sort of a competition between the crews for the biggest fish and the most inches of the biggest six of the bass landed by each boat. We all started fishing on top of Billingsgate Shoals and within a short time the words,"big fish on" came over the radio. That started it, every boat started reporting hooking up on big fish. The winning bass was 46 inches long and weighed over thirty pounds.
On Sunday I had Marge and Jim Giesler, owners of Ocean Gold B&B, and their two kids Will and Rebecca out on a half day trip. They only needed a few bass for the freezer so out came the jigging rods. It wasn't long before we had three nice bass in the boat so we switched over to the tube and worm. Lady luck was not finished with them. Rebecca hooked up on the really nice fish and after a good tussle she landed a bass just shy of thirty pounds. Will and Rebecca will be taking some good memories back to California after their visit is over but the fish will be occupying Marge and Jim's freezer.
Thanks for supporting me and reading these reports of mine. I do get a lot of feedback from you, so have a good winter and I'll see you in the spring. There are still plenty of fish out there, so if you'd like to try get one for yourself give me a call at: 508-255-6211 or 508-240-8267.
www.capecodbaycharters.com
stunmai@copper.net
