Early Morning Pays Off On Solo Outing – Big Fish Are Back
Last night I made a solemn promise that I would hoist my arse out of bed at 4:30. The past few mornings have been difficult to rise early, and my expectations were only 50/50, even though I made that solemn promise. But I did it and was actually on the water by 4:35.
The morning was absolutely beautiful: calm, glassy surface, awesome sunrise, and mild. The tide was ebbing with about 3 hours to go to a minus low, which means that the currents would be decent. No coffee, empty stomach, still half asleep – I ventured out with low expectations.
I noticed Dave Bitters out ahead of me by 3 minutes (Doh!). He rushed out to the same spot I was hoping to check out first (Doh!). But luckily, my 6th sense honed in on some birds along the way and I was soon alone with a mess of stripers and blues all to myself. The Saquish Rip is either on fire or completely empty, in my experience. It is also somewhat difficult on spring tides due to the high density of weed that funnels through the area. It is relatively shallow, with thick eelgrass (Zostera marina) that reaches up from the benthos which can foul deep swimming lures quite easily. This morning it was pretty much on fire. My first cast was a 26” bass with a full belly. What fun. I ran a few drifts over the rip, not far from Bug Light, and continued to hook bass after bass on both white surface poppers and a blue Yo-Zuri swimmer. What fun.
Soon D. Bitters made his way over to Saquish and I noticed several hookups by his clients. I continued running and drifting, hooking at least one bass each time. I also landed a small bluefish, which made me quite happy, and I kept him, thinking of him as breakfast (with eggs) if time permitted. Then I broke out the fly rod, a new acquisition that had only seen a few days of action this season. First cast – ZURP! - nice one on the end. What fun.
After a little bit I decided to run up-current to a spot where I had hooked huge bass last year (see Labor Day weekend report from 2005…when I post it). Again, all to myself and over the infamous rip that gave me a 45”er and a bunch of same size classed beauties on the fly last summer, and, until now, had not produced one fish this year. First cast --- CRUINK! About 5 large fish attacked my custom made Meunier surface plug; they were going totally ballistic (out of water). The first one landed measured 27.5”. The second, 27.5”. The third, fourth, and fifth – all 27.5”. There were larger ones in there – I could see them and I also lost a few of them – but I couldn’t manage to land any (Note-to-self: change hooks tonight). What fun. Oh shit, my cell phone is dead and therefore, I have no idea what time it is….hmmn, a few more drifts, a few more fish….hmmmn….crap, I wonder what time it is… the action has made me completely oblivious to time…I’d better get in.
Got home just in time to avoid conflict.
A series of storms are now moving in on the SW horizon as I write this up. The wind has picked up significantly. I hope tomorrow is as good.
The morning was absolutely beautiful: calm, glassy surface, awesome sunrise, and mild. The tide was ebbing with about 3 hours to go to a minus low, which means that the currents would be decent. No coffee, empty stomach, still half asleep – I ventured out with low expectations.
I noticed Dave Bitters out ahead of me by 3 minutes (Doh!). He rushed out to the same spot I was hoping to check out first (Doh!). But luckily, my 6th sense honed in on some birds along the way and I was soon alone with a mess of stripers and blues all to myself. The Saquish Rip is either on fire or completely empty, in my experience. It is also somewhat difficult on spring tides due to the high density of weed that funnels through the area. It is relatively shallow, with thick eelgrass (Zostera marina) that reaches up from the benthos which can foul deep swimming lures quite easily. This morning it was pretty much on fire. My first cast was a 26” bass with a full belly. What fun. I ran a few drifts over the rip, not far from Bug Light, and continued to hook bass after bass on both white surface poppers and a blue Yo-Zuri swimmer. What fun.
Soon D. Bitters made his way over to Saquish and I noticed several hookups by his clients. I continued running and drifting, hooking at least one bass each time. I also landed a small bluefish, which made me quite happy, and I kept him, thinking of him as breakfast (with eggs) if time permitted. Then I broke out the fly rod, a new acquisition that had only seen a few days of action this season. First cast – ZURP! - nice one on the end. What fun.
After a little bit I decided to run up-current to a spot where I had hooked huge bass last year (see Labor Day weekend report from 2005…when I post it). Again, all to myself and over the infamous rip that gave me a 45”er and a bunch of same size classed beauties on the fly last summer, and, until now, had not produced one fish this year. First cast --- CRUINK! About 5 large fish attacked my custom made Meunier surface plug; they were going totally ballistic (out of water). The first one landed measured 27.5”. The second, 27.5”. The third, fourth, and fifth – all 27.5”. There were larger ones in there – I could see them and I also lost a few of them – but I couldn’t manage to land any (Note-to-self: change hooks tonight). What fun. Oh shit, my cell phone is dead and therefore, I have no idea what time it is….hmmn, a few more drifts, a few more fish….hmmmn….crap, I wonder what time it is… the action has made me completely oblivious to time…I’d better get in.
Got home just in time to avoid conflict.
A series of storms are now moving in on the SW horizon as I write this up. The wind has picked up significantly. I hope tomorrow is as good.
posted by John at 7:55 AM
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