I went off to the early outing without the ladder thinking I wouldn't be standing in one spot. I saw seven fish, again all bigger ones, but I only casted to three of them and they were going away from me because I didn't catch them till the last second or they saw me first and blew out.
I tied on a Flexo Crab after seeing one large bass's side light up the water as they either picked up a meal off the bottom or were rubbing off the sea lice off their sides. I set up on the brightest bottomed areas just waiting and hoping. Hoping for two things, fish to drive by, or the sun to show signs that it was strong enough to burn off the fog. The wind went from SW to SE but that wasn't too much of a factor, and between that and the approaching Strawberry Moon, June's full moon, a lot of water stayed in the pond.
I put in a few hours doing the walk back and forth or either standing in one spot where my cone of vision may be better than in another spot. I did walk in the water and caught myself once I got over mid-calf because I had no shot at seeing anything at those depths.
As the tide ebbed it seemed like maybe, possibly, the sun was really working to be seen. I just wanted a two-hour window, from say like 11 -1 pm, end of the outgoing and the highest part of the suns journey during the day. From time to time there was a flash of blue skies.
So now I needed a new plan. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is what Albert Einstein called insanity. Was I, well am I, insane thinking I can sight fish this week at all? So, here was my plan. Run to Dogfish for two reasons. End of the tide and those big sand bars are lit up pretty good. While the sun wasn't beaming, it was bright enough to see a fish.
As I trucked across the dune I saw the water and was inspired. Maybe this could work. Off in the distance I thought I saw a thresher shark working inside Dogfish so I kept my eyes open. I walked the flat off one of the Lobsterville points confident I would be in business. It was the other day when I saw just one beast coming across this same flat. Maybe it was waiting for me.
The shark I thought I saw was actually a snorkeler who was taking pictures. As he came out of the water I intercepted him making my way up to Dogfish. We met and I asked him what he saw. "Some sand eels out there but not one single swimming bass", adding, "I did see one chewed up head though, probably a shark got him". Crash, bang, boom. There goes that plan. Later.
I followed him out and then made a decision. Be done with the morning and head back to Abe's place or push on. I pushed on, this time grabbing my ladder, and heading back to Red Beach. I knew the sun was going to burn through at some point.
I stayed and waited, and waited. It seemed the water never left so I spent more time looking behind me that out in front. My Walmosta (WalMart's version of Costa) polarized glasses didn't help a bit trying to see what was swimming in front of me. I was getting frustrated.
So by 1130 I was done. I was in my happy place but I wasn't happy. I pulled out and hit a different spot that looked fishy and had great structure but I wasn't looking to just cast and retrieve. I was on a mission, one, I think, that may come up short and actually may wind up skunking on this year's trip to the Vineyard.
In a daily theme of taking pictures of dead animals, the bluefish skull, lots of dead gulls, yesterday I found a dead grey seal that was in various stages of decay and stink. It's not everyday that I see dead seals on the beach although up here I'm sure they do as there a ton of them swimming around.
Around 1 o'clock I was felt like Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who predicts spring when and if he sees his shadow, because I actually saw my shadow. That only meant one thing, back to the flats. As I drove the shadows filled the road from the trees overhead. I was in.
Actually, I wasn't. As quick as the sun got close to showing itself it tucked back behind the fog. I did spend an hour there though, seeing two nice fish that I had no shot at. It was over.
It was a 3 o'clock check-in at the house we rented for the week. It's me and the Two Joe's, Cordiero and Calcevechia. When I pulled up I thought, "This is kinda small", but once
inside it was spacious and perfect for what we needed for the week. There was more to the house out back then you can see from the front. We unloaded our stuff and after a quick cat nap we were ready for the evening where surely we would find sand eels, and bass on them, somewhere.
Joe's been fishing the island for decades and had his own ideas on where to go. We'd be doing this as a duo as Joe C., well that doesn't work because they're both Joe C's, is arriving Sunday morning, after not heeding early advice to make sure he made his ferry reservation. These days if you don't have an early reservation, you're beat, and there's no stand-by anymore.
On our way to location number one we stopped in OB so I could grab a quick slice. We hit Giordano's and I must say it was solid. I'm no Dave Portnoy and his "One Bite everybody knows the rules" pizza reviews but I would rate this a 8.4. No flop, good undercarriage, and a nice crisp to the crust.
