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Hot Striped Bass Fly Fishing Action
Around Chatham Massachusetts
by Glen Morris
It is just after dawn on the waters off of Chatham's
Monomoy Island on the elbow of Cape Cod Massachusetts.
Your fishing guide is standing 6 feet above the water's
surface on the polling platform of a Florida flats style
shallow draft fishing boat. The motor is off and the
guide is using a long push pole to move the boat along.
There is a smell of cut watermelon in the air over the
still water. That watermelon-like smell is from feeding
or just fed striped bass. You are standing in the bow
with your fly rod In hand. The target you are seeking is
the famous Cape Cod striped bass.
The striped bass fishing off of Monomoy island in the
summertime is absolutely fabulous. Stripers have made a
miraculous comeback since the mid-80s. I used to fish
for them commercially until they were almost eliminated.
We then switched to jigging codfish off the coast of
Chatham. The commercial dragger fishermen and gill
netters pretty much wiped out the cod. The greed and
mismanagement of the fish stocks have put many of the
commercial fishermen out of business. Nowadays many
enterprising fishermen have turned to stalking striped
bass and taking well-heeled anglers on fly fishing
charter trips.
Monomoy island is where the warm waters of Nantucket
sound meet the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Striped bass love this place. It is loaded with little
channels and sand flats that harbor tasty morsels of
crabs and bait fish which stripers love to eat.
Standing on the bow casting platform and fly casting to
striped bass is a fun way to fish for them. Your guide
uses polarized sunglasses to peer into the water. He
spots the fish and directs you to which way to cast your
fly. He tells you to strip the line faster. Then, all of
a sudden, you have a striped bass on the line. The reel
is singing as the bass takes line. Your fly rod is bent
over double. You are having the adventure of a lifetime.
The striped bass is an excellent fighting fish. The
lighter fly fishing tackle is well-suited to striper
fishing and is just plain fun to catch striped bass
with.
Striped bass caught on the fly fishing tackle can range
from 2 pound school sized fish right up to 30 pounders.
People come from all over the country in the summer
months to fish for these great fighting stripers. You
are close to nature in an unspoiled place. That is rare
these days.
The flies used are larger streamer type heavy salt water
flies. Primarily the largest amount of baitfish around
Monomoy are the sand eels or sand lance. Flies are tied
to imitate the appearance of this bait fish. They work
really well on Chatham striped bass in the summer.
Typical charter prices are $350 and up for a boat,
tackle and a guide. There are half day charters and all
day charters available. The guides take out people from
May until early October depending on the weather.
For those less well-heeled, there is a cheaper way to
fly fish for striped bass on the flats around Monomoy
Island. Boats called water taxis will ferry fly
fisherman out to the island. You then spread out and
wade for fly fishing. You can catch stripers this way
for about a $20 roundtrip fare. They bring you out, and
then they pick you up at a predetermined time. The
adventure of catching a striped bass on a fly rod is
available to the average person who doesn't want to
shell out 400 bucks.
There are hotels and motels around Chatham and the Cape
area. July and August are peak times and expensive. The
good news is that May into early June are quiet times
and cheaper. After Labor Day is also a great time to fly
fish for the striped bass. Fall is the best time to
enjoy striper fishing.
If you are looking to have some fun catching striped
bass head for Chatham. Experience great fly fishing
action in pristine surroundings for yourself.
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