linesiders

Well I'm pleased to say that my striped friends have returned in force from their annual migration. Thursday night I came back from a work conference in Fort Lauderdale with fish on the brain. My flight was delayed and on unfortunately I didn't get into Logan until 2AM Friday morning. I quickly considered my opitions for the weekend ahead-

1. Go home, crash for a few hours, then go to work
2. Take Friday off, go home and crash for a couple of hours, then drive to the cape
3. Take Friday off, sack up and drive straight to cape cod and get in on that first light bass bite.

Decision made.

I rolled across the Bourne Bridge at around 330 and was rigging up my fly rod before 4. With overcast skies, there would be no light until close to 5AM. I checked out the boat and listed to the constant slapping of striped bass eating spearing in the shallows of the seapit river. To say that I was fired up would be an understatement.

At 5AM I was on the boat throwing 300 grain and green deciever towards the shoreline. Strangely the fish that were loudly feeding just an hour earlier were absent at first light. I pushed the edgewater out of the river in the dense fog and into the mooring field at the end of waquoit bay. It was slick calm and exceptionally quiet. I guess no one else decided to take the day off to look for early season bass. I was completely alone in the pea soup fog. As I pushed the boat in tight to the shoreline I saw a swirl. There you are Mr. Bass. Two false cast and let it fly. Perfect. Strip strip strip. Nothing. That's strange. Let's try it again. Strip strip strip... BAM! FISH ON!!!!

There nothing quite like hooking the first fish of the season. After a brief battle I had the twenty four inch bass in my hand. A quick kiss for the first fish of the year and I plopped her back in the water. Over a dozen bass would eat the green deciever with white zonker strip tail, a couple would decide to fight me from the reel, one would take a good 20 yards of drag, doing her best steele impression. This fish would tape out as legal, but the 29 incher would be returned to fight another day.

The ocean is alive again. Poseidon giveth.

Next fish, Bluefin Tuna.