I just got back from Boston. The trip was alot of fun-meeting old friends, catching up, fishing with new and old rods, re-visiting old spots, trying new flies... I enjoyed the fishing, even though the weather was not cooperating at all, and the catching was poor. An old fisherman I met at one of the regular spots said to me: "You can't catch them when they are not here." He continued to talk about the spiraling down depletion of striper stocks on the East Coast. Perhaps there is a lot of truth in that, since I saw no bait, even in areas where you could scrounge a schoolie on the slowest of days some years ago. However, moments I spent fishing were precious to me, since they revoked memories of the past days when I fished the harbor with extreme intensity. I live half a country away right now, and fish much less often, especially for stripers.The Batson switch for #8 line is a fine rod, perhaps more suited for freshwater situations. I would say it is a bit on the slow side, comparing it to what I like for ocean fishing. Rio Outbound #8 is a good match for my taste with this rod, since I like to feel the loop. Outbound #9 would be a better compromise for both overhead and spey casting. For windy surf I opted for stronger single handed #9, which punches through the wind better. I do think that a dedicated surf double handed rod with fast action/quick recovery (Beulah rods come to mind) is the key for surf conditions. However, most switch rods are designed for steelhead fishing: passable but sometimes not the best option for coastal environment.
Even though the water felt deserted, I had some great bird watching moments: a flock of Manx Shearwaters off the Revere Beach, two Wilson's Storm petrels off the Point of Pines, and observing the colony of Least Terns on the Winthrop beach was a special treat.
3 comments:
Man... you see storm petrels and shearwaters from the beach?! The weather must be very bad... COOL STUFF. I saw petrels and shearwaters only when the hurricane strike...
Great report Vlad, I agree with you totally about the feel. It would be good to catch some fish, but sometimes the place I stand and the scene with me are more important than catching a fish.
Good points on the surf wind, without backbone of a rod, I feel it is so dangerous to do overhead cast in the gust wind. But for river situation, a heavy tip and heavy fly with skagit cast seems can handle the situation just fine. : )
Thanks for the suggestions, Mark.
The weather in Boston during the whole month of June has been just terrible. They had prolonged periods of strong east wind, and that made the possibility for pelagic bird sightings pretty good.
One problem with surf fishing and waterborne anchors is that you often don't have a steady current in one direction to help with the anchor, but water moves in unpredictable directions and 'boils' everywhere around you. Overhead casting is mostly the norm. I am only aware od CND, Beulah, and T&T making rods/blanks for surf conditions, purely for overhead work. Also, Composite Developments produces some fast actioned overhead dh blanks I heard good things about... I am thinking about trying a Beulah surf blank in the future. My rod is better for gentler conditions and it worked fine in protected estuary. Very comfortable rod to cast indeed.
Hey Vlad,
Totally agree with you! My early post just indicate overhead cast seems is the only (better) way to fish the surf with strong wind. In order to get the line out safely... I think the stiff blank is the must.
I have tried single spey in the waving situation... but the uneven surface always introduced unwanted slack into the cast... great to hear you like the rod! It is really beautiful! nicely done : )
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