It’s almost mid May in 2020. It was 32 degrees in Buzzards Bay last night. Include the wind chill factor and it felt more like 24 degrees. I woke up at 3 am, confirmed the temps on a few weather apps, decided it wasn’t worth it and promptly fell back asleep. I know this seems like quitter talk, I wussed out. What kind of New England surf fisherman let’s a bit of foul weather stop him? Well, this one.
Sure, I felt like a bit of a quitter; some of my favorite surf fishing stories involve facing brutal elements thrown by Mother Nature. But it is still technically early may, and despite an early start to the striper migration, the fishing has actually been fairly slow, at least for me. Add to the equation the theory that the fish would lay down due to the extreme cold front and it all adds up to a Sunday morning spent sleeping in.
After leisurely waking up around 7am, which might as well be noon for fishermen, I spent the day searching google maps for new spots, studying tide charts and going through my gear. Like all fisherman these days, especially us shore bound and kayak fisherman, we are really feeling the clampdown from the extreme COVID-19 regulations. Having beach and ramp parking lots closed off is really cramping the fishing options. What might be an even worse effect of these closures, compounded by the amount of people out of work, is that locations I usually have to myself often are crowded to the point that I don’t even bother throwing a line in. I’m no hermit, I don’t mind sharing my locations with other fishermen. I’ll fish the canal even when I have to squeeze my way in. Many of the spring schoolie hot spots barely support 5-6 guys though. When you show up and there are 10, 15, sometimes even 20 people there it’s hard to fish peacefully, never mind maintain any sort of social distancing.
What really kills me is that normally I would just switch to my kayak. the last couple years I have made more of a concerted effort to spend more time in my plastic boat. The last 3-4 weeks however have been comprised mostly of windy, cold, rainy days. Warmer days are accompanied by 15-25mph winds and the calm days seen like they barely hit 50 degrees. I don’t mind the cold, but I don’t have a dry suit and while I will occasionally wear my waders in my boat, I’m not sure it’a the safest idea and it certainly isn’t comfortable.
Long story short: COVID sucks and my spring fishing season has been frustrating.
Now that I have gotten all that complaining out of my system, let’s concentrate on the good things.
1. I picked up a new canal rod back in March. I took advantage of the annual spring sale at Redtop Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay and got myself a Lamiglas Carbon Surf 3-8oz canal special. I’ve only had it out a couple times but so far I love it.
2. My trusty Penn 706Z has made its way back from Beavertail Rod and Reel. Dave Morton modified the reel to accept a modern 1-way clutch bearing. This gives the reel infinite anti-reverse, with or without the clicker.
3. I just upgraded my canal bike with the standard Wald grocery baskets. For years I’ve attached my rod holders to my old Blackburn rear rack and used a modified cat litter bucket to hold my gear. The wire basket is a huge improvement, despite added quite a bit of weight to the bike.
4. Despite a frustrating spring so far, I did pick up my first, fresh, migratory fish before May. It has been slow since, but damn that felt good.
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Hook & Spoke 