Hot Striped Bass Fly Fishing Action Around Chatham Massachusetts

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.