The West Wind Blows, The School Bass Blitz

There's a wind blowing lately, almost ceaselessly and always from the wrong direction. It isn't uncommon for it to get very windy in New England in the fall, especially when the temperature change makes a sudden a precipitous drop. Bu that makes it no less frustrating when it interferes with fishing the fall run. Over the last couple weeks this west wind has prevented me from getting on last shot at a false albacore. It has made fishing from smaller vessels all but impossible. It has made getting out and looking for that big bass that I desperately want to get before the end very, very difficult. 

But if you want to catch striped bass on the fly with any sort of regularity, it's put up or shut up. I wanted to show fellow fish head Brandon some good action last Saturday and I knew, wind or no wind, I could find him some fish. So we found ourselves on a wind swept, wave pounded beach just after dawn with thousands of striped bass boiling and jumping right in the suds at our feet and a hundred herring gulls struggling to get in on the action without drowning in the breaking surf. The wind held the bait tight to the beach lip and the marauding schoolies wouldn't let them push around the tip of the jetty to our west. They had the bait pinned in there for nearly an hour. It was an awesome morning, and honestly my photos and words can't come anywhere near capturing it all. 

After that chaotic and spectacular morning blitz we slogged through the rest of the morning and afternoon looking for false albacore with nothing to show for it, fish wise. Brandon got to join the West Wall club, and Phil took us on a little South County tour. But eventually we had to make a move, and I made the call to got to one last spot. We found fish there. I broke of a cow, landed a few nice sized bass, and Brandon closed the day out with a moonlight bass. The wind was not so oppressive there, but it didn't feel as satisfying. Yes, I did come tight to the few best fish of the day, but there's something about standing knee deep, watching a foamy white wall of water push towards you with bait dripping out of it and bass leaping through it at every angle. I hate the wind and love the wind at the same time.

This Saturday the wind is going to blow again, but from the opposite direction. It might just be the biggest day of the season.