Headlines
Video captures hundreds of seals on a Cape Cod beach
04-13-2016
Whatever the number (no, not 18 trillion), the seals stretch out in a long line just beyond the reach of the waves crashing on the shores of Monomoy Island, the eight-mile long spit of sand that stretches down from Chatham off Cape Cod.
“Miles and miles of continuous blubber,” Knight wrote alongside the video he took and posted to Facebook on Sunday. It’s since been viewed over 200,000 times.
He told The Boston Globe he’s never seen so many seals in the area.
“They used to be in harems and small chunks dotted down the beach, but this year … it’s just astonishing,” he said. “It’s an infinite forever stretch of seals.”
On Forage Fish… Managing the Unmanaged
01-15-2015
Are large-scale fisheries for sandeels, silversides, bay anchovies etc. coming to a coast near you?
Really, if you fish, at all, this is important… for a very basic reason — If there’s no bait, there’s no fishing. If you spend more than a few days on the water every year, you know this to be the case.
Before I get to all this, you may have noticed I haven’t written a blog in a while. And yes, we had a recent win on striped bass (Charlie covers that pretty well here: ASMFC ALMOST GETS IT RIGHT WITH STRIPED BASS). The lull is for reasons too complicated to get into here, but we hope to be back up and running full steam by early 2015.
Getting back on point, here’s the short version on where we’re at with “the bait” or what the pointy-heads call “forage”.
Yes, some bait species are currently managed by the Federal Councils or the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Most, however, are not. Absolutely, there have been and are issues with the way managed forage species like menhaden, river herring, shad, sea herring, mackerel, squid, butterfish etc, are managed, but they are indeed managed. I want to be very clear here that other forage species such as sand eels, bay anchovies, silversides, halfbeaks etc., are not. And that’s kinda scary.
To Our Longtime Customers And Friends
12-17-2014
It is with a heavy heart that we wish to inform all of you that First Light Anglers will be closing on or about the first of the year. Derek and I want to thank everyone who has supported us through these eighteen years, and allowed us the great pleasure of following a dream we both had since childhood. We have made many friends, and had more than our share of good times behind the counter, and will miss our daily interactions with all of you very much. We will be guiding this season independently but our retail operation has come to an end.
To that end, we would appreciate your support once again. Beginning tomorrow Dec 13th everything in the store will be priced at wholesale cost. Flies will be five dollars a dozen for freshwater and ten dollars a dozen for salt. We have a ton of used tackle for dirt cheap prices from four weight fly rods to 130 reels. Everything must go from artwork to fixtures, so please come by and help us clear the shelves. If you are unable to come during regular hours please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.
We will have free beverages till 9pm on Wednesday Dec 17th for anyone interested.
Thank you all for such a wonderful run! Nat and Derek
Northeast Menhaden Run Sparks Striper Action
11-03-2014
It was one of fall’s first cold days. The wind cranked out of the northeast, pushing up whitecaps on the bay. I was beginning to think taking the skiff out had been a bad idea when I saw a cloud of birds working right up against the sod bank.
I killed the engine upwind from the bird activity and drifted down into it. Soon, big stripers boiled all around us, and silver-dollar-size baitfish sprang out of the water, attempting to evade the large vacuum-cleaner mouths. Suddenly, two poppers whipped past my head without warning. One barely hit the surface before it disappeared into a hole in the water. A 20-pound fish leapt out to grab the other.
A good seven or eight years had passed since I had last seen such a thing. The fishing in the back bays had been practically dead more autumns than I cared to recall. Bass were around, but they were on sand eels, which rarely venture into the bays in fall. Gone were the days of saving fuel, fishing five minutes from my marina. Or were they? The scene I just witnessed sure seemed like the good old days.
Baitfish-Driven Fishery
The truth is, in much of the Northeast, a great fall bay fishery depends on the schools of juvenile menhaden we call peanut bunker. These baitfish actually let us know if we are going to have a good fall run or not. When we start seeing the tiny ones swarming at the marina or in the shallow-water creeks and mud flats around late July or early August, it’s good cause for optimism.
By late August or early September, the menhaden reach a couple of inches in length, and snapper blues feast on them. Then the masses of surviving baitfish start migrating out of those shallow spots, moving into the channels and bays. Come October, they have grown to 4 or 5 inches; when the water cools down, the striped bass get fired up and seem to instinctively know where to find the peanut bunker: inside the bays.
As the bait moves, the stripers lose their minds and embark on one feeding frenzy after another. The fishing, of course, is nothing short of spectacular, but perhaps the best part is that all this generally takes place in protected water. That means many more fishable days than if the fish stayed out in the open, for the weather in October and November is nasty more often than not.
Fall Striper Fishing Turns On!!
09-16-2014
Well, the reports for striper fishing over the last week have really started to improve!! On the north side I have been getting very consistent reports of good surface feeds in Plum Island sound down to around Pavillion Beach and Little Neck. A bunch of guys have also been in to report that the evenings have been fishing well along the front side of Crane’s beach and up towards Steep Hill with some nice mid-30″ fish in the mix. If you feel like making the walk the Castle Neck has also had decent action but mostly smaller fish. Over on the south side the peanut bunker have arrived in good numbers and the fishing at times has been outstanding. Magnolia harbor down towards Black and White beaches have had some down right epic feeds much like years ago. The last couple of mornings have had great action in these areas. In the evening down off of Manchester and West Beach there has also been some pretty solid feeds on peanut bunker. The bait is pretty small, around 2″, but thankfully the fish do seem to be eating slightly bigger soft plastics and poppers. With the small bait the fly rod fishing has been excellent. I did also hear of some feeds up around the mouth and into Manchester harbor. Anyways, hopefully it continues for a couple more weeks but if you can find some time it’s about as good as I have seen it in quite some time. Good luck, Derek
Of Striped Bass, the EEZ and the Same Old (Expletive)
02-05-2014
Opening up the EEZ to striped bass fishing would be stupid, but such stupidity is endemic
This article in the Virginia Pilot: Where’s the catch? Anglers rocked by lack of fish made the rounds last week on the usual social media sites. Maybe I’m just getting too sensitive to this stuff, but I found most of the piece irritating (yes, I realize I get irritated about everything). The long and short of it is that the winter striped bass fishery off of Virginia has been pretty much non-existent this season and it wasn’t much different last year. The demise of this fishery has likely taken place for a few different reasons which I’ll get to. But I couldn’t help but take note of the larger picture here.
If you are at all familiar with that fishery, these are fish that winter over off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina. And really, not all that many folks targeted them until around a decade ago. As with most “new” fisheries, it started out with a handful of hard-core anglers willing to brave the elements. Once word got out, a lot of boats got into it. Fleets, composed of charter operations and plain old anglers would set up shop in Virginia, go out and prosecute a successful striped bass fishery composed almost exclusively of old large females (for some reason or another, the smaller fish tend to winter over in tributaries and bays) during a time of the year that was usually dormant.
Thus, over the last decade a lot of big fish were taken by anglers in the winter off of VA. How many? Well, no one really knows for sure as the recreational fishing survey (MRFSS and now MRIP) didn’t sample from Jan to Feb (Wave 1) and if I’m understanding things correctly there is no estimate of winter fishing mortality for management use. Yet, having seen the reports and photos, I’d have to say that such mortality, particularly with regard to large fish, was significant. And here’s the thing… Yes, I’m gonna say it… a lot of that fishery existed well beyond the 3 mile state limit.
Twenty-four years ago, NMFS closed down Federal waters (outside 3 miles – the “Exclusive Economic Zone” EEZ) to striped bass fishing as part of a serious effort to protect strong year classes entering the population and to promote rebuilding of a then badly overfished population. Today, it exists as a badly need buffer for an adult striped bass population where they are temporarily protected from the overwhelming pressure of an extensive catch and kill fishery.
Fly Casting Classes April 19th with Bill and Sheila Hassan
01-25-2014
April 19th Fly Casting Classes with Bill and Sheila Hassan
Bill and Sheila will once again return and do their very popular casting classes. Cost: $75.00 Please call the shop or email to sign up. (978)948-7004 or info@firstlightanglers.com
Introduction to Fly-Casting
This outdoor class will focus on developing the fundamentals of good fly-casting, the most important skill for successful fly-fishing. It will cover the assembly, use and maintenance of the equipment, the roll cast, the basic cast, false casting, and shooting line. All fly-casting equipment is provided. Students should bring hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, rain jacket and appropriate footwear for being around water.
Distance Fly-Casting
This class is geared to the saltwater fly-fisherman, looking to increase the distance of their average cast. Distance seminars will cover the essential elements of distance casting: proper loading and unloading of the fly rod, forming tight loops, lengthening the casting stroke with drift and the double haul. Students should bring their own gear, 7-10 wt rod with a matching weight forward floating line is ideal (no sinking lines please).
All classes meet at the shop 3o minutes before class time!
Top quality equipment is provided for all classes, or feel free to use your own!
April 19 (Saturday) 9:30am – 12:30pm – Introduction to Fly Casting
– First Light Anglers. Contact Nat or Derek at the shop for details and to reserve your spot.
April 19 (Saturday) 2pm-5:00pm – Distance Fly-Casting
– First Light Anglers. Contact Nat or Derek at the shop for details and to reserve your spot.
State and World Record Brook Trout List
01-05-2014
Brook Trout Records:
This species just like so many others had had close calls when it comes down to verified records. The brook trout current official Manitoba Record Brook Trout. Weighed close to 16# world record stands at 14# 8 oz (6.577089 kg) However larger fish have been caught! In 2006 during a fishing tournament in Manitoba, a huge specimen was landed weighing close to 16 lbs based on the accepted formula for calculating weight by measurements. That fish weighing approximately 15.98# stands as the Manitoba record brookie (see below). In order for a fish to be determined as the world record it needs to be kept and weighed on IGFA certified scales. The fisherman who landed the fish was kind enough to practice catch and release, showing why Manitoba is a stellar destination for great fishing.
E15: A Good Law, For Yesterday
01-04-2014
By Nicole Palya Wood
Published: October/November 2013
Congress pops the hood on America’s fuel policy and finds there’s work to be done
Gas consumption has been on a slight decline since 2007.
A turkey farmer, an environmental activist, and a boater walk into a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. That may sound like a joke in the making, but it actually describes a few of the diverse witnesses who marched up to a hearing on a hot, muggy June 5 to tell Congress that a once well-intentioned national fuel policy has outlived its usefulness. Add to this unlikely group a motorcyclist, a gasoline refiner, and a classic-car collector, and you start to put a new face on the nation’s renewable fuel debate.
Back in 2005, Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as part of a sweeping energy package designed to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil by blending more homegrown renewable fuel in our gasoline. The RFS is the formula that mandates the annual volume of renewable fuels refiners must blend into the nation’s fuel supply, most significantly into gasoline. Ethanol, a corn-based fuel, grew to have the lion’s share of the renewable market and currently 90 percent of the nation’s gasoline contains 10 percent ethanol. Although the transition to this fuel was rocky for boaters, motorcyclists, snowmobilers, and other small-engine owners, most of the public adapted. But today the country is using less gasoline, and there’s a different transition approaching, one that may prove too much for our shrinking fuel supply to bear.
“It’s ironic to think that fuel efficiency is part of the problem,” said BoatUS President Margaret Podlich. “But the combination of more stringent fuel-efficiency standards, a recession, and the growing American concern about fuel usage has decreased the amount of fuel we use. That’s a good thing. But with the country as a whole becoming more fuel efficient, it means there’s less gasoline to mix with increasing volume requirements of renewable fuel.” According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline consumption peaked in 2007, and has been on a slight decline ever since. “When you no longer can add more ethanol to gas at a safe level for the public, you run right into the ‘blend wall,’” added Podlich. Boaters may think that the RFS and so-called blend wall don’t really affect their favorite pastime, but an odd set of factors are aligning to create a hurdle in America’s fuel policy that could hit boaters square in the wallets.
New Batch of FLA Stickers!!
06-06-2013
Just got a new batch of FLA stickers in!! Added the red, white, and blue for kicks, matching t-shirts in a couple of days!! Buy Here
© 2015 First Light Anglers | 21 Main Street, Rowley, MA 01969 | (978) 948-7004 | info@firstlightanglers.com
Site designed and developed by Skinny Water Designs