MSJ #4 - Monomoy Saltwater Journal

In this Episode Kevin and Eddy get into the topic of 'Summer Doldrums' and touch on some of the impressions of fishing on Cape Cod right now.  Towards the end of the podcast we give a mid season 'grade' on fishing for various species.

The primary topic of this MSJ is the developing Bonito fishery over the last couple years on Cape, focusing on the South Side.  We get into some tactics, including Monomoy Tackle product recommendations.  We discuss some theories on why these fish are more prevalent now than in years past.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Monomoy Saltwater Journal. Tackle, tactics, and so much more.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Now we're getting into fish behavior, fish psychology.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

The MSJ podcast exclusively on MonomoyTackle.com. And I'm sorry if I sound like an old man screaming at the stunt. It's time to welcome the hosts, Kevin Collins and Eddie Kuyumjian.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Well, hello and welcome in to another edition of the Monomoi Saltwater Journal with Eddie Kuyumjian, and yours truly, Kevin Collins and Eddie. Episode four already, man. It seems like we just started this yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

I mean, like the summer, things are moving quickly, Kevin. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

I'm doing great. And like you just mentioned, all of a sudden July is pretty much over. We're taping here in the last few days of July. We just had a full moon, our last one in the month of July, just this week. A lot going on on Cape Cod, including some stormy weather this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yeah, it's it's definitely coming through. And um, you know, our our last podcast we did with Bill Mitchell, didn't Bill tell us that when when he goes on vacation down the Cape, that he brings the bad weather with him? So I actually ran into Bill um a couple days ago, and we we we were joking that that these storms are kind of following him in. So maybe the trick is to take Bill Mitchell off the Cape and then the weather will improve. Bill, I'm just joking. I know you're listening. I'm joking, Bill. We love having you here on the Cape.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

And we loved having him on the MSJ as a guest. He was absolutely tremendous just an episode ago. Um looking at our show today, Ed, the first topic that we want to dive into is this is the traditional kind of dog days of summer, late July, early August. Some areas kind of tend to slow down as the water temperature really fluctuates and increases, and other areas come to life, or perhaps old steady. I know Monomoy over the last couple weeks has come to life for you. Are there any other areas that you can think of that are kind of like this from your experience?

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Well, I it's a little bit of an unusual year. I I what I'm hearing is that Cape Cod Bay is still fishing really, really well. I I was able to catch up with uh my friend Josh, who, as I mentioned on a couple past episodes, like he lives right on Cape Cod Bay in Barnstable, and he's been able to get out fishing, and he's shown me some videos and some photos of some monster bass that he's caught in various parts of Cape Cod Bay. Um he said he has to look for them, he's got to hunt hunt around for them, but he's he basically said, like, you know, once you find them, they're they're there, they're willing, they're hungry, and and they're big fish. So Cape Cod Bay has continued to fish really well. Um Monomoy, yeah, Monomoy has has seen pockets of of intense activity as as we talked about uh over the last week. I I will say for the striped bass fishery specifically, it's been hit or miss. Like, and right now, in the last three, four days, it's been more miss than hit, unfortunately. Just what when I scan the forums and when I ask some other folks who fish monomoy regularly, um, they've had to really hunt for the striped bass, maybe fishing with live bait more than they than they would choose to. Um topwater and artificials have not worked as well. Um, so you know, Monomoy is uh definitely in the dog days.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

You know, even the most bulletproof plan, Ed, for you to go out fishing, you know, where you get lights out reports and everything, this time of year, nothing's a guarantee.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Totally. I so I'm I'm planning to get out on a short trip tomorrow with uh with my son and and and a friend of his. And and I I fully expect to have to go find mackerel and and live line a Mac, which I honestly hand hand raised, I haven't done in a couple years. So we're gonna do do something, not not be a creature of habit, and and do something that others have kind of indicated is is a bit better way to try to get one right now. So yeah, you have to be flexible, you have to be agile, you have to um as as I as I think you and I have talked about in the past, you can't always catch the fish in the way that you want to, or the way that you anticipate. You know, you you may have to try a technique that that frankly fits the fishery right now.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Now, we just mentioned off the top of the program we had a full moon. Uh it just came up, I believe it was um on Wednesday night of this week. I know one of the things you and I have surmised at times and really kind of got into here on the MSJ is the full moon versus the new moon and how those different tidal conditions affect the fishing here on Cape Cod. You and I have had some hypothesis about why the full moon tides might not be quite as productive. Perhaps it has to do with all that light from the moon. Um, there's a lot of different theories on it, but we did have a full moon this week, and it's kind of interesting that we're talking about the dog days and maybe things not being red hot this week because it does match up with that full moon.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

I definitely thought about that uh over the last couple days when I was reading and kind of looking at notes about the fishery this week and thinking that, yeah, you know, we have we have talked about this whole full moon, new moon thing, and and definitely the fishing has has not been red hot around this full moon. Um, doesn't mean it won't pick up after the storm. I mean that that's the other thing that this full moon coincides with is this kind of um inclement weather coming through and and and at times after after some rough weather the fishing does pick up. So we'll we'll see. I mean, I'll I'll have a better sense of it tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Also, in terms of you know what we're talking about going on in current events on Cape Cod, we're gonna talk about Benito mostly in this podcast. That'll be the the body of work that we're still gonna put forth here. But another item that I wanted to get to before we dive into Benito full-fledged here is sea bass really quick, because that is a species that I'm hearing kind of making a little bit of a comeback in the middle of the summer, and that is really rare and atypical. But just had some more reports, Ed, come in fresh to me today before we taped a really good keeper sea bass action.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Are you referencing the the report from Andrew Chen about the omens? Yeah, yeah. I I read that as well, and and um, you know, Andrew and his father are are are great friends of the shop and and really good people. Um I read that report, it's very, very interesting. And I have to say, like, I have directed some people on the MFCC forum to some spots who said, Hey, I'm going out to Monimoy if if the stripers aren't there, or is there other stuff to do? I've I've directed them to some spots pretty close to the point. There's been some sea bass around, and they've reported back to me that they've done well. So definitely the sea bass are around. And and I would say um, if you are heading out during these dog days, that as a plan B or if you want as a plan A, going to these deep water drop-offs, going to these structure changes, 50, 60, 70 feet of water, those types of areas, it's definitely worth dropping a jig down and participating in in what is some really, really good action on the sea bass.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

So that's another good opportunity for people to engage with if some you know of the action that you're traditionally looking for in terms of striped bass, let's say, might be a little bit quiet. One other item that I just wanted to get to to clean up before we dive into our Benito discussion. We haven't had a chance, Ed, to weigh in on the World Cup final that occurred uh just uh basically like a week and a half ago. Um it was a doozy of a game. Um Spain ends up victorious, wins the World Cup over Lionel Messi. I know I was kind of pulling a little bit for Messi because it just felt like the script was written for him. But no matter what I feel about that, it was a great game and a great overall tournament.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Yeah, I have to say the better team won. Spain was dominant. There's some crazy statistic that I read, something to the effect of in the eight games that they played, they only allowed 10 shots. Something like that. It's some it's some crazy stat like that, where their defense and their ball possession was amazing. And I'll just I I was pulling for Argentina too, but in the end, watching the game and kind of looking at the whole body of work, uh, Spain was unbelievable. And I think they deserved to win, and and uh, you know, it's a great victory for them.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

The World Cup is in the rear view. We're back to you know the summer traditional, I'll say sport of baseball here in the good old USA. And and and I will give a quick shout-out. The Red Sox have saved the summer from that respect because it looked like it was gonna be just an utter embarrassment. Now all of a sudden, we've got a little bit of excitement around the old ball club in Fenway Park. So that's something that we never talked about, Ed, but I wanted to work that in in our sports minute. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 9:31

There was nothing to talk about because it wasn't worth talking about. They were they were playing awful, and then suddenly they've pulled their season out of the ashes as the hottest team in the league in the month of July. And uh, you know, it's pretty interesting. I mean, uh Crochet's on IR, they've got some players on IR. Imagine if they get some of these guys back, you know, and uh I mean, it's actually very cool, I think, to have the Red Sox be relevant, let's say, late into the summer and into the fall. The the the year is always more interesting when they're relevant. So hopefully, hopefully it continues.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

All right, so let's dive into we'll say our featured topic in in the podcast today, and it's Benito. It's something that you have some firsthand intel on. So I want to start with that. Um, you have successfully probed for Benito, Ed. You have spotted Benito, targeted them, and landed them all since the last time we've spoken. And I want to just give you a moment to kind of catch us up on that.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Yeah, it's it's um during the fluke versus cancer trip uh last Friday, when we were heading out to the fluke grounds, we saw, or I saw these birds kind of moving in a in a different type of behavior than they normally do with the stripers and bluefish around, and the telltale signs of them moving erratically, move flying in small groups quickly and diving, and seeing the a little bit of a different splash, more of a slash in the water, kind of tipped me off that we were we were in that in that time. And that Friday I didn't manage to hook one, but when I went back the following morning in the same spot, they were they were around. And as you said, I I did I did hook a couple and I did harvest one for the for the lunch table. Very exciting that they're back, you know, and and um I I don't know yet whether they're here, whether the episode last week was just kind of a of an appetizer of it or whether they're here permanently for what is their season. Um, but again, I I when I go out tomorrow, I I I will obviously take a peek for them uh and see. But it's um, you know, a very a very beautiful species of fish and a great great activity to chase them.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

So with those trips that you successfully went out and landed these guys, I want to talk a little bit about how you fish for them. I know there's a couple different ways that you've successfully targeted these fish. I know in one of the trips you and I spoke about the fleet was pretty thick out there around Monomoy, and it was a little tough to potentially troll, but just wanted to kind of get into a little bit of the weeds of how Eddie Kuyumjian of Monomoy Tackle has successfully become a good Benito fisherman over the last several years.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

It used to be, I I don't want to date myself in terms of my age, but in the old days of Benito fishing, you used to have to go out to the Hooter forum. Remember that? Like there used to be kind of um rumors or Bruno and I used to contact some of our colleagues who would fish the Hooter and say, Did you see him yet? Did you see him yet? And you'd have to make the trip out to the Hooter and troll. There, out at the Hooter, trolling was the is the primary way to kind of get them. There's some underwater structure, some contours there. And when you arrive there, you could see the boats kind of lining up and and going in this kind of horseshoe pattern or in this uh circuit around around the area of the Hooter, and they're high-speed trolling for Benito. That's how I got into the Benito fishing here in the US. Basically doing that. And I say the US because for a long time my family in Turkey would catch Benito during the the short season that they had over there in Turkey. But here in the States, like when I first started getting into targeting Benito, that was it. We'd go out to the Hooter, we'd troll around, high speed with X-raps and deep divers, smaller deep divers that you could troll at five five knots, six knots, seven knots, and uh try to get them. Now, interestingly enough, we don't have to go to the hooter anymore. Those those fish are coming way closer to us than and I mean this is not new, like it's been going on for a few years now that these fish have come in big numbers really close to shore. Now, given the crowds that kind of frequent these areas, you really can't troll for them. Or if you troll for them, you're you're doing it on a on a weekday or on a day when there's not as many people around. So you're you're you're doing a bit more run and gun or or a bit more stationary fishing where you kind of find an area where you think they are where they may come back to. You stop your boat, cut your engine, and you're you're kind of laying in wait the fish and the birds to come back to you. Um and then in that case, like you're not trolling, but you're you're you're casting. You're either casting a jig, a small jig, or you're casting a plug to them and uh trying to get them, trying to anticipate where they're gonna be and trying to get them that way.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Along this gentle conversation line here, I want to bring in the Monomoy tackle element of it because I know there's so many things, Ed, that you have really had in the the forefront of your brain over the years and that have gone into some of your design patterns for some of this gear that you can use from Monomoy Tackle to target these amazing fish. And I think it's a great point to bring into the the conversation how you were able to kind of match the hatch with some of your product with some of the the bait that these guys burped up on you this past weekend.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yeah, yeah, no, that's a good point. And and it's these fish along with the Albies, you have to be so detailed in what you do. And and it's something that I when I think about it and try to execute it, if I go out and have a bad day, bonito and albi fishing, the first thing I go to is did I get the details right? Did I get did I match the hatch? Did I match the size of the bait? Did I get the right colors? Did I do my knots right? Was the the retrieve speed, the leader, just everything. You start to question every little thing that you bring with you out there. And when you do get it right and you do have success, it feels really, really good. And and in the case of of this of last week, the bait was much bigger than I anticipated. Um normally this time of year, it's this really small bait, this like like less than an inch sometimes, and a bait that when you hold in your hand, if you grab it with the with the tips of your fingers and hold it up to the sun, you can see through it. It's it's it's at that at that level. That that's what I'm normally accustomed to. And and and this bait was much bigger. These these herring that the Benito were feeding on were like four inches, and it matched the size of one of these plugs that I uh that that I have, the talon, it matched and and the dart. There's there's two different versions. There's a lipped version and a lipless version. The dart and the talon are that four-inch bait that frankly normally they become very effective in like late September and October, but last week they were effective in July because of the size of the bait. So that those are two products that that the shop that I've worked on in terms of design and and kind of technical uh work. The other, the other are the sort of traditional resin-coated or epoxy-coated jig, you can get in a smaller size, like two and a half or three inches, and it's weighted, so you can cast it like a bullet, and you can work it at various speeds. You can work it skipping across the top, or you can work it more subsurface. Those jigs are more, I'll say, universal, like you can use them basically throughout the entire funny fish season. And I've spent a ton of time looking at those profiles and and sampling and and color samples and things like that. So um the peanut shape, the slim profile shape, those are those are super effective. Soft plastics, just straight metals, um, whether they're small bait-shaped metals or longer, slender metals like sand deals, like those are those are popular. There is, I would say the funny fish, in terms of the the product offer at Monway Tackle, might by percentage occupy the largest part, is this sort of funny fish category, because there's so many different baits this time of year that they may that they may be on. If you don't match it on any particular situation, you may strike out.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

And when you talk about, you know, those fish, what they burped up on the deck of your beautiful boat, as you're looking at your lure, kind of matching directly what these fish were eating. I know I've got a great picture of it, and we can maybe include it in the the post for this podcast as well, but what a great kind of affirmation of product design from Monomoy Tackle. I mean, I I know I'm not I'm I'm not letting you toot your horn too much, but uh when you sent me that photo, I had a huge grin on my face, and it's just kind of you know, no wonder that the product is so deadly to these fish.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Yeah, it's like proof of concept, right? Like when you look at the talent in size and in shape against some of those herring, I also, you know, just stepping away from Monboy Tackle for a second, like there's so many people that fish Albi snacks and those herring and that size bait like is very, very close in size and shape to an Albi snack. So it's um it is it is super cool to to to take this match the hatch concept to different places, whether it's with herring, sand eels, peanut bunker, um, you know, even pogies or or much larger baits. It is it is very, very cool. And yeah, it does it does feel good when you you make a guess, you try a lure before seeing what bait they're actually on, casting out, hooking up, and come you know, coming back to the boat and and having that that sort of confirmation that, oh yeah, that is what they're eating. So that that Bruno color, which for years Bruno has used and caught fish, I've never had the occasion to see what the fish has had in its in its stomach. And it when I saw it spit up the herring and I pulled out the Bruno and put it next to it, I said, Man, like for years I've been wondering how close a match the Bruno is to a herring, or how close a match the Bruno is to another bait fish in the water. And that there it is, like it it it kind of presented itself to me and and it was very cool.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Now, another thing I just want to touch on regarding the Benito fishery, uh, we talked a little bit about the different ways you can catch these fish. Do you have a preferred method? I know there's a lot of people that love kind of throwing um you know these baits into the rips and and maybe there's a lot of people. I know your cousin Bruno in particular that really like to give a more high-speed troll a try for them. In your opinion, Ed, um, from what you've seen of the fishery this year and the last couple years as it's really come to light, is there a preferred method for you that works better than another?

SPEAKER_02 21:40

If if I could high speed troll for them exclusively, I would. Because the strike, oh well, there's a couple things. For one, the the setup and those details that I talked about are super important. So when you're trolling for them, you're generally fishing two rods, maybe three, but generally two. Rods, it's light tackled. You get the plugs in the water and you set the speed. And that you're you're watching the rod tip vibrate with the speed, and hopefully it's tracking correctly. The the lure itself isn't fouled up or moving erratically. So the setup of the troll has its importance. And then once you get that going, um, I've even got little outriggers that go into my rod holders to widen the spread. So it's it's not obviously not like tuna trolling, but it has definitely some similarities. So I've got a pair of those, and from time to time I I like take them out and I use them. But trolling for them, the strike, when you get it right, and all of a sudden you notice that the birds are behind the boat where you're where your lures are tracking, and you see that strike and the fish takes off, it is super, super like it it's it's very intense and it really does get your blood moving to high speed troll for them. It's great. Now, unfortunately, when you go on weekends or during the summer, there's tons of people around. So high speed trolling uh you know isn't done very often anymore, at least for me. So the the second preferred version, I would say, is to get them on a surface strike. Like if if you have a small popper or a dart which doesn't track a subsurface, like it is just below the surface on the dart, and the Benito hits it, like you do see the slash and the hit and the explosion in the water of the fish hitting it. That that can be super exciting too.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

When we're talking about the excitement of Benito, don't you really feel like this particular species over the last couple of years has really taken Cape Cod and the islands by storm? It was it's kind of similar to the way that sea bass kind of felt, to me at least, maybe 15 years ago when they really started to kind of take over the scene.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Yeah, agreed. I mean, like back in the Buzzards Bay sea bass day, like I I've often termed that as that was appointment fishing. You know, you you sort of like at that time of year, you could set your watch to it, you'd go, you'd, you know, and and the sea bass were thick, in thick, they were there. The Benito fishing the last couple years has kind of been close to that, where it's been, I'll say, reliable that they're gonna be close to shore on the south side, that they're gonna be accessible by by boat and maybe even by shore, from shore, I should say. Um, so yeah, it does have those kind of similarities. Now, I just wonder, I mean, we all wonder how long will the cycle last.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Now, one other thing I want to mention here from your trip um that I think is interesting. You were able to successfully land a Benito. You harvested it for lunch uh for yourself and your family, and in the process of cleaning that fish, you realized the fish had eggs present, which I found really interesting, and it put a thought bubble in my brain, and I know you and I kind of corresponded about it. These sea bass that come up, especially in the early spring, they're super aggressive and they're hungry. And the scientists are telling us, you know, sea bass get like this when they spawn. Um the Benito feeds that you were lucky enough to be on uh over the past, like, let's say, week to ten days, you obviously are now seeing signs of fish that have eggs present that are potentially spawning. It's just an interesting parallel, and I think it's something to make note of for future years as this fishery becomes more stabilized on Cape and we start to learn more about it.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Yeah, agree, Kevin. And and kind of similar or along the lines of the story I told when we started this topic about you used to have to go to the Hooter, and the season at that time, the the Benito season, let's say 10 years ago, for you know, just to draw a line in the timing. Ten years ago, the season was maybe two weeks. Now they've stayed much longer. They've stayed for four or six weeks at a time the last couple years, thankfully. As they stayed longer and we have more chances to target them, you you do get to notice these tendencies or these trends. So as as as we discussed, the fish that I harvested on that trip last week when I filleted it, processed it, it did have eggs. And it it got me to thinking, and we talked about it offline, that is it possible that these fish are coming near shore to spawn? And if they are here to spawn, is this kind of July, early August behavior of them being super aggressive and chasing larger baits and you know popping up in numbers? Does it have something to do with spawning behavior, very similar to the sea bass? And I uh you know, you and I are very fond of saying that we're not scientists and we're we're we're hopefully not representing that we're talking science, but it's a very interesting coincidence. It it's possible that these fish are here to spawn near shore, and that they're exhibiting this aggressive behavior, more more aggressive than usual. And and honestly, like some of these early season fish that I've seen in the last week have been bigger in size. You know, they're not the juveniles. So, you know, an interesting idea, an interesting thought. And um, you know, I'd like to hear you know what what you think about that.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

I am truly inquisitive about this topic. Like you, I don't pretend to be a scientist, but I could certainly see these fish in a quest for you know a specific condition of water, whether that's temperature, uh nutrient composition, obviously there needs to be food involved for them. And as you discovered, Ed, from your trip with your kids, there's plenty of food in the water out there off Monomoy for these fish and bigger food than we're used to seeing the meat. So perhaps it's just a combination, a you know, a biological combination of all the things they need to feel, I'll say, safe and strong and in a specific area, right, to call that a spawning ground. Um I just think it's uh I think it's exciting on one hand, and on another hand, I'm a little bit cautiously optimistic about it because it lets me know the planet is changing in a in a big way. Um and that that can be worrisome because if these fish are truly trying to kind of come more north or more northeast and find maybe a little bit cooler, more nutrient-dense, rich water, uh, you know, that that action is probably going to consistently push northward um as we go, and eventually, you know, there'll be no more northward to push. And that's something that's been in the present uh front of my mind for the last, I'll say 10 years of my life.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Uh you know, the other interesting thing, there's always competition for this food, for this bait. And with the Benito around the south side of the cape the way they've been the last couple years, I also think it's interesting to speculate how has it impacted the behavior or the normal day-to-day of other fish that we've considered uh typical in these waters, like the striped bass and the bluefish. Does the presence of the Benito in numbers feeding on the same bait that they do does it impact the availability of bluefish at all? Question, not an answer. I don't I don't know. There there has been a scarcity of bluefish this year on the south side from typical years. Does does the presence of a larger population of bonito impact that? I don't know. Does it impact the striped bass at all? Again, I don't know. If we consider the bay fish to be a finite resource, a limited resource, and there's more of these speedy bonito running around, uh you know, does it does it make sense to say that, well, it's impacting the striped bass and the bluefish at all? You know, just fruit for thought.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

So the last thing I want to get to regarding uh today's show is along the lines of what we discussed at the start of the program, we're gonna bring it full circle. Um, you know, some areas of the Cape have picked up, some have slowed down. And with that, some species, right, um, are hot and heavy right now, and others are kind of in that dog day summer, you know, seasonal pattern mode. So there's some good and some bad, I think, to be found in a lot of different areas regarding a lot of different species. Um, but just taking stock of where we are as we're gonna flip the calendar to August this weekend, Ed, where do you think this season stacks up? Has it been kind of on par with what you were expected, or are you a little bit surprised?

SPEAKER_02 31:06

I'm gonna save the striped bass for last because I I think we're gonna revisit something that Bill Mitchell said a couple weeks ago, at least I am. I think the sea bass fishery has been kind of very similar to what it's been the last couple of years, where you have to hunt around for them, you have to seek, seek them out. When you find them, I think the fishing has been quite good. So if I if I want to grade the sea bass fishery against my experiences 10 years ago, I would say it's like a D. But for if I'm grading it against the curve of what it's been the last couple years, I would say it's been it's been average, you know, it's been like a B or a C. The fluke fishing has been quite good. I I will say, like, you know, there's some folks who tell me that the bigger ones are hard to find. And I and I understand that. I I get it. Everybody wants to become a member of the 10-pound club, my myself included. Um, but there's been a lot of fluke around. And and and if you've gone out fluke fishing and put put some time in and and and and put in a consistent effort, I think the fluke fishing's been rewarding this year. The tuna, I don't know. I I what I've heard about the tuna is that they've been hard to find, and giants have been easy to find, but the wreckfish have not. So what what about I but before I get to the striper, I I want to hear your grades.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Well, I think that in general, it's been an average year, I'd say, for Cape Cod. Um, I think it goes back to last year, and I kind of felt the same way um at the end of last year. I think there's been some real nice patches where it felt like things are really starting to come to life. But I know I'm waiting or have been waiting for that giant pogie party to happen in Cape Cod Bay where I live. There are finally signs of pogies around, but certainly not striped bass activity on those pogies to the degree that we had maybe back in 2023, for example. So I I've been largely kind of flatline in the middle. Um, and I feel like, you know, we're kind of where we should be, but I'm not certainly blown away uh by the fishery at really at any point regarding any species this season.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Yeah, I I I like how you said that about flatlining and kind of being in the middle. I I have been really I haven't caught a lot of striped bass this year, and as you know, I don't really harvest them because I don't I mean for me, there's lots of other fish that are better tablefare than a striper is. Um but I've thought about the fishery more this year than years past, primarily because my experience at Monomoy specifically is that there's less of them at Monomoy than in the last three years. And when you look at the biomass in Cape Cod Bay and how at times ridiculously hot the Cape Cod Bay strip bass bite has been, I think like you could I for me, I I start to formulate the thought that and and this is where I want to reference the Bill Mitchell conversation because he framed it in a really interesting way. He called it the shape of the biomass or the shape of the fishery. And I thought that was a really poignant way to put it, where he said, or well, maybe I'm putting words in his mouth, that there's more there's more larger fish in the butt in the biomass than there are smaller fish. And those larger fish appear to be of a limited stock, meaning that I don't think there's enough biomass to have red-hot fishing in multiple areas on the Cape at once. That that's a personal opinion. Uh so I think that whatever biomass there is, more of them have congregated in Cape Cod Bay this year for I'm sure very specific bait and condition reasons. Monomo's not been as hot in years past. Monemoy's been the epicenter of of of the fishery for a lot of people. So I I just I my season for the strike bass specifically has, at least for me, made clearer some opinions that I've had about the stock. I'm not sitting here saying that I think the biomass that the stock is on collapse, on the edge of collapse. I'm not I'm not saying that. I don't want to be an alarmist, but I I I do think that as Bill put it, there's a shape to the biomass and um a dominant uh size or a dominant class of fish today that hasn't existed maybe in years past that is really contributing, I think, to how the fishery is.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

I think that's really, really thoughtful and and well said, and I think that it's something to kind of keep an eye on too as as we continue to evolve and go year to year. I know one of the things that was popular narrative-wise as we wrap up today's discussion early in the season was where the small fish, it seemed like the schoolies, at least in the striped bass category, were conspicuously absent. But all of a sudden, I'm now starting to hear more reports of them late in the season, which is kind of wonky. You know, maybe we're front loaded with bigger breeder fish, and maybe the schoolies are just kind of coming in closer to shore later. Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Yeah, it's it is it is a changing fishery, and and some of the patterns that we observed 15, 20 years ago are changing and just not present today. And I think we'll just have to go a little bit further down the road to understand whether these are just blips in the timeline or whether these are actual trends.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

I think before we wrap up, it's a good point in the middle of the summer, too, to just give people an update on the MSJ Ed. We're gonna have a couple more podcasts coming up. We're gonna have one in two more weeks, kind of in the middle of August, and then we're gonna have one in late August as well. And we're also gonna continue a couple during the fall run. We'll have episodes seven and eight, uh, September and October. So if you like the show, which I I hope plenty of people do, we encourage you to give us, you know, a five-star rating or review on iTunes or wherever you happen to find us uh in the podcast section. And I'm I'm just thrilled to be with you and keep this thing rolling through the fall run, Ed.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Yeah, I think we're gonna get into some exciting times here with the with the funny fish season and and and the continuing uh you know flute fishery and all that. So yeah, really looking forward. I we're gonna line up some more guests. I know this week we we tried to have a guest, and in the end, like some some life events and family events uh prevented that from happening, but uh, you know, looking forward, looking forward to the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Not gonna tease too many names, but we put together a little bit of a guest list um, you know, between the two of us and the brain power that we have left. So I think we're gonna um you know, hopefully pleasantly surprise some folks with some really intriguing and informative guests as we go through the months, uh, August, September, and October. So much more to come here on the MSJ through the rest of the season, and we'll call it a wrap for today. Any closing thoughts, Ed?

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Uh no, I think that that's a pretty good summary. I've got uh, you know, as I said, I've got some fishing coming up uh tomorrow and maybe Saturday, and I'll I'll fill you in on how those trips go, and uh, you know, we'll just keep it rolling here.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Absolutely. For my co-host Eddie Kuyumjin, the founder and creator of Monomoy Tackle, I'm Kevin Collins, and we are signing off episode four of the Monomoy Saltwater Journal. Thanks for tuning in. Everybody, we'll talk to you in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

Take care, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 38:59

Thank you for listening to the Monomoy Saltwater Journal. Stay tuned to MonomoyTackle.com for the latest episodes of the MSJ podcast. Exclusively from Monomoy Tackle.