I started planning this year’s trip to Cuttyhunk last October. The members of my crew backed out one by one because of life commitments. I formed a second crew, which also fell apart. I joined a crew who were fishing Cuttyhunk during the first week of June. Without warning, life happened and I could not physically get on and off the island between my new commitments. On my fourth attempt, I finally got onto Cuttyhunk the last week of June, thanks to John Paul from the Cuttyhunk Water Taxi and Lexi Lynch at Pete’s Place Rentals.
On my first night, I trekked for 40 minutes to “Death Rock” in my one piece wetsuit. I fished from pre to post sunset. Hight tide was right at sunset. The conditions were prime: white water, wind induced current, birds diving into the water and surfacing with bait in their beaks. Wicked fishy conditions! I looked to my right, not a soul in sight. I looked to my left, not a soul in sight. I looked into the horizon, no boat to be seen. I fan casted the entire area and fished the whole water column. No fish.
The next morning, I fished from pre to post sunrise from the “Three Amigos” rocks. I looked to my right, not a soul in sight. I looked to my left, not a soul in sight. I looked into the horizon, no boat to be seen. I fan casted the entire area and fished the whole water column. No fish.
On the second night, I fished “Liberty” rock from pre to post sunset while the rain fell with a force that dented my wetsuit. I looked to my right, not a soul in sight. I looked to my left…OMG..there was a human fishing! I looked into the horizon, no boat to be seen. I had a 120 degree arc of clear and moderately deep water that felt fishy. I fan casted the entire area and fished the whole water column. The lonely angler stopped behind me on his retreat and called out from shore in a foreign accent: “Any fish mate”? I replied: “No fish mate” and made another series of casts. I was committed to my my rock. After getting several hits on six of my plugs, but no fish, I called it a night and headed back to Pete’s Place Rentals for a much needed hot shower and sleep. Walking up “Heart Attack” hill convinced me to get an eBike!
The next morning, I got to “Heartbreak” rock by 4:04 AM. I found a stretch of clean water from 10 O’clock to 2 O’clock. I looked to my right, not a soul in sight. I looked to my left, not a soul in sight. I looked into the horizon, no boat to be seen; but I saw a 20 lb class fish jump completely out of the water! This Olympic jump was followed by a surfacing large black head, a seal! I fan casted the entire area with top water plugs. No fish. I decided to shift to sub-surface plugs and clipped on my Linsider69 yellow darter. I casted to my far left with the intention of hitting Martha’s Vineyard. Without warning, my rod bent over with force. Fish on!!
After several drag-pulling runs, I got the fish to the edge of my rock. With the adrenaline racing through my veins at speeding-ticket speeds, I reached down and grabbed the fish by it’s bottom lip with my left hand like a vice grip while my right arm held my rod up to keep tension on the line and not lose the fish. After the wave broke over me, I stood up and pulled the fish out of the water. I quickly secured the fish with my Fish Grip, which was clipped to my Ultimate Surf Belt and butt slid off the rock. I made my way back to shore while keeping the fish in the water. I took a quick length measurement and collected some scale samples for the SADCT program using my tweezers and stored them in a snack size ZipLock bag. While holding the fish by it’s tale, I pulled it back and forth in the water. When she was ready to go, she kicked her tail and I let me go to grow.
If you believe that darters only work in inlets at night, and you promise never to fish them in the surf or during the day, I will share with you the location of Heartbreak Rock. 🙂
