By Marco Pompano, Surf Fishing Guide
Writing from PEI. That stands for Prince Edward Island, an incredible place where I ended up fishing for cod, and I’ll tell you how that happened. However, I’m back home now in Wilbur By The Sea, where the fishing is very slow and the water is still very hot. 83°. So, with not much to say about fishing, this is what happened on our trip to Canada, where we were fishing and catching trout north of Montreal on some glacier lakes.
We decided to take a ride to Nova Scotia to eat some scallops and go fishing. Well, we ate a bunch of beautiful scallops in a town called Digby, and did some kayaking and trout fishing without much luck. Out of the blue, I got a message from friends of ours from Prince Edward Island. This family has fished with me, chartered, for the last bunch of years in Wilbur By The Sea, Florida. Well, the mom, Lori Birt, invited Sophie and me to come up and go cod fishing with her boys, Jacob and Ethan. And it was time to Bamba!
So, we went on a charter and took home a bag full of cod fillets. We happen to limit out on the boat. They showed us the whole island and great clams, mussels, and oysters that we ate every day. After a dinner together and a bunch of days fishing their beautiful beaches, and the best hospitality you could imagine, we left for Provincetown, Cape Cod, to look up my friend Brandon Cisowski. He owns a lobster boat and is a lobster fisherman. He invited me to go striped bass fishing off the back of his beautiful trawler. In between him pulling in lobster traps, it’s a dangerous business. So, we went out in Provincetown Bay around to Race Point and Hatches Harbor. This is the beautiful Sand Dune National Seashore. I put the line out about 70 to 80 yards, and we were trolling for a few hours. Absolutely nothing, then an explosion at the end of my line.
Ya, mon! A straight bounce hit real hard, started taking line, and I started reeling before too long. I got it near the boat, but I caught it on a lobster pot. With Brandon’s great knowledge, he unhooked it and flopped a striped bass, a big keeper, on the boat. I did my little dance. Ya, mon! We ended up with another one, and a bunch of lobsters, and headed into port. I think I found my happy place, ha ha! We froze the fillets, packed them up in the seal-a-meal, and drove them down back to Florida.
Getting back to Florida was great. Traveling is wonderful, but coming home is as good as it gets, especially to the beach and Wilbur By The Sea. The first week back has been difficult, not too many bites, lots of throwbacks, and only a few keeper black drum. Labor Day is late this year, and I’m out here today trying again under an overcast sky with a few drops of rain. Perfect.
I think I’m seeing a nice head hit on my Pompano Pat Rod, my old trusty favorite. It’s on zigzag. Could it be? Yes it is! Pompano! First of the season! Ya, mon!
So, I’m stating here that Pompano Season has officially begun. So, just start it up. I’m making mambo sauce to put on the fish now. I’m putting on the beat of reggae music, Ziggy Marley to be exact. As things heat up around my backyard, me and these fish are heading to the smoker.
