When do the seals leave Chatham??? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

BillM · 09-15-2008, 09:08 AM

I fished the lower cape this weekend for my first time. Caught my first shark from shore. I checked out Chatham and fell in love with it except for the seals.I thought they were cool at first but they follow you and ruin the fishing. Does anyone know when they migrate??

Swimmer · 09-15-2008, 09:11 AM

When the ocean turns into a burning cauldron, or they permit a seal hunt this February.

macojoe · 09-15-2008, 09:36 AM

NEVER!!!

I quit fishing there about 3 or 4 years ago, they have really ruined the fishery IMO!!

Hooper · 09-15-2008, 09:45 AM

Monomoy is a ghost of what it used to be because of the seals. Big squid run in June/July and then it's hit ot miss.

Swimmer · 09-15-2008, 10:18 AM

Hoop is that your boat for sale? Looks really nice.

OLD GOAT · 09-15-2008, 02:43 PM

The seals have left when you stop shooting

SAUERKRAUT · 09-15-2008, 08:35 PM

I lost three fish and three rigs to seals last night up in Truro. One hit was a seal went right out of the undertow and grabbed my grounded fish! And all this is at night. You cannot escape these bastards. They will find your fighting, struggling fish as surely as a fish can zero in on your hooked and compromised menhaden bait in a school of thousands.

And this idea of letting a seal chomp away on your fish and then reeling back your saved plug and an uneaten fish head doesn't work for me. I followed one of the bastards along the beach for 20 minutes waiting for this to happen. When it took a U-turn and headed out to sea, I patiently spooled out almost all my working line before I gave up and socked it to him. Then it socked it to me back...

BillM · 09-15-2008, 08:50 PM

I met up with a guy down there who said he had pulled in some good sized bluefish Friday within sight of seals but they didnt bother him. I tried plugs at dusk and eels after dark but nothing.I kept trying to dodge them moving from one side of the sandbar to the other but they kept showing up. At night one was swimming between me and my bait.They are huge.

Hooper · 09-16-2008, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swimmer

Hoop is that your boat for sale? Looks really nice.

Yes, Swimmer, thank you.

RoyL · 09-16-2008, 10:29 AM

I really, really, really, hate them and they never go away. Even after they take your fish and plug

Sea Flat · 09-16-2008, 10:51 AM

The seals are big time annoying. Twice this season I have seen seals at a location and time of year that were unique and unusual.

1. 1st week of June. Action was hot at Middle Ground when squid arrived. Action stopped abruptly and there is a seal with its head out of the water.

2. August 31, Fishing on the Vineyard Sound side of Naushon Island and about 100 yards off my stern I see a seal.

Crazy, no wonder there have been Great Whites around!

BillM · 09-16-2008, 10:24 PM

Now on top of all the other crap I haul around with me I'll have to bring a floating dorsal fin!... All the bait shops will start carrying them. Hey that reminds me, I guy at the bait shop says to me "If you drop your wallet in P town you'd better kick it to the next town before you bend over to pick it up" why do ya suppose that is ??? : )

SAUERKRAUT · 09-17-2008, 08:03 AM

The Seal Rig: An 8-S Danforth anchor; a bunch of quarter inch abandoned poly lobster line U can pick up on any beach, appropriate shark hook and cable wire leader; and finally the nice juicy live bluefish I just caught. Lightly rehook it in the belly...and then launch it.

Yeah, maybe I'm just hot airing out here. A year ago, Flaptail and I came across a seal pup at night on the beach along Race Point south, and we didn't run it over or get out of the truck and beat it to death. Nobody else did either.