Hearing on Race Point Beach Closures

[fishonnelsons]

Good attendance for winter, about 150, MBBA, regular folks but also Sierra Club and birders, but most for more access.

Most of the meat of the meeting was on why they could not do someting, versus why they could.

Why nots:

Herring Cove to Wood End was due to a 2005 washthrough that wasn't healed yet, as well as high "beachgoer" traffic. BS on the washthrough as each winter heals everything, as pointed out by someone. I brought up the fact that ORV traffic out there could actually help the Seashore in policing the activities of those out there in the hills (don't know th epolitically correct way of saying it!!!) but they don't want to touch that one. My feeling is great digital shots to newspapers, Congressman, etc of that activity would sure put alot of pressure on them to do something.

Herring Cove toward Race Pt light - possibility, not alot of plover activity but they are adverse to that, I think, because it would reduce available parking $$$$ in that lot - $15/car/day. But that is still on the table for future.

Opening up old access roads off of the telephone pole route - deemed not ecologically right, too much damage to vegetation and habitat for the minimal additional access it would create. Thats BS because they don't know how much access it would create until the birds actualy plant themselves down, if they congregate in one area, then maybe another access route would be good.

Best for last - use old Exit 8/Dune Shack Rd - some critical "wetlands"there (then why do they let Art's Dune Tour use it????), they don't want to upset the Dune Shack residents ( they have fu$%#@ed them enough already, but 2000 seasonal permits versus less than 100 residents??), and as a Ranger "slipped" and said "their ace in the hole was" the route was very hard and dangerous, operationally unsafe", we said what about the other access routes - Race Pt South, Coast Guard etc - they were just as hard and people could access them.

Bottom Line - "when less then 1/2 mile of total beach was open to ORV", they want to get approval to exercise any one of the following three options, just one, not 2, or all 3:
1. open High Head South to Head of the Meadow prior to July 1
2. open High Head north to Exit 8 prior to July 21
3.open Coast Guard beach in Truro for day time use. (needs Truro ok)

Obviously, any of those options could be eliminated if birds are present. Our put was if any of the beach is closed, open up those and other areas, maintain the status quo - if you close a 1/4 mile, open up another 1/4 mile, at least tempoary.

The ORV sub-committee who chaired the meeting are meeting Monday to finalize recommendations to Cape Cod Seashore Advisory Commission, meeting next Friday at Wellfleet Headquarters. Flap is right, sub-committee seems to be in dis-array - Ptown member never goes to meetings, although I am not sure they ever have meetings, and I will follow that one up with the Ptown selectmen.

We shall see, it is pretty fricking frustrating. On the one hand I want to say they are at least looking at some options but on the other hand they are truly rejecting good alternatives - Wood End, more accss off the pole Road, Exit 8 for bulls%$#& reasons, which leads you to believe they don't give a $^^%^$#.

[Slipknot]

sounds depressing

it's like it's a trial or something

[piemma]

You know, and I am not advocating this, but wouldn't be funny if everyone just drove on the beach?
What would the rangers do, call out the National Guard because a bunch of fishermen were fishing?

I know it won't work but the reasons you guys posted are the reasons some of us old guard don't fish the Cape anymore. Just to many beach goers, seals, closures and rules and regs and not enough fish. It's a damn shame because we are the ones who kept the beach going for so many years. Our permit money funded the whole thing. Now the "bird" people feel like they are entitled to the whole shoreline and we are the "bad guys". Screw 'um. There's better fishing in RI now anyway. So you walk and jump rocks.

[BigFish]

I think I am pretty much done paying to "NOT" go out on the Race fishing! I understand when Flaptail says we need to continue on paying for the permits and making our presence felt.....but the fishing down there is not worth the price of admission nevermind the plovers and the seals and the mung!!! I do think the seals are the reason the fishing is suffering but it is compounded by the other issues I mention and its just not worth the trip there anymore! I got ocean 20 minutes from my house and the fishing is a boatload better than at Race Point! I got out there 2 times this season for $150.00 and not that it was my fault....the dang birds had it closed until the week before Labor Day and when I did try to hoof it out there say from HOM.....there were so many seals it was ridiculous!!! I usually have better fishing on the backside beaches anyway so there is where I will go!

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I think I am pretty much done paying to "NOT" go out on the Race fishing! I understand when Flaptail says we need to continue on paying for the permits and making our presence felt.....but the fishing down there is not worth the price of admission nevermind the plovers and the seals and the mung!!! I do think the seals are the reason the fishing is suffering but it is compounded by the other issues I mention and its just not worth the trip there anymore! I got ocean 20 minutes from my house and the fishing is a boatload better than at Race Point! I got out there 2 times this season for $150.00 and not that it was my fault....the dang birds had it closed until the week before Labor Day and when I did try to hoof it out there say from HOM.....there were so many seals it was ridiculous!!! I usually have better fishing on the backside beaches anyway so there is where I will go!

This is exactly what the NPS and conserv groups are hoping will happen. That being said and the season being over I can now share some of the intel I was privy to on the bass and their not coming to the beach this year. Everyone bemoaned the lack of bait on the beach this year and last. True enough there wa no bait on the Race point beaches and south. Also true was the number of seals on the beach adding to the woes of fishermen when a small number of bass did show. What 99% of the beach fishermen were not privy to was that from Long Point to Wood End and out around the Race south to Longnook a phenomena took place that I have seen at Monomoy in years past. The sand eels, for reasons only known to God and themselves form up on the surface in a tightly packed group forming a living ribbon that often stretches for miles. Picture a tube if you will not much more than several yards wide for hundreds of yards to a mile or more long. All season from Mid May to October they formed this line from 30 to sometimes 200 feet of water depth along the surface. The charter guys knew it. Especially a few who post here and on the other "flyfishing site" based out of Wellfleet. Look at the pictures posted by #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, see the little yellow/red needlefish. Know where those fish were taken week after week in CC Bay? This behavior is thought to be spawning related, I have no idea. They do it and no one knows why really. The bass were there, just offshore, there was no real lack of bait just that when sandeels display this beahvior the beach goes dry. It is rare they do this for more than a year or two but they have been known to go four years before dispersing back to the sand and surf.

The fishing will back for beach bound casters, maybe this year, but it will be back. Lastly if you really know how to fish the beach you understand that nothing is ever to be taken for granted. I cannot tell you how many nights this past season I sat quietly and watched a lot of trucks hit the beach before dark and by ten or eleven I was all alone. Come the wee hours when the fish would finally show it was me and whoever was with me as far as we could see. And remember that ceratin beaches fish better at certain tides and sometimes for just a short period and if you cannot take the time to figure it out than you will never be successful. And lastly as echoed to me this past Saturday by one of the best coomercial bass fisherman to ever run the Cape sands since Arnold Laine, "there is just so much to know that you will never learn it all in one lifetime." But without being constantly at it you are doomed to failure.

Larry, you know I love you brother but two trips cannot judge a season. The more people who stop getting permits he more the ebach will be closed to our access. Just think how good a season it would have been if we had access to Wood End this year? No real reason for it to be closed. Who will fight for it if we give up?

[l.i.fish.in.vt]

i for one will keep buying the permit.no matter how bad the fishing is.to those that say there was no bait the last two years they obiviously didn't spend much time on the beach.two years ago there was a steady stream of peanuts along the RP beaches.this year not as many but sand eelwere about 50 yards out.in august there were schools of bass cruising around under the kayak most days, they just wouldn't hit anything.if you don't mind catching bluefish i would say fishing was pretty good. don't think there was a day were i didn't catch at least one but most days it was between 10 and 30.

[Rappin Mikey]

I'll keep getting the permit. Have met to many good people and new friends to stop. Yeah, the fishing wasn't as good, the seals sucked, and I had to do more walking then years past, but I still managed to find fish on a pretty consistant basis from shore. So what the heck!