Gearing up for Shark Fishing while the Waves Hopefully Calm Down

What a spell of E swell.  I can't remember the last day that I didn't surf or where I wasn't thinking about going surfing.  You get a high pressure to sit somewhere in eastern Canada or near Greenland for a week and a low from Hatteras to Bermuda for a week and a front stuck behind in the Midwest and you get a lot of E windswell and no W wind.  It wasn't a storm swell, it was a pattern swell.  Finally the weather is shifting into a new pattern, which looks to include some W wind sea breezes and smaller waves.  With a new moon yesterday, that means it's time to shark Thursday and Friday.

Tropical Storm Chris recently formed from in the blob of low pressure that's been out there for a week.  It's weird to want it to go flat, but I'd rather shark than surf 2ft E swell that isn't good for waves or fishing.

The fishing potential is looking fairly good for tomorrow and even better on Friday.  What is needed is for the swell to keep dropping, the water to clean up, and for the seaweed to settle out.  They seem to like calmer water that is clean without junk clogging the line.  Maybe that is just my preference to fish when it is nicest, but the best nights have all had those conditions.  Another good thing right now is the bar is looking pretty good.  It looks easy to reach the back of it since there isn't much of a trough, yet there are enough dips and folds in the bar to provide some subtle structure.  I remember the first night when I got a grasp on this thing, Tom out-fished me like 3 slams to 1 tap.  We noticed there was a little dip in the bar in front of him, while the bar in front of me was straight.  It was getting late and we were ready to leave so I cast in his spot- and within 5 minutes I had my rod bent and my line snapped clean.  Even the smallest variation of bottom can make a difference.

If it's a go the fishing will take place with a sultry summer heat wave.  If we get into fish, those pesky bass that have been around here this year can go put on their LL Bean button shirts and boat shoes and drink martinis on Cape Cod for all I care.  Nothing beats sharking a summer night.

The hazy white skies this morning indicated a heat wave, and the temperature looks to be pretty hot for the events.  Meteorological summer began June 1st, but now it is feeling the summer-summer, which means I'm not going to spring fish unless they're in my backyard- no driving and driving and driving.

The focus the next two days will be on catching small blues and chunking them up in the night tide . . .