You would think that after 50 years of obsessive globe-trotting in search of new and better places to fish, the last place I’d find would be a pond in my […]
ON THE BEACH
A New Old Favorite Fishing Spot
A tiny fly pattern reveals the bounty in a Wellfleet kettle pond
You would think that after 50 years of obsessive globe-trotting in search of new and better places to fish, the last place I’d find would be a pond in my […]
ON THE MARSH
Of Settlers and Silt
How the invasive earthworm came to shape the Outer Cape’s landscape
The measured opening of the 115-year-old Herring River dike is front and center in a decades-long restoration project aimed at bringing back some of the Wellfleet estuary’s original tidal flow. […]
ON THE BEACH
What It Means to Have Oyster Eyes
The hunt for a bivalve that’s not as sedentary as you might think
At no time of the year is oystering more challenging for those who farm them than now, when we’re on the verge of colder weather and the possibility of sea […]
ON THE BEACH
Bearing Witness to Climate Change on Cape Cod
A theory teaches us how to see more than what our own eyes tell us
If you scrunch your eyes enough to blur your vision slightly, it’s easy to imagine what Wellfleet or Provincetown looked like 50 or even 100 years ago, when horse-drawn buggies […]
ON THE BEACH
Fishing for Solace in the Cold Months
With the sun fading, a fisherman winterizes his psyche
The semiannual changing of the clocks couldn’t come at a worse time — just after the fishing has slowed to a near stop, when the days are getting colder and […]
ON THE BEACH
Before the Bluefins Were Big Game
Where the weirs were worked, the promise of a new fishery comes into view
When we were kids hanging out at the West End Racing Club in Provincetown or walking the flats in front of our summer digs on Capt. Jack’s Wharf, our ears […]
ON THE BEACH
The Day I Became an Ancestor
Fishing sometimes yields unforgettable familial joys
Fishing is mostly a solitary pursuit. Apart from those momentary accolades heard when you arrive home with a nice striper, in fishing there are rarely commentators watching from the sidelines. […]
ON THE BEACH
Advice Opens the Way to Experience
‘Can I ask what lure you’re using?’ and other questions fishermen here will answer
I’m sure I have forgotten more about fishing than I now know. Every time I go, I find myself remembering, usually too late, that I should be using a different […]
ON THE BEACH
The Old Man and the Beach
On a favorite sand path, an encounter with one’s inner child
The beach is where I learned to surf, learned to fish, and had my first awkward lessons in romance. Most of what I’ve learned at the beach came when I […]
ON THE BEACH
Fifty Years of Chasing Sharks, Imaginary and Real
Ocean biologists are giving Jaws the rewrite sharks deserve
I was a Truro lifeguard the summer Jaws hit the movie theaters almost a half-century ago, causing instant pandemonium on the beach whenever an ocean sunfish or bass blitz passed […]
AN ANGLER IN THE KITCHEN
The Art of Smoking Summer Fish
A good brine, gentle smoke, and patience produce Wellfleet’s second-favorite gift from the sea
A lot of people who go into Hatch’s Fish or Mac’s Seafood markets are shocked to discover that the smoked versions of their favorite seafood are $7 to $10 higher […]
ON THE BEACH
The Tale of One Improbable Catch
If you want to catch a fish, you have to put a hook in the water
Casting alongside a couple of other fishermen in Blackfish Creek a few weeks back, I overheard their conversation, an exchange of information about tides, wind direction, baitfish, and time of […]
APPRECIATION
Paul Brodeur: A Complex and Creative Life
He was a passionate writer who changed our world for the better
Imagine what went through the head of a cub reporter at the Provincetown Advocate in 1978 when he was informed that Paul Brodeur, the prolific novelist, environmental journalist, and New […]
ON THE BEACH
Move, Talk, and Follow the Bluefish
Three tips for catching bass from the beach on a summer day
On most summer days, even when there are no fishermen casting at the water’s edge, fishing rods stick up out of the sand on the back shore like so many […]