The Brewster flats, on the Cape Cod Bay shore of the outer Cape, are among the most extensive tidal flats in the region, draining enormous distances at low water. When the huge tide floods back over the warm sand, striped bass push in to hunt crabs and sand eels, offering world-class sight-fishing.
The ground
Fish the flooding flats, the guzzles (drains) and the edges as the tide brings fish in. Bass follow the rising water across the flats and funnel through the drains as it falls.
How to fish it
This is premier fly-rod and light-tackle sight-fishing. Wade or pole quietly, spot cruising and tailing fish, and lead them with a crab or sand-eel fly or a small soft plastic. Stealth is everything.
Tip Time the flats to the flooding tide and keep the sun at your back. You are hunting individual fish, so move slowly, watch for wakes and tails, and make an accurate lead, not a fish-lining line-drive cast.