The water temperatures around the Cape are just a hair on the cool side for the stripers to be here in numbers, but schoolies are starting to make a showing, and with a day of heavy southwest winds on Thursday, water temperatures are rising fast. Stellwagen Bank cod and pollock fishing has been fantastic, tautog are biting well and freshwater fishing is approaching its spring peak.
The heavy southwest winds should warm the water up just a few degrees, and that’s just what we need to jumpstart the bass fishing, according to Mike at M and D’s in Wareham. Tog fishing in Buzzards Bay has been slow with the cold water, and Mike said the anglers catching fish are targeting shallower, warmer waters. Interestingly enough, blackfish have been biting well in Vineyard Sound. Christian from Falmouth Bait and Tackle reported that anglers dropping green crabs onto wrecks in the sound are connecting with keeper tog. Tog migrate to the shallows from deeper waters in the spring to spawn, so these Vineyard Sound fish may show up in the usual spots in Buzzards Bay soon enough.
Schoolie striped bass are being caught, but not in large numbers just yet. At Westport Bait and Tackle, they had word of schoolies in the Westport River. Mike at Bucko’s also reported that the schoolies had arrived in local waters and mentioned that the shore-based tautog fishermen were doing well, catching keepers around Tiverton.
The herring run in the Canal is loaded with river herring, and the folks at Canal Bait and Tackle predict that by next week there will be some small keeper stripers around to harass the bait. Christian from Falmouth also expects the warmer waters to start bringing in fish this weekend, adding that he’s heard rumors of a few good fish caught but has not seen any proof. With reports good in Rhode Island, it won’t be long before the Cape gets its first significant wave of migrating stripers.
Chris at Bad Fish Outfitters in Falmouth reported small stripers at Popponesset and outside of West Falmouth Harbor. He also had word that the squid had shown up in Vineyard Sound, which is a good sign for calamari fans.
On The Vineyard, stripers arrived on the south side of the island this past weekend. Bigger fish should start to appear around the herring runs, which are loaded with river herring, reported Steve at Larry’s Bait and Tackle.
In the Hyannis area, there are schoolies in the rivers, and the folks at SportsPort expect fishing to pick up in the next week with more schoolie stripers showing on the beach front.
Freshwater fishing on the Cape has been excellent, reported Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans. He caught a trout “grand slam” the other day, landing a brook, rainbow, brown and tiger trout all in a single outing. Dan said overcast skies made for fast fishing. Largemouth bass are also biting well. Dan said the largemouths aren’t on their spawning beds just yet, so they are still feeding aggressively. The water temperatures have made the fish very active, and fishermen have been enjoying the fast freshwater action.
With cod season open on Stellwagen Bank, anglers have been cashing in on fast cod action. Shimano chartered the Helen-H this past week to test out some new products on these tasty groundfish. According to Barry from Red Top Sporting Goods in Buzzards Bay, both the Lucanus and Butterfly Jigs did a number on cod and pollock. Even a few haddock mixed in to allow anglers to bring home a nice bag of fillets.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The best fishing taking place right now seems to be the freshwater. With trout feeding actively and largemouths still gorging themselves in preparation for the spawn, now is a great time to hit your favorite pond with some spoons or small shiners for trout or large shiners and assorted lures for largemouths. The largemouth bite has been mostly on jerkbaits, but with bass moving shallow in the warming waters, jigs and even spook-type lures will start to produce.
If the current forecast holds up, this weekend could be a nice one to fish the waters of Stellwagen Bank for cod. Bring some jigs and start shallow for cod, and try deeper with clams to get a better shot at hooking some haddock.
With warm weather in the forecast, the Buzzards Bay temperature should be bumping up enough to draw in the tautog. Dropping some crabs over Cleveland Ledge might be the ticket to brawling with these buck-toothed bottom dwellers.
Look to the rivers and bays on the South Side of the Cape and Buzzards Bay to attract newly arriving school stripers. Use single hooked lures to avoid doing too much damage to these mostly undersize fish.
Next week, I’d expect to see more and bigger stripers invade Cape waters, so make any last minute purchases and get your gear into shape – the best time of year is fast approaching.