July 7, 2011 - Cape Cod Fishing Report

The hot weather is finally taking its toll on the striped bass fishing. All around the Cape, anglers spoke of difficult fishing for bass. Everywhere, but Martha’s Vineyard that is. The same warming waters that are putting striped bass fishing on hiatus are improving the fishing for other species.

Cape Cod Canal

The difficult fishing in the canal lately may be the result the abundant and small baitfish swarming through the Ditch at the moment. Summertime resident stripers don’t have the need to binge eat the way the spring migrating stripers do, and for that reason, they tend to be more selective about what lures and baits they will attack.

Anglers are catching some fish however. Mike said that a number of fish were caught around the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and in Scusset State Park, the extreme west and east ends of the canal, in the past couple days. Mike had also heard of a 40-pounder taken at Bell Road earlier in the week.

South Coast and Buzzards Bay

It seems as though the recent hot weather has ignited the Buzzards Bay fluke bite, and Mike at M and D’s reported good numbers of keeper-sized fish, along with a few doormats, coming out of upper Buzzards Bay. Mike said 6- to 8-pound fish are being taken almost daily.

The black sea bass bite is slowing down as the majority of these fish head for deeper water, not to return until next spring. Left over are the smaller, sublegal specimens known as “pin bass” in New York.

Finding light-tackle action on schoolie stripers and small bluefish is easy enough in Buzzards Bay right now. Small poppers or soft-plastic lures will be your best bets, and Chris of Bad Fish Outfitters in Falmouth recommends targeting harbor mouths to find these fish.

In Fall River, the report from Bucko’s indicated that there’s plenty of bait around Tiverton that should have the blues and stripers feeding. At the moment, South Coast anglers may have a better chance with the former than the latter, however.

Striper fishing is slow according to the crew at Bucko’s, so anglers are shifting their sights to other species. One of these species is fluke, which are still abundant around Sakonnet Point. Another species that surfcasters are finding luck with is scup. The small panfish are being caught in good numbers in Westport and around Gooseberry Neck Island.

Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds

Though the reports about how many keeper fluke are out there varied between shops, everyone agreed that there are plenty of fluke in Vineyard Sound right now. The anglers having the most success with larger fish seem to be targeting deeper water of 65 feet or more, Aaron from Falmouth Bait and Tackle found fluke in 70 feet of water this week, and he also caught a bonus fish in the form of a big black sea bass. The area around Lucas Shoal seems to be the epicenter of the fluke bite, though anglers branching out and trying other deep holes in Vineyard Sound are being rewarded with some big fish in the less-pressured areas.  Get out your Captain Segull Chart and start doing some scouting.

The chunk bite is on at Gay Head according to Chris at Bad Fish. Fish in the 30- to 40-pound range are being caught regularly. Tom Shoal is also holding quality bass at the moment, according to Aaron at Falmouth Bait. Tube-and-worm trolling is the method of choice at Tom Shoal, but live scup are catching fish there as well. Just be sure your bait is above the legal size limit of 10.5 inches as even though you’ll be using them for bait, size and bag limits still apply.

Good-sized stripers are still coming out of the surf on Martha’s Vineyard, and OTW contributing writer as well as surfcasting guide, Janet Messineo has been taking bass larger than 20 pounds on a regular basis.

In Nantucket Sound, big bluefish are outnumbering the stripers at the moment. The big blues are all over the sound according to the crew at Goose Hummock.

A few fluke have found their way to Nantucket. Jeff from Powderhorn Outfitters in Hyannis said big fluke are being on the back side of Nantucket.

Fishing in the Monomoy Rips has gotten even better, with more squid showing up, bass moved into the rips in droves to feed on the tentacled baits. With the larger baits out there, bass are less selective, and are taking a wider range of lures and flies in the rips, unlike last week, when I witnessed hundreds of blitzing stripers that were so keyed in on small sand eels, it was difficult to get them to eat anything else.

Cape Cod Bay

If you want to find stripers in Cape Cod Bay, you’ll need to look to deep water according to Paul at Blackbeards in Hyannis. Anglers are sending out lots of wire to get to bass on the deep side of Billinsgate Shoals. The Brewster Flats have picked back up according to a report from Goose Hummock, but for the most part, and you might find some picky stripers that have forced sand eels to the surface, but for the most part Cape Cod Bay stripers are sulking in deeper water.

Bluefish have finally arrived in the Bay reported Paul at Blackbeards. Paul expects them to scatter the mackerel that have lingered in the Bay longer than usual.

Outer Cape

A few fish are being taken on Nauset, Nauset Light and Newcomb Hollow Beaches. Sand eels or sandworms fished on the bottom are the best method, though small plugs after sundown will likely take fish as well.

Race Point is still producing, mostly for trollers with wire or tube-and-worm rigs. The bath house off the point has been the hot spot for bass and blues over the last few days.

Freshwater

It’s easy to forget about freshwater fishing on the Cape this time of year when larger, stronger species are available to inshore and shorebound anglers, but there has been good largemouth fishing lately for anglers willing to give it a shot. Live shiners and Senko Worms have been tops according to the crew at Falmouth Bait and Tackle. Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans has been fishing shallow Cape Cod ponds in his kayak after work each evening and he routinely catches more than 2 dozen lagremouths on each outing. The fish are maxing out around 3 pounds, but the possibility of a larger one exists, especially with live bait.

Tuna

The tuna fishing has really taken off this week, and fish are loaded up in all the popular areas. Captain Eric Stewart of the Hook Up went 2 for 3 Sunday East of Chatham, while Dan and Captain Rich out of the Hook Up found busting tuna around Peaked Bar before having to cut their trip short due to boat problems.

From the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank to Peaked Hill, live bait has been the ticket for landing these 75- to 80-inch fish. East of Chatham, where more of the tuna land in the keep-able slot limit, splash bars are doing the trick. The large body of smaller tuna south of Nomans Island have been receptive to topwaters cast by the run-and-gun crowd, and a little beyond the tuna, a few billfish have been caught in the shipping lanes.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Two words. Bluefin Tuna. We’ve waited all year for the tuna bite to catch fire, and other than a few scattered good days, by and large, the season has been lackluster, until this past week. The fish are in a wide variety of places falling to a wide variety of methods. Whether you like dragging spreader bars, kite-baiting with live bunker or casting with spinning gear, you have a shot to get into some tuna this weekend.

For stripers, catch a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, or drive your own boat over there. Whether by boat or shore, the Vineyard seems to be this week’s hotspot. Fish fresh bunker or live scup off Gay Head and Toms Shoal, or troll tube-and-worm rigs.

Fluke fishing is also very good. Right now.  Vineyard Sound is still the hotspot, but more fish are trickling into Nantucket Sound every day.