Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Forecast 9-1-2011

And just like that – it’s begun. All the fish needed to begin their “Fall Run” was a slight drop in water temperatures and stormy weather. Albies arrived in force over the weekend, mixing in with the bonito, and the blended packs of hard-tails chomped flies and Deadly Dicks for anglers able to intercept them. Stripers have begun to gorge as well, with schoolies binging along the South Side and bigger fish nosing into the Cape Cod Canal. And the always-hungry bluefish has started blitzing throughout Cape waters as well.

Cape Cod Canal

Northeast winds are always welcomed by “canal rats,” especially this time of year. Seems big bluefish are blitzing in the east and west ends of the Canal. The report from Red Top in Buzzards Bay was good fishing in the mornings along the Big Ditch.  Some nice bass were reportedly mixed in as well. Scup and butterfish were supposedly being chased onto the rocks of the canal.

If you’re looking for something to do during a lull in the action along the canal this weekend, swing by Red Top for their big sale taking place Saturday and Sunday.

Sheila at Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore heard a similar report.  She’d also weighed in a nice 29-pound fish one boat fishermen managed to pull out of Cape Cod Bay before lightning chased him back to port.

South Side and Islands

Great action on schoolies at Menahaunt Beach this week kept surfcasters busy on the Cape’s south side reported Bob from Falmouth Bait and tackle. The fish ranged between 24 and 29 inches, and there were a lot of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of South Side outflows were holding fish as well. Cotuit, Eel Pond and maybe even Trunk River might be worth a look.

Some small keeper bass are mixing with 8-pound bluefish and blitzing in Woods Hole as well. Anglers fishing in the Hole can add to their cooler by dropping for fluke, as some keeper flatties have been taken there recently.

At Coops in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, the big word was the move inshore of the shoals by false albacore and bonito. The albies arrived in numbers over the weekend, and fish into the teens were taken alongside blitzing bonito schools. A few fish were even taken from shore, and it should continue to get better. According to Justin at Coops, things are just getting started with the bonito and albies.

Boat fishing for stripers is picking up at Devil’s Bridge, and bluefishing is lock-and-load at the Hooter and Hedge Fence.

Chris at Bad Fish Outfitters in Falmouth also heard about the good hard-tail bite around the Vineyard and said anglers were finding Spanish mackerel and bonito off East Beach. Jim from Bad Fish saw the action first hand, but despite his best efforts chasing the fish around, he couldn’t get the finicky funny fish to bite. With these sharp-sighted speedsters, that’s just the way it goes sometimes. The best bet is to bring along a wide variety of lures and change often when the bite gets tough. Many anglers swear by weightless soft-plastic lures danced across the surface. For whatever reason, albies seem to love the bubblegum color.

Mid and Outer Cape

Not too many anglers have been getting out in the boats reported Roy from Riverview Bait and Tackle in Yarmouth. Rough seas and strong winds have been keeping anglers on the not-so-dry land this week, but they still found action targeting schoolies with soft plastics in Bass River.

Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans found fish in Bass River as well. He dunked seaworms on small hooks and caught a mixed bag of species including pufferfish, black sea bass and scup.

The fishing has picked up big time off Provincetown. Boats fishing off Wood End and Long Point found schools of bluefish and bass ripping apart the surface. “Birds, breaking fish, the whole fall blitz scene,” reported Rich from Nelsons Bait and Tackle. Bass have been decent, with fish up to 34 inches being caught. The bluefish have been running the beaches as well.

Dan from the Hook Up mentioned in his report that on his way to target giant tuna in Cape Cod Bay this week with live mackerel and bluefish, there were “thousands” of stripers on the surface off Race Point. The fish were surprisingly picky according to Dan, who suspected they were feeding on krill or another very tiny bait.

The elusive Cape Cod Bay giant bluefin eluded Dan, but a few anglers have managed to catch 400- to 800-pound tuna in that vicinity recently. The live mackerel was caught in Provincetown Harbor, and Dan said he spent a couple hours acquiring just a half-dozen baits.

I received no other reports of bluefin, mostly because weather conditions have not been conducive to boat fishing this week.

Best Bets for the Weekend

If the seas allow, a trip to the nearshore waters on the Vineyard for some false albacore, bonito and Spanish mackerel would be my top pick. Number two on my list, again if sea conditions allow, would be the waters off Provincetown where big schools of bass and blues have been gorging lately.

For the shorebound angler who need not worry about sea conditions and small-craft advisories, the jetties flanking Vineyard Harbors would be my pick due to the opportunity to catch a hard-tail from dry land there. Next would be Cape Cod Canal, which could continue to produce good fishing for blues and stripers with these northeast winds, even with the neap tides. Lastly would be Woods Hole and the South Side outflows with light tackle for fun fishing with schoolies and bluefish. A dropping tide will be best at most locations as stripers will wait for the current to flush out baitfish from the backwaters.