Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Forecast 9-22-2011

If you haven’t gotten out after albies yet, what are you waiting for? The green-backed speedsters continue to blitz everywhere from inside the canal, throughout Buzzards Bay, around the Vineyard and Nantucket, and off the south side all the way out to Monomoy. The fish are running large, and for the most part, they’ve been willing to bite, with the exception of a few very picky days. Reports of shore anglers and kayak anglers hooking up are coming in regularly. The bass bite has gone stale. Sluggish tides are most likely to blame, though anglers grinding it out are finding some fish. Bluefin are back on the feed, same with blackfish, and freshwater fishing is heating up as the ponds cool down.

Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal

I got a text message on Sunday night from Chris Parisi of Bad Fish Outfitters saying the albies were so thick in Buzzards Bay, it looked like you could walk on them. That was definitely the theme of my report phone calls this week. Mike from M and D’s said big pods of feeding false albacore were all over the place. Some albies are venturing into the canal as far as the east end said Bull from Red Top. Metals with some hint of green are the ticket, such as the Deadly Dick, the Acme Kastmaster XL, and the Swedish Pimple. The Buzzards Bay albies seem to be on tiny, 1-inch bay anchovies, while in other locations, they are feeding on spearing. The good news is, with a relatively mild and stable forecast, the albies shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

More than a few anglers contacted us this week and reported seeing at least one giant bluefin tuna, estimated in the area of 400 to 600 pounds, crashing around at the west end of the Canal in the Hog Island Channel this week as it fed on bluefish.

The Canal bass bite has slowed. A handful of nice fish were weighed in at M and D’s for the Bob Samuelson Memorial Tournament last weekend, including a 34- and a 32-pound fish. Bull at Red Top said the morning bite lately has consisted mostly of smaller bass and blues, but anglers fishing at night with jigs and eels are finding fish approaching the 40-pound mark.

Tautog fishing in Buzzards Bay is great, and with most boats chasing albies or stripers, bottom fishermen have the prime structure all to themselves.  Green crabs are working, and Cleveland Ledge is a good place to start your blackfish search.

South Side

Albacore are also around the South Side of the Cape, feeding off the outlets dumping into Vineyard and Nantucket sounds. Chris from Bad Fish said Great Pond’s outlet had some albies within casting range of shore this week. Bluefish and schoolie stripers are present at many of these outflows as well as they drain schools of small baitfish into the sound. Schools of adult and peanut (juvenile) bunker are keeping southside anglers hopeful for a good run of stripers along the south side.

Some decent stripers are surrounding the Vineyard right now, and a 34- and a 30-pounder are leading the boat and shore division for the Bass and Bluefish Derby. Both numbers are very beatable, and there is still plenty of time in the tournament.

Teen-sized bluefish are scattered around the sounds as well, mostly hanging in the same neighborhood as breaking false albacore. Snapper bluefish are chopping away at spearing and baby baitfish inside ponds and harbors. Not only are these snappers fun light tackle quarry and great bait, they are excellent eating.

Mid to Outer Cape

Garrett at the Goose Hummock in Orleans said fishing has been slow, both the bay and ocean-side, for stripers. The only good fishing he had to report was the false albacore bite around Monomoy.  While Garrett didn’t go into great detail, I believe this is largely a trolling bite, as anglers work lures around rips. Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows and Rebel Fas-tracs are great trolling lures for albacore.

Fishing on the backside beaches is picking up a bit according to Paul at Blackbeards in Eastham. Bluefish blitzes have been popping up regularly, and some bass into the 20-pound range are showing up on occasion. Head of the Meadow and Newcomb Hollow have had some of the action lately, though Paul said the action has been in a different place each day. Fresh sand eels are working for the bait crowd, while metals are working for surfcasters intent on throwing lures. On the bayside, Paul reported a big bluefish blitz in Wellfleet Harbor, though no fishermen were there to get in on the action. A friend on a lobster boat spotted the blues ripping the surface to shreds, but not a single caster was in sight.

The beaches up toward Race Point are a bit slower according to John at Nelsons. Some fish into the 20-pound class were caught with last week’s north winds, but for the most part, the boats and kayakers have been the only ones catching. Boats diamond jigging tied into some fish in the 30-pound class, and it seemed like jigging was out-producing trolling this week.

Bluefin

Sounds like the bluefin fishing is off the hook. Or on the hook—whichever is better. Dan from the Hook Up in Orleans said Captain Eric Stewart and the UNH bluefin tagging crew, landed and tagged 12 bluefin this week, all inside Crab Ledge in about 100 feet of water.  The fish were all slot sized, falling into the 40- to 50-inch range. Rumors of giants coming out of Cape Cod Bay have been coming in, and several boats are anchoring up out there and sending out live baits hoping for a big pay day. Check out Damon Sacco’s article on catching Cape Cod Bay giant tuna in the October Issue of On The Water, on newsstands now. The giant tuna bite way far east of the Cape is on fire; commercial captains are loading up for the long haul, and many are returning to port with three fish to send to market. More giant tuna reports came from Peaked Hill Bar where a 79-incher was landed this week.

Stellwagen is holding some good tuna fishing for the recreational crowd as well, and as the waters continue to cool, the tuna bite should keep improving into October.

Freshwater

Largemouth bass are biting well in many ponds, and with the cool nights, even trout are becoming active once again. Dan from the Hook Up spotted many trout rising to flies, but couldn’t entice any to hit with spinning gear. With the water still a bit warm for trout, matching the hatch is crucial to getting bites until the water cools and the trout become more aggressive.

Best Bets

False albacore. Stable weather for the weekend should mean that the albies will stick around feeding in big numbers. These speedsters are my top pick again this weekend. Boat, foot or kayak, get some flashy green metals or anchovy and spearing imitations set out after these fish. If you are on foot, look to the outflows on a dropping tide. Waquoit, Menauhant, Great Pond, Cotuit and Craigville would be at the top of my list. If you have a boat, Buzzards Bay is the place to be, though looking in Vineyard and Nantucket sound may turn up some less-pressured fish.